And in all that time, how many Gmail messages, contacts, calendar events, YouTube videos, and more have you saved, sent, uploaded and otherwise stored on its servers? My brain hurts just thinking about it.

Want to pack all your personal Google data into a big digital suitcase? No problem.

Well, here’s the thing: not only can you find out how much personal data you’ve got sitting in Google’s memory banks, you can also download a giant digital suitcase of all your Google stuff, which you can peruse and store on your own hard drive.

Downloading an archive is a smart way to safeguard your Google data against server failures, bolts of lightning, and other random acts of God.

It’s also a prudent move if you ever decide to part ways with Google and delete your account.

Related: How to download all your Facebook posts, photos and videos to your PC

Best of all, packing up a Google archive is quick and relatively painless. I archived and downloaded a 1.3 GB file stuffed with more than a dozen years of data in about 45 minutes.

Note: One big piece of the Google archive puzzle that’s still missing is Gmail, but Google says Gmail archives are coming within the next month or so. Stay tuned.

You can pick and choose which bits of personal data you want packed into your Google archive.

Let’s get started…

• Log into your Google account, click your Google profile photo in the top-right corner of the page, then click Account.
• Click “Download your data” in the left column of the following page (under the Account heading), then click the blue “Create an archive” button.
• Next, you can pick and choose what to pack into your Google archive—anything from calendar events and contacts to YouTube videos and the contents of your Google Drive. You can also just go ahead and pack everything by checking the “Select all” box at the top.
• All set? Click the red “Create Archive” button. A progress bar will appear, showing you how far along Google is in the archiving process (which took less than 15 minutes for me). Got better things to do? You can ask Google to let you know when it’s done by checking the box next to “Email me when the archive is ready.”
• Once the archive is finished, click the blue Download button to save your Google data to your desktop. (It took me about half an hour to save my 1.3 GB Google archive to my system.)
• Open the archive, and you’ll find all your Google data neatly divided into a series of folders. If there were any errors in the packing process, they’ll be listed in a file called “errors.html”; just double-click the file to open it in your web browser.
• Note that Google will store your archive online for a week; after that, it’ll be deleted automatically. You can also delete the online archive manually by clicking the “Delete archive” link.

Looking for more Google tips? Click here!

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That’s the promise behind Vudu’s new “disc-to-digital” service, which scans DVD and Blu-ray discs from your home collection and adds digital copies of your movies—well, some of your movies, anyway—to a cloud-based digital locker.

Once stored in your “My Vudu” locker, your movies are accessible from your PC, Mac, iPhone & iPad, and Android tablets, as well as such devices as Vudu-enabled HDTVs and Blu-ray players, the Roku set-top box, and game consoles like the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. (Nope, no Apple TV, or at least not yet.)

Even better, you can opt to convert selected DVD movies to 1080p “HDX” video quality—not quite the same level of sharpness as Blu-ray, but pretty darn close.

Sounds interesting, right?

You can add your old DVD discs to your “My Vudu” digital locker, and even upgrade them to HD—for a price.

Naturally, though, there’s a catch—several of them, actually, starting with the fact that Vudu’s “disc-to-digital” service isn’t free.

First, let’s go over the basics.

For starters, you’ll need to sign up for a free Vudu account (Vudu, by the way, is the maker of one of the first streaming TV set-top boxes, and it’s now owned by Wal-Mart), and you’ll also need to register with Ultraviolet, a video-streaming “standard” established by five of the biggest Hollywood movie studios.

Once you’re all signed up, you’ll be prompted to download Vudu’s disc-to-digital utility, versions of which are available for both PC and Mac. I downloaded the Mac version, and the installation process took only a few minutes.

After that, you fire up the Vudu app, click the “Disc to Digital” tab, click the “Add Disc” button, then insert a DVD or Blu-ray disc into your system’s optical disc drive. (Yes, your PC will need a Blu-ray drive to scan Blu-ray discs—and no, Macs don’t come with Blu-ray drives, at least not built-in.)

It takes less than a minute for Vudu to scan and identify a DVD, but prepare to pay up before adding the movie to your digital locker.

It takes less than a minute for Vudu’s software to scan and identify a disc—and if it finds a match in its massive database of digital movies, you’ll get the chance to instantly add the movie to your “My Vudu” archive.

And here’s comes the first catch: Vudu charges $2 for every DVD you add to your digital locker, and that’s if you choose the SD (“standard definition”) version of the movie.

Want to pony up for the HDX (high-definition) version of a DVD? That’ll be $5, please.

Meanwhile, adding a Blu-ray disc to your Vudu lockers costs $2 for the digital HDX version.

(For a limited time, Vudu is offering a $2 credit toward your first disc conversion, and it’s also offering 50% off if you convert 10 discs at once.)

You can watch your Vudu disc-to-digital movies on an iPhone, iPad or Android tablet, but only in SD.

Once you’ve added some movies to your Vudu locker, you can watch them on your PC or Mac using the same “disc-to-digital” program you just downloaded.

Vudu also offers streaming video apps for iPhone/iPad and Android tablets (which can only play the SD versions of your Vudu-converted movies, by the way), as well as apps for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, and Roku.

Apple TV still isn’t supported, although you can try streaming your Vudu movies (in SD, mind you) from your iPad to Apple TV via AirPlay.

Now, here’s another catch: there’s a good chance that only some (and perhaps even just a fraction) of your DVDs and Blu-rays can be added to your Vudu locker.

Why’s that? Well, to begin with, only five of the six big Hollywood studios—Sony, Universal, Paramount, Warner Bros., and Fox—offer movies through the service, with Disney being the lone but notable holdout. In other words, don’t count on converting any of your “Pirates of the Caribbean” DVDs to your digital Vudu locker anytime soon.

Many of my DVDs—including “Star Wars,” “Indiana Jones,” and “Jaws”—were “not eligible” for transfer to my Vudu movie locker.

And even if you are trying to add a movie made by one of the other five studios, a given film must still have been “legally cleared” for streaming via Vudu.

Example? Well, I had no problem adding my “American Graffiti” DVD (from Universal) to my Vudu locker, but when I tried adding “Star Wars” (Fox), I was curtly informed that the movie was “not eligible” for conversion—and I got the same answer for such high-profile titles as “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (Paramount), “Jurassic Park,” (Universal), and “Jaws” (ditto).

Still, several other DVDs worked fine, like “Star Trek II” (Paramount), “The Maltese Falcon” (Warners), and “North by Northwest” (also Warners).

I should also mention that my new HDX version of that classic Hitchcock thriller looks splendid—far better my old standard-definition DVD version, in fact.

Got any questions about Vudu’s “disc-to-digital” plan? Let me know in the comments below.

Bonus tip

You can search Vudu’s library of available disc-to-digital movies right here before going to the trouble of downloading the software.

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The latest version of the Google Drive app lets you scan just about any paper document—yes, including receipts—using your Android phone’s camera.

 
Just point and shoot, and the Google Drive app will convert the image of your receipt into a PDF, and then upload the file directly to your cloud-based, accessible-from-anywhere Google Drive account.

Once uploaded, Google Drive will scour the image using OCR (short for Optical Character Recognition) technology, and if the image you snapped is clear enough, you’ll be able to search for any words of numbers that Drive managed to detect.

Before you get too excited, keep in mind that Google’s OCR accuracy is somewhat hit and miss; it does much better with words and letters than with numbers, and it also hates creases, so make sure to scan your receipts before folding them up in your pocket.

Still, Google Drive’s new scanning feature (which, for now, is only available on the Android version of the Google Drive mobile app) could be handy for anyone who wants to snap and store receipts, business cards, or any other paper documents on the fly.

You can preview scanned receipts and make adjustments with the edit buttons before uploading them to Google Drive.

Ready to scan some receipts? Let’s get started…

• First, of course, you’ll need a Google Drive account (you should already have one if you’ve got a Google account) and the latest version of Google Drive for Android. Once you’re all set, fire up the Google Drive app.
• Before you start scanning receipts, you might want to create a folder in which to file them all. Tap the three-dot Menu button in the top-right corner of the screen, tap “Add new,” tap Folder, then give your folder a name, like “Receipts.” (You can, of course, reorganize your Google Drive files anytime you like.)
• Time to start scanning! Tap the three-dot menu again, tap “Add new,” then tap Scan. A viewfinder should appear on the screen; when it does, aim your phone’s camera at the receipt you want to scan, make sure it’s centered on the display, then tap the virtual shutter release.
• Next, you’ll see a preview of the image. You can twirl the image around with a “pinch” gesture, or tap the Crop or white-balance buttons to make adjustments. Are you scanning a multi-page receipt? Tap the “+” button to scan the next page.
• Everything look good? Then tap the “check” button to upload the image to Google Drive.

Bonus tip

Having trouble searching for text or numbers in your scanned receipts? Try searching by file name instead; by default, Google Drive stitches the date of a scan into the file name, like so: “scanned_20130523” (for May 23, 2013).

Looking for more Android tips? Click here!

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You can compose a new message, archive old ones, jump back and forth between email threads, and more, all at the press of a key.

Want to ditch your mouse while using Gmail? Make sure to enable keyboard shortcuts first.

The first step is to enable keyboard shortcuts in your Gmail settings. Here’s how:

• Open your Gmail inbox, click the gear icon in the top-right corner of the screen, then select Settings.
• Make sure the General tab along the top of the page is selected, scroll down to the Keyboard Shortcuts setting, and switch it on.
• Scroll down to the very bottom of the page and click the “Save Changes” button.

So, ready to plow through your Gmail with nary a mouse click?

Let’s get started with…

1. “c”

Just press the “c” key to compose a new message.

2. “g” followed by “a”

Whenever you “archive” a Gmail message, it ends up in your All Mail folder—an archive of every single email you’ve ever received or sent (save for any messages you’ve permanently deleted).

Want to take a peek? Press “g,” followed by “a.” (“G” for “go,” “a” for All Mail.)

3. “e”

So, you’ve just read an email and you’re done with it—no need to reply or otherwise take action.

If that’s the case, just press “e” to send the message—or the entire thread (or “conversation,” in Gmail parlance) to your All Mail archive.

4. “r” or “a”

Tap “r” to instantly compose a reply to an open or selected message, or press the “a” key for “reply all.”

5. SHIFT + “u” or SHIFT + “i”

Press the Shift key + “u” to mark an email as “unread,” perfect for making sure you give an important message a second look.

On the flip side, you can also mark a message as “read” by selecting it and pressing Shift key + “i”.

6. TAB followed by ENTER

Finished typing your email? Don’t touch that mouse. Instead, just press the Tab key + Enter to send.

7. “g” followed by “c”

Gmail isn’t just a haven for email; it’s also a digital, cloud-based Rolodex. Press the “g” key, then “c” to go to your Contacts list. (Yep, you guessed it: “g” for “go,” “c” for “contacts.”)

8. “g” followed by “i”

Ready to check your inbox again? Tap “g,” then “i” (“go” to “inbox”).

9. “k” (or “j”)

Want to skip the entire email thread you’re reading? Press “k” to move on to a more recent Gmail “conversation,” or “j” to jump to an older one. (Sorry, there’s no apparent rhyme or reason for the letters “k” and “j.”)

10. “n” (or “p”)

Skip to a newer message (“n” for newer) within a conversation, or go back to the previous (“p”) message.

11. “o”

Open the most recent message in your inbox, or open a selected message.

12. “z”

Regret something you just did? Tap “z” to undo your last Gmail action (or at least, your last “undo-able” action—for example, tapping “z” to undo a just-sent email won’t do you much good.)

Bonus tip

There are a few keyboard shortcuts that will work in Gmail even if the Keyboard Shortcuts setting isn’t enabled. For example, you can press the Control key (or Command, on a Mac) plus Enter to send a message, Control (Command for Mac) + Shift + c to Cc someone, or Control (Command for Mac) + Shift + b to add Bcc recipients.

Of course, there are many more keyboard shortcuts for Gmail where these came from. Got some you’d like to share? Post ’em below!

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Instead, you can use Google Drive’s new “Preview” feature to take a quick look at a file—or an entire folder, for that matter—with a minimum of fuss.

There’s no editing in Preview mode, but you’re free to zoom in, share, and even print, as well as switch between files within a Google Drive folder.

Note: Got a Google account? If so, you already have Google Drive; you can visit your Drive right here.

A simple right-click is all it takes to preview a file in Google Drive.

Here’s what you do:

• • First, go ahead and open Google Drive in a browser (just about any browser will do, including Google Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Safari).
  • To preview a single file, just right-click it within Google Drive and select “Preview” from the pop-up menu. You can also check the box next to one or more files and then click the Preview button (it’s the one stamped with an eye-shaped icon) near the top of the page. Note that if you try to open an image, video, or PDF in Google Drive, it’ll open in Preview mode automatically.
  • A preview of the file, surrounded by a dark, translucent border, should appear in the Google Drive window. Scroll up or down to view more pages, or click the zoom in/out buttons in the bottom-right corner of the page. To print, just click the Print button.
  • Did you select more than one file to preview, or want to glance at all the other files in the same Google Drive folder? If so, you can switch between files by clicking the little arrows on either side of the page, or by pressing the left/right arrow keys on your keyboard. You can also click the “View all” button in the bottom-left corner.

Want to zoom in, share, print, or open the file you’re previewing? Just click a button.

• To zoom in or out, click the “+” and “-” buttons in the bottom-right corner of the screen.
• Want to share (or unshare) the file you’re previewing? Click the “Share” button to review, add, or delete names from the list of current collaborators.
• To go ahead and open the Google Drive document you’re previewing, click the blue “Open” button in the bottom-right corner.
• All done with Preview mode? Just click the little “x” in the top-right corner of the browser tab, or press the ESC key.

Bonus tip

No, you can’t edit while you’re in Preview mode, but you can search with a document you’re previewing. Just press CONTROL + F (on a PC) or COMMAND + F (on a Mac).

Looking for more Google tips? Click here!

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Here’s five ways to turn back the clock on some of Gmail’s latest (and for some, most annoying) new features, starting with…

1. Go back to the “Classic” inbox

Gmail offers a variety of new ways to organize your inbox, from displaying unread messages first to bubbling up “Important” emails that (supposedly, anyway) matter most to you.

Just select “Classic” to keep messages in your Gmail inbox ordered chronologically.

Want your Gmail messages ordered the old-fashioned way—that is, chronologically?

Here’s what you do:

• Click the gear icon in the top-right corner of the screen, select Settings, and then click the Inbox tab.
• Click the pull-down menu marked “Inbox type” and select “Classic.”
• You can also nix the little yellow flags next to the messages that Gmail thinks are “Important” to you; just select the “No Markers” option under “Importance markers.”
• Click the “Save Changes” button. All done!

2. Deactivate the preview pane

Personally, I like being able to sneak a peek at my messages from the Gmail inbox view, but the preview pane (which debuted back in 2011) isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.

Not a fan of the preview pane? You can turn it off with a single click.

Luckily, you can turn the preview pane off in just a few clicks.

Just go to your inbox, find the preview pane icon (it’s in the top-right corner of the screen, directly above your list of messages), and click the button.

Buh-bye, preview pane.

You can also click the downward arrow and select “No split,” if you wish.

3. Turn off chat

Gmail isn’t just about email, of course; it also comes with its own, built-in online chat client, which hums away in the bottom-left corner of the page while you’re checking your messages.

It’s a handy feature for multitasking chatters, but you can also return to the simpler days of email-only Gmail if you wish.

• Click the gear icon in the top-right corner of the page, select Settings, then click the Chat tab.
• Under the main Chat heading, click the “Chat off” setting, then click the “Save Changes” button to shut
• Gmail’s chat window.

4. Unthread your conversations

Gmail’s “conversation view,” which groups individual messages in an ongoing email thread together, isn’t really a new feature; in fact, it’s been standard in Gmail for as long as I can remember.

Even so, I still hear regular complaints from Gmail users who want their messages—even those in lengthy conversation threads—to appear the “old” way rather than grouped together.

Well, your wish is my command…

• Head back to the gear icon in the top-right corner of the page, click it, select Settings, and click the General tab.
• Find the Conversation View heading (it’s sixth from the top) and click the “Conversation view off” setting.
• Scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page and click the “Save Changes” button.

Ah, the old Gmail look is back—well, almost.

5. Banish Gmail’s “new look”

“Annoying,” “cluttered,” “cumbersome”: that’s how many of you have described Gmail’s new, modern-looking makeover, which first reared its ugly head a couple of years ago.

Initially, Gmail users could “temporarily” revert to the old look, but Google unceremoniously yanked that option last April.

While the old Gmail appears to be gone for good, you can still go back to something resembling the old look: the bare-bones “HTML” version of Gmail, which bears a striking resemblance to the old-fashioned Gmail interface.

To try the HTML version of Gmail, just click this link:

https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=html

Like what you see? Add the link to your browser bookmarks to keep the new Gmail at bay.

Looking for more Gmail tips? Click here!

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Do you happen to know the iPhone setting I need to change to stop this from happening? And if I do turn it off, will I be able to get at those apps — especially the ones that were purchased — in the future?

Hi Beth! So, here’s what’s happening…

There’s a setting on your iPhone called “Automatic Downloads,” and when it’s enabled, your iPhone will automatically download and install every new application, song, and iBook purchased or downloaded using your Apple ID—that is, the username and password you use to sign in to the iTunes & App stores.

(In case you’re wondering, yes: it is possible to use different Apple IDs to log into the iTunes store and iCloud, which means you can share an iTunes account with your family while still maintaining your own iCloud account.)

Do mysterious new apps keep appearing on your iPhone? Try switching Automatic Downloads off.

Once you turn Automatic Downloads off, you’ll no longer find mysterious new apps, music tracks, and e-books purchased by your husband and son installing themselves on your iPhone.

That said, you’ll still be able to download (or re-download, as the case may be) any iTunes/App Store items purchased with your Apple ID, whenever you want.

Here’s what you do…

• Tap Settings, then scroll down and tap iTunes & App Stores.
• See the “Automatic Downloads” heading? Underneath, you’ll find settings for three types of media: Music, Apps, and Books. Go ahead and flip one or more of the three switches to “Off.”
• Now, want to download or re-download a previously purchased app? Just open the App Store app, tap the Updates tab at the bottom of the screen, then tap Purchased.
• To re-download music from iTunes, open the iTunes app, tap the More tab at the bottom of the screen, then tap Purchased.
• Last but not least, you can re-download purchased iBooks by launching the iBooks app, tapping the Store button, and tapping the Purchased tab at the bottom of the screen.

Hope that helps, Beth. Still have questions? Let me know!

Click here for more iPhone tips!

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Meet Office 365 Home Premium, Microsoft’s bid to get a fresh copy of Office on each of your home PCs—and no, it won’t cost you a king’s ransom, or at least not on Day One.

Now, instead of coughing up $100-plus for a single box of Office CDs, you can buy an annual or even month-to-month Office 365 subscription, good for multiple, downloadable copies of Office on your PCs and Macs.

Office 365 (which has been available for business users for about a year now) could make for a relatively cheap, hassle-free way to dip into the latest versions of Office—provided you’re ready to deal with the new Office, that is.

Here’s five things you need to know about the home version of Office 365, starting with…

1. It includes the latest versions of Office

For Windows users, that means Office 13, a thorough revamp of the venerable office suite that boasts scores of new features—from an easy-on-the-eyes “Read Mode” in Microsoft Word to “Flash Fill” (which supposedly “learns and recognizes” your work and “auto-completes” the data in a given cell) in Excel.

Get ready for the shock of the new when it comes to Office 13.

Office 13 also makes heavy use of “SkyDrive,” Microsoft’s answer to such cloud-based data lockers like Dropbox and Google Drive.

Once you log in to your Microsoft account, you can use SkyDrive to open, edit, or even share your Office documents from anywhere, with anyone.

Last but not least, Office 13 has been optimized for use with touchscreen tablets and PCs.

Be warned, though: if you’re still using Office 2003 or (gulp) Office XP, prepare for a shock once you take your first glimpse of Office 13’s heavily redesigned “ribbon” interface.

You get used to the so-called “ribbon” (which sits along the top of the screen and contains dozens of font, formatting, formula, and other tools and buttons) eventually, of course, but it takes a little getting used to.

Mac users, meanwhile, get Office: Mac 2011, a slightly older (but still “ribbonized”) version of Office that’s a little clunkier when it comes to SkyDrive sharing but still packs in a bewildering number of features.

2. You can (essentially) rent Office rather than buy it outright

A $99 annual Office 365 subscription gets you access to Office 13 or Office: Mac 2011—or, if you’d rather pay a little less up front, you can (as I did) opt for a $9.99/month subscription.

There’s even a free 30-day trial for those who’d rather look before they leap; you can snag it right here.

Not bad, considering that you could essentially get the new Office immediately for as little as $10 up-front.

Over time, of course, you may end up paying more than you would for a single, retail copy of Office, especially if you don’t need such bells and whistles as Microsoft Publisher and Access (which are included in an Office 365 Home subscription, but not in the cheaper, sub-$399 Office stand-alone editions).

Microsoft, though, would argue that you’re getting more bang for your buck with an Office 365 subscription. Take, for example, the fact that…

3. You can install Office on up to five PCs or Macs

One of the beauties of an Office 365 subscription is that it lets you install copies of Office on a generous number of systems—up to five PCs or Macs.

With an Office 365 subscription, you can install Office on up to 5 PCs and Macs.

Once you’ve purchased a subscription, just log into your account, select either the PC or Mac version of Office, and click the Download button.

Installing copies of Office on a Windows 8 PC and an iMac took me a little under an hour (including the software download over my cable modem), and the actual installation process involved only a handful of mouse clicks.

Your Office 365 account keeps track of how many Office installations you have left, and you can always deactivate a copy of Office on an old PC if you want to install Office on a new system.

And here’s another nifty Office 365 perk…

4. You can stream Office from the could

Not sitting at your home PC, but need to dive into Office? No problem.

As an Office 365 subscriber, you can simply log into your account from any Windows 7 or 8 system and launch “Office on Demand,” a full version of the complete Microsoft Office suite that you can stream over the Web. Nice.

You can stream the full version of Office over the web using any Windows 7 or 8 PC.

Office on Demand is a noticeably slower than Office installed on a hard drive, and it demands a relatively speedy Internet connection. You’ll also need to download and install a small plug-in for your web browser.

That said, Office on Demand makes for a great way to get the complete Office experience—including, of course, full access to the Office documents in your SkyDrive account—even when you’re not at your desk.

OK, but what if you’re using an older Windows XP computer, or a Mac? In that case, you can try Office “Web Apps”—a bare-bones but peppy version of Office that offers basic editing tools in practically any web browser.

5. Sure, you can still buy a boxed version of Office

Still rather just own a retail copy Office? You can, with the bare-bones “Home & Student” version of Office 13 going for $139 while a more robust “Home & Business” edition sells for $219.

The top-of-the-line Office “Professional” (which includes all the individual Office components in an Office 365 subscription) costs a whopping $399. (Click here for a full comparison chart.)

Also, keep in mind that the stand-alone versions of Office are only good for one PC each.

Got questions about Office 365, or Office 13 in general? Post ’em below!

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I am truly not a geek who saves everything. Any suggestions as to where I might look what is consuming GB?

Hi Sarah! You’d be surprised how easy it is to bust over your free 5 GB iCloud storage limit, even when you’re not backing up reams of documents, podcasts, or other app data on your iPhone (or iPad).

What’s the culprit? Well, I have my suspicions.

First, though, let me show you how to check exactly what’s hogging all the storage space in your iCloud account.

You can check how much iCloud space your various apps are using, or even turn off iCloud Backup for a given app by flipping the “On/Off” switch.

Here’s what you do…

• Tap Settings, iCloud, then scroll down the page and tap the Storage and Backup button.
• Next, under the Storage heading, tap Manage Storage, then tap the entry for your iPhone (“Sarah’s iPhone,” for example) in the Backups section.
• The next screen should detail everything you need to know about your latest iCloud backup, including when it was performed, the total amount of space it’s using, and how much iCloud storage each of your individual apps is taking—or hogging, as the case may be. The list of apps should start with your Camera Roll, then proceed according to iCloud storage size.

So, what’s most likely to be hogging all your iCloud backup space? My guess: snapshots and videos.

Unless you regularly (and manually) delete images from your iPhone’s Camera Roll, the photos and videos you take will gradually pile up until they’re taking up several gigabytes of storage space—both on your iPhone itself and in your iCloud backup.

Videos, in particular, can take up a gargantuan amount of storage space.

(Note: Keep in mind that your Photo Stream images don’t count against your 5 GB of free iCloud storage.)

Another likely suspect: podcasts, which (on my iPhone, anyway) can hog several hundred megabytes of storage—or even more, if you’re a video podcast fan.

Running out of iCloud Backup space? One option: buy more storage.

Running out of iCloud Backup space? One option: buy more storage.

Once you’ve ID’d your iCloud backup hogs, you’ve got a few options for reclaiming (or getting more) storage space:

• Buy more iCloud storage: The first 5 GB of iCloud storage is free; after that, you’ll have to pony up. You can get a total of 10 GB of iCloud storage for $20 a year, 20 GB of storage for $40 a year, or 50 GB for $100/year. To buy more storage straight from your iPhone, tap Settings, iCloud, Storage & Backup, then tap the Change Storage Plan button.
• Trim data from your apps: So, did you discover that your Camera Roll has ballooned to a few gigabytes in size? You can always start deleting photos and videos manually, or you could sync your iPhone images with iPhoto or your Windows PC and then delete everything off your camera roll at once (Settings, General, Usage, Photos & Camera, then swipe the Camera Roll entry and tap the red Delete button). Or, got too many podcasts? Try deleting old episodes from your Podcasts app.
• Deactivate iCloud Backup for specific apps: You can always exclude a particular app from iCloud Backup if you don’t feel the need to keep a secure copy of its data. Go back to the screen that details how much space each app is using in iCloud, then flip the switch for any app you wish (including Camera Roll) from “On” to “Off.” Don’t forget, though, that if you switch off iCloud Backup for a given app, its data may be lost forever if something bad happens to your iPhone.

Hope that helps, Sarah. Still have questions? Let me know!

Bonus tip

Is iCloud still refusing to back up your iPhone even after you’ve trimmed your Camera Roll and/or app data?

Try this: delete your latest (and massive, most likely) iCloud Backup file to clear enough space in your iCloud account.

Go back to the screen with all your iCloud Backup details, scroll down to the bottom, then tap the Delete Backup button.

Now, return to the first Storage & Backup screen, scroll down, and tap the Back Up Now button.

The post iCloud tip: What’s hogging all your backup space? (reader mail) appeared first on here's the thing.

Google has been offering free domestic voice calls to U.S. and Canadian Gmail users for a few years now—and indeed, just last month, it extended its offer (again) through 2013.

Making voice calls through Gmail is a cinch. Just launch your favorite web browser, open your Gmail inbox, and click the little handset icon in the bottom-left corner of the page.

Update (6/13): Wondering what happened to Gmail’s Google Voice dialer? Google hid it to make way for its “Hangouts” video-chat feature. Don’t worry, though; you can get Google Voice back into Gmail in just a few clicks. Here’s how!

When you do, a dialer will pop up on the screen. Type in a phone number, click the blue “Call” button, and within a second or so, you’ll hear a familiar “brrring, brrrrrrring!” through your PC’s speakers.

Just click the headset icon to launch Gmail’s phone dialer.

So, free phone calls through Gmail, really? Yes, really—for now, anyway.

But like I said, there are a few things to keep in mind, starting with…

1. Only U.S. & Canadian Gmail users can make free calls

…and then only to U.S. and Canadian mobile and landline numbers. If you’re an international Gmail user, sorry—no free calls for you.

2. Domestic calls over Gmail are free through the end of 2013 only

Beyond that, no guarantees. Google first began offering free voice calls through Gmail back in 2010; since then, it’s extended the generous offer three times, most recently last month. Will Google keep footing the bill for Gmail voice calls in 2014, or will the party be over in a year’s time? Good question.

3. If you want to make international calls with the Gmail dialer, you’ll have to pay up

Rates range from two cents a minute (for landlines in France, Germany, and the U.K.) to a whopping $6.90 a minute (for calls to satellite phones). You can check the complete list of international Gmail calling rates right here.

4. You don’t need a headset to make Gmail voice calls

If your PC or laptop has built-in speakers and a microphone (and nowadays, most do), you can start making Gmail calls right away, no headset required. That said, your callers will probably hear you more clearly if you do use a wireless or (ideally) a wired headset.

Click a phone number in a Gmail message and the dialer will pop up automatically.

5. You can click any phone number in a Gmail message to dial

If you need to call someone who sent an email to your Gmail account, look for their phone number in the body of the message (like, say, in their email signature) and click it.

When you do, the Gmail phone dialer should pop-up automatically, complete with the number you just clicked.

All you have to do is click the blue “Call” button to start chatting.

6. You must make your free calls through the Gmail interface on your computer

In other words, no—you can’t make free Gmail calls through your iPhone or Android phone (or not officially, at least).

7. Replacing your landline or cell phone with Gmail isn’t the best idea

For one thing, you can’t add a third party to a call using the Gmail dialer. More importantly, though, you can’t make 911 calls through Gmail.

8. You can receive calls through Gmail if you have a Google Voice number

Sure, your friends and family can call you through Gmail, but they’ll need a number to dial first.

You can get one in a flash through Google Voice, a clever (and free) phone service that will (among other things) transfer incoming Google Voice calls to any of your various home, office, or mobile numbers.

Once you’ve signed up for Google Voice, your Gmail dialer will “ring” whenever someone dials your Google Voice number.

Not working? Go to your Google Voice account, click the Settings button, click the Phones tab, then make sure that your Gmail account is selected in the “Forward calls to” section.

Keep in mind, though, that Google’s offer of free domestic calls through Gmail only covers your outgoing calls; incoming calls don’t count.

Bonus tip

You can port your mobile number to your Google Voice account, if you wish; that said, doing so will automatically terminate your mobile service, meaning you may owe an early termination fee if you signed a contract with your wireless carrier.

Looking for more Gmail tips? Click here!

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