Apple – Page 47 – Tech Savvy Life

How to Block Unwanted Apps in Microsoft Edge

Microsoft Edge has a new “crapware” blocker. For some reason, it isn’t enabled by default, and it should be.

The browser can block “potentially unwanted programs (PUP)”, also known as “potentially unwanted apps”. These are obnoxious programs like adware, cryptocurrency miners, malware and browser toolbars, to name a few.

There is a simple toggle to block these “crapware” downloads. Let’s see how this is done.

This is for Microsoft Edge in Windows 10 and Mac versions

First, let’s check what version of Edge you are running. The stable release of Edge is 80+.

Check Your Version of Edge

Stable Version

Open Microsoft Edge
Click the Settings & more icon (the three dots in the upper right-hand corner)
Click Help & feedback
Click About Microsoft Edge

If you have the correct version, let’s enable the toggle. If not, go to Windows Update to check for updates or download and install from this link.

Set the Toggle to Block Unwanted Apps

Click the Settings & more icon (the three dots in the upper right-hand corner)
Click Settings
Click Privacy and services option
Under Services, toggle to On for Block potentially unwanted apps option

Close the Settings screen
You may now Close or Exit Edge

Microsoft Edge will now be more active in blocking unwanted software.

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Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love hearing from you. Do you have a computer or smart device tech question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Please mention the device, app and version that you are using. To help me out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.

Want to Fix Your Crooked iPhone Photos?

Your photos are off center and you want to fix one or more. The Apple iOS 13 photo editor can straighten a photo. But what if you want more control over the photo. I am going to introduce to you to a free third party app called Snapseed from Google.

This is for iOS devices iPhone and iPad

Either take a crooked photo or select one that you want to fix. See my following crooked photo:

iPhone Crocked Photo Cropped 1 — My crooked iPhone photo

Cropping the Photo

Tap the Edit button
Tap the Crop button at the bottom of the screen

The photo will be automatically crop and the perspective will be changed. Sometimes, this is enough. If so, just click Done and your finished. In my case, I had to use the Straighten tool to rotate the photo then I clicked Done. Notice I rotated the photo a -18. Refer to below image for my result:

iPhone Crocked Photo Cropped 3 — Editing with iPhone photo editor

If you are using iOS 13+, head over to the App Store to download and install the free program Snapseed. Once installed:

The Snapseed Tools

Open your crooked photo in Snapseed
Click on Tools at the bottom of the screen. You will see the following image:

iPhone Crocked Photo Cropped 5 — Snapseed tool set

As you will notice, there are lots of tools to chose from for your photo.

Click on the Perspective icon. You can tilt up or down, rotate right or left, scale the photo or free hand the perspective. Refer to my below image:

iPhone Crocked Photo Cropped 6 — Using the Snapseed Perspective tool

The app is super sensitive to your touch, much more precise than the built in iPhone photo editor. As you move the perspective, the app will automatically fill in the edges. Check out all the other tools you can use for photo editing. Once you are finished, click Done. Notice at the top of the screen the Straighten is precise to the hundreds of a percent. See the below image:

Phone Crocked Photo Cropped 7 — Final image with Snapseed. This photo was cropped showing white edges

Saving Your Photo

Tap on the Checkmark icon in the lower right of your screen
Tap on Export. You will see the following image:

iPhone Crocked Photo Cropped 8 — Saving your photo

Tap on Save to save your changes or Save a copy to preserve your original photo. You are now finished.

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Four Tips and Gotchas for a WordPress Blog

I have been blogging using WordPress as my hosting site for a couple of months. I have discovered a few tips and gotchas using WordPress that may be of interest to you.

First, if you noticed some strange highlighted text on your site, don’t panic. They will go away by exiting and relaunching your site. I had some highlighted text (in yellow) in my Categories section that I did not enter. After exiting and relaunching, the highlighted yellow text disappeared.

Second, if you have links in your posts, the linkage may add the words “opens in a new tab” at the end of your URL. This happens if you have the slider control Open in new tab turned off. This control is found in the drop down arrow next to the Return or the Edit (the pencil) icon). Your links will not work. You must remove the words (opens in a new tab) in the link URL. To open the link in a new tab, you must turn the slider control Open in new tab to the On position.

Third, when I am writing a post, I want to return to a previous block to add or change some text. I position the cursor in the text, but nothing happens. I am unable to add or change any text. I have to save whatever changes I have made, exit the post, then relaunch the post. Then I am able to make text changes. This is most frustrating aspect of WordPress.

Fourth, in my version of WordPress, the Dashboard does not automatically load. To get to the Dashboard, enter <your website name>/wp-admin in your browser search field. For my blog, I would enter the following in my browser: techsavvy.life/wp-admin.

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Why Auto Logging Out of Apps Should Be Required

This is for iOS, Android, Mac and PC devices

We all have our favorite smart device apps. This would include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Reddit and others. What happens when you turn off your device, power off or shutdown? These apps are still active and readily available when your device is turned back on.

These apps offer you convenient access by keeping you logged in. When you log into a financial institution, say Bank of America or Morgan Stanley, you are logged out within two minutes of no activity.

Our favorite apps should do the same. By staying logged in, the apps are more subjective to hacks by others.

Of course, by logging out, means you have to reenter a UserID, Password and Passcode, if using Two Factor Authentication, to gain access. And that can be a pain but it’s worth it.

If you are selling or disposing a smart device, you should log out all apps. Also, you may consider erasing all data and/or resetting your device. Only do this if you no longer need the device.

I would like the app industry to follow the same logging out protocol as financial entities. What do you think? Please take the one question survey.

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How to Use the Dim Feature in Microsoft PowerPoint

I ran across this neat feature of Microsoft PowerPoint that I want to share with you. As a presenter, you are in control of what is being displayed. Instead of presenting all your bullet points at once lets dim there appearance one at a time. The “dim text” feature allows the audience to focus on one topic. For my example I am using a single slide with five bullet points.

Here is a link to a demo presentation on using the Dim feature as presented in slide 3. I am using a presentation available from TechRepublic.

This is for PowerPoint for Office 365 Windows and Mac versions. Other versions of PowerPoint will be similar.

Launch PowerPoint

Open PowerPoint on your Desktop/Laptop or Mac
Find a slide that contains bullet points or text you want to dim. See my example below:

PowerPoint Slide 1 — PowerPoint Slide Bullet Points screen

Highlight a bullet point or text
Select the Animations tab and choose the Appear animation

Set Animations

The animation will be successfully applied if you see a number next to the bullet point or slide.

Repeat the above steps until you have applied an animation to each bullet point or text. Refer to the following image:

PowerPoint Slide 2 — PowerPoint Slide with Animation applied screen

Select all the Animations by using the “Ctrl” key and clicking on each animation.
Select the arrow next to the right side of the animation

PowerPoint Slide 3 — PowerPoint Animations screen

Set Effects

Select Effect Options. See following image:

PowerPoint Slide 4 — PowerPoint Effects screen

Change Behavior for Dimming

We are going to change the behavior of the default Don’t Dim option by clicking the arrow next to the item (a drop down box selection) and select a color slightly different than your bullet points or text. You want your color selected to be visible to the audience. For my example, I selected a light red color:

PowerPoint Slide 6 — PowerPoint Color Selection for Animation screen

Click OK

Test Your Slide

Now its time to test out your slide. You should see something like the following screen as you manually or automatically select each bullet point.

PowerPoint Slide 7 — PowerPoint using the Dim Feature

This is a nifty feature for your next text presentation. Save your slide or presentation, you are finished.

I Would Like to Hear from You

Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love hearing from you. Do you have a computer tech question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Please mention the app and version that you are using. To help me out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.

How to Protect an Excel Workbook, a Sheet and its Structure

Do you want to protect your Microsoft Excel workbook or a sheet in your workbook? If so, this blog post is for you. We are going to password protect a workbook, protect a sheet in a workbook and the Excel file itself.

This is for Excel for Office 365 Windows and Mac versions. Other versions of Excel will be similar.

Protect a Workbook

I recommend you start with a blank Excel workbook, just in case you forget a password. To assign a password to an Excel workbook, do the following:

Open a blank Excel workbook. For demonstration purposes, I am using an Excel workbook that contains one sheet with cell data. You can choose an existing Excel workbook if you chose. See my workbook below :

Select File>Save As

Select More options (underneath Excel Workbook drop down box)

Select the Tools drop down box
Chose General Options

Set the Password(s)

You will see notice two password boxes, one to open the workbook and one to modify the workbook

Enter one or both passwords. Make sure you write down these passwords and store them in a safe place.

You have two other options to set if you chose, Always create backup and Enable Read-only recommended. The first is self explanatory. The second option is an extra layer of protection by enabling the workbook to read-only status upon opening.

Confirm your password(s) by reentering the password(s)
Click OK
Click Save
Close or Exit Excel

Note! A user who doesn’t know the second password can open and view the data by clicking the Read Only option. This user can still modify the data, but they are unable to save their changes to the protected workbook. However, the user can save the workbook under a new name, which circumvents the protection process. Of course, password-cracking software will get you into the workbook.

Protect a Sheet

Open a blank Excel workbook. For demonstration purposes, I am using an Excel workbook that contains one sheet with cell data. You can choose an existing Excel workbook if you chose.
Select the Review tab
Click the Protect icon
Click Protect Sheet icon. Refer to following image:

Enter your password in the Password to unprotect sheet box
Click OK
In the Confirm Password dialog box, type the password again
Click OK
Save your changes
Close or Exit Excel

Tip! To remove a password, click Protect>Unprotect Sheet and enter your password. You can also select Protect Workbook icon to protect a workbook which follows.

Protect Excel Structure

Open a blank Excel workbook. For demonstration purposes, I am using an Excel workbook that contains one sheet with cell data. You can choose an existing Excel workbook if you chose.
Select the Review tab
Click the Protect icon
Click Protect Workbook icon. Refer to the following image:

Select the Windows option if you want to prevent users from moving, resizing, or closing the workbook window or hide/unhide windows

Enter your password
Click OK
In the Confirm Password dialog box, type the password again
Click OK
Save your changes
Close or Exit Excel

Protect the Excel File

To prevent users from accessing the data in your Excel file, we are going to protect the file with a password

Open a blank Excel workbook. For demonstration purposes, I am using an Excel workbook that contains one sheet with cell data. You can choose an existing Excel workbook if you chose.
Select File>Info. Refer to my image below:

Click Protect Workbook icon
Chose Encrypt with Password option

Enter a password in the Encrypt Document dialog box
Click OK
In the Confirm Password dialog box, type the password again
Save your changes
Close or Exit Excel

Be cautious when sharing files or passwords with other users. You still run the risk of passwords falling into the hands of unintended users. Remember to write down your passwords and store them in a safe place.

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A Few Notable Features in Safari for iOS 13

Apple had made some new enhancements to its feature browser, Safari, for the iPhone/iPad. There are a few notable features that increase our productivity regarding bookmarks and open tabs. Safari’s toolbar has only five choices for you to select from, Forward, Backward, Share, Bookmarks and New Tab/Page. Instead of just taping on a choice, we are going to press down on these icons and see what happens.

This is for an iPhone/iPad and Mac iOS 13 operating system

This seems to be an Apple feature. I have gotten into the habit of pressing down on every icon in iOS 13. Just press and hold the Share icon, the one with an up arrow, nothing happens until you release your hold. You will get the regular Share screen, like the image below:

Safari Share Behavior

So much for that.

The Bookmarks

Let’s try pressing and holding the Bookmarks icon. You will get the following screenshot:

Well, that worked. I do not recommend adding Bookmarks for all open tabs; this would tend to make your bookmarks messy. It would be better just to add a Bookmark for the current tab.

Testing the New Tab/Page

Okay, lets press and hold the New Tab/Page icon. You should get the following screen:

Yea, two out of three have the press and hold feature. From this screen, you can close all open tabs or just the current one. Also, you can create a new Private Tab or a New Tab.

This time, just press the New Tab/Page icon to reveal your open tabs (normal behavior). Press and hold a tab to move it into a different location. This works in portrait or landscape mode.

Setting the Time Interval

There is another feature to explore; setting a time interval as to when tabs are closed.

Go to Settings and select Safari. You will see the following image:

Click the Close Tabs button. Your screen should display options on when to close your Safari tabs like the following image:

Select your choice from the four options.

Okay, for now. Thanks for trying out these iPhone/iPad features for Safari in IOS 13+.

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How to Transfer iPhone Contacts to Windows 10

Have you ever wanted to share your iPhone contacts with your Windows 10 PC? I have wanted to do this for a year. It used to work but my PC went “south” last year. I finally did some research and came up with this post for you to implement. You can share your smart device contacts through Apple’s iCloud service. To use this service, your contacts must be synced with iCloud. So, lets get started.

This is for iPhone or iPad and Windows 10 operating system

Open the Settings app on your iPhone. Its usually located on your home screen. Your screen should look similar to the following image:

Win 10 Contacts Settings — My iPhone home screen

Tap your name at the top of the screen. See following screenshot:

My iPhone Settings screen

Syncing Contacts

Tap iCloud
Verify that your Contacts is being synced. Either the toggle switch will be green or you will see iCloud storage being used like the below image. If not, tap the toggle button to enable the process and sync your contacts.

Win 10 Contacts Storage — My iPhone iCloud Storage screen

On your Windows 10 PC, log in to iCloud website with your Apple ID and Password
Click on the Contacts applet. See following screenshot:

Win 10 iCloud Contacts — iCloud applets on Windows 10 PC screen

Selecting/Exporting Contacts

Select a Contact from your list. See the following image for my selection of Chris Dow:

Win 10 iCloud Selection — iCloud Contacts screen

Click the small gear icon at the bottom left corner
Select Export vCard. Refer to following screenshot:

Win 10 iCloud Export — Selecting and Exporting an iCloud Contact screen

You can select more than one contact by selecting a single name and using the “Shift” key to select the last contact. There is an option to Create Group at the bottom right for your multiple contact selection.

Note! It is best to export just one contact. Although you can select multiple contacts, only one contact data (the first one selected) is exported, especially for Outlook.

By default, the exported VCF file is placed in your PC Downloads folder.

Open your File Explore and find the VCF file. Refer to following image:

Win 10 iCloud Downloads — File Explorer Downloads folder screen with Chris Dow VCF file

Using Your VCF File

Right click on the VCF file and select Open
Select where you want to install your contact(s). You have several choices, like Outlook, the People app and Windows Contacts
Select your choice and click OK

Your choice will open for your review.

For Outlook, click the Save & Close option to complete the export. See following screen::

Win 10 iCloud Outlook — Exported VCF file from iCloud to Microsoft Outlook in Windows 10 screen

That’s it. You are done.

Enable iCloud Contacts Sharing

BUT WAIT, I want to share all my Contacts via iCloud to my Windows 10 PC, not just a few. You can use iCloud for Windows to synchronize your contacts and other data between your iOS device and Outlook. Lets get started.

This works with the following variations of Outlook:

Outlook for Office 365, Outlook 2019, Outlook 2016, Outlook 2013 and Outlook 2010

Download and install iCloud for Windows.
After installation, launch the iCloud app and sign in with your Apple ID and Password. Your screen should look like the below image:

Win 10 Outlook iCloud Screen — iCloud for Windows screenshot

Select the option to sync Mail, Contacts, Calendars, and Tasks. You can select other options to sync from this screen.
Click Apply
Click Close

Once the setup has finished, launch Outlook. Your iCloud email, contacts and calendars should now be synchronizing with Outlook.

To verify, in Outlook, open a new email. In the Address Book drop down box, select iCloud like the image below:

Win 10 Outlook iCloud Names — Windows 10 iCloud contacts screen

You should see ALL your iCloud contacts
Close Outlook

If you are experiencing problems please click here for Apple help.

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How to Log Out All Devices in Twitter

Are you concerned someone may have access to your Twitter account? Do you know what devices are logged in? What if you moving to a new device; have you logged out of Twitter on the old device?

Your smart device keeps you logged in to such apps as Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Messenger, Microsoft and others. Each app has a feature to log out all devices. We want to explore logging out all devices for Twitter. Just follow these steps.

This is for iPhone or iPad and Twitter

Your Profile Screen

Tap your profile photo or swipe left to right. You will see the following image:

Twitter Log Out Profile screenshot

Your Settings Screen

Tap on Settings and privacy. You will see the following screen:

Your Account Screen

Tap on Account. Following is a screenshot:

Your Sessions Screen

Tap on Apps and sessions. You will see the following screen:

Your Log Out Screen

Your devices that have access to your account is displayed. Tap on Log out all other sessions. You will see the following screen:

Tap Log out

That’s it. You are done. You now will have to log back in to use Twitter.

Your Two Factor Authentication Screen

To make your Twitter account more secure, you may want to setup Two-factor authentication. This is on the third screen in this post, under the Account option. Just tap on Security and you will see the following screen:

Twitter Log Out Two-Factor Authentication screenshot

Select Two-factor authentication, choose one of three options displayed on your screen and follow its directions.

I recommend setting up Two-factor authentication whenever the option is available.

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How to Create a Microsoft Excel Drop Down List

Drop down lists are used to select specific data, in our example, a list of Salutations. If the user tries to enter a Salutation that is not in the list, Excel rejects the entry.

I am using a simple drop down list in an Excel sheet. This feature is not well known nor initiative.

Salutations was a BIG DEAL for a religious organization that I worked for as a Consultant. The company had a donor base of 25,000+ names/addresses. (Of course, I was using a database, not Excel, to manage the data.) If the Salutation was incorrect on a donor letter, some donors refused to give monies for the company projects. For example, do you address them as Mr. and Mrs. or Dr. and Mrs. or Mr. and Dr.? Some donors wanted no Salutation. I spent a lot time getting the Salutations correct.

This is for Excel for Office 365 Windows and Mac versions. Other versions of Excel will be similar.

Setting Up the Excel Sheet

Enter the headings in Row 1 (Optional)
Create a list of cells E2:E5. Alternatively, you could put the list in another sheet.
Select the empty cell A2. (You can position the drop down list in most any cell or even multiple cells.)

Excel Drop Down List Setup — Setting up Excel for a drop down list

Using Data Validation

Select the Data tab
Select Data Validation
Choose List from the Allow options drop down list
Click the Source control and drag to highlight cells E2:E5. Alternatively, you could enter the cell reference $E$2:$E$5 or use a sheet and cell reference if your list is in another sheet.
Ensure that the In Cell dropdown option is checked. If you leave this unchecked, Excel forces users to enter only the list values, but it won’t present a drop down list. The users would have to guess the values; not a good idea!

See the following screenshot:

Excel Drop Down List Source — Entering the Allow and Source option

Click OK

You can add the drop down list to multiple cells. Select the range of data input cells instead of a single cell. Also, you can select noncontinuous cells by holding down the Shift key while you click the appropriate cells.

You can copy and paste this drop down cell to any other cells in your sheet.

Below is a screenshot where Mr. was selected as a Salutation for cell A2:

Check Your Version of Edge

Stable Version

Set the Toggle to Block Unwanted Apps

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Cropping the Photo

The Snapseed Tools

Saving Your Photo

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Launch PowerPoint

Set Animations

Set Effects

Change Behavior for Dimming

Test Your Slide

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Protect a Workbook

Set the Password(s)

Protect a Sheet

Protect Excel Structure

Protect the Excel File

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Safari Share Behavior

The Bookmarks

Testing the New Tab/Page

Setting the Time Interval

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Syncing Contacts

Selecting/Exporting Contacts

Using Your VCF File

Enable iCloud Contacts Sharing

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Your Profile Screen

Your Settings Screen

Your Account Screen

Your Sessions Screen

Your Log Out Screen

Your Two Factor Authentication Screen

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Setting Up the Excel Sheet

Using Data Validation

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