Tekee Tim's Tips

Taking a screenshot of your device

If you want to capture some information that’s displayed on your screen, such as a receipt, it can often be helpful to take a screenshot.

Luckily this is easy on all devices, Windows, Mac, iOS and Android.

When do I right click?

One shortcut that can save a lot of time on Windows and Mac computers but not everyone knows about is using the right mouse click to pop up a menu giving quick access to some often used commands. The commands that you can access when you right click change on what your mouse is over at the time but usually always provide a quick way to access commands that you might usually go back to the menu for.

Can't find your files?

When you've had your computer for a while, it's easy to start to lose track of where your files are stored, especially if you've created a lot of folders and have to spend time digging around for the correct file.

Fortunately, with both macOS and Windows, it's easy to find the files you need without having to do much work. You can also use the search tool to find applications, photos, settings as well as documents and emails, so you should be able to find anything you need at any time!

Saving time with templates

If you're typing the same types of document over and over again in your word processor, you can save a lot of time by saving it as a template. Templates are easy to set up and use in all word processing packages, here we'll show you how to set up a simple template for a letter in Word and Pages.

How can I silence my devices quickly?

If you're going to the cinema, into a meeting or running a presentation, you'll need to quickly silence your devices and stop any notifications popping up on the screen. This is usually just one or two taps or clicks and we'll run through all the ways to do it here.

Changing your DNS servers

If you find yourself having intermittent problems with websites loading slowly, email not working and seeing out of date websites, you could be having problems with your DNS servers.

All Internet Providers provide DNS as part of the connection and these convert a website name such as bbc.co.uk into the actual address of the website which is something like 63.194.125.69. Unfortunately the DNS Servers that you get with your Internet connection are usually pretty bad. They can be slow and out of date and we always recommend using better ones.

In this tip, we'll show you have to switch over to using faster and safer DNS on your Mac, Windows PC and your home router.

Double click action!

Want to change what application opens when you double click on a file?

Sometimes you may have more than one application on your computer that can open the same type of document, for example on Windows you may have Adobe Reader and the built in Reader application that can open PDF files, and on Mac OS you may have Adobe Reader and Preview.

So, if you’d like to set which application opens a PDF file when you double click on it, then this is very easy to do. Just follow the steps below. You can then use this method for any type of file.

Annotating PDFs on your Mac

If you're sending photos or PDFs to people it can be very helpful to add your own annotations, whether it's to give someone directions or point something out in the photo. This is very easy to do using Preview on the Mac and below we'll show you how to do it.

What to look for when buying a new computer

When you're looking for a new computer, there are a few things you need to bear in mind when making a decision.
In this week's tip, Tekee Tim will help you through the process.

How can I safely recycle my computer?

If you've replaced your PC or Mac and would like to dispose of the old one or sell it, then you need to be careful that you've erased all the data on the disk so that no one else can access any of your files.

Most people store a lot of private and sometimes sensitive documents on their computers and if someone else gets the machine, it's possible that they could recover this information so you do need to take some steps to ensure this doesn't happen and we'll show you some of those steps here.

Transfer files using AirDrop

Did you know that you can easily transfer files between Apple devices (Mac, iPhone, iPad) using the built in AirDrop feature? This saves you having to email your own files between your different devices and allows you to easy send files to other nearby Apple users without having to get their email address or installing any extra software.

In this tip, we'll show you how to easily send a file using AirDrop.

Record your training and motivational videos directly onto your Mac

If you're a Mac user and often record training or motivational messages to post out on social media or on your website, did you know that you can record these videos using the free QuickTime Player app that's included with all Macs?

This can save you buying additional software or recording yourself with a system like Zoom or Teams which can be overkill if you just need to record yourself speaking. You can even trim the start and end off your videos to give them that professional finish.

In this tip, we'll show you how to do this.