How-To Geek

Open Microsoft Word in 2026, and before you type a single word, you're greeted by a search bar, a ribbon full of icons, a Share button, templates, and an AI assistant in the margins. All you wanted was a blank page. Instead, you got a dashboard.

Your smart home can make your life a little easier, but it can also make your home safer. There are several smart home sensors that can help to protect you and your home.

New homeowners getting ready for upcoming projects or maintenance will want to find power tools that balance power, price, and versatility, all in a compact form factor. You have several brands to choose from, and Milwaukee is a popular option among DIYers and professionals.

These days, new phones come with brighter screens, more RAM, and increased durability, but there was also a time when an important aspect of considering a new phone involved checking its selection of ports. Quite a few ports came and went before Android phones settled on the one USB port to rule them all.

Your smart home going down can be a real pain. There may be automations you rely on daily that suddenly no longer work. If there's a power outage, your smart home doesn't have to give up the ghost.

Remember when cord-cutting and canceling cable were all about saving money? It's no secret that streaming services just keep getting more expensive. Sling TV started at $20 per month and now costs double that, and YouTube TV launched at $35 but slowly ballooned to over $80. Last spring, I canceled my service and went a different route that only cost me around $40 for the entire year.

If you run a Pi-Hole server, you probably, like me, have experienced downtime when updating or rebooting the server. To fix this, I started running two Pi-Hole instances. Here's how I did it, and how I keep them in sync, too.

Whether you're a beginner or a hardened Bash-writing veteran, there's always room for picking up new tips. Some of the best ones take only moments to learn but are so transformative that they change your entire approach. I have four that will unscramble your Bash spaghetti into a well-formatted work of art.

National Vehicle Safety Recalls week is March 2nd through the 8th here in the United States, raising awareness of the importance of checking for open recalls on our vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) organizes the campaign, which coincides with the spring-cleaning season, but it's good practice to check for recalls on your car year-round.

Magnetic USB-C cables (the kind that use a dongle to connect) sound like the perfect convenience hack for ultra-fast wired charging, especially if you're not on the wireless charging bandwagon or if we're talking about a device that doesn't support it, like a laptop.

There was a time when saving a computer program sounded like a modem arguing with a fax machine. Before floppy drives were crunching and grinding away in our homes, the humble cassette was an affordable and effective way to sell, store, and record data.

One of the easiest ways to up your Linux terminal game without memorizing a ton of commands is just to start using TUIs. These are the ones I keep on virtually all day long while I work on my Linux computers.

Affordable luxury SUVs often promise premium style and features, but many fall short when it comes to long-term value and everyday usability. In 2026, one compact luxury SUV manages to deliver upscale design, advanced technology, and strong efficiency without carrying the high ownership costs usually associated with the segment. The Lexus UX stands out as the smartest choice for buyers who want true luxury at an attainable price.

Smart switches aren't only for controlling lights. These switches can control anything your prior wall switch could, and that means you can have much more fun with a smart switch than you might expect.

Setting up a Jellyfin server is no small task. While I love my setup now, there are several regrets I have about the way I first installed my Jellyfin server.

Ever uploaded a photo to remove the background and wondered where it is stored, and what will happen to it later on? Online background remover tools are convenient to use, but convenience often trades against control. So, instead of uploading your photos to strangers’ servers, let’s build a background remover that runs entirely on your own computer.

Jigsaw has a new streaming home this month. All 10 movies in the Saw franchise arrive on March 19, 2026, on Netflix. There are nine main installments in the Saw franchise and one spin-off, Spiral. However, all 10 exist in the same twisted universe and headline Netflix's new movies arriving this month.

If you think shells are limited to just Bash and Zsh, think again. True to the Linux philosophy, a shell is just another program that you can swap in and out; in some cases, with remarkable effects.

xTool has been a staple of the laser engraving industry for many years, but, until now, they’ve only focused on the hobby space. 2025 marked the year that xTool decided to step into the industrial space, starting with the xTool P3—and it’s their most powerful, yet easiest to use laser the company has ever released.

Guy Ritchie is back with a new adventure involving one of the world's most famous detectives. Young Sherlock, an origin story for Sherlock Holmes, premieres March 4, 2026, on Prime Video. Instead of a weekly rollout, all eight episodes will be released at once for Prime Video subscribers.