Archive for the ‘Tips & Tricks’ category

« Older Entries

Highlight or Drag without Holding the Mouse Button in Windows 11

July 2nd, 2025 by Admin

Is there any easy way to highlight a section of text when using the touch screen? If you are using a touchpad or trackpad, selecting a chunk of text or dragging an item will require you to hold down the mouse button or the SHIFT key at the same time. After turning on the ClickLock feature, it will become much easier to highlight, drag & drop a text or file, which can be easily done using just one finger. No need to hold down the mouse button or SHIFT key.

How to Turn on ClickLock for Easy Highlight or Drag in Windows 11

Previously we’ve covered a traditional way to enable ClickLock using the Control Panel, here is a new method to turn on ClickLock in Windows 11.

  1. Press the Windows key + I at the same time to start the Settings app. Select Accessibility on the left side and then click the Mouse option on the right panel under Interaction.

  2. Toggle the switch next to “Click lock” to the On position, and then you can drag the slider right under it to set how long you need to hold down a mouse or trackball button before your click is “locked”.

Conclusion

After turning on ClickLock in Windows 11, you will be able to easily scroll, select, drag and drop without having to hold down the mouse button or the SHIFT key.

Comments Off on Highlight or Drag without Holding the Mouse Button in Windows 11 »

Posted in Others, Tips & Tricks, Windows 11

Tags:

Step-by-Step Tutorial: Change Mouse Cursor Color and Size in Windows 11

June 18th, 2025 by Admin

Is there a way to change the mouse pointer appearance? Do you find it hard to see the default mouse cursor against your desktop background? To make your cursor easier to see, you can customize the style of the mouse pointer with ease. In this tutorial we’ll walk you through the steps of changing mouse cursor color and size in Windows 11.

How to Change Mouse Cursor Color and Size in Windows 11

  1. Press the Windows key + I to open the Settings app. Choose the Accessibility category in the left column, and click Mouse pointer and touch on the right column.

  2. Under the Mouse pointer style section, you can choose one of the classical themes including White, Black, and Inverted. If you want to have an eye-catching cursor, select the fourth option: Custom, which allows you to use the recommended colors or click the plus button to choose another color.

    Next, find the horizontal slider titled Size. Drag it to adjust the cursor size.

  3. Now you can move the mouse to see if you have problem tracking the cursor.

Conclusion

This tutorial shows you how to customize your mouse cursor the way you want in Windows 11, so you can easily keep track of where your mouse is. It’s very useful for people with eyesight problems to spot a small cursor on the screen.

Comments Off on Step-by-Step Tutorial: Change Mouse Cursor Color and Size in Windows 11 »

Posted in Others, Tips & Tricks, Windows 11

Tags:

How to Auto-Lock your Windows 11 Screen with Screensaver

June 11th, 2025 by Admin

Leaving your workstation unattended can lead to unauthorized access. It’s a good practice to configure your computer to automatically lock down the screen after inactivity, especially when you need to leave it in a rush. Previously we’ve taught you how to auto-lock Windows with a group policy called “Machine inactivity limit”, here we’ll show you a different method – using Screensaver to automatically lock your computer screen after inactivity time in Windows 11.

How to Auto-Lock your Windows 11 Screen with Screensaver

  1. Open the Settings app using the Windows key + I keyboard shortcut. Next, select Personalization on the left sidebar, and click Lock screen on the right pane.

  2. Scroll down to the “Related settings” section, click on the “Screen saver” option to bring up the Screen Saver Settings dialog.

  3. By default, the “(None)” option is selected as the screen saver, which means the screen saver is disabled. You need to select other options from the list, and set the duration of inactivity time to wait before screen saver turns on. Check the box that says “On resume, display logon screen“.

  4. Click Apply and then OK. Windows 11 will automatically activate the screen saver after the specified inactivity time. In order to regain use of your computer after the screensaver activates, you will need to login with your Windows password.

That’s it!

Comments Off on How to Auto-Lock your Windows 11 Screen with Screensaver »

Posted in Others, Tips & Tricks, Windows 11

Tags:

Fix: Image Preview not Showing in Windows 11

May 31st, 2025 by Admin

The image previews in File Explorer for all my images are not visible/present? Pictures’ thumbnails not showing? When you’re working with a bunch of photos or pictures, it’s quite necessary to have a quick preview of each image without having to open them with a image editor. To fix the issue of image preview not showing, follow this step-by-step tutorial to configure Windows 11 to show thumbnail pictures instead of icon.

How to Show Thumbnail Pictures Instead of Icon in Windows 11

  1. Press the Windows key + R together to launch the Run box, type SystemPropertiesPerformance and hit Enter.

  2. The Performance Options dialog will open to the Visual Effects tab. Make sure to put a check on “Show thumbnails instead of icons“, click Apply and then OK.

  3. Next, open File Explorer and click on the three-dots icon on the toolbar, and then select Options from the pop-up menu.

  4. Switch to the View tab at the top, and uncheck the “Always show icons, never thumbnails” setting. Click Apply and then OK.

  5. Now, all your image files should display their previews rather than generic icons.

That’s it!

Comments Off on Fix: Image Preview not Showing in Windows 11 »

Posted in Tips & Tricks, Windows 11

Tags:

Fix: Mouse scrolling the opposite direction in Windows 11

May 22nd, 2025 by Admin

Mouse scrolling wrong way? How can I reverse the mouse wheel scrolling direction? By default, if you scroll down with the mouse wheel, the page will go down and this is the natural way that we’ve got used to for decades. If your mouse scrolls the opposite way, you can reverse the scrolling direction easily. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to change the mouse scrolling direction in Windows 11.

How to Change Mouse Scrolling Direction in Windows 11

  1. Open the Settings app by pressing the Windows key + I keyboard shortcut. Select Bluetooth & devices on the left sidebar, then click Mouse on the right pane.

  2. Look for the “Scrolling” section, and you can then click the Scrolling direction drop-down menu to choose your preferred option:

    • Down motion scrolls up: Roll the mouse wheel down will move the page up.
      Down motion scrolls down (default): Roll the mouse wheel down will move the page down.
  3. The change will apply immediately. You can test the new settings to ensure you’re happy with the new scroll direction.

That’s it!

Comments Off on Fix: Mouse scrolling the opposite direction in Windows 11 »

Posted in Others, Tips & Tricks, Windows 11

Tags:

Step-by-Step Tutorial: Change Touchpad Scrolling Direction in Windows 11

May 14th, 2025 by Admin

Touchpad two-finger scroll not working as I expected? How can I reverse the direction of scrolling when I move two fingers up or down on the touchpad? If you have upgraded to Windows 11 and not used to the default scrolling direction, you can reverse the touchpad scroll direction with ease. In this tutorial we’ll walk you through the steps to change touchpad scrolling direction in Windows 11, without using third-party software or registry hack.

How to Change Touchpad Scrolling Direction in Windows 11

  1. To get started, open the Settings app by pressing the Windows + I keyboard shortcut, or you can right-click the Start button in the taskbar and then choose “Settings“.

  2. Select Bluetooth & devices on the left side, and then click Touchpad on the right side.

  3. Click the Scroll & zoom to expand its related settings.

  4. You can then click the “Scrolling direction” drop-down menu to select your preferred option for two-finger scrolling: Down motion scrolls up or Down motion scrolls down.

    • Down motion scrolls up (default): When you swipe down with two fingers on the touchpad, the vertical scrollbar will move up.
    • Down motion scrolls down: When you swipe down with two fingers on the touchpad, the vertical scrollbar will move down. This is the “natural” scroll direction.
  5. Close the Settings app. Enjoy scrolling the way you’re happy with.

That’s it!

Comments Off on Step-by-Step Tutorial: Change Touchpad Scrolling Direction in Windows 11 »

Posted in Others, Tips & Tricks, Windows 11

Tags:

Easy Ways to Turn on ‘Do Not Disturb’ on Windows 11

April 27th, 2025 by Admin

‘Do Not Disturb’ is an useful feature in Windows 11, which can silence notifications from apps, system updates or alerts, so you can stay focused during a meeting or game without distractions. In this tutorial we’ll show you the most common ways to turn on ‘Do Not Disturb’ in Windows 11.

Method 1: Use System Tray to Turn on ‘Do Not Disturb’

  1. Click on time and date in the system tray on the far right corner. When the notification center pops up, click the bell icon in the top-right corner.

  2. It will enable the ‘Do Not Disturb’ mode immediately and you’ll see the bell icon on the right side of the taskbar. If there is no bell icon, Do Not Disturb is currently turned off.

Method 2: Use Settings App to Turn on ‘Do Not Disturb’

  1. Press the Windows key + I keyboard shortcut to open the Settings app. Choose System in the left sidebar and click Notifications on the right.

  2. You can either turn on ‘Do Not Disturb’ by flipping the “Do not disturb” setting to the On position,

    or click the “Turn on do not disturb automatically” to expand its settings. From there you can schedule quiet hours, or tick the box “When playing a game” or others to configure when the ‘Do Not Disturb’ should be activated automatically.

Conclusion

The above methods allows you to turn on ‘Do Not Disturb’ easily on your Windows 11 computer. In addition, you can also turn on “Do not disturb” by starting a Focus session.

Comments Off on Easy Ways to Turn on ‘Do Not Disturb’ on Windows 11 »

Posted in Others, Tips & Tricks, Windows 11

Tags:

Fix: Unable to remove the Virtual Touchpad icon in Windows 11

April 19th, 2025 by Admin

How do I remove the virtual touchpad icon from the system tray? The “Virtual Touchpad” option is missing from the Settings app?

Usually we can turn virtual touchpad on or off via opening the Settings app and browsing to Personalization -> Taskbar. However, sometimes you might find the “Virtual Touchpad” option is not there, and so you’re unable to remove it from system tray.

In this tutorial we’ll show you an easy fix to restore the missing “Virtual Touchpad” option in Settings on Windows 11, so you can then remove Virtual Touchpad icon from the taskbar.

How to Fix: Unable to remove the Virtual Touchpad icon in Windows 11

  1. Open Registry Editor and navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer. Right-click the Explorer key on the left-side panel, and choose New -> Key.

  2. Name the new key VirtualTouchpad, and select it.

  3. Next, go to the right-hand panel. Right-click the blank area and select New -> DWORD (32-bit) Value.

  4. Name the DWORD entry Enabled, and leave the value data as 0.

  5. Close Registry Editor and reboot your PC. The next time you open the Settings app and go to: Personalization -> Taskbar, the “Virtual Touchpad” option will show up under the “System tray icons” section, and you can toggle it Off to remove the Virtual Touchpad icon from the taskbar.

That’s it!

Comments Off on Fix: Unable to remove the Virtual Touchpad icon in Windows 11 »

Posted in Tips & Tricks, Windows 11

Tags:

Fix: Remote Desktop Frequently Disconnects after Windows 11 Update

March 26th, 2025 by Admin

Remote desktop sessions keep disconnecting after a while? Recently I ran into this issue on Windows 11 24H2 and the remote desktop connection frequently disconnected so I had to reconnect again and again. This is quite frustrating and many people who experienced the same problem reported that either KB5050094 or KB5051987 was to blame. Uninstalling those updates might solve the issue but eventually I found a better solution. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to tweak the group policy to fix the issue of remote desktop connection frequently disconnecting after Windows 11 update.

How to Fix: Remote Desktop Frequently Disconnects after Windows 11 Update

  1. Press the Windows key + R together to open the Run box, type gpedit.msc and hit Enter to launch the Local Group Policy Editor.

  2. Browse to: Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Remote Desktop Services -> Remote Desktop Connection Client. On the right pane, double-click the “Turn Off UDP On Client” policy.

  3. Select the Enabled option. Click Apply and then OK.

  4. Close the Local Group Policy Editor and restart the computer to make this change to take effect. The next time you connect to this PC through RDP and your session won’t keep dropping or disconnect automatically.

After applying the above group policy tweak, remote desktop service will run on TCP protocol only instead of UDP protocol. Whenever Microsoft releases a new update to fix the remote desktop connection issues, you can then disable the above group policy.

Comments Off on Fix: Remote Desktop Frequently Disconnects after Windows 11 Update »

Posted in Others, Tips & Tricks, Windows 11

Tags:

How to Disable Notepad AI Rewrite in Windows 11

March 19th, 2025 by Admin

How can I turn off Rewrite AI in Notepad? The Rewrite feature is officially roll out to public users since Notepad version 11.2410.17.0, and it utilizes AI technology to help rewrite sentences or whole paragraphs based on your preferences.

To use Rewrite, you need to sign in to Notepad with Microsoft account, and Copilot AI credits are required. If you don’t have any AI credits, the Rewrite feature becomes useless. In this tutorial we’ll walk you through the steps to disable the Notepad AI Rewrite feature in Windows 11.

How to Disable Notepad AI Rewrite in Windows 11

  1. Open any text file with Notepad, and then click the Gear icon in the top right corner.

  2. You will be presented with different settings for Notepad. Under the “AI Features” section, you can toggle the “Rewrite” setting to OFF.

  3. Now you should see the Rewrite icon disappear from the upper right of the Notepad window.

Conclusion

This is how you can disable the Notepad AI Rewrite feature in Windows 11. Each time you rewrite the selected text, it will cost you one AI credit. If you’re unsure how many AI credits you have left, click the Profile icon in the top right of Notepad, you see the AI credit balance for your Microsoft account.

Comments Off on How to Disable Notepad AI Rewrite in Windows 11 »

Posted in Others, Tips & Tricks, Windows 11

Tags: