On Windows 10, the Microsoft Store app is the one-stop-shop to securely download and install apps, games, and entertainment on all your devices. Although, the company updates the experience frequently, you may still come across a lot of different issues, such as problems launching up the Microsoft Store app, crashes, updates and apps stuck downloading, and a number of error messages. In this guide , you’ll learn the steps to reset the Microsoft Store on Windows 10 to fix the most common problems and get you downloading, installing, and updating apps in no time....

To fix Outlook when it’s not opening on Windows 11 or 10, delete the “Outlook” Registry key on “HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Profiles,” and recreate the app email profile. On Windows 11 , if you cannot open the desktop version of Outlook, it’s possible to resolve this problem quickly through the Registry, and in this guide, I’ll explain the steps to complete this process. If you have been trying to launch the Outlook app from the suite of Office 2021, 2016, or 2016 apps, but it won’t open with the error “Cannot start Microsoft Outlook....

To upgrade to Windows 11 25H2, download and launch the “Installation Assistant,” click the “Accent and install” button, and click the “Restart” button. The tool is available for version 25H2 starting September 30, 2025. UPDATED 10/6/2025: Microsoft offers the Installation Assistant to upgrade a computer from Windows 11 version 24H2, 23H2, or 22H2 to version 25H2 (2025 Update) . In this guide, I will show you how to use the tool to force the installation of the latest release....

When setting up a new hard drive on Windows 10, you want to format it properly to delete any data and configure a compatible file system to allow Windows to read and write data. If you are getting rid of the drive, you also want to format it to wipe out any of your files to prevent someone else from getting a hold of them. Although it might sound like a tedious process, it’s not, and Windows 10 , similar to previous versions, includes many ways to quickly format a drive, including using PowerShell....

In this Windows How-to, you are going to learn how to identify the name of an “Unknown device” in Windows that is giving you trouble, that way you can properly find the correct driver. How many times did you find the message “unknown device” in Windows Device Manger? Many times, right? And how hard is to find drivers for something that you don’t even know what it is? Yeah, you may have an idea, if you find an unknown device and the only thing that is not working is the sound in your computer, but this is not always the case....

On Windows 10, you can download and install the group policy templates to manage Microsoft Edge settings, and this guide will show you the process. Out-of-the-box, the Chromium version of Edge comes with a set of features and recommended settings to browse the internet, but sometimes, depending on your environment, you may need to configure the experience differently to allow or deny users specific features or settings, and this went the templates comes in handy....

To sign out on Windows 11, open “Start,” click the account manager menu, and click the “Sign out” option. To switch users, open “Start,” click the account manager menu, open the “More options” (three dots) menu in the top-right, and choose the users you want to switch to. To lock the computer, open “Start,” click the “Power” menu, and choose the “Lock” option. UPDATED 11/11/2025: On Windows 11 , the Start menu includes an account manager that is supposed to make managing your profile and system access more intuitive....

On Windows 10, Sticky Notes is a handy little tool that helps you to take small notes quickly right from within the desktop. However, the tool has been designed to only take quick notes, so it doesn’t include a lot of features or an archival system to undelete items, but if you delete a note with important content, you can still recover them as long as you’re using the app with a Microsoft account....

To reset all audio settings on Windows 11, open Settings > System > Sound > Volume Mixer , and click “Reset” for the “Reset Sound Devices and Volumes for All Apps to the Recommended Defaults” setting. To reset all advanced audio settings, open Settings > System > Sound > More sound settings , open speakers properties, and click “Restore Defaults” from the “Enhancements,” “Advanced,” and “Spatial sound” tabs. You can also reset the audio driver settings from Task Manager by right-clicking the audio adapter and choosing “Uninstall device....

To fix Start menu problems on Windows 11, run the PowerShell command: Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost | Reset-AppxPackage . This will reset the Start menu without deleting custom settings. You can also restart the service using Stop-Process -Name “StartMenuExperienceHost” -Force to fix glitches. UPDATED 7/8/2025: On Windows 11 , you can use a PowerShell command to reset the Start menu components and resolve common issues. The command will come in handy when the menu fails to open, freezes, or behaves unexpectedly....

To run an app as an administrator on Windows 11 (or Windows 10), locate the app you want to start, right-click it, and select the “Run as administrator” option. You can also perform this action from Task Manager and use Command Prompt (or PowerShell) with the “sudo” and “runas” commands. On Windows 11 (or Windows 10), running an app as administrator grants it elevated privileges, allowing it to make changes to system settings and files that the regular user mode might not have access to....

To make Chrome the default browser on Windows 11, open Settings > Apps > Default apps, s elect “Google Chrome,” and click on “Set default.” UPDATED 7/15/2024: On Windows 11 , Microsoft Edge is the default browser for navigating the internet, opening web links, and viewing PDF files. However, you can change it and make the system default to Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Brave, Opera, or any other browser....

UPDATE 8/1/2023: On Windows 10, Snip & Sketch is the default app for taking screenshots of the entire screen, active window, or region of the screen. Usually, you can open the screen snipping tool from the Start menu or with the “Windows key + Shift + S” keyboard shortcut, but if you want more direct access, it’s also possible to map the app to the “Print Screen” (PrtScrn) key on the keyboard....

To share your Wi-Fi password with a QR Code, open Settings > Network & internet > Wi-Fi , click Show, and scan the code with a camera app on your phone or another computer to connect to the wireless network. UPDATED 7/10/2024: On Windows 11 24H2 , the system can generate a QR Code to share your Wi-Fi password with other devices, and in this guide, I will show you how to use this feature....

To show hidden files on Windows 11, open File Explorer , click “View,” choose “Show,” and check “Hidden items.” Alternatively, open File Explorer’s Folder Options page and check the “Show hidden files, folders, and drives” option from the “View” tab. You can also use the dir a:h or dir a:d commands on Command Prompt or dir -force or ls -force commands on PowerShell. On Windows 11 , a new version of File Explorer replaces the ribbon menu with a minimalistic menu with basic commands....

To show the weather on the Lock screen, open Settings > Personalization > Lock screen , then choose “Weather” in the “Widgets” section. Since widgets are configured by default, you’ll have to remove extra widgets to display only the weather information. UPDATED 11/7/2024: On Windows 11 , you can show only the weather information instead of the different widgets on the Lock screen, and in this guide, I’ll show you the steps to complete this configuration....

Xbox One has been out for a few years now, and you’ve probably been expanding your game library ever since. Originally, the console came with a 500GB internal hard drive, which was a lot more than what the Xbox 360 offered, but Xbox One games also take a lot more room (especially if it gets Xbox One X Enhanced games), as such after several games, you’ll notice that available storage space gets dramatically reduced....

To upgrade from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10, open the Media Creation Tool , select “Upgrade this PC now,” and click Install . You can also download and mount the Windows 10 ISO file to Windows 8.1 to proceed with the upgrade process. Although files and apps will be preserved, you still want to create a backup of your computer. You will also need a new Windows 10 product key since you can no longer use the Windows 8....

On Microsoft Edge, Collections is a feature designed to help you quickly collect text, images, videos, and other content into a note page. When using the Microsoft Edge feature, a flyout will be available to drag and drop content from the web. It will format the content correctly and even add a footnote with link references of the sources you used. Microsoft is targeting “Collections” as a general-purpose tool that you can use for anything....

Winhance allows users to remove built-in apps and bloatware from Windows 11 with ease. The tool also includes system optimization options for privacy, power, gaming, updates, notifications, and sound. Furthermore, customization features let you tweak Windows Themes, the Taskbar, the Start menu, and the File Explorer. Windows 11 ships with a growing list of preinstalled apps, background services, and default settings that many users never asked for and cannot easily justify keeping....