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Android phones and tablets launch the Google Assistant when you long-press the Home button. But you can make this shortcut launch Cortana if you prefer Microsoft’s assistant instead. This option is a little hidden on Android 6.0 and later. It doesn’t work like the normal option for choosing default applications, but it is available in Android’s settings. On Android 6.0 and Newer To do this on modern Android devices, you’ll first need to install the Cortana app from Google Play....

Modern desktop web browsers—Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, and Microsoft Edge—all allow you to mute individual browser tabs in just a few clicks. Silencing an annoying tab that won’t stop playing audio is now two clicks away. RELATED: How to Automatically Mute New Tabs in Chrome and Firefox This feature is useful if a tab starts playing music or a video and you want to mute it temporarily. In most cases, it just takes a click or two....

The desktop is a convenient place to store files and program shortcuts, but it can get messy fast. Here’s how to tidy your desktop up so you can quickly find everything you’re looking for—and make sure it stays nice and organized. Hide All Your Desktop Icons If you don’t use your desktop much, but programs keep dropping shortcuts on it, here’s a quick solution: Hide everything to get a perfectly clean desktop....

First, open the Instagram app on your iPhone or Android device. Next, tap your display picture icon found in the bottom-right corner to visit your profile page. Select the three-line button in the top-right corner and select “Settings” from the following list of options. Head into the “Account” menu. Choose the “Recently Deleted” option located toward the bottom of the list. Here, you’ll find all the posts, reels, stories, and IGTV videos you’ve deleted in the last 30 days....

We’ve talked a lot about how to manage mobile data on Android, but what if your home internet has a data cap too? That can be an issue, especially if your phone starts chewing through your cap with background tasks. The good news is there’s an easy way to get Android to treat specific WI-Fi networks as if they were cellular networks. How to Restrict Wi-Fi Networks on Android Nougat RELATED: How to Monitor (and Reduce) Your Data Usage on Android...

Apple’s computers and phones have a reputation for being expensive. While it’s true that their products are all high end (and priced accordingly), they’re rarely objectively overpriced (dongles and other accessories aside). But if you want to pinch a few pennies, there are still ways to save money on Apple products. You’re never going to buy a brand new Mac for a price anyone would call cheap—Apple products are always in high demand, and fetch pretty high prices even on the used market....

Before iOS 11, iPhone users had to download a third-party app in order to scan a QR code. However, this functionality is now built in and you can use the stock Camera app on the iPhone to scan as many QR codes as your heart desires. RELATED: QR Codes Explained: Why You See Those Square Barcodes Everywhere If you’re not familiar with QR codes, they’re a special kind of barcode....

With Facebook’s temporary profile picture feature, you no longer have to remember to switch your profile picture back after a holiday or observance–they’ll do it automatically for you. Why Set a Temporary Profile Picture? For several years now, millions of people have used their Facebook (and other social media profile) pictures as a tool for political protest (such as those supporting marriage equality in the United States), solidarity with groups (such as the victims of the Paris terror attack in 2015), and to otherwise draw attention to causes, people, and holidays in their culture....

If you like the idea of blocking overbearing ads, but don’t want to steal revenue from sites you like, you can set AdBlock to allow all ads by default, and then block them as needed. RELATED: How to Disable Chrome’s New Ad Blocker (On Certain Sites or All Sites) While Google is doing its part to make your ad experience better on the web by blocking ads that don’t meat certain standards, it’s never a bad idea to have the control where you want it....

When you’re using Slack for communications, it’s important to remember to follow up on a message, attend a meeting, or just get up and drink some water. Set reminders in Slack and Slackbot will help. How to Set Custom Reminders in Slack You can use basic slash commands to set customized reminders for any time, while tagging another person or channel in that reminder. In any message field, type /remindand a basic template will appear....

Spammers and other unscrupulous advertisers are always looking for new ways to get you click on their pages. One of the latest tactics is to steal popular and useful stock images—like the kind you sometimes see in news articles—and re-upload them elsewhere. If part of your job is finding and using images, and more importantly, making sure it’s legal to use them and to properly attribute them, this can be a serious problem....

Windows 10’s Fall Creators Update makes voice dictation much easier to use. Now, you can immediately begin dictation by pressing a key Windows+H on your keyboard. You don’t have to dig through the Control Panel and set anything up first. The old Speech Recognition tool is still accessible via the Control Panel. It has some advanced features you won’t find in the new dictation tool, like the ability to navigate your desktop with voice commands....

Apple’s upcoming macOS Mojave includes a new dark mode. Despite being a new feature in a beta operating system, Apple’s dark mode is already much nicer than Windows 10’s dark mode. Microsoft had years to improve Windows 10’s dark theme, but macOS just leapfrogged it in a single beta release. Apple Chose Better-Looking Dark Grays Instead of Jarring Pure Blacks Windows 10’s dark app theme, which you can enable from Settings > Personalization > Colors > Choose your default app mode, uses a lot of pure black colors, also known as #000000 in hex color codes....

We previously showed you how to share files and printers between Windows 7 and XP. But what if you have a printer connected to an XP or Vista machine in another room, and you want to print to it from Windows 7? This guide will walk you through the process. Note: In these examples we’re using 32-bit versions of Windows 7, Vista, and XP on a basic home network. We are using an HP PSC 1500 printer, but keep in mind every printer is different so finding and installing the correct drivers will vary....

So you got Google Assistant on your phone. Cool! …but, now what? Well, to make the most of your new Assistant, you need to actually use it. And the more you use it, the more you’ll learn about it. Here are some ideas to get you started. Google Assistant started on the original Pixel with Android Nougat, and slowly branched from there. As of this week, it’s rolling out to phones as far back as Lollipop (and tablets with Marshmallow)....

The very best VPNs can do all of the above, but as with any product, some will do better at one job than others. On top of that, there are other things to consider, like usability, speed, and even the number of servers when looking to buy a VPN. Most importantly, though, is the question of privacy and security. As new VPN providers are springing up right and left, it can be hard to figure out which ones are bonafide and which were brought into existence purely to steal your data—and there are plenty of untrustworthy VPNs out there....

If you’ve been watching the news lately, you might have heard about something called a blockchain. It’s a concept that makes data ultra-secure for specific uses. You’ve probably heard it in connection with Bitcoin, but it has applications far beyond everyone’s favorite cryptocurrencies. Here’s a quick explanation of how it works. It All Begins with Encryption RELATED: What Is Bitcoin, and How Does it Work? To understand blockchains, you need to understand cryptography....

iPhones and Macs with Touch ID or Face ID use a separate processor to handle your biometric information. It’s called the Secure Enclave, it’s basically an entire computer unto itself, and it offers a variety of security features. The Secure Enclave boots separately from the rest of your device. It runs its own microkernel, which is not directly accessible by your operating system or any programs running on your device....

Hey Internet people, did you know that Microsoft makes video games? Okay, you’re probably aware of the various incarnations of the Xbox, yes. But long before the Xbox, Microsoft was a video game publisher for the PC…and still is! It even has its own distribution platform, which is the rather terrible Windows Store. The point here is that Microsoft is very much aware of the lucrative PC gaming market, and they’d really appreciate it if you thought of the Windows Store as an alternative to Steam....

There are two ways you can buy Microsoft Office. You can buy the traditional Microsoft Office 2016 product, or get it as part of an Office 365 software subscription. Here’s the difference. Office 2016 vs. Office 365 Here’s the main difference: Office 2016 is the the traditional Microsoft Office product, sold for a one-time, up-front fee. You pay once to buy a version of Office 2016 you can install on a single PC or Mac and use for as long as you like....