Its a new month, which means its time to look back to some of the useful tech tips we shared with you over the last 31 days. Mark these tips down in your things-to-do-a-day diary and work at implementing them one at a time. Over time, you'll find yourself working like a pro! If you have a useful tip to share with our readers, perhaps an app that you used that you found to be highly useful in your work, please drop us a line at editor@theapptimes.com so we can share it with the community.
Tech Tips We Shared in May 2015
Windows 8 Tips
- Can't remember your Windows 8 Wi-Fi password? Here's what you need to do to access it.
1. Press Windows key + C, click Search and search for Network and Sharing Center.
2. On the left pane, click Change adapter settings.
3. Right-click the Wi-Fi network you are using and click Status.
4. Click Wireless properties.
5. Select the Security tab.
6. Enable the Show characters checkbox to reveal the saved password.
Note: This procedure will work only on a personal security setting and not on an enterprise network. - If you want to access the Camera app on the lock screen of your Windows 8.1 tablet, PC or smartphone, here's what you need to do:
1. Press Windows key + C, select Settings and then select Change PC settings.
2. On the left panel, select PC and devices.
3. In the Lock screen page, scroll down and turn on the Camera toogle switch.
You can now access the camera app from the lock screen by swiping down from the top. - Here are 7 ways to customize the Windows 8 tiles:
1. Click and drag a tile to move it to another location. While moving the tile, move it to the top or bottom of the screen to zoom out for a larger view of it.
2. Pin desktop programs to the Start screen by right-clicking the icon and choosing PIn to Start.
3. To get a zoomed out view of the Start screen, click the - button at the bottom right-hand corner of the start screen.
4. In the zoomed out view, right-click on a group of tiles to name the group.You can also click and drag a group of tiles to relocate it.
5. Resize a tile by right-clicking it and choosing Resize.
6. Pin a tile to the taskbar by right-clicking it and choosing Pin to taskbar.
7. Use your mouse wheel to scroll left-to-right through your tiles. - If you start your Windows 8 PC and find yourself on the Start screen instead of the desktop, here's what you can do to change that. Right-click the desktop toolbar, select Properties and go to the Navigation tab. In the Start Screen section, enable the option "When I sign in or close all applications on a screen, go to the desktop instead of Start".
Android and iOS Tips
- If you have an Android 5.0 device, you can easily easily record a screen capture with the help of an app called AZ Screen Recorder
- Did you know that you can share an iTunes Radio station with your family and friends? To do this go to iTunes Radio station navigate to the Now Playing screen and then tap the (i) icon at the top of the screen. Tap Share Station and then choose a sharing method.
- 5 Things to do when you're running out of storage space on your Android
1.Clear your cache by going to the Apps settings section, tapping on each app and clearing the cache. Alternatively you can use 360 Security app to clear it.
2. If possible, move apps, videos, music files and photos to your SD card. You can use a file manager like Astro Manager to do this or install 360 Security to get it done in a faster and easier way.
3. Uninstall apps you don;t use anymore.
4. Delete photos and videos that you have already backed up to the cloud.
5. And if you are still need more space, backup your Android and do a factory reset. - If you want to get directions to a place you plan to go to later in the day from a location you are not currently located in, here's what you need to do. On the Android Home screen, in the Search bar, type the departing location.Then tap the information bubble next to the location. Now scroll down and tap Directions from Here. Next, enter the address of your destination and tap Route to see the directions and transport options.
- If your Android screen is turning off every few minutes when you are reading something, install an app like Screebl, which uses gravity, screen orientation, and other cues to keep your screen on when it should be, and turned off when you don't need it.
- To remove a song from your iPhone playlist, just scroll down the library and select Songs. Find the song you want to delete and swipe left on it. This will bring up the Delete button. Tap to remove the song from your iPhone but not from your iTunes library or iCloud.
- If your apps are constantly pestering you with notifications, and you have an Android 5.0 device, make use of Priority Notifications to decide which ones you want to see.
Word 2010 Tips
- The default line spacing setting in Word 2010 is 1.15, not 1, which is great for reading online. If you are not creating web content, here's how to set the line spacing to 1. On the Home tab, in the Paragraph group, click the tiny arrow at the bottom of the group to display the Paragraph dialog box. In the Spacing section, adjust the line spacing to 1.
- If you use straight quotes instead of smart quotes in your Word documentation, you have the problem of undoing the smart quotes which are set by default. Instead go to the Options dialog box (File->Options), select the Proofing tab and the click AutoCorrect Options. In the dialog box that opens, select the AutoFormat As You Type tab. Uncheck the Straight Quotes With Smart Quotes option and click OK. The next time you instert quotes, they will be displayed as straight quotes.
- In Word 2010, when you select part of a word and then part of the next word, it selects the entire word for you. To disable this selection option go to File->Options. Select the Advanced tab.In the Editing Options section, uncheck the When selecting automatically select entire word option and click OK.
- By default, in Word 2010 your documents are saved by default in Documents. If you find yourself frequently saving your files in another location, you can reset the default Save location. Select the File Tab and click Options. In the Word Options dialog box, select the Save tab. In the Default File Location field, click the Browse button and set the new save location.
Excel 2010 Tips
- If you want to open multiple Excel files, instead of double-clicking and opening each one of them individually, select all the files you want to open and press Enter.
- If you want to move one column of data to another column in a spreadsheet, first select the column. Then move the pointer to the border. When you see a crossed arrow icon, drag to move the column to another location.
- When doing an Excel search, you use the wild cards Question Mark to find any single character and Asterisk to find any string of characters. But what if you wanted to search for a question mark itself or an asterisk? You simply use a wave line(tilde) before the target character, such as ~? or ~*.
- If you want to hide data in a spreadsheet, you right click and select the Hide function. Easy, right? But did you know that you could also hide data by clicking the down arrow button on the Home tab, Font group, selecting the Number tab and typing ;;; in the Type text box? This will render the data in the selected cells invisible but you can see it in the Formula bar.
Other Tips
In OS X 10.10.3, you can use the three-finger tap to preview links in Safari, Mail, or Messages. To do that, just mouseover a link, then tap the trackpad with three fingers. Tapping inside the popup will open the link in a new Safari tab.
Leave a Reply