Typing accent marks on an iMac or MacBook is a simple matter of holding down a letter key. But if you want to type characters with accents on a Windows PC, you’ll need to know some lengthy ALT codes or try your hand at a few other not-so-simple methods.

Once installed, Holdkey lets you type accent marks by pressing a holding a letter key, just like on a Mac.

I’d pretty much decided to table the accent-marks-for-Windows issue until I got this reader mail from Tom, who wrote:

The recent tip about accent marks and of holding the key down reminds me of a free app that I use with my Windows system called Holdkey. Not sure if it works with Apple also. Thanks for all the tips!

I went ahead and gave Holdkey a try; you can download it here. I tried the free version; there’s also a €7.50 (or about $9.41 in U.S. dollars) “Pro” version that boasts additional accent marks beyond the 10 that are initially displayed.

Once installed, the program lets you type accent marks by pressing a holding a letter key, just like on a Mac.

Just release the key when the little up-arrow appears; when you do, a horizontal pop-up menu displays a numbered list of 10 possible accent marks. (If you keep holding the key after the arrow appears, the letter you’re pressing will begin to repeat, just like it normally does in Windows.)

Press the corresponding number key for the accent mark you want to type, and presto!

You can dig into Holdkey’s settings to determine how long you must press a letter key before the up-arrow appears. Another setting controls how long you need to keep pressing a key after the arrow appears before the character begins to repeat.

Not bad—and nice find, Tom!

Update [10/9/14]: While I haven’t had any trouble with Holdkey since installing it on my Windows 8 PC, at least one reader has. Deb informed me that her system froze after installing the download. She writes:

I downloaded Holdkey. My security (Norton) said it was safe. I have a five-year-old Acer laptop running Windows 7 and I use Firefox. Once it was installed, none of my “clicks” worked. I couldn’t even get the start menu to appear so I could uninstall the program or reboot. After I force quit and started up Windows normally, nothing changed.

Ultimately, I restarted the computer in safe mode and was able to make things happen; I restored it to its status a week ago and it was fine. Whew! (Then, I backed up everything to my Clickfree and exported my Dashlane passwords to a document.)

Very strange. But all’s well that ends well.

Anyone else have similar problems? Let me know…

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Note: In case you’re wondering, no; I wasn’t compensated in any way by the maker of Holdkey for mentioning their app or for referrals to their download page.

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Until now, the familiar Windows taskbar, which (typically) sits at the bottom of the screen in the “classic” Windows desktop, was persona non grata on the newfangled Windows 8 Start screen and in touch-enabled Windows 8 apps.

But once you install Update 1 for Windows 8.1 on your PC, you’ll be able to summon the Windows taskbar—complete with buttons for your favorite programs, the Windows clock, and the notifications tray—pretty much whenever you want, even from a Windows 8 app or the Start screen.

Once you’ve checked the box next to “Show Windows Store apps in the taskbar,” you’ll be able to summon the taskbar whenever you want, even from the Start screen.

First, you’ll need to install Update 1 for Windows 8.1 on your system—and indeed, you’ll need to make sure you’ve updated your PC to Windows 8.1.

If you’re in no hurry, Update 1 should install itself automatically on your system within a few weeks; just make sure you have “Automatic Updates” turned on. (Move your mouse to the right side of the screen, click the Settings button, then click “Change PC settings,” “Update and recovery,” “Choose how updates get installed,” and make sure “Install updates automatically” is selected under the “Important updates” pull-down menu.)

Want to install Update 1 right now? Open the Control Panel (just search for it from the Start menu), click System and Security, Windows Update, and then install any “important” updates that are listed. If you haven’t updated your PC in awhile, you may have to go through a few rounds of updates before Update 1 appears.

OK, got Update 1 installed? Go to the classic Windows desktop (just click the Desktop tile from the Start menu), right-click the taskbar, select Properties, then make sure the box next to “Show Windows Store apps on the taskbar” is checked.

Now, go to the Start menu or any Windows 8 app, then move your mouse to the very bottom of the screen (or toward the edge of the screen where your taskbar sits), and the taskbar will slide into place.

Nice.

Bonus tip

If you wish, you can also “pin” a Windows 8 app to the taskbar. Just launch the app you want to pin, pull up the taskbar, right-click the app’s taskbar button, then select “Pin this program to the taskbar.”

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What you may not know, however, is that you can save even more time by right-clicking (rather than left-clicking) the taskbar button for a “pinned” program.

Why? Because doing so will spawn what Microsoft calls a “jump list”—a list of shortcuts that’ll give you a running start as you’re firing up an app.

You can set your Windows “Jump Lists” to display up to 99 recently opened items—or none at all, if you wish.

For example, if you’ve got the Control Panel pinned to the taskbar, right-clicking its taskbar button will give you a list of the most recent Control Panel settings you’ve accessed—handy if you’re, say, continually tweaking your display options.

Right-click the Internet Explorer taskbar button, and you’ll see a list of frequently-visited webpages, as well as shortcuts for features like opening a new browser tab or switching on “InPrivate” browsing.

Right-clicking the File Explorer button lets you jump to recent folders you’ve opened, while the “jump list” for Word brings up recently edited documents.

You can set your jump lists to display up to 99 “recent items”—or none at all, if you’d rather not have your activity on display to anyone who right-clicks the taskbar.

To change your jump list settings, just right-click the taskbar, select Properties, then click the “Jump Lists” tab.

Bonus tip

Not sure how to pin a program to the taskbar? Just launch a Windows program, right-click its button in the taskbar, and select “Pin this program to the taskbar.”

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And while I welcomed the return of the Start button in last year’s Windows 8.1 update, well … it isn’t quite the same, now, is it?

Well, here’s the thing: you can actually find (as I belatedly discovered) a pretty decent replacement for the old Start menu on your current Windows 8.1 desktop, if you know where to look.

You can right-click the Start button from the Start screen, any Windows 8 app, or from the “classic” desktop.

The trick? Just right-click the Start button.

When you do, a bare-bones “contextual” menu will appear, complete with many of the shortcuts that used to sit in the Start menu—everything from “Programs” and “File Manager” to “Control Panel” and “Run.”

Select “Search” to quickly open the Windows 8.1 search panel on the right side of the screen, or “Shut down or sign out” to choose an options for snoozing, locking, or powering down your system.

And in case you’re wondering, yes—you can right-click the Start button from the Windows 8 Start screen, within any Windows 8 app, or from the “classic” desktop.

Nice.

Note: There are also various third-party programs that’ll replace the missing Start menu. One of them is Classic Shell, which I’ve previously covered.

Click here for more Windows 8 tips!

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Hi Lilyan! Unfortunately, because there are so many makes and models of Windows PCs, there’s no easy, one-size-fits-all way to disable the Caps Lock key.

That said, it’s a snap to make your PC “beep” whenever the Caps Lock key is pressed—not a perfect solution, mind you, but it’s better than nothing.

The “Toggle Keys” setting will make your Windows PC beep whenever you strike the Caps Lock key.

Let’s give it a try…

• Open the Control Panel (it’s in the Start Menu under Windows 7, or you can search for it from the Windows 8 Start screen), then click the Ease of Access heading.
• Click the “Change how your keyboard works” link under the “Ease of Access Center” section.
• Under the “Make it easier to type” heading, check the box next to “Turn on Toggle Keys,” then click the Apply button at the bottom of the window.
• All done? Hit the Caps Lock key, and you’ll hear a beep.

Hope that helps!

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Try this: just slide your mouse pointer to the very end of the Windows taskbar (for most users, that means the bottom-right corner of the screen, unless you’ve moved the taskbar elsewhere), then let it sit there for a second.

“Peek” not working for you? Right-click the taskbar, select Properties, and make sure Peek is enabled under the Taskbar tab.

When you do, all the open windows on your desktop will turn transparent as glass, exposing your bare Windows desktop.

All done? Just move your mouse away from the end of the taskbar, and your open windows will return to normal. Neat.

Now, what if you actually do want to minimize all your open windows? No problem: just right-click the taskbar and select “Show the desktop,” or press the WINDOWS key + M.

Note: If the Aero Peek feature isn’t working for you, it might not be activated. Right-click the Windows taskbar, select “Properties,” and make sure that the “Use Aero Peek to preview the desktop” setting is checked.

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Do a little digging into your Windows system settings and you’ll find a trio of settings that could make life a little easier on your mousing hand, starting with…

1. Right-click with the left mouse button

Ready for a radical right-click change-up? Windows makes it relatively easy to right-click with the left mouse button, if you’re so inclined.

• Open the Control Panel, click the main Hardware and Sound category, then click Mouse under Devices and Printers.
• The Mouse Properties window should open. Make sure the Buttons tab is selected, then click the checkbox labeled “Switch primary and secondary buttons.”
• Click the OK button…with the right mouse button, of course. Go ahead and click the left button to right-click.

You can change the way your mouse buttons behave from the Mouse Properties window.

2. Slow down your double-click speed

Wish you didn’t have to double-click at such a breakneck pace? Easily fixed.

• Go back to the Mouse Properties window and click the Buttons tab.
• See the slider under the “Double-click speed” heading? Drag it left to slow down your double-clicking speed.
• Try double-clicking the folder icon next to the slider to test out your new setting.
• All set? Click the OK button.

3. Highlight and drag without holding down the mouse button

Selecting large swaths of files or highlighting lengthy passages of text can be a pain—quite literally—when you’re trying to hold down a mouse button the whole time.

Luckily, you can give your delicate finger tendons a rest by tweaking a key setting.

• Again, open the Mouse Preferences window and make sure the Buttons tab is selected.
• Check the box just beneath the ClickLock heading.
• Click the Settings button to determine how long you’ll need to hold down the mouse button to (as Microsoft puts it) “lock” in your click. If you move the slider all the way to the “Short” end of the scale, your click will be locked after holding down the mouse button for less than a second. Move the slider all the way to “Long,” and it’ll take about five seconds before your click is locked.

Note: Using a laptop? If so, keep in mind that each of these mouse-button settings will also apply to the trackpad buttons.

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Don’t let the flashy Start screen get the better of you, though. Here’s eight ways to take charge, from rearranging and resizing your tiles to picking a new background.

And yes—you can even skip the Start screen altogether if you wish.

Note: These tips are for Windows 8 PCs that have been updated to Windows 8.1. Haven’t updated yet? You should—and here’s why.

1. Change the color scheme

One of the quickest ways take ownership of the Start screen is to give it a fresh coat of paint.

You can apply a fresh coat of paint to the Start menu in just a few clicks.

All it takes is a few quick clicks in the Settings panel.

• Mouse over to the top- or bottom-right corner of the screen (or swipe “in” from the right side of the display on your tablet or touchscreen PC), click the Settings icon (or “charm”—it’s the one that looks like a gear) that slides out from the side of the display, then click Personalize under the main Settings heading.
• From here, you can choose from 20 different background patterns (including the wallpaper on your “classic” desktop, which should appear in the last panel) and dozens of background and accents color. As you click around the various choices, you’ll see the Start screen preview change color and backgrounds.
• All set? Check out your new Start screen by mousing to the bottom-left corner of the screen and clicking the Start thumbnail.

2. Drag your tiles here, there, everywhere

Don’t like how your various Start screen tiles are arranged? You can move them anywhere you want by just clicking and dragging (or tapping and holding).

Keep in mind that you can arrange your tiles in different columns (or “groups”), if you wish; just click and drag a tile to the left or right side of the screen. Drag a tile beyond the last column in either direction, and a new one will be created for you.

Want to see all your columns at once? Click the little “-” button in the bottom-right corner of the screen.

3. Name your tile groups

If you’re feeling really ambitious, you can go ahead and add labels to all your Start screen groups—perfect for anyone who’s ever gone nuts with an old-school label maker.

Own an old-school label maker? Then you’ll love the ability to label tile groups in the Start menu.

Just right-click the Start screen (or swipe up from the bottom on a touchscreen PC or tablet), then click (or tap) Customize.

When you do, you’ll see a series of long, thin gray boxes at the top of each tile group. Click and start typing to add a group name.

4. Make your tiles bigger, smaller, or wider

Take a close look at the Start screen and you’ll notice that some tiles are bigger, smaller, and/or wider than others.

You can make the tiles on your Start screen bigger, smaller, or wider.

Jumbo-size and double-wide tiles get more room for displaying headlines and photos, and they’re a little easier to spot in a crowd. The smaller, bite-size tiles, on the other hand, are much easier to arrange.

Right-click (or tap and hold) a tile you’d like to expand or shrink, click the Resize button at the bottom of the screen, then select a new size: Large, Wide, Medium, or Small.

Nice, but keep in mind that Start screen tiles for your old Windows 7 and earlier apps come in “Medium” and “Small” sizes only.

5. Stun your “live” tiles

You’ve probably noticed that many tiles in the Start screen boast sliding panels of photos, headlines, and other information.

These are “live” tiles, as Microsoft calls them—and taken together, they form a handy, albeit distracting, dashboard of your digital life, all from the Start screen.

Want to turn one of more “live” tiles off? No problem. Just right-click the live tile you’d like to stop, then click the “Turn live tile off” option.

If you ever have second thoughts, you can always retrace your steps and turn the tile back on.

6. “Pin” or “unpin” an app to the Start screen

So, don’t feel the need have the Sports app starting you in the face from the Start screen? Or want to bring the old Windows Calculator app front and center?

You can “pin” any app or program, including older Windows applications, to the Start screen.

Easy.

• To remove—or “unpin”—an app from the Start screen, just right-click it, then click the “Unpin from Start” button.
• To pin an app or program to the Start screen, you’ll first have to find it on the All Apps page. Click the little down-arrow in the bottom-left corner of the Start screen, then scroll to find the app you want to pin. Another option: just start typing the name of the program for instant search results.
• Right-click the pin-worthy app, then click the “Pin to Start” button.

Note: You can also pin people, folders, and web sites to the Start screen. Here’s how…

7. Make “All Apps” the default view for the Start screen

Now that you’ve seen the (new) All Apps screen, are you wishing it could be the first thing you see when you boot your PC? No problem.

• Click the Desktop tile to open the “classic” Windows desktop, right-click the toolbar (most likely at the bottom of your screen), then click the Navigation tab.
• Under the Start screen section, check the box next to “Show the Apps view automatically when I go to Start.”
• Click the OK button.

Related: A quicker way to view all your apps

8. Skip the Start screen and boot directly to the old Windows desktop

Rather skip the Start screen altogether? Easily done.

• Retrace your steps to the Navigation settings (go to the classic desktop, right-click the toolbar, select Properties, then click the Navigation tab).
• Under the Start Screen section, check the box next to “When I sign in or close all apps on a screen, go to the desktop instead of Start.”

Related: 3 ways to make the Start screen cozy up to the desktop

Looking for more Windows tips? Click here!

Note: This updated and expanded tip was first published in November 2012.

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Sure, the touch-centric Windows 8 and its swipe-friendly Start screen make sense on a tablet. On a standard mouse-and-keyboard PC, though, the new Windows feels like it’s got a split personality, with the tap-and-swipe Start screen on one side and the old, comfy point-and-click Windows desktop on the other.

Anyway, ready for some good news? Windows 8.1, Microsoft’s recent update to Windows 8, adds a trio of features that’ll make for a much cozier relationship between the desktop and the Start screen.

Let’s start with…

1. Skip the Start screen and boot directly to the desktop

Nope, the first thing you see when you power up your Windows 8 PC in the morning does not have to be the Start screen.

Thanks to Windows 8.1, there’s now an option to make your system boot directly to the old Windows desktop, just like every previous version of Windows.

Here’s how (jump to the tip)…

2. Use your desktop wallpaper as the Start screen background

While the Start button made a triumphant return with the arrival of Windows 8.1, the old Start menu was left behind—for good, apparently. Indeed, as far as Microsoft’s concerned, the flashy new Start screen is the Start menu.

Just check a few new Windows 8.1 options to make the revamped “Start” screen feel a bit less alien.

Luckily, there’s an easy way to make the Start screen feel a little less disconnected from the old Windows desktop experience.

The trick? Using your desktop wallpaper as the Start screen background.

It sounds like a minor change, but I was pleasantly surprised when I enabled the feature on my own Windows 8 system.

All of a sudden, the Start screen felt more like a subtle desktop overlay rather than a whiplash-inducing swerve to a whole new place.

Here’s what you do…

• Right-click the toolbar on your desktop (click the Desktop tile on your Start screen if you’re not already there), then select Properties.
• Click the Navigation tab, then check the box next to “Show my desktop background on Start.”
• If you wish, you can also select your desktop background from the Personalize panel under the Windows 8 Settings “charm.”

Now, click the Start button and … ahhhh. Rather than leaping somewhere else, the Start screen gently materializes over the desktop.

3. Make the Start screen default to the All Apps view

Using your desktop wallpaper as the Start screen background may make the Start screen feel a little less alien, but what if you’d rather skip all the new-fangled, multi-colored “live” tiles and just see a list of all your apps, similar to the old Start menu?

Among the other goodies in the recent Windows 8.1 update is a simple “All Apps” view for the Start screen, which lays out your favorite apps in any order you choose. Think of it as a full-screen version of the “Programs” button from the late, lamented Start menu.

Even better, you can set the new All Apps view to be the first thing you see after clicking the Start button, bypassing the tiles on the main Start screen.

Let’s give it a try…

• Again, right click the desktop toolbar, select Properties, and click the Navigation tab.
• Under the Start screen section, check the box next to “Show the Apps view automatically when I go to Start.”
• Want your desktop programs to appear first in the All Apps screen (as opposed to touch-enabled Windows 8 apps)? Check the box next to “List desktop apps first in the Apps view when it’s sorted by category.”

Click OK, then go ahead and click the Start button—and when you do, you’ll jump directly to the Apps screen. Nice.

Miss the live tiles on the main Start screen? Just click the little arrow in the bottom-left corner of the screen.

Looking for more Windows 8 tips? Click here!

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In its place is the new Start screen, an eye-catching patchwork of multicolored “live” tiles that you can arrange any which way.

The Start screen is sure impressive, and if you’re willing to invest the time, you can always go through and “pin” your favorite apps next to your other Start screen tiles.

You can sort the apps on the All Apps screen by name, date installed, category, or most used.

But what if you want to just view a big list of all your apps at once, just like you could by clicking the Programs shortcut in the old Start menu?

Well, good news: thanks to the just-released Windows 8.1 update, a new “all apps” view is just a swipe, a click, or a two-button keyboard combo away.

If you’re using Windows 8.1 on a standard desktop PC, try this: from the Start screen, press CONTROL + TAB, or click the downward arrow in the bottom-left corner of the screen.

On a Windows 8.1 tablet or touchscreen PC, just swipe up from the bottom of the screen.

When you do, a new Apps screen will slide into view, complete with clickable and tappable icons for all your Windows 8 and “standard” Windows apps and programs.

Want to search for a specific app? Just start typing its name, and search results will appear as you type.

Even better, you can sort the list of apps by clicking the drop-down menu at the top of the screen. You can sort by name, date installed, category, or (my favorite) most used.

Ready to go back to the Start screen? Click the arrow in the bottom-corner of the screen, press CONTROL + TAB again, or (on a touchscreen) swipe down from the top of the display.

Nice.

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