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How to Set an Out of Office Message in Gmail

Posted 20 November 2020
By Ana Maria Ion
-1
1007

When you’re out of the office, your work emails should be left firmly behind. To give you a break, you can set up out of office messages in Gmail to let people know you’re away. Here’s how.

Set an Out of Office Message in Gmail Online

The easiest way to set an out of office message in Gmail is to do so from your Windows PC or Mac. You’ll need to be signed in to your Google account to be able to do this. Head to the Gmail website and click the “Settings” gear icon in the top-right corner to begin. From the “Quick Settings” menu that appears, select the “See All Settings” option.

This will take you to the Gmail settings area for your account. Scroll down to the bottom of the “General” tab until you see the “Vacation Responder” options. In certain locales, such as the U.K., this area is named “Out-Of-Office AutoReply” instead, which is what you’ll see in the screenshots shown below. This is because the U.K. doesn’t typically use the term “vacation” to refer to breaks away.

The settings remain the same for all locales, however.

Out-of-office messages work by automatically replying to emails you receive, alerting them to the fact that you are unavailable to respond. You can set the date range that you’ll be “out of office” or “on vacation” and away from your emails in the “First Day” and “Last Day” date boxes.

You’ll need to enable the “Last Day” checkbox if you want to enable an end date. Otherwise, Gmail will continue to send out of office messages until you disable it manually.

Once the date range is set, you’ll need to set the message you want to send automatically. Provide a subject title for the email in the “Subject” box and then type a message in the “Message” box. This text box is a good place to indicate how long you’ll be away from the office, for instance.

Provide a subject and out of office/vacation responder message in the "Subject" and "Message" boxes.

If you want to limit out of office replies to your Gmail contacts only, check the “Only send a response to people in my contacts” checkbox. This checkbox will stop you from replying automatically to people you might not know or automated emails, for instance.

Press the "Only send a response to people in my contacts" checkbox to limit the number of messages being sent.

Once you’re ready to save and apply the out of office message, select the “Vacation Responder On” radio button or the “Out of Office AutoReply On” radio button, depending on your location. If this radio button is enabled and you’re happy with your out of office message, click the “Save Changes” button at the bottom of the screen.

Click the "Vacation Responder On" or "Out of Office AutoReply On" (depending on your locale) to switch your out of office message on, then press the "Save Changes" option.

This will activate the out of office message you’ve set from 12 a.m. on the date you specified. If you set a “Last Day” value, the message will stop being sent at 11:59 p.m. on that date.

Set an Out of Office Message in Gmail on Mobile Devices

You can also set an out of office message in the Gmail app on your Android, iPhone, or iPad device. These steps will work on all mobile platforms. To start, open the “Gmail” app on your phone or tablet. Once opened, tap the “hamburger” menu icon in the top-left corner of the app.

Scroll down to the bottom of the list and then tap the “Settings” option.

In the “Settings” menu, tap the Google account you wish to add a Gmail out of office message to.

Choose your account in the Gmail settings account list

Your Gmail account settings menu will have options that are specific to your account, including out-of-office messages. To add an out of office message, tap the “Vacation Responder” or “Out Of Office AutoReply” option, depending on your locale.

Tap the "Vacation Responder" or "Out of Office AutoReply" option

You’ll need to set your out-of-office message settings next. Tap the “Vacation Responder” or “Out of Office AutoReply” slider to allow you to modify the message settings.

Tap the "Vacation Responder" or "Out of Office AutoReply" slider to enable it.

Just like the Gmail out-of-office message settings in your desktop browser, you’ll need to set how long you wish the message to be active from (and to) using the “First Day” and “Last Day” drop-down options.

If you don’t wish to have an end date, set the “Last Day” option to “None” instead. You’ll also need to add a subject and message to send to users. If you only want to send messages to your contacts, tap the “Send to my contacts only” checkbox.

Set the date, subject, and message settings for your Gmail out of office message in the boxes provided, and tap "Send to my contacts only" to limit messages to contacts.

To save and apply the message, tap the “Done” option in the top-right corner.

Tap "Done" to save the Gmail out of office message

This will enable your out of office message from 12 a.m. on the date specified in the “First Day” options. If you set an end date, the messages will stop at 11:59 a.m. on that day.

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How to Use Microsoft’s “Windows File Recovery” on Windows 10

Posted 19 October 2020
By Ana Maria Ion
-10
950

Microsoft’s Windows File Recovery is an official tool for recovering deleted files from hard disks, SD cards, USB drives, and other storage media. Here’s an in-depth, step-by-step guide on using this command-line utility.

Microsoft’s Windows File Recovery tool doesn’t have a graphical interface—it’s only a command-line utility. We’ll show you how to use it, but it’s a more hands-on process than you might expect from an official Microsoft utility available in Windows 10’s Store.

This tool requires you’ve installed Windows 10’s May 2020 Update or a newer version of Windows 10. It doesn’t run on older versions of Windows. Whether Microsoft’s tool can actually find and recover a file you’ve deleted depends on the drive. Deleted files aren’t removed from hard drives immediately, but they often are removed from solid-state drives immediately. If you’ve written a lot of data to a device like an SD card since you’ve deleted the file, it’s likely that the file’s data may have been overwritten.

Even if you manage to recover a file, you may only get some of the file’s data—the file may be corrupted. You can only get whatever data is still on the drive. There are no guarantees here, and that’s why backups are so important. The utility also has multiple modes intended for different situations and file systems. We’ll explain which you should use and how to use them.

How to Install Windows File Recovery

To get started, install the Windows File Recovery tool from the Microsoft Store to get started. You can open the Store and search for “Windows File Recovery” or just click that link to open the Store. Once it’s installed, open your Start menu and search for “File Recovery.” Launch the “Windows File Recovery” shortcut once and click “Yes” to the UAC prompt.

You’ll see a Command Prompt window with Administrator access. This is where you’ll run the File Recovery commands.

You can use other command-line environments like the Windows Terminal and PowerShell, but be sure to launch them with Administrator access. (In the Start menu, right-click the one you want to use and select “Run as Administrator.”)

How to Recover Deleted Files on Windows 10

To use this tool, you will run the winfr command, specifying the drive you want to search for the deleted file, the destination you want to save it to, and the various switches that control what the tool searches for and how it searches. You must save the deleted file to a different drive.

Here’s the basic format:

winfr source-drive: destination-drive: /switches

After running the command, the tool will automatically create a directory named “Recovery_[date and time]” on the destination drive you specify.

Which Mode Should You Use?

Before you continue, you should determine the “mode” you want to scan for the deleted file. There are three modes, Default, Segment, and Signature. Default is the fastest mode, while Segment is similar but slower and more thorough. Signature mode can search for files by type—it supports ASF, JPEG, MP3, MPEG, PDF, PNG, and ZIP files. (Searching for “ZIP” files will also find Office documents stored in formats like DOCX, XLSX, and PPTX.)

You’ll need to know what file system the drive you’ll be scanning is formatted with. To find this, open File Explorer, right-click the drive under This PC, and select “Properties.” You’ll see the file system displayed on the “General” tab.

Here’s when you should use the different modes:

Are you trying to find a file you recently deleted on a drive formatted with NTFS, which is the default Windows 10 file system? Use Default mode.
If you’re scanning an NTFS drive in another situation—for example, if you deleted the file a while ago, you formatted the drive, or you’re dealing with a corrupt drive—try Segment mode first and then try Signature mode afterward.
Are you trying to find a file stored on a FAT, exFAT, or ReFS drive? Use Signature mode. The Default and Segment modes only work on NTFS file systems.

If you’re in doubt, just start with Default mode. You can then try Segment and then Signature if Default mode doesn’t work.

How to Recover a File in Default Mode

To use the default mode, you use /n followed by a search path:

To search for a file named document.docx, you’d use /n document.docx . You can also specify a full path to the file, such as /n \Users\Bob\Documents\document.docx
To search for all files that were in the Documents folder if your username is Bob, you’d use /n \Users\Bob\Documents .
To search with a wildcard, use a *. For example /n \Users\Bob\Documents\*.docx will find all DOCX files there were in the Documents folder.

Let’s put that all together now. To search for all DOCX files on drive C: and copy them to drive D:, you’d run the following command:

winfr C: D: /n *.docx

You will have to type “y” to continue.

As we mentioned above, you’ll find the recovered files in a directory named “Recovery_[date and time]” on the destination drive you specified in the command line.

To find all files with a word in their name, use wildcards. So, to find all documents with “project” anywhere in their name, you’d run:

winfr C: D: /n *project*

You can specify multiple searches with multiple /n switches. So, to find all Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files, you’d run the following:

winfr C: D: /n *.docx /n *.xlsx /n *.pptx

To search for a specific file named important_document.pdf that was in the \Users\Bob\Documents folder on drive C:—and then save it to drive D:—you’d use:

winfr C: D: /n \Users\Bob\Documents\important_document.pdf

How to Recover a File in Segment Mode

Segment mode works almost exactly like Default mode. To use segment mode, which examines file record segments, you use /r in addition to /n . In other words, you can construct Segment mode recovery commands in the same way you construct Default mode commands—just add the /r .

For example, to recover all deleted MP3 files from your C: drive and save them to your D: drive, you’d run:

winfr C: D: /r /n *.mp3

So, if a Default mode search doesn’t find what you’re looking for, add the /r and try again.

How to Recover a File in Signature Mode

Signature mode works a bit differently. It examines file types, so it can only find deleted files of certain file types. To use Signature mode, you use /x to specify Signature mode and /y: to list the file type groups you’d like to search for.

Here’s a list of supported file types and the groups they’re sorted into, taken from Microsoft’s documentation:

ASF: wma, wmv, asf
JPEG: jpg, jpeg, jpe, jif, jfif, jfi
MP3: mp3
MPEG: mpeg, mp4, mpg, m4a, m4v, m4b, m4r, mov, 3gp, qt
PDF: pdf
PNG: png
ZIP: zip, docx, xlsx, pptx, odt, ods, odp, odg, odi, odf, odc, odm, ott, otg, otp, ots, otc, oti, otf, oth

Note that the “ZIP” group includes ZIP files in addition to Microsoft Office and OpenDocument documents.

You can pull up this list at any time by running the following command:

winfr /#

Let’s say you want to search drive E: for images in JPEG format and save them to drive D:. You’d run the following command:

winfr E: D: /x /y:JPEG

You can specify multiple file groups by separating them with a space. So, if you want to find JPEG files, PDFs, and Word documents, you’d run:

winfr E: D: /x /y:JPEG,PDF,ZIP

More information is available on Microsoft’s official winfr documentation page. You’ll find a detailed list of all winfr ‘s command-line options on that page, too.

For a refresher on the basics, just run winfr or winfr /? .

There are also additional advanced options you can see by running winfr /! .

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How to Create Conditional Formulas in Adobe Acrobat

Posted 19 October 2020
By Ana Maria Ion
-1
920

There are several ways to create complex calculations in a clean elegant PDF file. Here’s how to integrate conditional formulas into your next document.

Conditional Formulas in Acrobat

We’ve previously covered the basics of automatic calculations in Adobe Acrobat. Conditional formulas let you go beyond the basics, creating more complex formulas in a PDF.

If you use formulas in Excel or Google Sheets, you likely already know what conditional formulas are. Also called logical formulas, they display a particular value or activate a calculation if a certain condition is met, such as if a number is negative or if a score is above the passing grade. Some of the most common conditional formulas in excel include the standard “IF,” as well as “SUMIF,” and COUNTIF.” There is also conditional formatting, where changes to the format are made if a cell meets a certain condition.

Using calculated fields, these kinds of formulas can also be applied in Adobe PDFs. You can display a number, text, or run a calculation based on the results of another input box. You can also use them in conjunction with other calculated fields. Conditional formulas are useful for many types of PDF forms, such as:

Financial Documents: For example, if the principal determines someone’s interest rate, a conditional formula can be used to display the corresponding price based on the amount they input.
Tests and Exams: You can make an assessment that automatically shows either “pass” or “fail” at the end based on the test taker’s total score.
Sales: If you’re using this for transactions, you can make a box that recommends products depending on a prospective buyer’s answers to specific questions.

Take note that while calculated fields can only be made in Adobe Acrobat, the actual calculations will display in any PDF reader.

Creating Simple Conditional Statements

Adobe Acrobat’s custom calculated fields use javascript as a programming language. Fortunately, you don’t need to know how to program in javascript to create a simple conditional field; you just need a basic pattern to follow.

In the following example, we’ll be using this simple company order form. This currently has seven fields: one for quantities of each of the five products, the total quantity, and the total price.

A conditional statement in Adobe javascript follows this basic syntax:

var variable name = this.getField("name of field").value; if( variable name condition) event.value = true result else event.value = false result

The first line defines the value that will be used for your conditional formula. In this particular case, we used the “this.getField” to obtain the value of one of the other fields in the document. On the second line, we define the condition. Similar to excel, we specify the condition as being greater than, less than, or equal to a particular value.

Lastly, we define the results. The true result is the value that will be displayed if the condition is met. On the next line, we use “else” to generate the false result, which is the value that will be displayed if the condition is not met.

To put this into practice, we’ve created a calculated field called “Bulk Order.” To enter a custom calculated script, right-click the chosen field in Acrobat, and select “Properties.” From here, go to “Calculate > Custom Calculation Script > Edit.”

This field will determine whether or not an order counts as bulk. The box will display “Yes” if the total quantity is greater than 20 items, and “No” if it is less than 20. Considering these conditions, we have the formula:

var TQ = this.getField("Total Quantity").value; if( TQ > 20) event.value = "Yes" else event.value = "No"

In the image above, you can see that we set the variable name to “TQ,” and pulled the value of TQ from the field “Total Quantity.” Take note that these fields are case-sensitive. Then, we set our condition, which is that TQ must be greater than 20. If it meets this condition, it will display “Yes.” Otherwise, the box will generate “No.”

If we ordered a total of 11 Lightning Cables and 10 Battery Banks, for example, we’d have a total of 21 items. It would then be considered a bulk order, and generate the following result:

Multiple Conditions

There are cases where you may want to have multiple conditions met instead of just one. Fortunately, there is a way to create a conditional field that generates values based on multiple conditions.

Let’s say that in your store, all orders that reach at least 20 products and have a total price of 150 are eligible for a discount of 10%. The final amount would appear in a field called “Total With Discount.” In that case, we’d have to specify two variables and two conditions. We would have the following field:

var Price = this.getField("Initial Price").value; var TQ = this.getField("Total Quantity").value; if( Price > 150 && TQ > 20 ) event.value = Price*0.9; else event.value = Price;

As you can see, we defined two variables on two separate lines. You will also have to use the “&&” notation to combine the two different conditions. Take note that the final value is also a calculation that takes into account the discount.

Therefore, if we use the same total as the example above, we’d generate the following result:

Calculation Orders

One important consideration you should make is the calculation order. Unlike Excel, which renders calculations simultaneously, Acrobat relies on the user to determine which formulas come first.

To set the calculation order, go to the “Edit Form” sidebar and navigate to More > Set Field Calculation Order. In the above example, because the formulas for Bulk Order and Total With Discount are both reliant on Total Quantity and Total Price, we want to make sure that TQ and TP are calculated first.

Make sure to review the calculation order before publishing your form. It’s a good idea to try a few sample inputs on your form to make sure everything is working correctly.

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How to Switch From Google Play Music to YouTube Music

Posted 22 September 2020
By Ana Maria Ion
-2
746

Google Play Music is going away. Google’s first music service will be shut down by December 2020. To keep your data, you’ll have to switch to YouTube Music—or download it. Here’s what you need to know.

When is Google Play Music Going Away?

Google has announced that “YouTube Music will replace Google Play Music by December 2020.” YouTube Music is Google’s replacement for Google Play Music. It appears to have the same big library of streaming music, but the interface is changing—and the app you’ll use to stream is changing, too. Google has been adding features from Google Play Music to YouTube Music, including the ability to upload and stream your own songs.

You will no longer be able to use the Google Play Music app to stream music starting October 2020. (The cutoff date is September 2020 in New Zealand and South Africa.) If you’re currently paying for a Google Play Music subscription and don’t transfer your account, Google will cancel your subscription at the end of your billing cycle in October (or September in New Zealand sn South Africa.)

However, you will be able to transfer everything you have in Google Play Music—your playlists, music uploads, purchases, and likes—to YouTube Music. The transfer service will be available through the end of December 2020.

After December 2020, Google will delete your Google Play Music data from its servers.

How to Switch to YouTube Music

You can transfer your Google Play Music account by using Google’s YouTube Music transfer tool. This is a one-time transfer process that will migrate all your Google Play Music data to YouTube Music. Visit the web page and click “Start Transfer.”

Whether you subscribe to Google Play Music’s streaming library or you’ve uploaded some of your own songs and you use Google Play Music to listen to them—or both—you can continue using YouTube Music to play your music after the switch.

If you’re an existing subscriber, you’ll now be billed through YouTube but your monthly subscription price and benefits will stay the same (“unless you are in a location with fluctuating currency,” according to Google.) Even if YouTube now charges extra for the benefits you’re paying for, you’ll keep any discounts you have.

After you’ve switched, head to the YouTube Music website and use the YouTube Music apps for Android, iPhone, and iPad to stream your music.

How to Download Your Music

If you’re done with Google’s music services, you can also download any uploaded music and take it with you.

Until late August 2020, you can still use the Google Play Music Manager application to download your uploaded music files from Google Play Music.

You can also use Google Takeout to download your Google Play Music data and take it with you. Ensure “Google Play Music” is checked to download everything—from a list of all the songs you’ve added to your library to any music files you’ve uploaded. Google Takeout should work until Google Play Music shuts down at the end of December 2020.

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What Is Instagram Reels, and Is It a TikTok Clone?

Posted 19 August 2020
By Ana Maria Ion
-7
435

Reels is a new feature on Instagram that allows people to create 15-second videos á la Vine and TikTok. But is Instagram Reels just a TikTok clone? Easily-digestible, short video clips are certainly not new on social media. TikTok is the latest platform to use it, and it’s become incredibly popular. Now, Instagram has jumped on the bandwagon with Reels. Let’s take a look at how the two apps compare.

What Is Instagram Reels?

First and foremost, Reels is a video-creation tool. It’s a new mode you can access through the Instagram Stories camera. You can make a Reel from a single or series of clips, but it can only be a maximum of 15 seconds. Instagram expects most Reels to include multiple clips, though. There’s even a handy tool for aligning a new clip with the previous one to create a seamless transition.

Like an Instagram Story, there are a number of editing tools available for Reels. You can add music, adjust playback speed, and use Instagram’s existing library of augmented reality effects. Reels also has a timer and countdown for recording videos hands-free. After you record a clip, you can add stickers, text, and doodles.

Sharing a Reel is mostly the same as sharing anything else on Instagram. Accounts set to public can share Reels to a dedicated space in the “Explore” tab. Private accounts can simply share the Reel to their feed. You can also share a Reel as your Instagram Story.

Once you create a Reel, a new “Reels” tab will appear on your profile, and they’ll also appear in your main profile grid.

Again, Reels can also be posted to the public “Discover” tab, so you can browse through videos from accounts you might not follow. You can scroll through and Like, Comment, or Share the same as you would with any Instagram post.

You might think Reels sounds a lot like Instagram Stories. While both creation tools function similarly, they serve different purposes. Stories are intended to be more of a social feature that allow people to share short videos or photos, which are only visible for 24 hours. Reels are more about creation and entertainment.

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How to Change Chrome’s Default Text Size

Posted 22 July 2020
By Ana Maria Ion
-8
347

An Alternative Solution: Zoom Mode

Before we set default font sizes, it’s worth noting that Chrome also includes a feature called Zoom that allows you to quickly change both the size of images and text using the menu or keyboard shortcuts. Unlike Zoom mode, changing the default font size in Chrome will only change text size and will not affect the size of images on the page.

How to Change Chrome’s Default Font Size

If you’d still like to change the default font size in Chrome, we’ll have dig into Settings. First, open Chrome. In the upper-right corner of any window, click the “ellipses” button (three vertical dots). In the menu that appears, click “Settings.

In Settings, click the “Appearance” option in the sidebar or scroll down until you see the “Appearance” section of the Settings page. Next, locate the option called “Font Size.”

Click the “Font Size” drop-down menu, and you will see five options pop up: “Very Small,” “Small,” “Medium,” “Large,” and “Very Large.”

“Medium” is the default size, so if you’d like all fonts to be larger, select “Large” or “Very Large.” Likewise, if you’d like text on websites to be smaller than the default, select the “Small” or “Very Small” options.

After that, exit Settings. The change will apply to all future websites you visit. You can always revisit Settings if you change your mind about which font size is ideal for you.

How to Finely Tune Font Size in Google Chrome

If you’re not satisfied with Chrome’s five basic font size options and would like more granular control, visit Settings > Appearance in Chrome and click “Customize fonts.”

On the Customize fonts screen, you can select a font by point size (from 9 all the way to 72, with 16 pt being the default) using a slider. As you move the slider, the point size will display just above it.

You can also set a minimum font size, which ensures that websites never display fonts that are too small for you to read.

And if you’d like, you can even change the actual font faces you use on this same Settings page.

Experiment with the settings and find what is most comfortable for you. Feel free to switch back and forth between the Settings tab and other website tabs to test. Once you’ve found what you like, close Settings, and you’re set.

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How to Use Windows 10’s “Fresh Start” on the May 2020 Update

Posted 22 June 2020
By Ana Maria Ion
-1
388

Windows 10’s May 2020 Update moves the “Fresh Start” feature that lets you reinstall Windows while removing any manufacturer-installed bloatware on your laptop or desktop PC. It’s no longer part of the Windows Security application. To get started, head to Settings > Update & Security > Recovery. Click “Get started” under Reset This PC.

Select “Keep my files” to keep the personal files on your PC or “Remove everything” to remove them. Either way, Windows will remove your installed applications and settings.

Warning: Be sure you have your important files backed up before clicking “Remove everything.”

Next, select “Cloud download” to download the Windows 10 installation files from Microsoft or “Local reinstall” to use the Windows installation files on your PC. Cloud Download may actually be faster if you have a speedy internet connection, but your PC will have to download several gigabytes of data. Local Reinstall doesn’t require a download, but it may fail if your Windows installation is corrupted.

On the Additional settings screen, click “Change settings.”

Set the “Restore preinstalled apps?” option to “No.” With this option disabled, Windows won’t automatically reinstall the applications your PC manufacturer provided with your PC.

Note: If the “Restore preinstalled apps?” option isn’t present here, your PC doesn’t have any preinstalled apps. This can occur if you installed Windows on your PC yourself or if you have previously removed the preinstalled apps from your PC.

Click “Confirm” and continue through the Reset This PC process.

You’ll get a clean Windows installation without any manufacturer-installed apps cluttering up your system afterward.

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Set an Out of Office Message in Gmail Online

Set an Out of Office Message in Gmail on Mobile Devices

How to Install Windows File Recovery

How to Recover Deleted Files on Windows 10

Which Mode Should You Use?

How to Recover a File in Default Mode

How to Recover a File in Segment Mode

How to Recover a File in Signature Mode

Conditional Formulas in Acrobat

Creating Simple Conditional Statements

Multiple Conditions

Calculation Orders

When is Google Play Music Going Away?

How to Switch to YouTube Music

How to Download Your Music

Choose a Shopping List App on Google Home

What Is Instagram Reels?

An Alternative Solution: Zoom Mode

How to Change Chrome’s Default Font Size

How to Finely Tune Font Size in Google Chrome