How-To Geek

The art of partitioning system drives seems to have all but died. Yes, your PC probably has a partitioned drive, but you're probably not the one who partitioned it. Your laptop's manufacturer and the operating system you've installed probably made a few for system and restoration purposes, but as far as I can tell most computer users these days don't make disk partitions.

Merging cells in Excel is a trap—it can disrupt your spreadsheet's structure and make simple tasks like sorting pretty much impossible. Center Across Selection is the superior choice, and a simple macro lets you pin it to your Quick Access Toolbar (QAT).

If you're new to Android Auto, you might think that Google Maps and Spotify are all you really need. But there are a handful of other programs that can enhance your driving experience. Whether you're doing your daily commute or embarking on a long road trip, these Android Auto apps will make the journey a lot easier.

Chrome extensions are powerful and versatile, but they're also a massive privacy and security risk. This is why I and most people who know at least a little about cybersecurity minimize or eliminate our use of extensions as much as possible.

Most off-the-shelf travel routers are only good for a handful of things. They can share a Wi-Fi network, run a VPN, and even share files. The travel router I built out of a Raspberry Pi can do everything a regular travel router can, but it can do almost anything else you can imagine. Here are 5 ways I've expanded what my travel router can do.

I've never really been a OneDrive person. It always felt like one of those things Windows pushes on you whether you want it or not, and for a long time I treated it like something to avoid rather than something to learn. Most of what I thought I knew about it came from the usual frustrations, files syncing when I didn't expect it, folders showing up in weird places, and that constant question of what's actually stored locally versus in the cloud.

Photoshop is widely considered the industry standard for photo editing, but it's costly and has a steep learning curve. Most of us just need to remove a background or fix a grainy photo without complicated tools. Surprisingly, the best tool for the job is already on your PC: in early 2026, PowerPoint added a powerful photo editor. Here's how to get started.

Hearsay and anecdotes are rampant among casual users of technology. Hitting your computer fixes it! Your phone is listening to everything you say! At one time, stuff like this sounded absurd, and everyone shook their heads. But a lot of those silly myths ended up being true.

Google Maps has become more and more feature-rich over the years, and sometimes that is a good thing. However, between the sponsored listings, pop-ups I have to interact with while I'm driving, and a dubious privacy policy, I decided to switch to a privacy-focused alternative.

There are plenty of flashy and exciting projects you can do with your smart home that can have a real wow factor. Sometimes, however, it's the boring but practical projects that end up being the most useful.

It's funny, for a long time people could barely give CRT TVs away. However, as people began to realize that CRTs have unique advantages over modern flat panels, the demand started going up, making it harder to get a good model for a reasonable price.

Fedora is known for its cutting-edge software, stability, and clean implementation of upstream technologies, but even it can accumulate digital clutter over time.

ESP32 boards are inexpensive, tiny, and easy to work with, which makes them the perfect choice when you need to DIY a solution to a problem. Because they're so widely supported and work with so many components, you can often build something that doesn't have an off-the-shelf counterpart, giving you the flexibility to create something unique that suits your needs.

Whether you're new to the Linux community or a hardened veteran, you've undoubtedly encountered grumpy graybeards or toxic gatekeeping. Like many communities out there, Linux has its internal divisions and senseless tribalism. Countless arguments have raged over nothing, with many things said yet nothing resolved; I comment on four kinds of conflict that keep the Linux community perpetually divided.

Vehicle leasing has seen wild swings in popularity over the decades. In the 1990s, leasing exploded as an affordability option, allowing people to drive high-end luxury cars for a fraction of what the monthly payment would be through financing.

No Windows experience is complete without occasionally opening the Task Manager to figure out which application is using all of your RAM, or to end a program that has been frozen for ten minutes with no hope in sight. But it isn't even the best tool for the job—there is something else you should be using instead.

Godzilla is easily one of the most iconic Kaiju of all time, and now most of his films can be found on HBO Max. Relatively recently, Kaiju and many other recognizable Toho figures have been rebooted into the Monsterverse. Yet, all these modern films only cement the fact that the King of Kaiju's golden era is far behind him.

The 2026 Hyundai Tucson remains a heavy hitter in the compact SUV segment, offering a good mix of style, technology, and practicality. With a lineup that includes gasoline, hybrid, and plug-in hybrid powertrains, it covers a broad range of needs for potential buyers, from efficient daily driving to more rugged weekend use.

Soundbars offer convenience and are a fairly simple way to significantly upgrade the sound quality of your TV. If you're looking for the best sound for your dollar, however, then an old surround sound system might be a better choice.