The Internet is full of “life hacks” that allegedly make this world easier to navigate. Unfortunately, most of them aren’t terribly useful, or only come up in very specific situations.
We decided to transcend that and find the computer life hacks out there that are helpful, or at least particularly interesting. And while it’s unlikely all of the following hacks pertain to you, there’s a good chance several will, and that should make your life (slightly) easier.
Find out all the information Google knows about you.
Have to give Google credit for being transparent, as they’ll show you all the information they’ve collected on you and even what ads they are serving you with. Here’s a full list of the information Google provides you with:
- History – Your entire Google search history.
- Ads – What Google thinks your interests are and the ads they are serving you based on those interests.
- Location History – The places where you used Google to do anything.
- Takeout – Here, you can export every piece of information Google knows about you.
- Dashboard – An activity page that tells you about all the Google services you are using.
- YouTube search history – YouTube also saves all of your searches.
- Permissions – You can see here what permissions you gave to the extensions and sites you use.
Disable Facebook’s video autoplay option.
It can be slightly obnoxious to be scrolling through Facebook and have videos automatically play at you. You can change that by going to facebook.com/settings. On the left side of the screen you’ll see ‘Videos’ – click on it and you’ll be presented with an option to turn off autoplay.
Do a quick reverse image search.
Want to see where an online image came from? Within Chrome, hold S and right-click on the image. Once you do, a drop-down menu will appear, and you can select “Search Google for Image.”
Clear your cache really easily.
If you want to view a webpage with a cleared cache, simply click control, shift and R at the same time, and refresh the page.
Have the brightness of your computer screen automatically adjust to its surroundings.
If you download f.lux, your computer screen will always have the right level of brightness, which could even help you sleep better.
Here’s f.lux’s own explanation of itself: "It makes the color of your computer's display adapt to the time of day, warm at night and like sunlight during the day."
"It's even possible that you're staying up too late because of your computer. You could use f.lux because it makes you sleep better, or you could just use it just because it makes your computer look better."
These five PC shortcuts will make you more productive.
Have a PC? These keyboard shortcuts will save you time:
- Alt-tab: Switch between windows.
- Alt-F4: Close a window.
- Ctrl-tab: Switch between a browser and Excel tabs.
- Ctrl-F4: Close a tab.
- Ctrl-Z: Undo.
Have a YouTube video automatically repeat over and over.
Want to listen to the same song over and over, for example? You can make that happen by replacing “youtube” in any YouTube link with “listenonrepeat.” So, instead of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZiNtbgm9oM, it’s http://listenonrepeat.com/watch?v=IZiNtbgm9om.
Easily turn Chrome into a PDF reader.
Reading a PDF within Chrome is a solid experience, particularly on a laptop. To make that happen, just drag the PDF file into Chrome, and you can read it there.
Don’t have an Internet connection? Play a dinosaur game on Google Chrome.
Whenever your computer is not able to connect to the Internet, Chrome displays a dinosaur on the broken page. Next time you see that page, click command and the up-arrow key simultaneously. A game will start running that doesn’t require an Internet connection, where you control the dinosaur with the arrow keys.
It is a simple application designed to entertain you until you get reconnected to the Internet. Perhaps not overly useful, but it helps you kill time as your company fixes the wireless.
Ask Google about any problem you’re facing before going to a PC expert.
Most IT problems are simple issues that can easily be resolved by following a few steps. However, most people panic when anything wrong happens and run to the nearest PC expert. Just remember to be cool and slow down. You can type your problem into the Google search bar and read what Microsoft or the various tech forums have to tell you. You will probably find the solution there and won’t need to spend money on an expert.
For currency conversions, use the Google search bar instead of a calculator.
Who needs calculators when you have something as precious as Google? If you’re traveling abroad and you need to see how much money you will get with the exchange, you can simply write down the amount of money and the currencies of the country where you’re traveling. A simple “100 dollars to euros” will be enough to learn how much you’ll win or lose from the exchange.
A laptop battery charges faster when in airplane mode.
When your laptop is on airplane mode it means that many features, like your Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, are disabled. This takes some pressure off your battery and allows it to charge faster than if operating normally. Expect to see your laptop fully charged 10-15 minutes faster than if you had the airplane mode off.
Download any Google image automatically by pressing Alt and clicking on it.
Most people right click on images and select the “save” option, but there is a much easier and faster way to download a photo on your computer. You can simply push “alt” and then left click on an image and it will be automatically saved on your computer in your Downloads folder. On a MacBook you can press control and then click on the image, it will then give you a drop-down menu where you can select Copy Image.
Hide your IP address so that nobody sees what you’re doing.
There are various ways that can hide your IP address and make your browsing invisible. First of all, you need to install a good VPN on your internet browser so that it changes your real location. Then, you can download PeerBlock, which also hides your address, and gives you the ability to do whatever you want with nobody knowing.
Download “f.lux” to make your computer’s screen brightness adjust automatically to its surroundings.
There are many of you who work on your computers from various environments and know how hard it is to be in a dark space with an extremely bright screen. Most computers have the night shift mode, which adjusts the brightness during the night. You can also download and install f.lux, which automatically adjusts the screen’s brightness based on every environment it’s placed in. It’s a great alternative if the night shift mode isn’t satisfactory for you.
You can recover deleted files even if you've emptied the recycle bin.
Deleting files and then emptying the recycling bin can prove to be very frustrating, since you may realize afterward that in that pile there was a file that you really needed. What you can do is download Recuva, which is the top program to recover permanently deleted files. You just choose what type of file you're looking for and the program searches everything for you. If it has been a long time since you deleted a file, it's possible that the program won't be able to locate it.
Find out who's stealing your Wi-Fi.
Isn't it annoying when your connection is slow because someone else is taking advantage of your Wi-Fi? If you don't just want to change your password, but also find out who the thief (or thieves) are, then you can download Who Is on My Wi-Fi and maybe go confront them. There is nothing more embarrassing than telling someone that you know they've been stealing from you.
If you notice these signs, your computer has been hacked.
Millions of people get hacked every day and you might be one of them at some point. Seeing your antivirus being turned off is one of the first serious signs. Also, when you try to log in your computer and suddenly your password doesn't work, this is another serious indication that something is wrong. Lastly, a sure sign that you have been hacked is if you see your cursor moving on its own. In this case, take your laptop to an expert and try to resolve the issue.
Windows + C enables you to start talking to Cortana.
For users who have bought Microsoft laptops or use PCs with the latest windows 10 version, Cortana is the digital person that can guide you through anything you need. If you don't know how to perform a certain action or are bored of using the mouse, you can press "windows" and the letter C and ask Cortana anything you want. She will ask you questions in order to guide you to the action you need to perform. If on the other hand you're using a MacBook, you will need to press "command" and then the space bar in order to start talking to Siri.
Ctrl + Q quits your web browser.
Another tremendously useful shortcut is the one that exits your web browser. In this case, you press "ctrl" and then the letter Q. Once again, if you are using a MacBook you use the "command" button instead of the "ctrl" button. This way everything happens a bit faster.
Ctrl + I turns the text style into italics.
When combining the "ctrl" key and the letter I there are various things that can happen in a total of 147 different programs. However, the most ordinary and common use of the combo is to turn text in Word and other text editing programs from normal style into italics. All you need to do is highlight the word or words you want and press the 2 keys. For Mac users, you should press the command key and then the letter I in order to perform the same action.
How useful were the above keyboard hacks and how much time will they save you in your daily routine? Please tell us what you think down in the comment section.
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