How to Change a PowerPoint Show (PPSX) to a Work File (PPTX)

PowerPoint files come in two formats: PPTX files are editable PowerPoint presentations and PPSX files are a view-only format intended for presentations. You can edit a PPSX file, but you must first convert it back to a PPTX format.

  • PowerPoint can convert a PPSX file to a PPTX one. Here’s how.

First, open “PowerPoint” and choose File > Open to find the file you want to edit.

Go to File > Save As to save the file.

From the drop-down menu at the top right, choose “PowerPoint Presentation (*.pptx)” to save the file as an editable file you can share with colleagues. Be sure to hit the “Save” button when you’re done.

Now, when colleagues click to open the file, they’ll be taken to the PowerPoint editor to make quick edits and revisions.

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How to Turn Off Smart Objects in Photoshop

Smart objects do a few different things but their biggest advantage is that they preserve the original data of the embedded image or vector file. They’re one of the ways Photoshop enables you to work non-destructively.

For example, in the composite above, the image on the left is the original image, the image in the middle is a smart object that was resized down to 10% and then resized up again, while the very blurry mess on the right is the rasterized layer resized down to 10% and then resized up again. As you can see, the smart object preserved the original image throughout the transformation while the rasterized layer has lost a lot of data.

This means that if you’re creating a composite image, you can move, resize, crop, filter, use adjustment layers, and otherwise mess around with how things look without fear that you’ll make some changes that can’t be undone. By contrast, if you work with rasterized layers, the only way to try something new is to undo everything you’ve already done and start from scratch.

On the other hand, the bonus of a rasterized layer is that you can edit them directly without getting any annoying dialog boxes.

How to Stop Photoshop from Always Creating Smart Objects

By default, whenever you add an image or vector to a Photoshop document it gets embedded as a smart object. To change that behavior so they get embedded as rasterized layers, head to Edit > Preferences General on a PC or Photoshop > Preferences > General. on a Mac.

Uncheck “Always Create Smart Objects When Placing,” and click “OK.”

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How to Mark All Text Messages as Read on an iPhone or iPad

If you have a huge number of unread text messages in your Messages app on iPhone or iPad, dealing with them one-by-one can be a hassle. Luckily, it’s easy to mark every one of your unread messages as read in the blink of an eye, but the feature is a bit hidden. Here’s how to do it.

First, open “Messages.” On an iPhone, look in the upper-right corner of the screen and tap the ellipses button, which looks like three dots in a circle. (The iPad button is slightly different, as you’ll see below.)

On an iPad, tap “Edit” in the upper-left corner of the screen.

In the menu that pops up, tap “Select Messages.” Messages will now enter “Edit” mode. But you don’t need to deal with individual messages at the moment. On both iPhone and iPad, look for the “Read All” button in the lower left corner of the screen. Tap it.

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What Is Fast Charging, and How Does It Work?

Nearly every recent flagship phone on the market offers some type of fast charging. Manufacturers often throw out numbers like “80% in 30 minutes” or “a full charge in under an hour” in the marketing of their latest devices.

The widespread adoption of fast charging is a response to increasing phone usage, with many people having to recharge their phones more than once per day. It’s also a necessity. As phone sizes are getting bigger each year, they need bigger batteries to keep up with the added power consumption. Without fast charging, we’d have to wait hours for our phones to top up.

At the most basic level, fast charging is simply increasing the number of watts (W) that are delivered to a phone’s battery. A basic USB port sends 2.5W to the connected device, and faster chargers raise this amount.  Current-generation devices typically have 15W power bricks right out of the box. Some manufacturers have 50W, 80W, and 100W chargers available.

For the end user, it’s as simple as using a compatible fast-charger for their phone. However, for manufacturers, it’s not as straightforward as using a higher-watt power brick.

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How to Install Third-Party App Stores on Android

Nearly every Android device ships with the Google Play Store. It’s the official place to go to download apps and games. However, the openness of Android means you can install third-party app stores, too.

The Google Play Store is, by far, the largest app store available to those who use Android. It’s also the safest place to download apps and games. However, if your device doesn’t have the Play Store, or you’re just interested in alternatives.

  • Amazon Appstore: This is on Kindle Fire tablets, but you can install it on an Android device, as well. Because it’s backed by Amazon, it’s a pretty safe app store to use.
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How to Download NVIDIA’s Drivers Without GeForce Experience

GeForce Experience is  a heavier application that requires you sign in with an account. You even have to sign in with an account just to get driver updates. If you’d like to install your drivers the classic way—just the drivers themselves and the NVIDIA Control Panel tool—you can.

You can download the drivers from NVIDIA’s website. Either head to the newer GeForce Drivers page and use the “Manual Driver Search” section or use the classic NVIDIA Driver Download page. Whichever page you use, you’ll have to know the model of your graphics card, whether you’re using a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows, and which type of driver you want.

The “Game Ready Driver (GRD)” features optimizations for the latest games and is intended for gamers, while the “Studio Driver (SD)” prioritizes stability and is intended for creative professionals .Use the fields to select your drivers and click “Search.” When you’re done, click the “Download” button to get the drivers.

Download the driver’s EXE file and double-click it to install like any other application. Let the installer extract its files and begin installation.

After the installer extracts its files and starts, you’ll be prompted to choose the kind of installation you want. By default, it will try to install the “NVIDIA Graphics Driver and GeForce Experience” software.

Be sure to select “NVIDIA Graphics Driver” instead to avoid installing NVIDIA GeForce Experience.

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How to Watch Videos with Friends in Facebook Messenger

First, open the Facebook Messenger app on your iPhone, iPad, or Android device. Select the person or group chat you want to watch videos with. You can also tap the “Create Room” button, and invite people to join.

Next, start a voice or video call by tapping the “Phone” or “Video” icon in the top-right corner of the app.

Once you’re in the call, drag the bottom toolbar up to reveal more options.Select “Watch Together” to start watching a video.

You’ll see a “Suggested” video tab and a “TV & Movies” tab. Select something to watch and it will begin playing.

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How Do I Fix Permissions Denied by Accident on Mac?

If certain features in your apps aren’t working right, this may be due to a permissions issue. If you’ve ever clicked “Don’t allow” on a popup, you may have inadvertently caused this issue.

Some things that may not be working:

  • An app can’t use the camera
  • An app can’t use the microphone
  • You are unable to save files
  • You can’t share files with others
  • You can’t share your screen with others

What You’ll Need:

  • macOS 10.14 Mojave or later
  • An administrator account to change system preferences.
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