This week's top tips

Have a Windows 10 PC? You need to know this  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ [Windows Intelligence](#) [Windows Intelligence](#) Happy New Year! I hope you had an excellent holiday season. With the year flipping over to "2024," Windows 10's end of life seems closer than ever. The good news: Windows 10 is still getting security updates until October 14, 2025. That's still the better part of two years. After that, Microsoft will let you pay a fee to keep getting security updates for a few more years. So at least you have an option... But the reality is that many Windows 10 PCs can upgrade to Windows 11 even if it's a little "unofficial." This week, I'd like to share the easiest way to "unofficially" upgrade a Windows 10 PC to Windows 11. ⌚ 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 🧙 If you'd like to upgrade your Windows 10 PC to Windows 11 and Windows Update won't offer you the upgrade, you should know that many — but not all — Windows 10 PCs can run Windows 11 if you jump through a hoop. 💻 This particular tip is for Windows 10 PCs, naturally. ➜ There are lots of guides for upgrading "unsupported" PCs to Windows 11, but there's one particularly simple and convenient method I keep seeing. As Windows Intelligence reader Jayden J. shared with me, Rufus is a great way to create a bootable Windows 11 installation drive you can use to install Windows 11 — without the normal limitations. Here's the process: - ​[Download Rufus]() on your Windows PC. - ​[Download a Windows 11 ISO disk image file]() from Microsoft's website. Be sure to use the ISO download option! - Connect a USB flash drive with at least 8GB of space. Its contents will be erased, and it will become a Windows 11 installation drive. - Launch Rufus. Under Device, select your connected USB drive. Under Boot selection, click the "SELECT" button and browse to your downloaded Windows 11 ISO file. There's no need to change any other options. - Click the "START" button. A "Windows User Experience" option will appear. The "Remove requirement for 4GB+ RAM, Secure Boot and TPM 2.0" option is already checked, so you're good to go. Click "OK" to make your installation drive. - When Rufus is done, [boot from the installation drive]( and install Windows 11 normally. [The Windows User Experience dialog in Rufus.] While this may be a little more involved than the average reader-submitted tip, this is about as easy as it gets for upgrading an unsupported PC! It really is just a few extra clicks. You don't have to do this now, of course — perhaps you want to do it in a year or eighteen months rather than paying that subscription fee. But, when you're ready, this is how to do it. Of course, this won't work on every PC — Windows 11 still has some other requirements that this doesn't bypass. You'll learn whether your PC is compatible when you try to install Windows 11. If it isn't compatible, Windows 11 will refuse to install. ⛅ Looking for this week's Android Intelligence reader tip? Here it is: [An easy way to get a better weather forecast directly in your Google Calendar](). 💡 Got an exceptional tip you'd like to share with other Windows enthusiasts? [Submit it here]( — or just reply to this email and share it with me! Your advice may be featured 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! 🤖 Try these 10 AI features on Windows 11: Microsoft has been rapidly launching AI features lately, and many of them are already on your Windows 11 PC — have you tried them yet? Despite the name, many of these features are just plain-old useful, whether you want to use "AI" or not. Take a look at [10 AI features you can use on Windows 11 today](=). 🛑 Disable Copilot AI on Windows: Many people have asked me about disabling AI on Windows. The good news is that these AI features don't do anything unless you go out of your way to use them — and they only get the data or files you choose to provide. But, if you like, you can disable them. On Windows 11, right-click the taskbar, select "Taskbar Settings," and turn off "Copilot" under Taskbar items. On Windows 10, when Copilot launches, you'll see a similar option after you right-click the taskbar. You can also turn off the Copilot option in the Microsoft Edge browser via Edge's sidebar options — or just use another browser. 🖊️ Annotate screenshots on Windows: The Snipping Tool (on Windows 11) and Snip & Sketch (on Windows 10) applications let you draw on screenshots and highlight them. To get started, take a screenshot by pressing Windows+Shift+S and drawing a box around something on your screen. Click the notification that appears and use the Pen and Highlighter icons to annotate your screenshot. You can save or copy-paste it when you're done. ❌ To track your package click this *FAKE SKETCHY LINK*: Did you click it? If so, someone could’ve stolen your data and sold it all over the Dark Web. Don’t worry, though, [ESET](=)has you covered with everything you need to protect yourself from attempted account takeovers, phishing scams, fake delivery notifications, and more. And for the next three days, The Intelligence readers can lock in a plan for [30% off the regular price](=). [SPONSORED] 👂 Create your own soothing background-noise soundscape: A spectacular service called [MyNoise]() lets you choose from meticulously captured real-world sound scenarios — everything from forest noises to the comforting hum of a bustling coffee shop — and then fine-tune every last isolated element of each soundscape to make it your own. It's free, up to a point, and available on the web as well as in native (and newly updated!) apps for both [Android]() and [iOS](. 🎩 Revisit the top Android tips of 2023: From advanced Android clipboard tricks to out-of-sight Gboard shortcuts, we've covered all sorts of awesome Android-enhancing ground over the past year. JR's [collection of the top Android tips of 2023]() has all the highlights and almost certainly holds some standout gems you missed or maybe just forgot about along the way. 🏴‍☠️ Dig up some buried Pixel treasures: In addition to broadly applicable Android advice, JR's shared more than his fair share of Pixel-specific pointers lately. This next collection has [the most memorable Pixel tips of the past year](=), and it also includes some goodies that'll work for anyone — no matter what type of device you're using. ☕️ When you need caffeine, you drink espresso… But when you need the most important tech news in just 5 minutes, you [read Techpresso](=). The baristas of tech and AI, Techpresso culls through 60+ media sources daily to deliver you the top headlines from the last 24 hours. And unlike espresso, it’s totally free. [Subscribe to Techpresso with one click]( to get your daily tech news roundup. [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.