How-To Geek - We Explain Technology

The Cheapest Places to Pre-Order Games (Now That You Need Prime for Amazon Discounts)

Amazon’s 20% discount on video game pre-orders and Best Buy’s generous Gamers Club Unlocked program are both gone. The competition is cooling down, but you can still find savings on new PC, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One games.

How to Disable Automatic Hyperlinks in Microsoft Word

By default, Word 2016 and 365 automatically create hyperlinks out of web addresses you type. If you’d rather Word not create hyperlinks automatically, you can disable this functionality. Here’s how.

The Best Assisted-Open Knives

If you use a pocket knife as part of your every day carry kit, you want one that’s quick and easy to deploy. The spring-assisted selections below are the best on the market.

7 Products To Help You Keep The Peace With Your Roommate

You’ve made the big move and now you’re at college with a new roommate to get to know. Getting along with people in tight quarters can be tough though, so we’ve rounded up some products to make the transition smoother.

The 6 Best Tools for Customizing Mac Keyboard Shortcuts

macOS has some useful keyboard shortcuts out of the box, but many apps on the market extend what you can do with the click of a few buttons. Most of them follow a simple formula of triggers and actions, allowing you to chain together commands and automate your workflow.

How to See Which Windows Version and Build is on a DVD, ISO, or USB Drive

Windows ISO files, DVDs, and USB drives all look alike. Microsoft should fix this, but it’s easy to see which Windows version, edition, build number, and architecture you have with a built-in command.

The Best Battery Packs to Jump Start Your Car (And Phone, Too)

Portable car jump starters are great to have for jump-starting your car when there’s no one else around, but many of them can also charge up your mobile devices. Here are the best ones to buy if you’re in the market for a roadside life saver than can also juice up your phone.

What Are Photoshop Plug-ins, Extensions, and Add-Ons?

Photoshop is already a powerful and versatile app, but you can make it even more powerful, more versatile, and easier to use with Photoshop Add-Ons.

What Is an EPUB File (and How Do I Open One)?

A file with the .epub file extension is a popular file format used for storing eBooks and other types of content. EPUB, short for electronic publication, was named the official standard of the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF) in September 2007.

The Best Computers (For People Who Hate Computers)

Trying to find a way to introduce someone to the internet and the digital world when it’s foreign to them (and they don’t like computers) is tough. But you can make that task easier by picking the right hardware.

How to Work with Page Numbers in Microsoft Word

Microsoft Word offers an easy way to add different styles of page numbers to your document. If you’ve got a simple document, it works well enough. But if you’ve worked with Word for a while and use it to create more complex documents, you know page numbering can get a little flaky. So let’s take a closer look.

Foobot Air Quality Monitor Review: Dial In Your Air Quality With A Friendly Assistant

You might not pay much attention to the air quality in your home. The Foobot monitors the air in your home so you don’t have to. We dove deep to see if it’s worth $199 to improve your home’s air.

How to Make iPhone AutoCorrect Ducking Let You Swear

AutoCorrect automatically fixes typos, which is convenient—but it thinks swears are typos. Your iPhone or iPad likes changing swear words into similar, incorrect words. If you ducking hate that, here’s how to get the keyboard out of your way.

How to Change SIM Cards in Android Phones

So you got a new phone, which means swapping your SIM card from the old to the new. While it sounds slightly daunting if you’ve never done it before, it’s quite easy. Here’s how.

The Best Smart Home Tech For Your Dorm

Smart home tech can make life easier, but dorm life has its own challenges. If you’re moving into a dorm this year, here’s the smart home tech you can bring with you.

Do I Need to Calibrate My Monitor for Photography?

Spend enough time on photography websites, and sooner or later you’ll run into an article telling you how essential calibrating your display’s color is for your photography, but it is really? Let’s find out.

How to Manage a Printer in Windows 10

Windows 10 has a new Settings window for configuring printers, but you can still use the old Control Panel tools, too. Here’s what you need to know about installing, configuring, sharing, and troubleshooting printers on Windows.

The Best Universal TV Remotes

A universal remote is the go-to solution if you want to control everything in your entertainment center without juggling pieces of plastic. Here are the best options on the market at the moment.

Should You Buy a Smart Smoke Alarm?

If your house is already decked out with a ton of smarthome products, your next addition might be some smart smoke alarms, but are they worth buying in the first place? Here are some things to keep in mind.

Best Camera Straps for Every Need

The strap that comes with your camera sucks. It screams tourist, holds your camera awkwardly, and is just generally terrible. Let’s find you a better one.

The Best Cloud Gaming Services for Streaming Video Games

Around 2015, a few companies started to pop up that offer “cloud gaming,” a service promising to turn your cheap laptop into a high powered gaming rig through the power of “the cloud” (and a fast internet connection). A lot has changed in the few years, and cloud gaming is now a fully realized service, with many different options from which to choose.

How Multiple Nest Protect Smoke Alarms Work Together

Having just one smoke alarm in your home isn’t enough, so if you want to go all-in with the Nest Protect, you’ll need more than one unit. Here’s how multiple Protect units work together.

The Best Backpacks For College Students

If you’re off to college in the Fall, there’s a few critical must haves to pick up before you go. A convenient backpack is one of the most important tools in your arsenal, so we’ve round up some of the best.

The Best Alternative Window Managers for macOS

Organizing windows on macOS is a pain—you’ve got to drag and resize everything manually. Happily, there are a bunch of apps that can help.

How to Set Up Whole House Audio Using Google Home

Having audio flow through your entire house is super cool. If you already have a handful of Google Homes spread throughout the house, it’s easy to do—a couple of toggles, and you’ll be ready to roll.

Which Game Console Is Best For The Budget-Conscious?

Buying a console is more expensive than just the basic bundle package. How much does each one cost when you get everything you need for it, though? Let’s find out.

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The U.S. War Department Studied Which Of These Things To Increase Transportation Efficiency?

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Add macOS Preference Panes to Your Dock For Quick Access

macOS: Is there a certain Preference pane you access constantly? You can quickly add it to your dock. Read More »

Gmail Now Has an Undo Send Button on Android

Accidentally sending an unfinished email is the worst, and so is changing your mind right after hitting send. Happily Android Gmail users now have access to an undo button. Read More »

Find Free TV and Movies With This New Roku Feature

A new Roku feature curates free TV shows and movies in one place, so you don’t have to jump between channels in order to find them all. Nothing highlighted requires a cable subscription. Read More »

Netflix Removed All User Reviews (But You Can Add Better Ones)

Netflix removed all user reviews from the site over the weekend, a change announced months ago. Be honest: you probably didn’t even notice. Read More »

Gmail’s Self Destructing Emails Now Work on Your Phone

Gmail users can now use Gmail’s Confidential Mode to send self-descruting emails on Android and iPhone. Read More »

Watch Free TV Online Right Now With Xumo.TV

Xumo.TV brings the channel surfing experience to cord cutters, with content from The History Channel, MSNBC, Fox Sports, and more. And it’s free. Read More »

Here’s Why Your Third Party Twitter Client Broke Today

Every major third party Twitter client basically broke today, with key features like realtime updates, push notifications, and stats no longer working. Twitter caused the change themselves by shutting down some key APIs. Read More »

How SNES Games Made Beautiful Music With Only 64kb

The SNES only had 64 kilobytes of audio RAM, yet composers used it to create some of the most memorable soundtracks in history. How is that possible? Read More »

Mozilla Recommend a Privacy Extension That Is Tracking Your Web History

Web Security, a Firefox extension with over 200,000 current users, tracks every website users visit and stores that information on a German web server. Read More »

Facebook Bans Ads for Kodi Boxes Because Pirates Are Ruining Everything

Facebook banned all ads for Kodi boxes this week, the latest in a long run of similar crackdowns. Read More »

You Can Now Talk to Alexa Using Cortana

You can now use Cortana to talk to Alexa, if you live in the US. Other countries are coming later. Read More »

Yell “Enhance!” At Your Computer, Just Like on TV, In This Browser Game

In the movies clearing up fuzzy photos is easy: just yell “Enhance!” and “Zoom in!” Enhance, a browser game by programmer Nicole He, works just like that, and it’s hilarious. Read More »

Watch This Maniac Connect a Floppy Drive to His Android Phone

There’s no good reason to plug a floppy drive into your phone…but you can. Read More »

Instagram Accounts Are Being Hacked, Lock Yours Down Now

Attackers are compromising Instagram accounts and locking out users, so take a moment to lock down your account. Read More »

These Android Phones Support Fortnite Right Now (Not Just Samsung!)

Fornite for Android is here, but for now it only works on certain devices. Here’s the list—is your phone on it? Read More »