How-To Geek

Microsoft keeps stuffing new features into the Windows 11 Start menu, and with most of them enabled by default, it has become unnecessarily cluttered. Add web search results that have zero value—when I need to search the web, I'll just open a browser—and you end up with a Start menu that feels bloated rather than helpful. By disabling the following features and options, I turned the Start menu on my Windows 11 PC into a lightweight application launcher and local search interface.

If you read about solid state drives (SSDs), you'll encounter a mountain of advice about how you can optimize your SSD's speed and longevity. However, modern SSDs, advanced controllers, and operating systems have made much of that advice irrelevant. Worse yet, some of it can actually be detrimental to the stability of your PC, especially if you're running a system with limited amounts of RAM.

Over the years, our smartphones have become the one piece of tech that never leaves our side when we travel. Whether it's navigating a new city, contacting the host for the stay, or just keeping yourself entertained while waiting for transport, it's safe to say that traveling would look very different without our beloved devices.

Happy Fourth of July to all those who celebrate! Hopefully, your day is full of food, family, and fun. When you decide to wind down for the night and hit the couch, perhaps stream a movie related to the holiday or summer. Some of these picks are rather obvious, including the 1996 action movie named after July 4.

Repairing things is one of the best reasons to get a 3D printer, and it might just give you the push you need to learn to model items for yourself. If you’re looking for some inspiration, here are some examples of how a 3D printer can come in clutch and save you money.

The ESP32 microcontroller has become hugely popular in the worlds of DIY electronics and smart home automation. You can use the small chips to build an enormous range of different things at relatively low prices. One of the biggest barriers for people dipping their toes into the world of ESP32 is the fear of having to get stuck in with a soldering iron, but there are plenty of genius ESP32 projects that don't require any soldering at all.

Hulu's July lineup might even be more impressive than last month, which included the fifth and final season of The Bear. July's offerings include splashy premieres and anticipated returns. Kicking things off is the sequel to an underrated 2019 horror comedy that I thoroughly enjoyed.

The umbrelOS is a server OS for everybody. People who aren't familiar with the command-line interface can just start their homelab using umbrelOS without any technical knowledge. And for people who already have one, umbrelOS can make an excellent addition to an existing setup.

Building a smart home can feel like an expensive process. There are plenty of excellent smart home devices that come with price tags to match. You don't have to spend a lot to build a great smart home; there are some excellent devices that are relatively cheap.

I hate it when the internet goes down, or I can't get cell reception. We tend to take it for granted that we have access to insane amounts of information from our phones, and only appreciate it when it's gone. I wanted to create something that would let me access some of that information even when I was offline, so I decided to turn my old Kindle into a Wikipedia archive.

Google Maps is one of the best ways to get around because of how it adapts. Things like traffic and construction zones are taken into account, but so is fuel efficiency. However, it’s not a one-size-fits-all setting, and you probably haven’t touched it.

Smart speakers come in all shapes, sizes, and price points—you can even make your own. But before you put one in your home (or another one), there are a few important questions you should ponder.

Netflix is packed with something for everyone year-round, but its collection of summer shows and movies is incredible. Whether it's a light romance or a seasonal adventure, your summer watch list this year can be filled with the hottest titles.

Once, my homelab was a simple setup. I had an old PC stuffed into a corner of my basement with a few Raspberry Pis haphazardly scattered on the top of the case. However, as my setup has grown in usefulness and complexity, I had to seriously reevaluate how everything was configured so that it was consistently useful.

The midsize pickup manages to be popular and overlooked at the same time. In 2025, Toyota sold nearly 275,000 Tacomas in the U.S., even outselling the Corolla. Yet it is the full-size and heavy-duty trucks that often steal the headlines thanks to their staggering tow ratings and prodigious power outputs.

I've never understood the appeal of wall-mounted tablets for controlling a smart home. To me, dashboards have always felt like expensive replacements for physical switches. However, a recent project finally made me realize that wall-mounted control panels can have their place

Camera accessories are some of my favorite things to 3D print. Photography can be an expensive hobby, and one that rewards experimentation and creativity.

Installing programs on Linux is a fairly simple process. Using a package manager and an installation command ( sudo apt install [program name] for example) in your terminal installs an application, assuming it's available in your distro's repositories. As I grew more experienced with the operating system, I stopped installing Linux apps the traditional way, largely because the other options offer more control, variety, and customization.

HBO Max spent June living large—House of the Dragon's third season ruled the charts (and continues to), and Larry David is skewering 250 years of American history just in time for Independence Day. But once the dragons stop breathing fire, it's the stranger-than-fiction real-life documentaries that linger, and HBO Max keeps a deep library of those.

Open-source apps have gotten remarkably good over the years—good enough to serve as viable replacements for many paid services. As a result, the team here at How-To Geek has started canceling some of our paid subscriptions and replacing them with open-source, self-hosted alternatives. Here are three such apps that proved worth the switch and have earned a permanent place in our workflow.