If you’re looking to add an extra layer of security to your Signal app, you can lock your messages behind your smartphone’s lock screen security features. Here’s how to add a screen lock to Signal. By turning on the Screen Lock feature on your iPhone or iPad, your messages will be hidden until they’re unlocked using Face ID, Touch ID, or your lock screen passcode. The same goes for Android. You’ll either need to authenticate yourself using a supported biometric security feature such as your fingerprint or a traditional password or PIN.

Open the “Signal” app on your iPhone, iPad, or Android device.

Next, tap on your profile picture in the top-left corner. If you haven’t uploaded a custom image, you will find your username’s initials instead.

Select the “Privacy” option from the overflow menu.

Finally, toggle on the “Screen Lock” setting.

Once the feature is enabled, you can customize the “Screen Lock Timeout.” This setting allows you to adjust how long it takes for Signal to lock itself and require your phone or tablet’s lock screen security to unlock.

From the pop-up window, select one of the options between 1 minute, 30 minutes, and instantly.

You can now exit Signal’s settings menu and the app itself. The messaging app will lock itself after the timeout period you chose in the previous instruction. The next time you want to send a text message in Signal, you’ll need to unlock the app using your phone or tablet’s password, PIN, pattern, fingerprint sensor, Face ID, or other biometric security feature.

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Microsoft’s Xbox Game Bar in Windows 10 is a handy way to call up an overlay of useful widgets using the Windows+G keyboard shortcut. But not everyone needs it, and if you’d like to disable it (or enable it again later), all it takes is a visit to Settings. Here’s how. First, open Windows Settings. To do so, open the Start menu and click the small “gear” icon, or press Windows+i on your keyboard.

In Settings, click “Gaming.”

Under “Xbox Game Bar” settings, click the switch beneath “Enable Xbox Game Bar” until it is turned off. That will disable the Xbox Game Bar.

After that, close settings. Try pressing Windows+G, and nothing will pop up. Even if you press the Xbox button on an Xbox controller, nothing will happen. Xbox Game Bar has been fully disabled. If you’d like to enable the Xbox Game Bar again, revisit the “Gaming” section in Windows Settings and flip the “Enable Xbox Game Bar” to the “On” position.

How to Disable the Xbox Button in Windows 10

By default, if you have an Xbox 360 or Xbox One controller connected to your Windows 10 PC, pressing the Xbox button (the large circle in the center of the controller with an “x” on it) will bring up the Xbox Game Bar. If you’d like to disable this, visit Windows Settings > Gaming, then uncheck the box beside “Open Xbox Game Bar using this button on a controller.”

Alternately, if you disable the Xbox Game Bar completely using the “Enable Xbox Game Bar” switch, then the Xbox button on your controller will no longer call up the Game Bar. But that also disables calling up the Game Bar using other methods (such as the Windows+G shortcut).

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Google Smart Displays and Chromecasts display the dates and location information for Google Photos in Ambient Mode. If this personal information is something you don’t want everyone to be able to see, it can be hidden. Since September 2020, showing the date, location, and other photo information for the Google Photos backdrop became the default setting. This only applies to devices that use Google Photos in Ambient Mode (the screen saver).

To hide this information, open the Google Home app on your iPhone, iPad, or Android device. Tap the Smart Display or Chromecast-enabled device you want to use.

Next, tap the Gear icon at the top right to open the settings menu for that device.

Scroll down and tap “Ambient Mode.”

Under “More Settings,” find “Personal Photo Data,” and then tap “Hide.”

That’s all there is to it! You can repeat these steps for every Google Assistant-powered smart display or Chromecast that displays your Google Photo’s location, date, and time data.

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Visit Google Takeout’s website and sign in with your Google account to get started. By default, this tool exports your data from all of Google services. Click “Deselect All” to only extract an archive of your cloud drive.

Scroll down until you reach “Drive” and check the box next to it.

There are a few more options underneath it you may find handy. You can pick which folders to back up with the “All Drive data included” option. The “Multiple Formats” button lets you choose in which format the files will be archived, and with “Advanced Settings,” you can ask Google to also include a bunch of additional information.

Once you’re done, click the “Next Step” button present at the bottom of the page.

On the following screen, Google allows you to customize the export. You have the option to specify whether you’d like Google to email you the archive or directly upload it to another cloud storage provider, configure automatic exports, and define the archive’s file type and size.

Hit “Create Export” to proceed to confirm the export.

Google will now begin backing up the folders you have selected. This can take hours or even days, depending on the data. If you change your mind or want to edit the export, you can cancel it with the “Cancel Export” option.

When this process is over, you should get an email titled “Your Google data is ready to download.” Inside that message, click the “Download Your Files” button. Sign in again with your Google credentials for authentication.

You’ll be redirected to the “Manage Your Exports” page where your archive will begin downloading. In case it doesn’t automatically, you can manually grab it with the “Download” button next to the Drive export entry in the list.

In the downloaded archive, “archive_browser.html” lets you browse the content from a custom web app, and from the “Drive” folder, you can view and open these files individually.

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Microsoft Word is known for being a great word processor, but you can also use it to make your own calendar. You can design one from scratch or choose one from Word’s library of calendar templates. Here’s how.

Create a Calendar From Scratch in Word

Creating a calendar from scratch in Microsoft Word takes a little more time and energy than just using one of the templates, but if you want the complete design credit for your calendar, you’ll want to build it from the ground up.

To do this, open a Word document and insert a table by clicking the “Table” option in the “Tables” group of the “Insert” tab.

A drop-down menu will appear. Hover your mouse over the grid to either increase or decrease the number of rows and columns in the table. For the calendar, you’ll need a 7×7 table, so hover your mouse over the appropriate square in the grid and click it to insert the table.

With the 7×7 table inserted, it’s time to start formatting the calendar. First, we want to adjust the height of the table’s squares. Hover your mouse over the table and an icon will appear in the top-left corner. Right-click that icon.

Next, select “Table Properties” from the menu.

The “Table Properties” window will appear. Click the “Row” tab, check the box next to “Specify Height,” and enter the desired height in the text box. 2.5 cm is a comfortable height, but you can adjust it to fit your preferences.

Note: Depending on your region, Word may use inches instead of centimeters by default. Be sure to specify cm in the text box.

Press “OK” when done.

The height of the boxes within your table is now set. However, we’ll also want to make some adjustments to the top two rows. Select the top two rows by clicking and dragging your cursor over them.

Next, adjust the height of these two rows (right-click table icon > Table Properties > Row > Specify Height) to make them a bit smaller than the others. 1.5 cm is an ideal height, but you can adjust yours to fit your preferences.

You can also click and drag the row to adjust the height if you decide one is a little too large for your taste.

Now that the height of our table’s boxes is set, it’s time to enter the name of the month in the top row. To do this, we’ll need to combine the cells of the top row. Click and drag your mouse over each cell of the top row and right-click the selected area.

A drop-down menu will appear. Click “Merge Cells.”

With the cells of the top row merged, enter the name of the month. Use the alignment and font style that matches your design preference.

Next, enter the days of the week in the second row. Again, format the text to match the style you have in mind.

Finally, enter the days of the month in each respective box.

You can repeat the above steps for each month of the year to complete the calendar.

If you want a nice-looking calendar, but don’t have the time to create everything from scratch, you can always choose one of Word’s many templates.

Use a Calendar Template in Word

Word has a nice variety of calendars readily available. To choose one, open Microsoft Word and click the “New” tab in the left-hand pane.

Next, type “Calendar” in the online templates search box.

Scroll through the library and select a calendar template you like by clicking it.

A pop-up window will appear showing a preview and a description of the calendar. Click “Create.”

Once it’s selected, you can fine-tune the calendar using Word’s styling tools. This is just one of the many things you can design using Microsoft Word. You can also create anything from flowcharts to brochures using Microsoft’s design toolset. If you need a simple design and don’t have the time to invest in learning sophisticated design software such as Photoshop, it can probably be done in Word.

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If you’re running Windows 10 and you don’t need an application anymore, you might want to uninstall it. There are several ways to do it, depending on what type of app it is. Here’s how to uninstall a program in Windows.

Uninstall an Application Using the Start Menu

If an application has been installed using the Microsoft Store, you can uninstall it quickly via the Start menu. To do so, open the “Start” menu and locate the application’s icon, then right-click it. In the menu that pops up, select “Uninstall.”

If it’s the first time you’ve uninstalled a program this way, it will warn you with a small pop-up dialog. Click “Uninstall” again. The app will be uninstalled silently with no further action necessary from you. If you change your mind, you can download and install it again later through the Microsoft Store. If you right-click an app that wasn’t installed via the Microsoft Store and select “Uninstall,” the “Programs and Features” window will open. Locate the program in the list, select it, then click the “Uninstall” button.

If an uninstall wizard window appears, follow the steps until the program is uninstalled. Then you’re free to close the “Programs and Features” window.

Uninstall an Application Using Settings

Perhaps the most comprehensive way to uninstall an application on Windows 10 is by using Settings. That’s because you can see a list of every installed program on the system and easily select which one you’d like to uninstall. To do so, open “Settings” by clicking the “Start” menu and selecting the gear icon. (Or you can press Windows+I on your keyboard.)

In “Settings,” click “Apps.”

After that, you’ll see a list of all apps installed on your system. This includes both apps installed through the Microsoft Store and those installed through other methods. Locate the entry for the program you’d like to uninstall and select it. Then click “Uninstall.”

If the app was installed from the Microsoft Store, it will uninstall instantly without any extra steps. If it’s an app installed through other means, you might see an additional pop-up dialog. If so, click “Uninstall” again. After that, the program’s uninstall wizard window will launch. Follow the wizard’s steps, and the app will uninstall completely.

Uninstall an Application Using Control Panel

You can also uninstall non-Microsoft Store applications using the legacy Windows Control Panel. To do so, open the “Start” menu and type “control,” then click the “Control Panel” icon.

Under “Programs,” click “Uninstall a program.”

In the Programs and Features window that appears, you’ll see a long list of installed applications that you can sort by name, publisher, install date, size, and version number by clicking on the column headings. This list does not include apps installed from the Microsoft Store. To uninstall those, use the “Settings” window or right-click them and select “Uninstall” in the “Start” menu.

Locate the program you’d like to uninstall and click the entry to select it. Then click the “Uninstall” button.

An uninstall wizard for the program will launch. Click through the steps until you finish the uninstall process. Since Microsoft considers Control Panel a legacy interface, it’s a good idea to also practice uninstalling programs using the other methods above.

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Microsoft Excel may be known for complex calculations and formulas, but it’s no slouch at simple arithmetic. There are a number of ways to find solutions to simple math problems, like finding the sum of numbers in multiple cells.

Finding the Sum of Numbers in Adjacent Columns or Cells

The quickest way to calculate the sum of squares in Excel is to simply highlight the list of numbers, and check the bottom right of the screen. Here, you’ll find the sum of any selected cell as well as their average and the number of cells you’re adding.

But, we’ll assume you want to add the sum to the workbook itself. In that case, highlight the numbers you want to add.

From the “Formulas” tab, click “Autosum” to find the sum of the list of numbers. Once you click, Excel will automatically add the sum to the bottom of this list.

Alternatively, you can type the formula =SUM(D1:D7) in the formula bar and then press “Enter” on the keyboard or click the checkmark in the formula bar to execute the formula. Change the letters and numbers in parenthesis to fit your workbook.

Finding the Sum of Numbers in Non-Adjacent Columns or Cells

Click any empty cell in the workbook. This should be the cell where you want to display the sum of these non-adjacent columns.

From the “Formulas” tab, click the arrow icon at the right of “Autosum.”

Choose “Sum.”

Click the first number in the series.

Hold the “Shift” button and then click the last number in that column to select all of the numbers in between.

To add the second column of numbers, hold Ctrl and scroll down from the first to the last number in the column. Alternatively, you can add the formula =SUM(D1:D7,F1:F7) to the formula bar. Swap the cells inside the parenthesis to fit your needs.

Press the “Enter” button on the keyboard, or the checkmark in the formula bar to execute the formula.

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Creating and joining a team in Microsoft Teams is easy. Visually identifying a team from a long list of teams, on the other hand, can be more difficult. Give your teams a visual identity by adding a unique logo to each one. It’s quite normal to have a list of teams in Microsoft Teams, each of which is represented by an icon with the initials of the team name in it.

The more teams you’re a member of, the more difficult it is to identify a team at a glance, especially if you’re a member of multiple teams that have the same initials. The best way to easily identify a team is to give it a unique logo. This image will show up in the list of teams and in the team itself.

Before we begin, know that you’ll need to be the owner of the team before you can change its icon. To change your team logo, open Microsoft Teams, click the three-dot menu button next to the team name, then select “Manage Team.”

Navigate to the “Settings” tab, expand the “Team Picture” section, and click the “Change Picture” button.

In the panel that opens, select the “Upload Picture” button.

A file dialogue will appear for you to locate the image you want to use for your team. Select the photo you want, then click the “Save” button.

Close the panel. Your image will now be visible in the sidebar and in the team itself.

If you want to change the image again in the future, just repeat the process.

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If you’d like your iPhone or iPad wallpaper to change when you switch between light and dark mode, you can use special wallpapers provided by Apple that include both light and dark versions. Here’s how to set it up. First, open the “Settings” app on your iPhone or iPad.

In Settings, tap “Wallpaper.”

In Wallpaper settings, tap “Choose a New Wallpaper.”

On the “Choose” screen, select the “Stills” category at the top of the page.

In the “Stills” category, select a wallpaper that includes the dark mode icon, which looks like several concentric circles with halves cut out of them. The wallpapers with the dark and light mode icon will change automatically between dark and light versions when dark mode or light mode is activated.

On the next screen, tap “Set,” then decide whether you want to see the wallpaper on your Lock screen, Home screen, or both.

After that, close Settings and switch from light mode to dark mode (or vice versa) by opening Control Center, holding down the brightness slider, and tapping the dark or light mode button. After you switch, you’ll notice that the wallpaper you set changes automatically to match.

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Command-line environments like the Windows Command Prompt and PowerShell use spaces to separate commands and arguments—but file and folder names can also contain spaces. To specify a file path with a space inside it, you’ll need to “escape” it.

Command Line 101: Why You Have to Escape Spaces

“Escaping” a character changes its meaning. For example, escaping a space will cause the shell to treat it like a standard space character rather than a special character that separates command-line arguments. For example, let’s say you have a text file that you want to see the contents of. You can do that with the type command. Assuming the text file is at C:\Test\File.txt, the following command in Command Prompt will show its contents:

type C:\Test\File.txt

Great. Now, what if you have the same file at C:\Test Folder\Test File.txt? If you try running the below command, it won’t work—those spaces in the file path are getting in the way.

type C:\Test Folder\Test File.txt

The command line thinks you’re trying to look for a file called C:\Test and says it “cannot find the path specified.”

Three Ways to Escape Spaces on Windows

There are three different ways you can escape file paths on Windows:

• By enclosing the path (or parts of it) in double quotation marks ( ” ).
• By adding a caret character ( ^ ) before each space. (This only works in Command Prompt/CMD, and it doesn’t seem to work with every command.)
• By adding a grave accent character ( ` ) before each space. (This only works in PowerShell, but it always works.)

We’ll show you how to use each method.

Enclose the Path in Quotation Marks ( ” )

The standard way to ensure Windows treats a file path properly is to enclose it in double quotation mark ( ” ) characters. For example, with our sample command above, we’d just run the following instead:

type "C:\Test Folder\Test File.txt"

You can actually enclose parts of the path in quotation marks if you prefer. For example, let’s say you had a file named File.txt in that folder. You could run the following:

type C:\"Test Folder"\File.txt

However, that isn’t necessary—in most cases, you can just use quotation marks around the whole path.

This solution works both in the traditional Command Prompt (CMD) environment and in Windows PowerShell.

 

Sometimes: Use the Caret Character to Escape Spaces ( ^ )

In the Command Prompt, the caret character ( ^ ) will let you escape spaces—in theory. Just add it before each space in the file name. (You’ll find this character in the number row on your keyboard. To type the caret character, press Shift+6.)

Here’s the problem: While this should work, and it does sometimes, it doesn’t work all the time. The Command Prompt’s handling of this character is strange.

For example, with our sample command, you’d run the following, and it wouldn’t work:

type C:\Test^ Folder\Test^ File.txt

On the other hand, if we try opening our file directly by typing its path into the Command Prompt, we can see that the caret character escapes the spaces properly:

C:\Test^ Folder\Test^ File.txt

So when does it work? Well, based on our research, it seems to work with some applications and not others. Your mileage may vary depending on the command you’re using. The Command Prompt’s handling of this character is strange. Give it a try with whatever command you’re using, if you’re interested—it may or may not work.

For consistency, we recommend you stick with double quotes in the Command Prompt—or switch to PowerShell and use the grave accent method below.

PowerShell: Use the Grave Accent Character ( ` )

PowerShell uses the grave accent ( ` ) character as its escape character. Just add it before each space in the file name. (You’ll find this character above the Tab key and below the Esc key on your keyboard.)

type C:\Test` Folder\Test` File.txt

Each grave accent character tells PowerShell to escape the following character.

Note that this only works in the PowerShell environment. You’ll have to use the caret character in Command Prompt.

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If you’re familiar with UNIX-like operating systems like Linux and macOS, you might be used to using the forward slash ( \ ) character before a space to escape it. Windows uses this for normal file paths, so it doesn’t work—-the caret ( ^ ) and grave accent ( ` ) characters are the Windows version of forward slash, depending on which command-line shell you’re using.

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