How to Blur an Image in PowerPoint

If your background image is drawing unnecessary attention, or you need to blur part of an image that contains sensitive information, you can do so directly in PowerPoint. We’ll show you how.

Blur an Entire Image

A blurred image.

First, open PowerPoint and navigate to the slide containing the image you want to blur. Select the image, and that automatically opens the “Picture Format” tab.

The Picture Format tab in PowerPoint.

Next, select “Artistic Effects” from the “Adjust” group.

Click "Artistic Effects."

In the drop-down menu that appears, click the Blur option.

Select the Blur option.

Your image in its entirety is now blurred. If it’s not as blurry as you’d like, you can adjust it manually. Back in the “Artistic Effects” drop-down menu, select “Artistic Effects Options.”

Select “Artistic Effects Options."

The “Format Picture” pane appears on the right side of the window. Under “Artistic Effects,” find the bar next to “Radius” and drag the setting to the right to increase the blurriness of the image until you’re happy with it.

Drag the "Radius" setting to the right.

What if you only want to blur a specific part of an image instead of the entire picture? While it’s not a straightforward process, there is a way you can do it.

Blur Part of an Image

As Office states, there’s not a blur tool explicitly designed to blur part of an image. This trick requires a little manipulation of the other tools.

The first thing you need to do is insert a shape that covers the area of the photo you want to blur. You can use one of the default shapes from the “Illustrations” group on the “Insert” tab, or you can draw a freeform shape.

Once you have your shape, adjust it to cover the part of the image you want to blur.

RELATED: How to Change a Shape Using Edit Points in Microsoft PowerPoint

A shape covering part of an image.

After you insert the shape, you’re moved to the “Shape Format” tab. In the “Shape Styles” group, select “Shape Fill,” and then select “Eyedropper” from the drop-down menu.

Click "Shape Fill," and then select "Eyedropper" from the drop-down menu.

This allows you to choose a part of the image that is close to the color you want to make the shape.

A GIF showing the eyedropper tool changing the color of the shape in the image.

Next, head back over to the “Shape Styles” group of the “Shape Format” tab. Click “Shape Effects,” and then select “Soft Edges” from the drop-down menu that appears.

Click "Shape Effects," and then select "Soft Edges" from the drop-down menu.

A sub-menu appears showcasing several different soft edge variations. Choose one that works best for you. For this example, we selected the 25-point variation.

Click the soft edge variation that works best for your image.

That specific part of the image should now appear blurred without drawing unnecessary attention.

blurred part of an image

Now, we need to group the image and shape so they stay together if you need to adjust something else later. To do this, hold the ctrl key and click both objects.

RELATED: How to Anchor Pictures to Text in PowerPoint

A GIF showing how to select two images.

Now, in the “Picture Format” tab, select “Group” from the “Arrange” section. In the drop-down menu, click “Group.”

Click "Group" in the drop-down menu.

The two objects are now joined together. This allows you to adjust the background while the blurry shape stays in the correct location.

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How to Enable Ultra-Low Latency Mode for NVIDIA Graphics

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER graphics card
NVIDIA

NVIDIA’s graphics drivers now offer a “Ultra-Low Latency mode” intended for competitive gamers and anyone else who wants the fastest input response times in their games. This feature is available for all NVIDIA GeForce GPUs in the NVIDIA Control Panel.

What Is Ultra-Low Latency Mode?

NVIDIA ultra-low latency response time testing benchmark results
NVIDIA

Graphics engines queue frames to be rendered by the GPU, the GPU renders them, and then they’re displayed on your PC.  As NVIDIA explains, this feature builds on the “Maximum Pre-Rendered Frames” feature that’s been found in the NVIDIA Control Panel for over a decade. That allowed you to keep the number of frames in the render queue down.

With “Ultra-Low Latency” mode, frames are submitted into the render queue just before the GPU needs them. This is “just in time frame scheduling,” as NVIDIA calls it. NVIDIA says it will “further [reduce] latency by up to 33%” over just using the Maximum Pre-Rendered Frames option.

NVIDIA render queue diagram
NVIDIA

This works with all GPUs. However, it only works with DirectX 9 and DirectX 11 games. In DirectX 12 and Vulkan games, “the game decides when to queue the frame” and the NVIDIA graphics drivers have no control over this.

Here’s when NVIDIA says you might want to use this setting:

“Low Latency modes have the most impact when your game is GPU bound, and framerates are between 60 and 100 FPS, enabling you to get the responsiveness of high-framerate gaming without having to decrease graphical fidelity. “

In other words, if a game is CPU bound (limited by your CPU resources instead of your GPU) or you have very high or very low FPS, this won’t help too much. If you have input latency in games—mouse lag, for example—that’s often simply a result of low frames per second (FPS) and this setting won’t solve that problem.

Warning: This will potentially reduce your FPS. This mode is off by default, which NVIDIA says leads to “maximum render throughput.” For most people most of the time, that’s a better option. But, for competitive multiplayer gaming, you’ll want all the tiny edges you can get—and that includes lower latency.

How to Enable Ultra-Low Latency Mode

You’ll need version 436.02 or newer of the NVIDIA graphics driver to take advantage of this. You can update your graphics driver through the GeForce Experience application or download the latest graphics driver directly from NVIDIA’s website.

Once you have, launch the NVIDIA Control Panel. To do so, right-click your Windows desktop and select “NVIDIA Control Panel.”

Launching the NVIDIA Control Panel

Click “Manage 3D Settings” under 3D Settings in the left sidebar.

Select how you want to enable Ultra-Low Latency Mode. To enable it for all games on your system, select “Global Settings.” To enable it for one or more specific games, select “Program Settings” and choose the game you want to enable it for.

Managing 3D settings in the NVIDIA Control Panel

Locate “Low Latency Mode” in the list of settings. Click the setting box to the right of the setting and select “Ultra” in the list.

With the default settings of “Off,” the game’s engine will queue one to three frames at a time. The “On” setting will force the game to only queue a single frame, which is the same as setting Max_Prerendered_Frames to 1 in older NVIDIA drivers. The Ultra setting submits the frame “just in time” for the GPU to pick it up—there will be no frame sitting in the queue and waiting.

Enabling Ultra Low Latency Mode for NVIDIA graphics

Click the “Apply” button to save your settings. You can now close the NVIDIA Control Panel.

Activating Ultra Low Latency Mode in NVIDIA's GeForce graphics drivers

Remember, as we pointed out above, this option can actually hurt performance in many situations! We recommend enabling it only for specific games and testing your settings to see how well it actually works.

If you want to undo your changes and use the NVIDIA graphics driver’s default settings, return here and click the “Restore” button.

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Why Does Windows Defender Firewall Block Some App Features?

Windows Firewall icon on a Windows 10 desktop background.

Almost everyone who uses Windows has seen it. You launch an application or game, and Windows Firewall pops up and says it’s “blocked some features of this app.” What does this mean, and should you allow access?

Why Does This Message Appear?

This message appears when an application wants to act as a server and accept incoming connections. You don’t see this prompt for most applications you use, like web browsers and email clients. You only see it with specific types of applications, such as media servers, games with multiplayer features, online file-sharing tools, and other server applications.

The Windows Firewall blocks incoming connections by default. But the first time it blocks connections to a new application, this message pop up. You can then choose whether to allow the connection through. This ensures connections aren’t silently blocked without your knowledge.

On Windows 10, you see a “Windows Defender Firewall has blocked some features of this app” pop-up. On Windows 7 and 8, you see the “Windows Firewall has blocked some features of this app” message instead.

Should You Allow Access?

Windows Defender Security Alert on Windows 10.

When this box appears, you have a few choices. You can click “Allow Access” and allow incoming connections through the firewall. Or, you can click “Cancel,” and the firewall continues to block incoming connections for that application.

You can also choose which types of networks you want to allow the connections on. For example, you might allow a media server application only on private networks. That way, when you connect your laptop to public Wi-Fi, no one can connect to your media server. People on your home or work networks, however, will still be able to connect.

When you connect to a network, you choose whether it’s public or private—Windows doesn’t automatically know. You can change this option for a network later in the Control Panel or Settings app.

If you trust an application and want to use all its features, you should allow access. If you disallow access for a PC game, you might not be able to host multiplayer games. If you see this prompt and want to use a media server to share your media with other systems on your network, you likely have to allow access to do so. A BitTorrent client, for example, needs this access to upload data to other systems on the internet.

If you don’t allow access, an application might not function properly. So, you might not be able to host multiplayer games in a PC game, as the firewall blocks incoming connections.

If you don’t recognize the application, you might want to search the web for the name and find out more information. Some types of malware function as a server and might trigger a firewall alert. Run a scan with your preferred antivirus program if you’re concerned your PC might have malware.

How to Allow or Disallow Access Later

The Windows Firewall doesn’t ask you twice about the same application, but you can change the setting to allow or disallow any app in the future. To do so, head to Control Panel > System and Security > Windows Defender Firewall > Allow an app or feature through Windows Defender Firewall.

Click “Change Settings” to unlock the settings. Locate the application in the list, and then click the Public or Private checkboxes to control whether it’s allowed or disallowed, respectively. If you uncheck both boxes next to an application, it won’t be allowed to connect on either Public or Private networks. If you check both boxes, the app can connect on both.

A Windows Defender Firewall allowed apps list.

How to Disable the Notifications

If you’d prefer not to see these notifications and that Windows automatically block incoming connections to all applications, you can.

To do so, head to Control Panel > System and Security > Windows Defender Firewall > Change notification settings.

To disable the notifications, uncheck the “Notify me when Windows Defender Firewall blocks a new app” option. There are two options here: one for private networks and one for public.

Uncheck the "Notify me when Windows Defender Firewall blocks a new app" option under both Private and Public Network Settings.

This window is a pretty common sight on Windows, and you’ll usually have some idea why an application wants this level of network access. In most cases, if you trust an app, it’s safe to allow. Even if you allow an application through the Windows Firewall, your router’s network address translation (NAT) still prevents many incoming connections unless you set up port forwarding.

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How to Disable Outlook Add-ins For Troubleshooting

If the Outlook client starts behaving oddly, one of the first things to do is see whether add-ins are causing the problem. Here’s how to disable them so you can tell if they’re the issue.

What are Add-Ins?

Add-ins are extra bits of functionality that software providers create to hook their application into Outlook. You can install add-ins yourself by opening Outlook and clicking Home > Get Add-ins, which will show you some of the add-ins available to you.

The Get Add-ins button

However, most add-ins are installed automatically when you install a piece of software on your computer. You may never use the add-ins, or even be aware that they’re there, but they aren’t (usually) malware or anything nasty. They’re intended to make it easier for you to use a product. For example, when you install Adobe’s Acrobat PDF reader, it installs an Outlook add-in that lets you make PDFs out of emails.

There’s usually no need to remove add-ins, but if Outlook starts behaving oddly—especially if it freezes, crashes, or refuses to open—then disabling the add-ins will tell you if they’re the problem.

How to Disable All Add-Ins

Troubleshooting is all about finding the cause of a problem. The best way to do this is to gradually narrow down the possible issues until you’re left with just the cause of the problem. In the case of Outlook problems, this means disabling all the add-ins and, if the problem goes away, re-enabling the add-ins one by one to identify which one is causing the problem. This is particularly true if Outlook is encountering problems at startup.

The easiest way to disable all of the add-ins at once is to open Outlook in Safe Mode. This disables all the add-ins but doesn’t change anything else, so if one (or more) of the add-ins is causing the problem, everything will work as expected in Safe Mode. There are several ways to open Outlook in Safe Mode, depending on what version of Outlook and which version of Windows you’re using. There are a couple of methods that generally should work across all the combinations of supported versions of Outlook and Windows, but if these don’t work then search online for your particular combination.

Method One: Hold the Ctrl Key While Launching Outlook

This works whether you click an icon on your taskbar, desktop, or from the Windows menu. Hold down the CTRL key on your keyboard while clicking the Outlook icon (or double-clicking if your icon is on the desktop). A confirmation message will be displayed.

The Safe mode confirmation dialogue

Click “Yes” to open Outlook in Safe Mode.

Method Two: Use the Run Dialog or Windows 10 Start Menu

In Windows 10 press the Windows key, or in Windows 7 or 8 press the Windows key + R. In Windows 10 this will bring up the Windows menu where you can type commands directly, and in Windows 7 or 8 this will bring up the Run dialog, where you can also type run commands. Either way, type “outlook.exe /safe” (without the quote marks) and then hit Enter. This will bring up the Profile Chooser.

The Profile chooser dialogue

Choose the profile you want to open (for most people there will only be a single “Outlook” profile to choose) and then click “OK.” This will open Outlook in Safe Mode.

Whichever method you choose, Outlook will be open in Safe Mode. The name of the program in the header bar will change from “Microsoft Outlook” to “Microsoft Outlook (Safe Mode).”

Outlook header bar showing Safe Mode text

All of the add-ins will be disabled, EXCEPT some core Microsoft Office add-ins. These are very unlikely to be the cause of an Outlook issue, but you can disable them manually once Outlook is open. Next time you open Outlook as usual (i.e., not in Safe Mode), the add-ins will be enabled again, unless you’ve manually disabled them.

How to Disable Individual Add-ins

Starting in Safe Mode will tell you if one of your add-ins is the problem, but if you want to disable a single add-in—such as one that’s just been installed or a core Microsoft add-in that isn’t disabled in Safe Mode—you can do that too. Click File > Options, and then click the “Add-Ins” category on the left.

The Add-ins option

This will open the Add-ins section. To enable or disable add-ins, make sure that “COM Add-ins” is selected in the dropdown (it’s the default, so you shouldn’t need to change it) and then click “Go.”

The Go button for managing add-ins

This opens up the COM Add-ins dialogue, where you can enable or disable add-ins.

The COM Add-ins dialogue

Enabling and disabling is a tick-box exercise—a tick means the add-in is enabled; no tick means the add-in is disabled. To disable an add-in, untick it and then click “OK.”

The COM Add-ins dialogue with an add-in and the OK button highlighted

Important: Make sure that you don’t click “Remove.” This will uninstall the selected add-in, not disable it!

When you go back into File > Options > Add-ins, the add-in you disabled will be visible in the disabled add-ins section.

The Add-ins option showing a disabled add-in

The add-in will remain disabled until you enable it again. Test to see if your problem occurs when the add-in is disabled; if it does, keep disabling your add-ins one by one until you find the culprit.

How to Enable Individual Add-ins

Once you’ve worked out what add-in is causing the problem (if any of them are), you can re-enable any other add-ins that you disabled. Enabling individual add-ins is as simple as disabling them: click File > Options > Add-Ins, make sure that “COM Add-ins” is selected in the dropdown, and then click “Go” to open up the COM Add-ins dialogue.

Tick the add-ins you want to enable and then click “OK.” You might have to restart Outlook for the add-ins to load, and it’s generally a good idea to do that anyway to make sure everything is working correctly.

You can disable and enable add-ins whenever you’re troubleshooting an Outlook problem. They’re not always the cause, but if Outlook has been working fine and then a problem occurs after a new add-in has been installed, it’s a good place to start looking.

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How to Fix “What Needs Your Attention” Windows 10 Setup Errors

Windows 10 Setup error message log on desktop

Windows 10’s setup and upgrade process sometimes fails and says your PC “can’t be upgraded” but “no action is needed.” Windows knows the problem, but Microsoft hides the details from you. Here’s how to identify and fix the problem yourself.

How to See “What Needs Your Attention”

What Needs Your Attention setup error on Windows 10

Microsoft should provide more descriptive error messages. The message we saw while attempting to upgrade to Windows 10’s May 2019 Update with Microsoft’s Update Assistantwas:

This PC can’t be upgraded to Windows 10.

Your PC has a driver or service that isn’t ready for this version of Windows 10. No action is needed. Windows Update will offer this version of Windows 10 automatically once the issue has been resolved.

Microsoft says a “No action is needed” message means you shouldn’t do anything.

That’s all well and good, but what if you don’t want to wait? Why doesn’t Windows tell us which “driver or service” is causing the problem? Windows 10 does know the problem, but it doesn’t display it here—you’ll have to dig it out of the log files and fix it yourself. Here’s how to do it.

How to View Windows Setup Log Files

The log files are hidden in this folder on your PC:

C:$WINDOWS.~BTSourcesPanther

To find them, open a File Explorer window and copy-paste that address into the address bar.

Windows 10 setup error message log Panther folder

Look for a filename beginning with “CompatData_” and ending with “.xml” in this folder. If you see several, you should choose the most recent one—that’s the one at the bottom.

CompatData file in Windows 10's Panther folder

Open the file to view its contents. Without any additional software, we recommend right-clicking the file and selecting Open With > Microsoft Edge.

You can also use Notepad++ to view it nicely. Notepad and WordPad will display the file, but it will be difficult to read without the additional formatting provided by Edge and Notepad++.

Opening a CompatData XML log file on Windows 10

This file will tell you why Windows won’t upgrade—if you can decode it.

For example, to find drivers that aren’t compatible, look under “DriverPackages” for any lines that include:

BlockMigration="True"

Finding a driver that's blocking migration on Windows 10

This tells us that the drivers associated with the files oem81.inf and oem80.inf are incompatible with the new version of Windows. They’re the reason Windows is refusing to upgrade.

But what are those files?

How to Match a Driver to an INF File

To learn more, you’ll have to open the INF files mentioned in the log. You’ll find them at:

C:WindowsINF

Look through the folder and find the .inf files you need to examine. In our case, that’s oem80.inf and oem81.inf.

OEM INF files in Windows 10's system folder

You can double-click them to open them in Notepad. Once you do, you’ll likely see a comment near the start of each file explaining what it is.

In our case, we found that oem80.inf was “The Microsoft Print To PDF install file” and oem81.inf was “The Microsoft XPS Document Writer install file.” In other words, Microsoft’s own XPS and PDF printer drivers—part of Windows 10 itself—are blocking the installation process for some reason.

The Microsoft Print To PDF INF file

How to Fix Your Problem

Now that we know the problem, we can resolve it by uninstalling the offending drivers.

In this case, we can do that by heading to Control Panel > Programs > Turn Windows Features On or Off. Uncheck both “Microsoft Print to PDF” and “Microsoft XPS Document Writer” and click “OK.” We can reinstall them later, after the upgrade.

If you had other hardware drivers or applications blocking the upgrade, you could temporarily uninstall them.

Disabling XPS and PDF printers on Windows 10

How to Resume the Upgrade Process

You might expect that you can click the “Refresh” button in the Windows 10 Setup window after you’ve solved the problem. Sorry! That doesn’t work. The Refresh button won’t do anything.

Instead, you’ll need to head back to the C:$WINDOWS.~BTSourcesPanther folder. Locate the compatscancache.dat file and delete it.

Deleting the compatscancache.dat file to resume the upgrade process

After you’ve deleted this cache file, you can click the “Refresh” button, and the installation process will continue.

Resuming Windows 10 Setup with the Refresh button

“Something Happened”

While this is the process Microsoft has given us, it isn’t great. As Brad Sams puts it, this error reporting system is a “cryptic mess.” The name of the “Panther” folder dates back to Windows Vista—that’s how old this is!

Windows 10’s May 2019 Update was supposed to offer better setup error messages, but we aren’t seeing them yet. At least this is better than the old “Something Happened” messages.

Windows 10's Something Happened message
Microsoft Com
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How to Get the Most Out of the Chrome Bookmarks Bar

Bookmarks Hero Image

The Bookmarks Bar in Google Chrome is more than just a place to store random pages for you to read later; it’s a highly functional and versatile feature that doesn’t get enough credit. Here’s how you can organize, beautify, and create bookmarklets to use it to its full potential.

Enable the Bookmarks Bar

If you haven’t already, to get the most out of the bookmarks bar, you’ll have to enable it first.

Fire up Chrome, click the menu icon, point to “Bookmarks,” then click on “Show Bookmarks Bar.” Alternatively, you can press Ctrl+Shift+B (in Windows) or Command+Shift+B (in macOS).

Click the Menu icon, then Bookmarks > Show Bookmarks Bar

RELATED: How to Show (or Hide) the Google Chrome Bookmarks Bar

Import Bookmarks from Another Browser

When you switch to a new browser, most of the data isn’t that important and probably doesn’t make you think twice about it when you leave. However, bookmarks are the exception, and that’s why Chrome has an option to import your bookmarks from another browser.

Google Chrome automatically transfers all your bookmarks with its easy-to-use import tool. Click the menu icon, point to “Bookmarks,” then click on “Import bookmarks and settings.”

Click the menu icon, point to Bookmarks, then click on Import Bookmarks and Settings

Choose which browser you want Chrome to export bookmarks from, then click “Import.”

Select a browser from the drop-down menu, then click Import

Chrome does the rest and places everything inside a folder either in Other Bookmarks or on the Bookmarks Bar named “Imported From Firefox,” or whatever browser you chose.

After the import is complete, a folder is created containing all your bookmarks

Import Bookmarks From an HTML File

Whether you come from Firefox, Explorer, Edge, Opera, or Safari, it’s easy to transfer all your precious bookmarks over to Chrome.

RELATED: How to Easily Back Up and Migrate Your Browser Bookmarks

After you export all your bookmarks to an HTML file, open the Bookmarks Manager. Fire up Chrome, click the menu icon, point to “Bookmarks,” then click on “Bookmarks Manager.” Alternatively, you can press Ctrl+Shift+O (in Windows) or Command+Shift+O (in macOS).

Clock the menu icon, point to Bookmarks, then click on Bookmark Manager

From the Bookmarks Manager, click the menu icon, then click “Import bookmarks.”

Click the menu icon, then click Import Bookmarks

From the file chooser, navigate and click the HTML file you exported from the other browser, then click “Open.”

Navigate to the folder with the HTML file, click it, then click Open

All your bookmarks are safely added to Chrome inside a folder, just like the previous method.

Recover Accidentally Deleted Bookmarks

If you didn’t backup/export your bookmarks, Google Chrome doesn’t have an undo button or let you press Ctrl+Z to get back deleted bookmarks.

In the unlikely circumstance that you do accidentally delete an entire folder full of bookmarks, you can restore them from a temporary backup hidden in Chrome’s application folders. Chrome saves a single backup of your bookmarks file, and it overwrites that backup each time you launch Chrome.

First thing’s first. Close all open Chrome windows, but do not reopen Chrome. If you’ve already closed Chrome, leave it closed.

By default, Chrome can continue to run in the background on Windows even after you exit the browser normally. Instead, Chrome has to be killed through the icon in the System Tray. Click the “Show Hidden Icons” button (if you don’t see the Chrome icon in the System Tray) right-click the Chrome icon, then click on “Exit.” If you don’t see the Chrome icon here, that means it’s not running in the background, and you can move to the next step.

Click Show Hidden Icons, right-click Chrome icon, then click Exit

Now, open Windows Explorer and head to the following file path, replacing “NAME” with your Windows user account:

C:UsersNAMEAppDataLocalGoogleChromeUser DataDefault

The folder has two files of interest in it: Bookmarks and Bookmarks.bak, the former being your current bookmarks file and the latter being the backup from when you last launched Chrome.

Both bookmarks files inside the Chrome directory

Note: If you don’t see the .bak file extension, you may have to enable file extensions in Windows Explorer first.

To restore the backup (again, make sure all Chrome browser windows are closed), take these steps:

  1. Rename your current Bookmarks file to something like Bookmarks.old. This preserves a copy of the existing bookmarks file in case you need it.
  2. Rename your Bookmarks.bak file to just Bookmarks (removing the .bak extension). This makes Chrome load the backup file when you open it.
  3. Open Chrome, and see if you’ve managed to restore the missing bookmark.

If these steps don’t work, it means that Chrome saved a more recent version of the backup file and the only way to recover the bookmarks is from an older backup of your PC, provided you have one.

Just note that using this process will also remove any bookmarks you’ve created since you last launched Chrome.

Use Bookmarklets to Enhance Browsing Experience

Bookmarklets are bits of JavaScript that you can save as a bookmark, then place on the browser’s bookmarks bar for a one-click function to make repetitive tasks quicker and easier.

They’re completely free to use and add functionality to your browser that let you extract webpage data, modify the appearance of a webpage, increase the readability of a page by removing unwanted elements, instantly share pages with other services, and so much more. The sky’s the limit.

RELATED: The Most Useful Bookmarklets to Enhance Your Browsing Experience

The easiest way to install the bookmarklet is to drag and drop the link. Click and drag the bookmarklet directly onto the Bookmarks Bar and it saves just like any other link.

Drag the link directly onto the Bookmarks Bar to create a bookmarklet

Now, all you have to do is click the bookmarklet link, and your browser will run it on the current page.

Here are a few useful examples of what bookmarklets can do:

  • Translate Any Page: Visit a web page that isn’t in English? Use this bookmarklet to automatically translate any page you’re on with just one click.
  • Lookup a Word on Wikipedia: Highlight any word in Chrome, then click the bookmarklet to look it up on Wikipedia quickly.
  • Quickly Send an Email From Gmail: Click this bookmarklet to send an email without ever leaving a page with GmailThis! from any page.
  • Save Articles to Your Pocket: Save any page to your Pocket account, then have it sync across all your devices for access any time, even when you’re offline!

RELATED: Beginner Geek: How to Use Bookmarklets on Any Device

Bookmark Things for Reading Later

One of the biggest contributors to a cluttered bookmarks bar is articles and pages you save for reading later. If you already separate them into topic-specific folders, chances are they stick around for much longer than you’d expect because you forget about them or you have too many to search through. We aren’t saying you shouldn’t bookmark things for reading later; just be conscious of where you put them and how long they’ve been there.

Create a folder with the name “Read Later,” then as you read them—or periodically—remove anything that isn’t relevant anymore.

Don’t Use it As a Catchall

Although it may be tempting to save everything of interest, you should reserve bookmarks for useful tools/webpages and things you access regularly.

Be honest with yourself and delete anything you don’t find useful. If you have hundreds of bookmarks, it might be time to remove that recipe for “The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies,” just in case you decide to make cookies on the weekend.

With today’s accessibility to the internet—and the power of a quick Google search—everything is at the tips of your fingers anyway, so it’s easy to get rid of these types of bookmarks.

Instead, save an article/recipe to Pocket, a free web service that saves and syncs articles to any device that has the service installed. Install the extension to Chrome—or use the bookmarklet mentioned earlier—to enable a one-click method to save a web page for later, without cluttering up your Bookmarks Bar.

After you create an account and sign in, all you have to do is click the Pocket icon, and it saves the page to your “Pocket” for reading later. Add any tags you find useful in the field provided to help organize everything nicely.

Click the Pocket icon to save a page for reading later

RELATED: How to Save Articles for Reading Later with Pocket

A Custom Notepad

If you’re browsing the internet and suddenly have an epiphany, you can create a custom notepad to get your ideas down quickly without leaving the browser. After you initially create the notepad, save it as a bookmark so you can access it anytime with the click of a button.

Right-click an empty space on the Bookmarks Bar, then click on “Add Page.”

Right-click a blank spot on the Bookmarks Bar, then click Add Page

From the dialog, enter a name that will display on the Bookmarks Bar, copy the following code into the URL field, then click “Save:”

data:text/html;charset=utf-8, <title>Notepad</title><style>body {padding: 2%; font-size: 1.5em; font-family: Arial; }"></style><link rel="shortcut icon" href="https://ssl.gstatic.com/docs/documents/images/kix-favicon6.ico"/><body OnLoad='document.body.focus();' contenteditable spellcheck="true" >

Input a name, the code provided, then click Save

Just like that, any time you need to get anything you’re thinking about written down quickly, all you have to do is click the little blue page icon located on the Bookmarks Bar.

Click the notepad icon anytime to create a blank instance in the current tab

 

Now, whenever you click the bookmark, a blank notepad opens in the current tab, ready for you to let your thoughts loose.

Example of a custom notepad inside of Google Chrome

One caveat to the custom notepad is that whenever you close the tab, nothing saves. This is a disposable way to keep track of your thoughts and ideas while you have the tab—and Chrome—open. So if you close notepad, any important information you jot down won’t be there when you open it again.

Bookmark Useful Chrome Settings

One great thing about all of Chrome’s Settings is that you can bookmark individual items for easy access. If you regularly access the Chrome settings page, history, flags, or any URLs used for debugging, then consider a folder with bookmarks direct to the most used Chrome URLs.

Right-click a blank spot on the bookmarks bar, then click “Add folder.”

Right-click the Bookmarks Bar, then click Add Folder to create a new folder

Give the folder a useful name, then click “Save.”

Name it something relevant, then click Save

After you create a home for the settings, you want quick access to, all you have to do is navigate to the settings page, click the bookmark icon, then click “Done,” all the while to make sure it saves to the new folder.

Click the Star icon to save the page, select folder you just made, then click Done

Now, the most used settings are only a couple of clicks away instead of having to open chrome://settings and scroll to find the specific section.

Example of Chrome Settings saved for quick access

You can view a complete list of all Chrome URLs if you type chrome://chrome-urls  into the Omnibox and hit Enter. You can bookmark any of these URLs if you click on it, then click the star icon, just like in the example above.

Organize the Bookmarks Bar

After you’ve used Chrome for a while, you’re bound to have quite a few bookmarks, making the bookmarks bar messy and a pain to try and find anything. Should you want to save face and reclaim the bookmarks bar once and for all, it’s time to declutter and organize it to make finding bookmarks manageable again.

Backup Your Bookmarks

The first thing you’ll want to do is backup/export all your bookmarks; this makes it easy to purge most of them and restore anything you accidentally delete. This is a stress-free way to quickly get rid of bookmarks you haven’t clicked in years.

Press Ctrl+Shift+O (in Windows) or Command+Shift+O (in macOS) to open the Bookmarks bar, click the menu icon, then click “Export bookmarks.”

Click the menu icon, then click Export Bookmarks

Start the Purge

Once you backup everything, it’s time to start the purge. Right-click a bookmark or folder and select “Delete” to delete it, or left-click a bookmark and press the Delete key.

Purge and delete anything you no longer need

Use an Extension to Remove Duplicates

Google Chrome has an extension that sorts, deletes duplicates, and merges folders of all your bookmarks. With a single click, SuperSorter sorts folders recursively, deletes empty folders, and has an automatic sort feature that runs every few minutes, making the process that much easier to keep tidy.

RELATED: How to Declutter Your Web Browser Bookmarks

Compact Bookmarks to Toolbar Icons

Most of the space taken up by a bookmark is the text. By default, whenever you bookmark a page, Chrome puts an icon followed by the name/title of the link to identify which bookmark is which quickly. However, if you want to reclaim some much-needed space on the Bookmarks Bar, try to remove the text altogether for a minimalistic approach.

Right-click a bookmark and select “Edit.” From the dialog box that opens, delete the text in the “Name” field and click “Save.”

Delete the name, then click Save

If you aren’t ready to remove the text altogether, you can always compact it into something that’s still discernible from everything else, like shortening “How-to Geek” into “HTG.”

Or, enter a short description to easily identify

Afterward, all bookmarks without a name appear as a simple icon on the Bookmarks Bar.

Example of icons only in the Bookmarks Bar

RELATED: Reduce Bookmarks in Chrome to Toolbar Icons

Organize Bookmarks Into Separate Sections

Do you still have an overwhelming amount of icons in the Bookmarks Bar that you can’t seem to condense down any further? No problem! Separate groups of bookmarks with these extremely simple yet handy websites:

The first method creates a vertical divider on the Bookmarks Bar that lets you separate icons, making it easier to sort everything out. All you have to do is go to the following link and drag the blue “Me” button directly to where you want it to separate your bookmarks:

https://separator.mayastudios.com/index.php

Drag the bookmarklet onto the Bookmarks Bar to create a separation line

Create multiple separation bars by right-clicking the bookmark, then select “Copy.”

 

Right-click the bookmark, then click Copy

Right-click a blank space on the Bookmarks Bar, then click “Paste.”

Right-click a blank spot on the Bookmarks Bar, then click Paste

Repeat as necessary and rearrange your bookmarks into neat, organized categories.

Example of vertical lines separating icons

Note: The vertical separation line works best on Chrome themes that use a gray or silver background color.

If your Bookmarks Bar has folders with a lot of bookmarks inside, then the next method helps organize using a horizontal separation between entries. This bookmark uses an invisible icon that can be used to create a physical separation between saved pages, which lets you break things up into categories for easy reference later on.

Go to this website that offers a separator bookmarklet and drag the blue “Me” button to the folder where you want to separate pages/folders.

Drag the blue Me button into the folder where you need a little bit of separation

To create multiple lines, just copy, then paste the bookmark again wherever you need a physical separation or pages.

Example of horizontal separation

Pro Tip: Instead of the default name, you can use put spaces between the dashes along with a category to maximize your organization even further!

Example of horizontal lines used to separate bookmarks into organised categories

Now that you know everything there is to get the most out of the Bookmarks Bar, you’re on the way to becoming a true Chrome power user. Friends will be in awe of the level of organization and productivity tools you use when browsing the web.

 

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How to Remove Personal Info from a PowerPoint Presentation Before Sharing

Save a Copy of Your File

First things first; if you plan to remove any of your personal information from a file, you might not be able to restore the data once it’s gone. With that in mind, it’s a good idea to have a backup file on hand. In addition to having a copy of your original document, be sure to give it a distinguishable name, so you know which file is which.

For example, you might have a slideshow that you presented at a sales conference. After the conference, you may need to send that presentation out to your clients. In this case, you would want to make a copy of the original file and then remove your personal info from the client copy. You’d also want to make sure you don’t send out the wrong copy, so give it a clear name!

Sales presentation plus client copy

Once you’ve saved a copy of your file, open it up and remove your information.

Inspect Your Presentation to Remove Personal Information

Once you’ve opened the copy of the file you’d like to remove your information from, select the “File” tab. Once selected, you’ll automatically be at the “Info” sub-tab. Here, click the “Check for Issues” button.

Check for issues

Select “Inspect Document” from the menu that appears.

Inspect Document

Once selected, the “Document Inspector” window will appear. Tell PowerPoint which types of content you’d like it to inspect by checking the box next to each option.

Once you’re ready, click “Inspect.”

Document Inspector

The inspection results will appear. If you see a green check mark next to a section, then no items were found, and no further action is required. However, if you see a red exclamation point, then that means information was found in that section. Review it, then select “Remove All” from each group that contains sensitive information.

Remove all personal info found from inspection

Now you’ll receive a message letting you know the information was successfully removed. As a matter of good practice, reinspect the document to ensure all of the data has been removed. Go ahead and click “Reinspect.”

Reinspect

It will go through the inspection process again. If it missed anything, it would let you know. During our reinspection, everything checked out. However, mistakes happen, and technology isn’t perfect. This further reinforces why it’s always a good idea to check and double-check before sending anything out—especially when it comes to your personal data.

Documentation inspection complete.

Finally, save your file. You may notice that the size of the PowerPoint file has been reduced. This is great since it’s not always possible to send extremely large documents via email. Speaking of, that’s your last step. So what are you waiting for? Share your presentation!

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