Windows Blog by Brink – Tutorials for Windows

Change to Speak or Type to Cortana when Press Win+C keys in Windows 10

Cortana, your personal productivity assistant, helps you stay on top of what matters and save time finding what you need. Simply type or speak requests in natural language to connect with people, manage your schedule, find a free hour, set a reminder, add a task, and more. You can also find local information, get definitions, and keep track of the latest news, weather, and finance updates.

With the Windows 10 May 2020 Update version 2004, you now have access to a new Cortana experience that offers an emphasis on productivity, helping you quickly find the information you want across Microsoft 365. Cortana in Windows 10 features a chat-based UI that gives you the ability to interact with Cortana using your voice or the keyboard.

Cortana in Windows will assist you in better managing your schedule and tasks. You can speak or type requests to check your calendar, set a reminder, or add to your lists in Microsoft To Do. And you can look up local information, get definitions, and keep track of the latest news, weather, and finance information with Bing search.

You can change the keyboard shortcut preference to choose to Type or Speak or type for how you want to talk to Cortana when you press the Win + C keys.

This tutorial will show you how to change the keyboard shortcut preference to speak or type to talk to Cortana when you press the Win+C keys for your account in Windows 10.

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Posted in Cortana, Windows 10

Change Default Voice Activation App for Headset Button in Windows 10

Starting with Windows 10 May 2019 Update version 1903, a new voice activation privacy setting will let you choose whether apps can listen for a voice keyword and then continue listening to the microphone after a keyword is detected.

Starting with Windows 10 May 2020 Update version 2004, you can choose what happens when you press the headset button for which voice activation app will be used by default.

Turn on (default) this setting to have your headset use whatever voice activation app you most recently used (aka; last used).

Turn off this setting to choose the default app that your headset will use.

This tutorial will show you how to change which voice activation app will be used by default when you press the headset button for your account in Windows 10.

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Posted in Windows 10 | Tagged ,

Install or Uninstall Miracast Connect Wireless Display Feature to Project to this PC in Windows 10

Miracast is a wireless technology your PC, laptop, or tablet can use to project your screen to wireless TVs, projectors, and streaming media players that also support Miracast. You can use this to share what you’re doing on your PC, present a slide show, or even play your favorite game on a larger screen.

The Wireless Display optional feature adds the Connect app in Windows 10 allowing other devices on the same wireless network to use Connect to wireless display to wirelessly project to your computer with Miracast supported hardware.

The Projecting to this PC feature uses the Connect app to allow you to wirelessly project your Windows Phone, another PC, or Android devices to the screen of this PC, and use its keyboard, mouse, and other devices too.

This tutorial will show you how to install or uninstall the Wireless Display optional feature in Windows 10 for projecting to this PC by devices with Miracast Connect app.

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Posted in Windows 10 | Tagged , ,

How to Enable or Disable Cortana to Automatically Run at Startup in Windows 10

Cortana, your personal productivity assistant, helps you stay on top of what matters and save time finding what you need. Simply type or speak requests in natural language to connect with people, manage your schedule, find a free hour, set a reminder, add a task, and more. You can also find local information, get definitions, and keep track of the latest news, weather, and finance updates.

With the Windows 10 May 2020 Update version 2004, you now have access to a new Cortana experience that offers an emphasis on productivity, helping you quickly find the information you want across Microsoft 365. Cortana in Windows 10 features a chat-based UI that gives you the ability to interact with Cortana using your voice or the keyboard.

Cortana in Windows will assist you in better managing your schedule and tasks. You can speak or type requests to check your calendar, set a reminder, or add to your lists in Microsoft To Do. And you can look up local information, get definitions, and keep track of the latest news, weather, and finance information with Bing search.

With the Windows 10 May 2020 Update version 2004, you now also turn on or off having the Cortana.exe process automatically run in the background at startup. If turned off, Cortana will not run until you open it.

This tutorial will show you how to enable or disable having Cortana automatically run in the background at startup for your account in Windows 10 May 2020 Update version 2004 and higher.

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Posted in Cortana, Windows 10 | Tagged

How to Install and Uninstall Cortana in Windows 10

Cortana, your personal productivity assistant, helps you stay on top of what matters and save time finding what you need. Simply type or speak requests in natural language to connect with people, manage your schedule, find a free hour, set a reminder, add a task, and more. You can also find local information, get definitions, and keep track of the latest news, weather, and finance updates.

With the Windows 10 May 2020 Update version 2004, you now have access to a new Cortana experience that offers an emphasis on productivity, helping you quickly find the information you want across Microsoft 365. Cortana in Windows 10 features a chat-based UI that gives you the ability to interact with Cortana using your voice or the keyboard.

Cortana in Windows will assist you in better managing your schedule and tasks. You can speak or type requests to check your calendar, set a reminder, or add to your lists in Microsoft To Do. And you can look up local information, get definitions, and keep track of the latest news, weather, and finance information with Bing search.

This tutorial will show you how to install or uninstall Cortana for your account or all accounts in Windows 10 May 2020 Update version 2004 and higher.

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Posted in Cortana, Microsoft Store, Windows 10

How to Add Create Elevated Shortcut to New Context Menu in Windows 10

When you open an application file with Run as administrator, you will get a UAC prompt for approval before the app is allowed to run with elevated rights.

In addition, Windows will not allow elevated apps to run at startup by default.

If you want to run an app as administrator (elevated) without getting a UAC prompt or at startup, then you can create an elevated task to run the application as a workaround to do so.

This tutorial will show you how to add or remove create an Elevated Shortcut to the New context menu for all users in Windows 10.

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Posted in Context Menu, Windows 10 | Tagged , ,

How to Delete Recovery Partition in Windows 10

In Windows 10, there can be a Windows recovery partition or computer manufacturer OEM factory recovery partition available on the Windows disk.

  • The Windows Recovery Partition allows you to boot into Windows recovery environment (WinRE) to restore your computer when problems happen.
  • The recovery partition created by manufacturers allow you to press a specific key (usually F9 for HP and F12 for Dell) to recover your computer to the factory default settings.

Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) is a recovery environment that can repair common causes of unbootable operating systems. By default, WinRE is preloaded into the Windows 10 for desktop editions (Home, Pro, Enterprise, and Education).

The default partition layout for UEFI-based PCs is: a system partition, an MSR, a Windows partition, and a recovery tools partition.

If you have more than one recovery partition or have an old invalid factory recovery partition, then you can delete a recovery partition you do not want or need to reclaim disk space.

This tutorial will show you how to safely delete the Recovery Partition in Windows 10.

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Posted in Windows 10 | Tagged ,

How to Enable or Disable Show Suggestions from Pinterest in Collections in Microsoft Edge Chromium

Collections in Microsoft Edge helps you keep track of your ideas on the web, whether you’re shopping, planning a trip, collecting notes for research or lesson plans, or just want to pick up where you left off the last time you were browsing the internet. Whatever you’re doing on the web, Collections can help.

Collections syncs across your signed-in computers, so if you use multiple devices, your collections will always be up to date on all of them.

Starting with Microsoft Edge version 84.0.521.0, Collections is getting smarter with a new Pinterest integration.

Collections in Microsoft Edge is collaborating with Pinterest to help you discover relevant content for your research or project. People use Collections to capture their favorite design ideas, recipes, home improvement links, and even to research their next big purchase across multiple sites. This new integration with Pinterest will help you find ideas to spark inspiration, save time, and be more productive by suggesting content related to what you have already collected. When you enable the feature, you will see Pinterest suggestions at the bottom of your collection. Clicking on a suggestion will open a board of similar, trending Pins so you can quickly find and add ideas relevant to you.

This collaboration also allows you to export your collection to Pinterest. Any saved webpages or images will then show up in a new board in your Pinterest account.

With your permission, Microsoft Edge can find suggestions from Pinterest to add to your collections. When you first open Collections, you will see an option to turn on suggestions from Pinterest.

If there is related content, you will see suggestions from Pinterest at the bottom of your collections. Selecting a suggestion will take you to relevant Pinterest Topic page.

If you have turned on Show suggestions from Pinterest in Collections, Collections will perform a Microsoft Bing search using the title of your collection to find relevant Pinterest Topic pages. The browser will not send data about your collections to Pinterest. You can remove these suggestions and stop searches for Pinterest Topic pages by turning off Show suggestions from Pinterest in Collections.

This tutorial will show you how to turn on or off show suggestions from Pinterest in Collections in the Chromium based Microsoft Edge.

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Posted in Microsoft Edge, Windows 10, Windows 7, Windows 8 | Tagged ,

How to Run VESA Certified DisplayHDR Tests on Display in Windows 10

The VESA DisplayHDR Group has a free DisplayHDR Test app in the Microsoft Store that allows you to confirm the display parameters including brightness, color and contrast performance of high dynamic range (HDR) laptop and desktop monitors as per the set forth in VESA’s High-Performance Monitor and Display Compliance Test Specification (DisplayHDR).

Created by VESA, the Video Electronics Standards Association, this new test tool has a simple keyboard interface that enables professional and lab-level users of off-the-shelf calibration colorimeters to test and evaluate HDR displays at the three performance levels (DisplayHDR 400, 600 and 1000) outlined in the DisplayHDR specification. See https://DisplayHDR.org

This tutorial will show you how to download and use the DisplayHDR Test app to run VESA Certified DisplayHDR compliance tests on a HDR display in Windows 10.

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Posted in Windows 10 | Tagged , , , ,

How to Download a Recovery Image for a Surface Device

Normally, your Surface comes with Windows recovery info that allows you to refresh it or reset it to its factory condition.

If you are having trouble with the recovery options on your Surface, you can download the recovery image files you need to get your Surface working again.

A downloaded recovery drive image lets you recover or reset your Surface to its factory settings and can help you troubleshoot and fix problems with your Surface device.

If your Surface is not working and you don’t have another Windows 10 device that you can use to download the factory recovery image, it may be possible to contact Microsoft to have a USB recovery drive mailed to you.

From any Windows 10 computer, you can downloaded the recovery image files for your Surface device and create a recovery drive with them.

This tutorial will show you how to download a recovery image for a Surface device and use it to create a bootable USB recovery drive in Windows 10.

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Posted in Surface, Windows 10 | Tagged , , ,

How to Enable or Disable Driver Signature Enforcement and Test Mode in Windows 10

64-bit versions of Windows 10 include a driver signature enforcement feature that requires all drivers be signed by Microsoft with a digital signature before being allowed to install and load into the Windows kernel. This is a security feature to help prevent malware from getting into the Windows kernel.

If needed, you can disable driver signature enforcement to install and load unsigned drivers you trust or testing.

This tutorial will show you how to enable or disable driver signature enforcement and Test Mode in Windows 10.

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Posted in Windows 10 | Tagged ,

How to Clear Recent Documents History in WordPad app in Windows 10

Microsoft WordPad is a basic rich text editor first included with Microsoft Windows 95 and all versions of Windows since. It is more advanced than Microsoft Notepad but simpler than Microsoft Word.

Whenever you open or save a document file in WordPad (write.exe), the document is added to the File > Recent documents history list in WordPad for quick reference and access.

This tutorial will show you how to clear all or specific files from the recent documents history list in the WordPad (write.exe) app for your account in Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10.

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Posted in Windows 10, Windows 7, Windows 8 | Tagged

How to Enable or Disable Tab Groups in Microsoft Edge Chromium

Microsoft has adopted the Chromium open source project in the development of Microsoft Edge on the desktop to create better web compatibility. This new Microsoft Edge runs on the same Chromium web engine as the Google Chrome browser, offering you best in class web compatibility and performance.

The new Chromium based Microsoft Edge is supported on all versions of Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, Windows Server (2016 and above), Windows Server (2008 R2 to 2012 R2), and macOS.

You can enable the Tab Groups experimental flag in Microsoft Edge to allow users to organize tabs into visually distinct groups, e.g. to separate tabs associated with different tasks.

Tab Groups includes the following features:

  • Add tab to new or existing group
  • Remove tab from group
  • Name or rename group
  • Open new tab in group
  • Ungroup tabs in a group
  • Close group to remove group and all added tabs

This tutorial will show you how to enable or disable Tab Groups in the Chromium based Microsoft Edge in Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 10.

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Posted in Microsoft Edge, Windows 10, Windows 7, Windows 8 | Tagged

How to Clear Recent Pictures in Paint (mspaint) app in Windows 10

Microsoft Paint (formerly Paintbrush) is a simple raster graphics editor that has been included with all versions of Microsoft Windows. The program opens and saves files in Windows bitmap (BMP), JPEG, GIF, PNG, and single-page TIFF formats. The program can be in color mode or two-color black-and-white, but there is no grayscale mode.

Whenever you open or save an image file in Paint (mspaint.exe), the image is added to the File > Recent pictures history list in Paint for quick reference and access.

This tutorial will show you how to clear all or specific items from the recent pictures history list in the Paint (mspaint.exe) app for your account in Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10.

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Posted in Windows 10, Windows 7, Windows 8 | Tagged ,

How to View, Restore, Download, and Delete Previous Versions of Files on OneDrive

OneDrive is free online storage that comes with your Microsoft account. Save your files online to OneDrive and you will be able to view, browse, upload, and share them from any PC, tablet, or phone.

OneDrive is built into Windows 10 by default, and you can find your OneDrive files through File Explorer.

The version history feature included with OneDrive allows you to see and restore older versions of your files stored in OneDrive using Windows File Explorer, Mac Finder, and Microsoft 365 web apps. Version history works with all file types, including Microsoft 365 files, PDFs, CAD files, photos, videos, and more.

This tutorial will show you how to view, restore, download, and delete previous versions of files saved on OneDrive in Windows 10 and onedrive.live.com.

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Posted in OneDrive, Windows 10 | Tagged

Change How to Open Notifications from Android Phone in Your Phone app on Windows 10 PC

Starting with Windows 10 build 18885 on April 26, 2019, Microsoft added a feature to the Your Phone app in Windows 10 to see your Android phone’s notifications on your PC.

If you turned on to display notifications from your Android phone in the Your Phone app, you can select to have these notifications open in either the Notifications or Phone screen section by default in the Your Phone app.

This tutorial will show you how to change open notifications from your Android phone in the Notifications or Phone screen section by default in the Your Phone app in Windows 10.

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Posted in Android, Phone, Windows 10, Your Phone | Tagged
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