How to Open the Full Play Store on Google TV

One of the quirky things about Google TV—which is different than Android TV—is the Play Store. It’s still present, but Google has integrated it deeply into the home screen. We’ll show you how to open it like normal. The Play Store on Google TV devices is hidden away in favor of an “Apps” tab on the home screen. You still use the Play Store when installing apps, but not in the typical way. There’s actually no “Play Store” app that you can launch. It’s still there, though.

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How to Wirelessly Mirror Your Android Phone to Your TV

Gathering people around your phone to show off a picture or video can be a pain, but thanks to Android and Chromecast, it doesn’t have to be. We’ll show you how to wirelessly mirror your Android phone or tablet’s screen to a TV. Before we get started, it should be mentioned that mirroring your screen might not be the best method to share content on a TV. Many video and photo apps allow you to “cast” to a Chromecast-enabled device. This will be a much nicer experience than mirroring your screen.

For all of those other situations, mirroring your screen is a handy trick to know. There are a few things that you’ll need:

  • An Android phone or tablet running Android 5.0 or later.
  • An Android TV or Chromecast-enabled device.
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Why Doesn’t Windows 11 Support My CPU?

Immediately after Windows 11’s announcement, Microsoft had several contradictory web pages up listing different CPU requirements. However, after the first few days, the company’s communication had become more clear. According to Microsoft, Windows 11 will only guarantee support the following CPUs:

  • Intel CPUs: 8th generation or newer.
  • AMD CPUs: Ryzen 2000 or newer.

Intel launched its eighth-generation chips in 2017 and AMD launched second-generation Ryzen processors in 2018, so Windows is demanding some seriously recent CPUs! Considering Windows 10 supported most CPUs that Windows 7 ran on, this is a big shift.

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How to Connect a PS5 Controller to an Android Phone

The DualSense controller, which ships with Sony’s PlayStation 5 console, also works with Android phones. We’re going to show you how to connect the PS5 controller with your Android phone.

To use the DualSense controller with Android, you’ll have to pair the two devices through Bluetooth. For this, you’ll have to open “Settings” on your Android phone. You can do this by swiping down twice from the top of your Android phone’s display. This will reveal Quick Settings on Android.

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Enable Text Predictions in Microsoft Word

Like many new features in Microsoft Word, text predictions are enabled by default. But we’ll show you how to confirm that the feature is turned on as well as how to turn it off if you prefer. In the status bar, which is at the bottom of the Microsoft Word window, you should see “Text Predictions” near the center. It displays a status of either On or Off.

Click “Text Predictions” in the status bar to open its setting directly in your Microsoft Word options. You can also navigate there with File > Options > Advanced. Under Editing Options, check the box for “Show Text Predictions While Typing” to enable the feature and click “OK.”

Use the same action to enable or disable text predictions in Word for the web. Click “Text Predictions” in the status bar. Then, toggle on the “Suggest Words or Phrases as I Type” option to use the feature.

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How to Stop Android Notifications from Turning on the Screen

Notifications are an important part of the Android experience, but they can be abused. Some apps go out of their way to be noticed, which is very annoying. We’ll help you wrangle up those Android notifications that turn on your screen and stop them.

A typical Android notification will simply ring or vibrate your device. Enabling Do Not Disturb mode will silence these. However, some apps will actually turn on the display to really grab your attention. Not only can this drain your battery quicker, but it’s also just kind of annoying and rude. Unfortunately, Android does not have a system-wide setting to prevent apps from doing this. Some devices allow you to make all apps wake the screen, but the option to do the opposite doesn’t exist.

So, what are your options? Well, there are two things that you can do. First, go to the source of the problem and see whether the app has an option to disable waking the screen for notifications. This is going to vary greatly depending on the app.

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How to Hide Sensitive Notifications on Android

Your phone or tablet’s lock screen prevents people from getting into your device, but there’s still information that can be gleaned from notifications on the display itself. Thankfully, Android makes it easy to hide content on your lock screen.

Android allows you to hide what it calls “sensitive content” from notifications on your lock screen. The notification will still appear, but the content of it will be hidden. What exactly qualifies as a “sensitive” notification is up to the app developers, so it can vary.

To get started, swipe down from the top of your device’s screen (once or twice, depending on your phone or tablet’s manufacturer) and tap the gear icon to open the Settings menu.

Next, select “Apps & Notifications.”

Now, choose “Notifications.”

Scroll down to the “Notifications on Lock Screen” section. First, select “Notifications on Lock Screen.”

If you’d like to hide all notifications, select “Don’t Show Any Notifications.” You also have the option to “Hide Silent Conversations and Notifications.”

For a less aggressive solution, toggle the switch off for “Sensitive Notifications.”

You’re all set! Again, the “Sensitive Notifications” method doesn’t offer a ton of control. What’s considered “sensitive” is completely up to the apps. It may work for the apps that you use, or it may not.

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How to Take a Windows 10 Screenshot without a Keyboard

What if you need to take a screenshot in Windows 10, but you don’t have a “Print Screen” key on your keyboard—or you don’t have a keyboard at all? Luckily, it’s easy to capture your screen using only a mouse thanks to a built-in tool called Snip & Sketch. Here’s how.

To run Snip & Sketch without a keyboard, open the Start menu and locate “Snip & Sketch” in the alphabetical applications list. Click its icon to launch it.

With Snip & Sketch open, click the “New” button.

Using a toolbar that appears at the top of the screen, you can perform a rectangular snip, a freeform snip, a window snip, or a fullscreen snip. Click the option that matches what you want to capture, then select part of the screen if necessary.

After you’ve captured your screenshot, you’ll see a preview of the output in the Snip & Sketch window. To save the screenshot, click the “Save” button, which looks like a tiny floppy disk.

In the file save dialog, browse to where you want to save the screenshot. The neat thing about Snip & Sketch is that it automatically names your screenshot with a timestamp so that you don’t need a keyboard to type in a new name. When you’re ready, click “Save.”

Your screenshot has now been saved, no keyboard required.

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