This week's top tips

What's that setting called again?  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ [Windows Intelligence](#) [Windows Intelligence](#) Hello again! This week, I've got a convenient little tip about a Windows setting that's easy to forget. But first: I'm still collecting the best reader-submitted tips this week. If you submit an great tip I can use, I'll enter you into a drawing to win a $50 Amazon gift card. Fabulous prize aside, you'll be sharing an especially helpful tip with your fellow readers. Do you use a little-known setting, useful Windows feature, essential keyboard shortcut, or excellent third-party app? I'd love to hear it and share it with people. You can [submit a tip right here](). Feel free to submit multiple! For each usable tip, you'll get another entry in the drawing (up to a maximum of five per person — just to be fair.) Be sure to submit them by the end of this week to be eligible for the drawing. And now, on to this week's tip! ⌚ This entire email will take you two minutes to read. Remember: If you'd rather not receive these Monday tip roundups, [you can easily opt out of them](=) without affecting the rest of your subscription. ☑ [Got it — don't show this again](=)​ This week's reader suggestion 💾 This week's reader-submitted tip is about what happens when you connect something to your PC: A USB drive, phone, SD card, DVD, or whatever else. Windows can take some sort of action when you connect a device or insert media. In fact, Windows may ask you what you want to do. But after you make a selection once, Windows may automatically take actions in the background and never ask you again. There's still a way to take control. 💻 This works on both Windows 10 and Windows 11. ➜ This collection of settings came up in a conversation with Windows Intelligence reader Elias M. To control what Windows does when you insert media or connect a storage device or phone, you need to change the AutoPlay settings. On Windows 11 or Windows 10, you can just open the Start menu and search for "AutoPlay" to find these settings. [Search for "AutoPlay" in the Windows Start menu.] The options you see here will depend on what you've connected to your computer in the past. For example, if you haven't plugged your phone into your computer with a USB cable, you won't see it as an option here until you do. You can choose between different options like "Ask me every time," "Take no action," "Open folder to view files," and "Import Photos and Videos." [AutoPlay settings on Windows 11.] If you ever want to change what happens when you connect a device, head to this settings screen. And by the way: If you don't like AutoPlay and don't want anything happening automatically when you connect a device, you can toggle off "Use AutoPlay for all media and devices" here. 📲 Looking for this week's Android Intelligence reader tip? It's all about a quick way to uninstall multiple Android apps at once. [Read it here!](​ ​ 💡 Got a useful tip you'd like to share with other Windows enthusiasts? [Submit it here](=) — or just reply to this email and share it with me! I'd love to feature your useful advice in a future newsletter. --------------------------------------------------------------- Some tips you don't want to miss Now, a rapid-fire summary of the best useful tips from our most recent issues — just in case you overlooked something or haven't explored it yet! 💥 Prepare your PC for almost-certain disaster: The CrowdStrike outage won't be the last computing disaster affecting PCs. Your PC might fail to turn on one day for all kinds of reasons. Here are [eight ways to prepare your PC for the worst](=). 📖 Open a web page in Reader mode in a snap: Modern browsers offer an easy way to open web pages in reading mode. In Chrome, right-click on a web page and select "Open in reading mode." (Unfortunately, Chrome's reading mode is just a sidebar.) In Firefox or Edge, you can click a reading mode icon in your browser's address bar — or just press F9 to toggle reading mode on and off. 🖼️ Customize your photo gallery in File Explorer: The "Gallery" view in the File Explorer on Windows 11 is more customizable than it looks. To check it out, open File Explorer and select "Gallery" in the left pane. You can use the "Collection" button on the toolbar to add other folders — and focus just on individual folders of images. 📕 The A-to-Z guide on Mobile Device Management: Sports teams have their playbooks. Grandmas have their cookbooks. And IT managers who deal with devices have the [MDM Buyer’s Guide.](=) Whether you’re buying your very first device, or optimizing your company’s current fleet, this FREE manual covers every stage of the process. [Download the no-cost MDM Buyer’s Guide today](=) and optimize your fleet. [SPONSORED] 🌱 Identify plants, critters, and more: The free [Seek by iNaturalist app]( is a quick, convenient, and 100% free and privacy-protecting way to identify plants, animals, and fungi. [Just install the app and point your phone at whatever you're curious about](). It's faster and more reliable than AI-based tools when it comes to identifying living things. ❤️‍🩹 Give yourself an annual Android security checkup: Android security is far less scary than it's made out to be, but that doesn't mean you should forget about it entirely. Take 20 minutes now to follow [the simple steps in my annual Android security checkup](=), and you can rest easy knowing your phone's in tiptop shape for the full year ahead. 🎶 Check out a fun new song search system: Google's got a nifty new way to identify any song, anytime — whether it's actually playing around you or you're just singing or humming it. Just [open up YouTube Music]() on your phone, then tap the search icon in the app's upper-right corner and look for the newly added song search icon in the upper-right corner of the search screen that comes up next. Happy hunting! 🗳️ [Did the CrowdStrike outage affect you?]() Vote in this week's Windows Intelligence poll! 🤖 Learn AI in 5 minutes a day: While some among us denounce AI in favor of doing things the hard way, AI Tool Report is teaching people how to save time and earn more with AI. [Subscribe for F-R-E-E (with 1 click!)]() to learn how to automate tasks and save hours every week! [SPONSORED] --------------------------------------------------------------- What did you think? Was this email worth your time? Did you enjoy reading it? [Thumbs Up]() [Thumbs Down](=) Hit the thumbs-up or thumbs-down above to let me know what you think. Thanks as always for reading, and I hope you have an awesome week! Too much email? No worries: You can [opt out of receiving these roundups or unsubscribe entirely here](=). Hungry for even more? [Learn about becoming an Intelligence Insider]( to gain access to our one-of-a-kind community, power-packed advanced resources, our on-demand help desk, and tons of free apps and services. Finally, if you enjoyed this issue, please consider supporting my work directly with [one-time contribution](=), or make a contribution via [PayPal]( or [Venmo](=)! Published by The Intelligence • 2733 E. Battlefield Rd. #255 • Springfield, MO 65804