Luckily, both Windows and Mac systems come with a handy feature called “sticky keys.” Turn the feature on, and you’ll be able to press individual keys in a two- or three-key combination one at a time, rather than all at once. It’s a clever alternative to playing “Twister” with your fingers.

You can set your Mac’s “sticky keys” feature to display pressed key combos on your desktop.

Ready to give sticky keys a try? Let’s get started.

For Mac:

• First stop: System Preferences, which you’ll find under the Apple menu in the top-right corner of the screen. Under the “System” heading, select the “Accessibility” icon.
• On the next screen, click “Keyboard” in the left column, then check the box next to the “Enable Sticky Keys” setting.
• Click the “Options” button to customize how the “sticky keys” features works. For example, you can toggle sticky keys on and off by pressing the shift key five times in a row (recommended), as well as having your Mac make a sound and/or display the label for any “modifier” key (such as shift, control, or command) that you press.

You can find your Windows PC’s “sticky keys” setting in the Control Panel.

For Windows 7 or 8:

• Go to the Windows “Ease of Access” control panel; open the Start menu and type “Ease of Access” in the search box, or click Start, All Programs, Ease of Access, and Ease of Access Center.
• Click the “Make the keyboard easier to use” link under “Explore all settings,” then check the “Turn on Sticky Keys” box.
• Next, you can tweak your sticky keys settings by clicking the “Set up Sticky Keys” link. Among the options: turning sticky keys on and off by pressing the shift key five times in a row (same as on the Mac), playing a sound any time a “modifier” key is pressed,” and displaying the sticky keys icon in the Windows task bar.

Click here for more Mac tips, or click here for Windows help.

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That usually means something (hopefully minor) is amiss on your system. Maybe your computer is running low on memory because it’s doing a few too many things at once; or, perhaps, the program you’re using has wandered into a corner that it can’t get itself out of.

Now, the best way to deal with either the spinning Windows disc or the Mac’s beach ball is, typically, to do nothing. With any luck, your system or application will settle down after a few seconds or so.

But if several minutes have passed and you’re still staring at a frozen program, it might be time to take matters into your own hands and force the stalled program to quit.

Doing so may, of course, lead to losing any unsaved data; then again, you may not have much choice.
Ready to unstick a stuck program? Here’s how.

Stuck with a frozen Windows program? Open the Task Manager, select the app that’s causing you trouble, then click the End Task button.

For Windows:

• If you’re still seeing the spinny circle after waiting a few minutes, it’s probably time to call up the Task Manager, a tool that details all the programs and other system “processes” that are currently running on your PC. To do so, press and hold the CONTROL, ALT, and DELETE keys all at the same time, then click the Task Manager option.
• Once Task Manager is running (if you’re using a Windows 7 PC, make sure the Applications tab is selected), check out the list of running programs; you should see the misbehaving program flagged with a status of “Not Responding.” Click the program, then click the “End Task” button at the bottom of the Task Manager window.
• Next, you’ll be prompted to either a) wait a little longer for the program to right itself, or b) go ahead and quit the program. Waited long enough? Then click “quit.”

You can force a frozen Mac program to quit in just a few clicks.

For Mac:

• Open the Apple menu (just click the Apple icon in the top-left corner of the screen) and select “Force Quit”—or, if you like, press the COMMAND, OPTION, and ESCAPE buttons all at the same time.
• You should now see a list of all the running programs on your Mac, including the application that’s frozen (probably labeled “Not Responding”). Click the name of the program, then click the “Force Quit” keys in the bottom corner of the Force Quit menu.
• A prompt will appear warning that you may lose any unsaved changes if you force the program to quit. Ready to put your program out of its misery? Click the Force Quit button once more, or Cancel if you’re rather wait it out.

Click here for more Windows tips, or here for help with your Mac.

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The Windows 8 Task Manager has a nifty feature that not only lists all the programs that launch when your system starts up, but also rates the “impact” they have on your PC’s startup speed.

Now, some “high” startup-impact programs will probably be ones that your system can’t live without—like, for instance, the “Rundll32″ application, an essential Windows app that helps other Windows program access shared “libraries” of computer code.

Others, however, may be programs that you forgot you even installed—and now they’re sitting on your PC, launching themselves whenever you start your system and gobbling up precious system resources.

So, ready to put a leash on programs that are slowing your system right out of the gate?

Not sure what a specific startup program does? Right-click its name to get more details.

Here’s how…

• To launch the Task Manager, just start typing “Task Manager” from the Windows 8 Start screen; you should see the Task Manager sitting at the very top of your search results. If you’re already in the “classic” Windows desktop, just press and hold CONTROL + ALT + DELETE and select Task Manager from the menu.
• If it isn’t already, toggle the “More details” setting at the bottom of the Task Manager window to reveal a series of tabs at the top of the windows, then click the “Startup” tab.
• You should now see a list of all the programs and processes that launch when your PC starts up. Click the “Startup impact” heading to sort the list from “High” startup impact to “Low.”
• Now, take a look at the programs that are having the greatest “impact” to your system’s startup time. See any you don’t need? Select the slowpoke and click the “Disable” button to keep it from launching itself when your PC starts up. (I, for example, spotted Facebook’s “Messenger” app—which I never use—near the top of the list. Yep, it’s now disabled.)
• Not sure what a particular startup program is for? Right-click its name and select “Open file location” to find out where the app sits on your hard drive; you can also “Search online” for more information or inspect the program’s “Properties.”
• Change your mind about preventing a program from starting when you power-on your PC? Just open the Task Manager, select its name under the Startup tab, then click then Enable button.

Click here for more Windows tips!

Note: This updated tip was first published in June 2013.

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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…

Click here for more Windows tips!

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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Hi Ansley! Don’t worry. It’s easy to create a folder on your desktop that’ll display only the files you’ve created or worked with in the past day, week, month … you name it.

On a Mac, the key is to build a so-called “Smart Folder”; for Windows, we’re going to create a “Saved Search.”

Ready? Here we go…

On a Mac:

Click on your bare desktop, then select “New Smart Folder” from the File menu in the top-left corner of the screen. An empty folder with a “Search” bar along the top will appear on your desktop.

Next, you’ll need to decide on the scope of your search—either your entire hard drive, or just your Desktop. Let’s go ahead and click This Mac.

Press and hold the “Option” key, then press the “…” button for more search filters—including the option to exclude items from your search.

Since you want to see each and every file that you’ve created in the past week, we’re going to leave the search box blank and instead add a search filter. Start by clicking the little “+” button in the top-right corner of the folder.

A new filter bar will appear just below the main “Search” bar, and it’ll contain a couple of pull-down menus for narrowing down our search results. Click the first pull-down menu, select “Created date” (or “Last opened” or “Last modified” date—it’s up to you), then select “this week” from the second menu.

Bam! A big list of files will now appear in the folder, including all files that you’ve created in the past week.

Want to narrow your search even further? Click the “+” button again to add a new filter, then select some new criteria—maybe, say, only a certain type of file (“Kind” is “document,” for instance).

Want to exclude something from your search, such as email messages? Press and hold the “Option” key; when you do, the little “+” buttons in the top corner of the search window will turn into “…” buttons. Click the new button, and you’ll get a search filter that reads “[Any/all/none] of the following are true.” Select “None,” from the pull-down menu, select “Kind” is “Other” in the following search filter, then type “Mail Message” in the blank. Poof! All the mail messages in your Smart Folder will disappear.

Ready to save your search? Click the “Save” button—and, if you wish, click the “Add to sidebar” checkbox.

On a Windows PC:

Right-click on your desktop (make sure you’re in the “classic” Windows desktop environment, not the Windows 8 Start screen), move the cursor over the “New” option, then select “Folder.”

Open the folder you just created, then select the scope of your search by clicking a directory in the left-hand column. Want to search every file on your system? Then click “This PC.”

Click the “Date modified” button to narrow your saved Windows search to “this week.”

Click in the search box in the top-right corner of the folder window. When you do, a new Search tab will appear at the top of the search window, and you should see a “Date modified” button just beneath. Click the button, then select “This week” from the drop-down menu.

To narrow your search even further, click “Kind,” “Size,” or “Other properties” drop-down menus to add more search filters.

All done? Click the “Save search” button.

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Read on seven of my favorite Windows 8 keyboard shortcuts, including one that’ll help you return to the Start screen with a single keystroke, another that makes searching a breeze, and a third that reveals the new Windows “charms” that hide behind the right side of the screen.

Related: 25 keyboard shortcuts for “classic” Windows

1. The Windows key

Before the new Windows came around, tapping the Windows key would open the late, lamented Start menu.

Now, under Windows 8, pressing the Windows key takes you to the Start menu’s replacement: the eye-popping Start screen.

Just tap Windows key + C to reveal the Windows 8 “charm” menu.

Tap the Windows key again, and you’ll jump to the last app you were using—such as, say, the Windows Desktop app.

2. Windows key + C

Looking for search, sharing, and settings features in Windows 8? You’ll find them hidden in the “charm” menu on the right side of the screen.

There are a few different ways to open the slide-out charm menu: you can mouse to the top- or bottom-right corner of the screen, or swipe in from the right side of a touchscreen-enabled Windows 8 PC.

Or, just do this: press Windows key + C (for “charm,” I’m guessing). Done.

3. Just start typing

Want to search your PC? One way is to open the “charm” panel and click the “Search” icon.

Want to search your PC? Just start typing.

Here’s an easier way, though: From the Start screen, just start typing the name of whatever you’re searching for.

The Search menu will open automatically, and search results will start popping up immediately.

4. Windows key + H, or I, or K, or F

What about the other “charms” in the charm panel—are there shortcuts for them? You bet.

Just tap the Windows key then press H (for the Share charm), I (for Settings), K (for Devices), or F (for Search—although again, you can search by simply typing your search terms directly from the Start screen).

5. Windows key + Z

So, feeling a little lost in the new, touch-friendly Windows 8 apps—you know, the ones with interfaces so sparse that they hardly have any buttons at all?

Not sure what to do next in a Windows 8 app? Press Windows + Z to reveal some app commands.

The trick is to remember the hidden strip of “app commands” along the bottom of the screen.

To reveal the app commands, you have a few different options: you can right-click the screen, for example, or swipe up from the bottom of the display (assuming you’re using a touchscreen PC or tablet).

But if you prefer an old-school keyboard shortcut, try this: Windows key + Z.

6. ALT + F4

Quits the Windows 8 app that’s currently running. From the “classic” Windows desktop, ALT + F4 will launch the system shutdown window. (Thanks for the tip, Mark!)

Press Control + “-” for a big-picture view of the Start screen.

7. CONTROL + “+” or “-“

Got several “groups” of tiles cluttering your Start screen? Press the Control key plus “-” key for a zoomed-out, big-picture view of all your tiles, or Control plus the “+” key to zoom in again.

Got more Windows 8 keyboard shortcuts you’d like to share? Post ‘em below!

Looking for more Windows tips? Click here!

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Yep, there’s a tool for that.

Just pick a desktop item and select a new font size; you can also check the “Bold” box to make text stand out that much more.

First stop: the Display settings in the Windows Control Panel.

• Open the Control Panel (just type “Control Panel” from the Windows 8 Start screen), click Appearance and Personalization (make sure “View by” in the top corner of the Control Panel window is set to “Category”), then click “Make text and other items larger or smaller.”
• You now have a couple of choices. First, you can use the “Change the size of all items” slider to make everything on your desktop a bit bigger. Just slide the lever toward “Larger,” click the Apply button, then restart your PC to make the changes take effect.
• Now, want a little more control over what gets bigger on your Windows desktop? Go ahead and tinker with the pull-down menus under the “Change only the text size” heading. From here, you can pick and choose which desktop text elements to boost, from the title bars above menus to the tiny text labels under your desktop icons. Just pick an item and select a new font size; you can also check the “Bold” box to make text stand out that much more.
• All set? Click the Apply button to see the results.

Click here for more Windows tips!

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Indeed, I much prefer clicking the buttons in the toolbar, which spring to life with a single click.

So, is it that much harder to double-click rather than single-click? Well … no, not really.

But here’s the thing: if you really want to open any item on your desktop with a single click, it’s easy to do.

Open the Control Panel (it’s under the Start Menu in Windows 7, or just type “Control Panel” from the Windows 8 Start screen), click Appearance and Personalization, then click “Specify single- or double-click to open” under the Folder Options heading. (Update: Don’t see the “Appearance and Personalization” heading? As a reader pointed out in the comments, you need to make sure “View by” is set to “Category” rather than “Small icons” or “Large icons.”)

Just head for the Control Panel to set your desktop items to open with a single click.

You should now be looking at the Folder Options window; look for the “Click items as follows” section, click the “Single-click to open an item” option, and click the “Apply” button.

Now, hover your mouse over any item, click once, and voilà! The document or folder should open instantly. You may also notice that the labels under the icons on your desktop are now underlined, just like links in a web page, and that individual desktop items are “selected” whenever your mouse hovers over them. Don’t like the underlining? Just go back to the Folder Options window and click the “Underline icon titles only when I point at them” option.

Have a change of heart about the whole single-clicking thing? Just retrace the steps above, then select “Double-click top open an item” rather than single-click.

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You can set the PC Power button to put your computer into a gentle “sleep” mode, a deeper “hibernation” slumber, or even to do nothing at all.

Let’s get started

• Open the Control Panel (either from the Windows 7 Start menu, or just type “Control Panel” from the Windows 8 Search screen)
• Click System and Security
• Click the “Change what the power buttons do’ under the “Power Options” heading
• You’ll come to a window that lets you tweak the settings for the main Power button and the Sleep button (typically a key stamped with a half-moon icon). You’ll even be able to change what happens when you close the lid of your laptop.

You can set the Power button to put your computer into a gentle “sleep” mode, a deeper “hiernation” slumber, or even to do nothing at all.

So, now what?

You have a few choices – they are:

• Do nothing: Pretty self-explanatory—and potentially quite handy, especially for anyone who’s even hit the PC Power button by accident.
• Sleep: A mode that dims your screen but (for the most part) leaves your PC and its hard drive humming. You can wake your system instantly from sleep, but keep in mind that its hard drive is still spinning and its battery is still draining.
• Hibernate: A deeper version of Sleep that saves the “state” of your system—including any open windows and programs—before shutting down your system and its hard drive. Once your system is “hibernated,” it’s safe to tote around, and the battery won’t drain nearly as fast as it would in “sleep” mode. However, it may take a minute or so to rouse your hibernating system.
• Shut down: Completely powers down your system, closing any open windows and programs in the process.

Just select the settings for the PC’s Power button, the Sleep key, and closing your laptop lid from the various pull-down menus, then click the “Save changes” button. Done!

Also, if you’re using a laptop, note that you can pick different behaviors depending on whether your system is plugged in or running off its battery.

Click here for more Windows tips!

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Read on for 25 keyboard shortcuts that every Windows user should have at their fingertips, from the classic ALT + TAB and CONTROL + C to the more esoteric CONTROL + SHIFT + ESC and Windows + Z.

Related: 20 must-know Mac keyboard shortcuts

1. CTRL + ALT + DELETE

The last resort (well, besides the power button) for many a Windows user after a program freezes on the desktop, this essential three-key combo call up the Windows Task Manager, which lets you pinpoint and close a misbehaving application.

Note: on Windows 7 and 8 systems, CTRL+ALT+DELETE calls up a screen with other options besides launching the Task Manager, including locking the computer, switching the current user, and logging off altogether.

2. CONTROL + SHIFT + ESC

In Windows 7 and 8, jumps you straight to the Task Manager, skipping the intermediate “lock” and “switch user” screen.

3. ALT + TAB

Press ALT+TAB to call up a rectangular window with icons representing your currently running programs; just “tab” over to the app you want, then hit Enter to make the switch. A classic, must-know shortcut.

4. Windows key + TAB (Windows 7 only)

Essentially the same as ALT + TAB, a keyboard combo that lets you cycle through all your running applications, but with an eye-popping difference: your open apps will appear in a nifty 3-D carousel instead of a basic pop-up window.

5. Windows key + Z (Windows 8 only)

Open the pane of so-called “app commands” at the bottom of a Windows 8 app.

6. Windows key + C (Windows 8 only)

Open the “charms” pane on the right side of the screen—you know, the one with the Search, Share, Start, Devices, and Settings buttons.

7. F1

Need a little help? Tap the F1 key at the top of your keyboard to launch a Help window for the application you’re currently using, or for Windows in general.

8. CTRL + ESC, or the Windows key

In Windows 7, gives you instant access to the Start Menu; just use the arrow keys to navigate to the program, directory, or option you want, then hit Enter to select.

Using Windows 8? If so, the CTRL + ESC keyboard combo and/or the Windows key calls up the new Start screen—and yes, you can use the arrow keys to navigate the Start screen tiles.

9. ALT + F4

Closes the active window you have open, such as an open Internet Explorer window. Also, if the window you’re closing is the only one that’s open for a given program, the app in question will go ahead and quit.

10. Windows key + the “E” key

Launches Windows Explorer (or File Explorer, as it’s now known in Windows 8), the essential desktop browser for all the applications, directories (like your personal Windows user directory), documents, and other system files on your PC.

11. Windows key + “M” key

Need to see your desktop this instant? Use this keyboard combo to minimize every open window at once, thus revealing the Windows desktop.

12. Windows key + SHIFT + “M” key

So, you found that missing file on your desktop, and you’re ready to dive back into that Excel chart. Now what? Strike this trio of keys to restore all the windows you just minimized.

13. Windows key + “L”

Sends you instantly to the Windows lock screen, perfect for hiding your work (or your Facebook timeline) during a quick trip to the restroom.

14. Windows key + arrow key

Snaps the active window to the top, left, and right sides of the desktop, depending on which arrow button you press. Tap Windows key + down arrow to return the window to its original spot, or tap the keys again to minimize the window.

15. F2

Lets you rename the selected file or folder.

16 – 21. CONTROL + C, V, X, Z, and Y

The basic text-editing commands, including…

• CONTROL + A: selects all text in a document or form
• CONTROL + C: copies the selected text to the Windows clipboard
• CONTROL + X: cuts the selected text and saves it to the clipboard
• CONTROL + V: pastes your copied text
• CONTROL + Z: undo your last action
• CONTROL + Y: redo the last action you “undid”

22. ALT + left or right arrow key

In your favorite web browser, sends you back to the previous web page (left arrow) or forward (right arrow).

23. CONTROL + F

For web browsers and many other applications, lets you search the open web page or document.

24. ALT + space bar

Opens a system menu in the top-left corner of the active window. From this menu, you can select Move (to move the window around the screen using just the arrow keys), Size (to resize the window with the arrow keys), Minimize, Maximize, or Close.

25. CONTROL + T and SHIFT + CONTROL + T

In a web browser, tap CONTROL + T to open a new browser tab, or SHIFT + CONTROL + T to re-open the last browser tab you closed.

Got more Windows keyboard shortcuts you’d like to share? Post ’em below.

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