Microsoft

Readers like you help support How-To Geek. When you make a purchase using links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Read More.

latest

Laptop screen showing an Excel worksheet with the Navigation pane open on the right.
These little-known Excel clicks can save you time every day

Small changes to how you interact with Excel can simplify formula writing, formatting, data entry, and navigation.

Side profile of a Microsoft Surface Go running CachyOS Linux.
3 reasons a $70 Surface Go is the best tiny Linux laptop money can buy

Sometimes, the best laptop is just a cheap one off Ebay.

2
Laptop screen showing an interactive Grist dashboard with data tables, cards, and summary charts.
I stopped pretending Excel is a database and switched to this open-source app

Grist made it easier to connect related records, build dashboards without cell grids, and let those relationships drive the interface.

5
Windows 11 Installed apps settings showing software installed on the PC.
7 popular apps I refuse to install on my Windows PC

My PC doesn't need every popular app when built-in tools and browser-based alternatives already handle most of my needs.

4
Laptop screen with ONLYOFFICE Spreadsheet displaying the a table containing rows of sales data.
I replaced Excel with this open-source alternative for a week—I wasn't ready for the difference

Many of ONLYOFFICE's core spreadsheet tools worked, but even basic Excel workflows became increasingly frustrating to reproduce.

3
The Power Options menu in the Windows Control Panel.
4 outdated Windows features I disable on every fresh install

Outdated and unneeded.

3
ChatGPT's blank welcome screen beside a blank Microsoft Excel workbook on a laptop
I've used Excel professionally for decades—here's where ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini still fall short

AI can help solve Excel problems, but I still rely on Excel when rules, context, and verification matter.

Illustration of the Microsoft PowerToys logo surrounded by interface snippets showing features like Paste as Plain Text, Color Picker, and Dark Mode.
PowerToys 0.101 adds one of its most useful Windows tools yet

Several useful upgrades after months of bug fixes and polishes.

3
Laptop screen showing a calculated column selected in an Excel dataset in a regular range.
I've used Excel for decades, and Ctrl+Enter is still the most useful shortcut I know

This overlooked shortcut lets me update cells, preserve formatting, repair formulas, fill gaps, and edit multiple worksheets simultaneously.

Laptop screen showing two windows of the same Excel workbook. One is a source table and the other is a PivotTable.
My best Excel PivotTables start with these 4 functions

Applying XLOOKUP, IF, TEXTSPLIT, and TRIM to my source data gives my PivotTable more useful fields and cleaner info to work with.

The MSN Weather app running on a Windows PC.
Windows 11's built-in weather app is silently eating over 1GB of your RAM

Who knew that a weather forecast could be so memory-hungry?

2
Laptop displaying an Excel worksheet with columns hidden, data filtered and sorted, and the Custom Views dialog open with 'US Profit' selected.
I made Excel remember my favorite worksheet setups with this little-known feature

There's no need to repeatedly adjust filters, hidden columns, zoom, and print settings—set them up once and save the arrangement as a custom view.

Laptop screen showing Microsoft Edge open with the Drop icon hovered over.
I finally found a reason to use Edge. Now Microsoft is taking it away

Drop became an essential part of my cross-device workflow, and its retirement leaves Edge with one less reason to keep using it.

2
Laptop screen showing an Excel worksheet on the left and ChatGPT with a prompt and response on the right.
AI prompts for Excel can take forever, so I built this 7-step shortcut

From describing your workbook to checking assumptions, a few simple prompt-building habits can make AI far more useful.

2
Laptop screen showing the Microsoft Excel has stopped working alert on a blank Excel worksheet.
Excel isn't slow—you just built a workbook that takes forever to load

From forgotten worksheets and old names to volatile formulas and embedded images, hidden bloat can slow your workbook down.

Windows 11 laptop showing End task on an app in the taskbar.
Windows 11's hidden "End task" shortcut is the one feature every power user should enable

Skip Task Manager when an app freezes: Windows 11 can terminate it directly from the task bar.

Laptop screen showing Excel dashboard with a header, subheader, KPI cards, order status table, and status chart.
I borrowed this developer habit for Excel, and it saved me hours of future work

Refactoring has changed how I handle formulas, workbook structure, repetitive tasks, and the clutter that builds up over time.

A closeup shot of the Windows 10 contextual menu.
The 32-year-old Windows placeholder that Microsoft says is now a permanent feature

A “stopgap” solution that has outlived many other Windows features.

11
Laptop screen showing Autoruns in Windows 11.
This official Microsoft tool revealed what programs actually start when I sign in to Windows

Task Manager and Startup settings only tell you so much—Autoruns reveals a much bigger picture.

Windows Settings, Task Manager and WinUtil running on a Windows desktop
6 guaranteed ways to make Windows faster without upgrading hardware or overclocking

These changes can go a long way in making your Windows PC feel snapier.

3
See More