You even expand hidden icons and you still can’t find the battery icon.

This could result in a negative effect on your productivity – because if you don't plug your laptop in, the battery might run down and you wouldn’t know.

I just had the same issue and fixed it. So, in this article, I’ll show you how to restore a missing battery icon on a Windows PC.

Solution 1: Show the Battery Icon through Taskbar Settings

Step 1: Right-click on an empty space in the taskbar and select “Taskbar Settings”.

Step 2: Under “Notification area”, click on “Turn system icons on or off”.

Step 3: Toggle on "Power".

NB: If the battery icon is greyed out here, proceed to the next fix in this article.

Solution 2: Disable and Re-enable Battery Hardware

Step 1: Right-click on Start and select Device Manager.

Step 2: Expand Batteries, right-click on “Microsoft AC Adapter”, and select “Disable device”.

You will see a warning. Click Yes to continue.

Step 3: Repeat the process in step 2 for the second device – Microsoft ACPI Compliant Control Method Battery.

Step 4: Re-enable both devices.

Step 5: Restart your computer.

Conclusion

If both fixes suggested in this article failed to restore the battery icon, you should update your Windows.

If you find the guide useful, don’t hesitate to share it so you can help people too.

Thank you for reading.

Whether you want to take a screenshot of a particular part of your screen or you want to take a screenshot of the whole screen, there are tools and keyboard combinations you can use to do it.

In this article, I will show 4 ways to take screenshots on a Windows PC.

I will also show you a trick I’ve been using to take screenshots with Microsoft Word for a long time until I discovered better ways to do it.

What We'll Cover

• How to Take Screenshots with Windows and PrintScreen (PrtScn) Keys
• How to Take Screenshots with the Snipping Tool
• How to Take Screenshots with the Microsoft Ergonomic Keyboard
• How to Take Screenshots with the Game Bar
• How to Take Screenshots with the PrintScreen (PrtScn) Key and MS Word (The trick)
• Conclusion

How to Take Screenshots with Windows and PrintScreen (PrtScn) Keys

You can take a screenshot of your entire screen by holding WIN (Windows logo key) and pressing the Print screen key (PrtScn).

Your screen will dim slightly – indicating that you just took a screenshot.

You can find the screenshots inside a screenshots subfolder in your pictures folder (C:\Users\user\Pictures\Screenshots).

Here’s mine:

How to Take Screenshots with the Snipping Tool

The snipping tool is a Microsoft utility app for taking screenshots. It’s been available since Windows 7.

To take screenshots with the snipping tool, press hold WIN (Windows logo key) and SHIFT, then press S.

Your screen will then go dim – giving you access to a screen where you can select the type of screenshot you want to take.

After taking the screenshot, a notification will pop up.

Click the notification box to get access to the snipping tool UI.

In the UI, you can make changes and save it to any folder you like.

How to Take Screenshots with the Microsoft Ergonomic Keyboard

The Microsoft ergonomic keyboard has a key with which you can get access to the Microsoft snipping tool.

With the key, you don’t need to press WIN + SHIFT + S like the previous method for taking screenshots.

Press the key, take your screenshot, edit the screenshot if you want to, then save it.

How to Take Screenshots with the Game Bar

The Microsoft Game Bar is another utility for recording screens and taking screenshots.

To get access to the Game Bar, press WIN (Windows logo key) + G.

Click on screenshot.

You will see the screenshot under the Captures subfolder in your videos folder (C:\Users\user\Videos\Captures).

Here’s mine:

How to Take Screenshots with the PrintScreen (PrtScn) Key and MS Word (The trick)

Taking a screenshot with the print screen key saves the screenshot in your clipboard. What if you want to save the screenshot on your computer?

To do this, press the PrtScn key and open Microsoft Word.

Press CTRL + V to paste the screenshot.

Right-click the screenshot and click “Save as picture”.

Conclusion

I hope this article helps you out in your quest to take screenshots on a Windows PC.

If you find the article helpful, you can share it with your friends and family.

Thank you for reading.

How to Fix a Monitor Connection by Checking Hardware Connections

• Check to see if the VGA connector fits in perfectly to its port.
• Make sure your VGA connector is not damaged. If possible, replace the connector.

How to Fix a Monitor Connection by Restarting your PC

Before this step, make sure your PC has not gone into sleep mode or hibernated. If this happens, the monitor may assume the PC is off and will display "No Signal".

• Unplug power cable and VGA connector.
• Wait for a few minutes minutes.
• Plug power cable and VGA connector back in.
• Reboot PC.

How to Fix a Monitor Connection by Updating Drivers

Step 1 - Open Device Manager

• Click on the search box in your taskbar.
• Type "device manager".
• Click on Device Manager from the search results.

Step 2 - Update Display adapter

• Expand the Display adapters option in Device Manager.
• Right click on your display adapter and click on "Update driver"

• You will be asked, "How do you want to search for drivers?" Choose the option that says "Search automatically for drivers".

Wait for the driver to be updated, after which you can go to your display settings and see if the second monitor is being detected.

You may get a response that your drivers are already up to date. You can verify to see if your current version is the one on the driver provider's website. Here's how you can do that:

• Right click on display adapter just like we did before.
• Click on properties.
• Click on the Driver tab.
• Copy the Driver Provider and Driver version values.
• Search for the two values on Google.

After following the steps above, you should find the website of your driver provider where you can install the latest version of the driver if yours isn't already up to date.

Conclusion

In this article, we saw some of the useful steps required to fix a monitor connection in order to get rid of the "No Signal" message.

Thank you for reading!

And that is exactly what this article will show you how to do.

To follow along with this tutorial, it'll be helpful if you have a Word document you can work with. Here is the one I'll be using:

I have closed the application without saving the document. Now let's start the easy restoration process.

Step 1 – Create a blank document in Word

• Launch the application again.
• On the startup page, click on "Blank document".

Step 2 – Use the Open option

• Press Ctrl+O.
• Alternatively, you can click on the File option in your blank document's header and then click Open on the sidebar.

Step 3 – Click on "Recover Unsaved Documents"

• Click on the Recover Unsaved Documents which is usually at the bottom of the page.

If you do not see the Recover Unsaved Documents button, then follow these steps to see the options:

1. In your blank document, press Ctrl+O or click on File which is at the header section.
2. Click on Info which you will find in the sidebar.
3. Click on Manage Document.
4. Click on Recover Unsaved Document.

Step 4 – Choose unsaved documents

After you have clicked the Recover Unsaved Documents button, a new window should pop up with a list of unsaved documents. Go through the list and open your document and all your progress should still be intact.

Conclusion

In this article, we went over the steps required to recover an unsaved Word document. These steps can be used anytime you close Word without saving a document.

Don't forget to save this time!

Some resources about this topic require you to install different software to accomplish it. But in this tutorial we'll see how to make the taskbar completely transparent without any installations.

How to Make your Windows Taskbar Transparent

Step 1 - Use the Run command to open the Registry Editor program

The Run command allows you to open various programs on your PC by typing their name. The program we will be using is called Registry Editor.

To use the Run command, you can use the shortcut Win + R (Windows button + R) or you can right click on the Windows icon and click on "Run".

Step 2 - Type regedit

After clicking on Run, a window should pop up where you can type in the name of a program you would like to open. Type "regedit" and press OK. This will open the Registry Editor.

After clicking OK, the window below should pop up:

Step 3 - Navigate through folders

The first folder to expand is the HKEY_CURRENT_USER folder. Scroll down and expand the SOFTWARE folder.

After that, locate the Microsoft folder and expand it as well. Next, scroll all the way down and expand the Windows folder.

In the Windows folder, expand the CurrentVersion folder followed by expanding the Explorer folder. Lastly, click on the Advanced folder.

If you found the steps above confusing, then you can use this path as a guide:

Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced

Pasting the path above and hitting enter should automatically bring you to our current location.

Step 4 - Create a new file

Right click and hover above the "New" option.

Then click on DWORD (32-bit) Value:

After clicking on DWORD (32-bit) Value, you will see a space where you are supposed to type in the new file. Name the file TaskbarAcrylicOpacity. After you have created the file, double click on it and set the value data input to 0 (zero) and click OK.

Step 5 - Enable transparency effects

Go to Desktop and right click. Click on personalize.

Click on the "Colors" tab, and toggle Transparency effects to On:

After this, you should have a transparent taskbar.

If the last step does not work for you, then go on with next steps.

Step 6 - Restart Windows Explorer using Task Manager

Before opening task manager, make sure that your File Explorer is already running. Then follow these steps:

• Right click on taskbar.
• Click on Task Manager.
• Right click on File Explorer under Apps.
• Click on Restart

After completing the last step, you should have a completely transparent taskbar.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we made our taskbar transparent without installing any software in Windows 10. I hope this works for you.

Thank you for reading!

This random shutdown might be caused by software or hardware issues, or both on some occasions.

I have researched 4 ways you can stop your Windows 10 PC from randomly shutting down, so you can work without fear of being interrupted while doing important things on your computer.

Table of Contents

• Check the Computer for Overheating
• Turn off Fast Startup
• Update Outdated Drivers and GPU Driver
• Scan your Computer for Viruses
• Conclusion

Solution 1: Check the Computer for Overheating

These days, computers are programmed to shut down after heating up to a certain temperature. This is a safety measure because damage to both hardware and software components can occur if your machine gets too hot.

If your Windows 10 PC shuts down abruptly, the first thing I would recommend you do is to check if it's overheating.

Overheating could be due to damaged or underperforming fans, poor ventilation, dust, and inadequate power supply.

What I would recommend you do is clean your computer, make sure the room in which you're working is well ventilated, use a stable power source, and elevate your laptop if some parts of the fan are on the under side.

Solution 2: Turn off Fast Startup

Windows 10 is optimized for fast recovery from sleep, shutdown, and hibernation. This feature can hamper performance and cause random shutdowns if not turned off.

The step below show you how to turn off fast startup on Windows 10:

Step 1: Launch the Control Panel by pressing the WIN button on your keyboard, typing "control panel" (without quotes), and hitting ENTER to open up the first search result.

Step 2: Change the view mode of the Control Panel to large icons.

Step 3: Select "Power Options".

Step 4: Click on the “Choose what the power buttons do” link.

Step 5: Open the "Change settings that are currently unavailable" link.

Step 6: Uncheck "Turn on fast startup (recommended)" and click on Save changes.

Solution 3: Update Outdated Drivers and GPU Driver

Outdated drivers could be the culprit when your PC randomly shuts down.

To update any driver, open Device Manager by right-clicking on Start and selecting "Device Manager".

Expand the devices one by one by one, right-click on each of them, and select "Update driver".

If you can't cope with the hassle of updating drivers one by one, check online for services that let you search for the outdated driver on your PC and update them automatically.

As far as the Graphics Processing Unit driver is concerned, you might not get the necessary update by updating it like you update other drivers.

Instead of doing that, you should check the manufacturer's website and download updates from there.

The best way to update a GPU driver is explained below:

Step 1: Right-click on Start and select Device Manager.

Step 2: Expand Display adapters.

Step 3: Right-click on your display adapter and select Properties.

Step 4: Switch to the Details tab and click the "Device description" drop-down, then choose Hardware Ids.

Step 6: Open your browser, paste in the ID, and search for it. The first few search results will show the exact name and manufacturer of your GPU.

Step 7: Navigate to the website of the GPU manufacturer and download an updated driver.

Step 8: Install the driver and restart your PC

P.S.: If you can’t find the official website of the manufacturer, copy the name displayed for your GPU and prefix it with “driver update for”. In my case, this would be “driver update for Intel(R) HD Graphics 520 drivers / HP HP EliteBook 840 G3“.

Solution 4: Scan your Computer for Viruses

Some malware and viruses do cause your computer to abruptly shut down.

What you should do in this case is run a full system scan with Windows Security (aka Windows Defender), or any third-party antivirus program of your choice.

The steps below explain how you can conduct a full system scan with Windows Security:

Step 1: Press the WIN key on your keyboard and search for "windows security". The first search result should be Windows Security. Hit ENTER to open it.

Step 2: Switch to the Virus & Threat Protection tab on the left.

Step 3: Click the "Scan Options" link.

Step 4: Choose Full scan and click Scan now.

P.S: This could take many hours, so be patient with it.

Conclusion

This article takes you through 4 less complicated ways you can fix a Windows 10 PC that randomly shuts down.

Apart from these ways, there are others you can use to fix this issue such as updating BIOS and checking up on the hard drive. But these approaches aren't recommended for beginners and those who don't work with hardware as engineers.

If the 4 ways recommended in this article fail to help, you should seek professional services.

Thank you for reading.

File Explorer is extremely important, as it helps you oraganize and manage files in your PC.

Sometimes File Explorer stops responding and you can no longer interact with the application's interface. In this article, we will see some solutions to solving this problem.

How to Fix File Explorer Not Responding by Using Task Manager to Restart File Explorer

The following steps will show you how to fix an unresponsive File Explorer Window:

Step 1 - Open Task Manager

You can do this by using the shortcut command Ctrl + Shift + Esc. Alternatively, you should be able to open Task Manager when you right click on the taskbar. That is:

Open task manager from taskbar

Step 2 - Restart File Explorer from Task Manager

When you have successfully launched Task Manager, you should see information about processes running on your PC.

Scroll through and find Windows Explorer then right click. After right clicking, you should see various options – the one we are looking for is the restart option. Here is what I mean:

Restart windows explorer

After you click restart, File Explorer will be closed and then opened again automatically. The new File Explorer Window should be working fine.

How to Fix File Explorer Not Responding by Restoring File Explorer Defaults

Customizing our File Explorer sometimes makes it become unresponsive. So resetting it back to default might make it more responsive again.

Step 1 - Search for File Explorer Options

To do this, go to the search box on the taskbar. In the search box, type "file explorer options".

search box

search for file explorer options

Step 2 - Restore Defaults in the General tab

• Click on the General tab.
• Click on "Restore Defaults".
• Click on "Apply".

restore defaults in General tab

Step 3 - Restore Defaults in the View tab

• Click on the View tab.
• Click on "Reset Folders".
• Click on "Apply".

restore defaults in View tab

Step 3 - Restore Defaults in the Search tab

• Click on the Search tab.
• Click on "Restore Defaults".
• Click on "Apply".

restore defaults in Search tab

How to Fix File Explorer Not Responding by Uninstalling Unused and Irrelevant Apps

By uninstalling irrelevant apps, you give your PC more space for processing.

Step 1 - Search for and open Control Panel

Just like the first step in the previous section, click on the search box on the taskbar and type "Control Panel" then launch the program.

Step 2 - Click on uninstall program

In the Control Panel options, click on the "Uninstall a program" option which is directly below the Programs option.

control panel

Step 3 - Right click on app to uninstall

• Right click on app to be uninstalled.
• Click uninstall and wait for app to be uninstalled.

uninstall program from control panel

After uninstalling the apps you do not want, you should restart your PC.

How to Fix File Explorer Not Responding by Disabling Startup Applications

Startup applications will run immediately after booting your computer. Some run without you knowing.

Disabling startup applications allows your PC to run smoothly without unwanted background apps slowing down other processes. The following steps will show you how to do that.

Step 1 - Open Task Manager

Recall that you can do this with the Ctrl + Shift + Esc command or right clicking on the taskbar to get the options below:

open task manager from taskbar

Step 2 - Go to the startup tab and disable apps

• Click on the Startup tab.
• Right click on any startup app you do not want to run on startup.
• Click on "Disable".

disable startup applications

How to Fix File Explorer Not Responding by Clearing File Explorer History

Windows File Explorer keeps track of recently opened folders and files. These can be seen in the Quick Access section.

Sometimes clearing this history reduces the amount of data being processed at an instance and allows your File Explorer to remain responsive. Here are steps to help you do that:

Step 1 - Search for File Explorer Options

Click on the search box on the taskbar then type "file explorer options":

search box

file explorer options

Step 2 - Use Clear option under the General tab

Under the General tab,

• Click on "Clear".
• Click on "Ok".

clear file explorer hsitory

Conclusion

In this article, we looked at various solutions to use when your Windows File Explorer stops responding. I hope they help you when you run into this problem.

Thank you for reading!

It turns off your computer's monitor and hard drive, slowing down power consumption in the process.

But your PC might refuse to go to sleep sometimes. This could be due to peripheral devices and errors in power settings.

If you're currently unable to put your computer to sleep, you've come to the right place.

In this article, I will show you 4 ways you make your computer go to sleep again so it consumes less power.

How to Fix Windows 10 PC Not Going to Sleep By Enabling Sleep Mode

To make sure sleep mode is enabled, follow these steps:

Step 1: Press WIN + I on your keyboard to launch Settings.

Step 2: Select System from the menu tiles.

Step 3: Make sure you're in the Power and Sleep tab. Then under the Sleep section, set the times for when your computer goes to sleep on battery and while plugged in (charging).

To confirm the times you set:

Select Additional power settings on the right.

Click the Change plan settings link.

Click Change Advanced power settings.

Expand “Sleep”, and then “Sleep after” in the tree menu. You should see the exact times you set.

How to Fix Windows 10 PC Not Going to Sleep By Removing Peripheral Devices

Peripheral Devices such as your mouse, keyboard, scanner, and network adapters can interfere with your PC power settings and prevent it from going to sleep.

I've been in this situation before, and I've seen people around me in the same situation. But I won't advise you disable these devices from being able to wake up your computer.

The best thing you can do is remove these devices whenever you want to put your PC to sleep, then plug them back in when you are ready to work again.

How to Fix Windows 10 PC Not Going to Sleep By Disabling Screensaver

Screensavers can interfere with the sleep timers you set. So an active screensaver can prevent your computer from going to sleep.

You can disable screensavers with the steps below:

Step 1: Click on Start and search for "change screensaver". Then select the "Change screensaver" search result.

Step 2: Select None from the drop-down under “Screen saver”.

Step 3: Click Apply and then Ok.

How to Fix Windows 10 PC Not Going to Sleep By Disabling Hybrid Mode

Hybrid mode is the combination of Sleep and Hibernation. It hibernates your computer but gives you the restoration speed of sleep mode.

If hybrid mode is turned on, it could stop your PC from going to sleep.

To disable hybrid mode, follow these steps:

Step 1: Click on Start and select Settings.

Step 2: Select System from the menu tiles.

Step 3: Switch to the Power & Sleep tab, then select Additional power settings on the top right corner.

Step 4: Under the power plans you are currently on, select “Change plan settings”.

Step 5: Select “Change advanced power settings”.

Step 6: Expand “Sleep” and "Allow hybrid sleep" in the tree menu.

Step 7: Turn off hybrid sleep on battery and plugged in.

Step 8: Click “Apply”, and then “Ok”.

If you find this article helpful, consider sharing it with your friends and family.

Thank you for reading.

When your keyboard fails to work, it could be due to:

• Physical damage
• Dirt
• Filter keys
• Outdated or corrupt driver
• Low battery (if you're using an external keyboard).

You can check the USB port your keyboard is inserted into and make sure it is properly connected to make it work again. You can also clean your keyboard. But those quick fixes still might not resolve the issue.

If you keep hitting your keyboard keys and nothing is showing up on your screen, you've come to the right place. Because in this guide, I'm going to show you 3 ways you can fix it.

Note that if you're having problems with your external or built-in keyboard, you'll need to turn on the onscreen keyboard to fix it with the solutions provided in this guide.

How to turn on the onscreen keyboard

Go to settings and select Ease of Access.

Under interaction, select Keyboards.

Toggle on "Use the Onscreen Keyboard".

How to Fix Your Keyboard Not Working by Turning off Filter Keys

Filter keys help people who cannot press 2 buttons together at a time run functionalities that can only be accessed that way. But sometimes, this can cause your keyboard to stop working.

To turn off filter keys, follow the steps below:

Step 1: Click Start and search for "control panel", then hit ENTER to open up the first search result - which is always Control Panel.

Step 2: Make sure you're viewing by Category and not small icons or large icons, then choose “Ease of Access”.

Step 3: Click the "Change how your keyboard works" link.

Step 4: Uncheck the "Turn on Filter Keys" checkbox.

Step 5: Click "Apply", and then "Ok".

How to Fix Your Keyboard Not Typing by Disabling Fast Startup

Fast Startup is an option that lets Windows 10 computers boot quickly.

If you're using an external keyboard, the Fast Startup feature could be the reason why it's not working.

Follow the recommendations below to disable the Fast Startup feature. Step 1: Click on Start and search for "control panel". Click on the Control Panel search result or hit ENTER on your keyboard.

Step 2: Make sure you're viewing by Category, then select "Hardware and Sound".

Step 3: Select Power Options.

Step 4: Click the link that says "Choose what the power buttons do".

Step 5: Click the "Change Settings that are currently unavailable" link.

Step 6: Uncheck "Turn on fast startup" and click the “Save changes” button.

How to Fix Your Keyboard Not Working by Updating the Keyboard Driver

An outdated or corrupt driver could be the reason your keyboard isn't working.

You can update your keyboard driver by following the steps explained below: Step 1: Right-click on Start and select Device Manager.

Step 2: Expand Keyboards.

Step 3: Right-click on the affected keyboard and select Update driver.

Step 4: Select search automatically for updated driver software.

Your computer will now search the internet for recent drivers and install it.

I hope the solutions discussed in this article help you fix your keyboard.

Thank you for reading.

This message gets displayed when you use a Windows OS that has an invalid or expired license. This keeps you from being able to personalize your desktop or get updates for Windows Defender – now Windows Security. You will also be unable to install Microsoft Office.

If this is the case, you can remove the watermark because it could have a negative effect on visual hierarchy and might be embarrassing if you're taking screenshots or recording your desktop.

This happened to me when I was using freeCodeCamp for my first round of 100DaysOfCode.

In this article, I will show you 4 ways you can remove the Activate Windows watermark on your Windows 10 PC.

Some of the tweaks only remove the message but not the underlying problems, so you should pay attention to the last one, which will remove the message and activate your Windows as well.

Table of Contents

• How to Get Rid of the Activate Windows Watermark with PowerShell
• How to Get Rid of the Activate Windows Watermark with Notepad
• How to Get Rid of the Activate Windows Watermark by Using the Registry
• How to Get Rid of the Activate Windows Watermark with a Product Key
• Conclusion

How to Get Rid of the Activate Windows Watermark with PowerShell

PowerShell enables you to directly interact with your Windows OS with scripts.

There's a PowerShell script you can execute that'll eventually get rid of the Activate Windows message.

To execute the script, follow the steps below.

Step 1: Press WIN (Windows logo key) + S on your keyboard.

Step 2: Search for "powershell". You have to execute the script as an administrator, so click on "Run as Administrator" on the right.

Step 3: Type in "slmgr /renew" (without quotes) and hit ENTER.

Step 4: Restart your PC.

If you’ve made several tweaks with third-party apps in order to activate Windows, this fix might not work for you. If it doesn’t work for you, try the next one.

How to Get Rid of the Activate Windows Watermark with Notepad

As simple as Notepad looks to everyone, you can use it to remove the Activate Windows watermark. In fact, this way is one of the most popular to get rid of the message.

You can use Notepad to get rid of the message with the simple steps below.

Step 1: Hit the WIN button on your keyboard and search for Notepad. Click Open on the right or the Notepad search result to launch the app.

Step 2: Make sure you’re working with a new, untiled file. Paste in the script below:

@echo off taskkill /F /IM explorer.exe explorer.exe exit

Step 3: Click File in the menu and select "Save as".

Step 4: Name the file "Activation.bat" and select "All files" as the format. Then save the file to any location you want.

Step 5: Locate the file and right-click on it, then select "Run as Admissions".

The script will be executed quickly and will refresh your computer.

Step 6: Restart your PC.

How to Get Rid of the Activate Windows Watermark by Using the Registry

Windows 10 registry lets you make deeper changes that have significant effects on your computer.

You can get rid of the Activate Windows watermark by making a less complicated modification in the Registry, as done below.

Step 1: Right-click on Start and select Run.

Step 2: Type in "regedit" (without quotes) into the Run dialogue and hit ENTER.

Step 3: Expand HKEY_CURRENT_USER, Control Panel, and then click Desktop.

Step 4: Locate PaintDesktopVersion and double-click on it.

Step 5: Change the value from 1 to 0 and click Ok.

Step 6: Restart your computer.

How to Get Rid of the Activate Windows Watermark with a Product Key

The best way to get rid of the Activate Windows watermark is to do what the message says - activate Windows.

You can activate Windows with a product key you have to buy from Microsoft.

The steps below will help you use your product key to activate Windows:

Step 1: Click on Start and select Settings.

Step 2: Choose Updates and Security from the menu tiles.

Step 3: Switch to the Activation tab on the left and click on Change product key.

Step 4: Enter your 24-character alphanumeric product key and click Next.

Windows will get activated as long as the product key is correct.

Conclusion

I hope these ways to get rid of the Activate Windows watermark help you out.

If you find this article helpful, make sure to share it with your friends and family.

Thank you for reading.

But sometimes, the spell check feature in word processors stops working for various reasons, mostly to do with your Settings.

So, in this article, I will show you 4 ways you can fix the problem on a Windows 10 PC. The first 2 solutions work for the Word app in general, while the last 2 work for a particular Word document.

I will be using Microsoft Word 2016 in this tutorial, but everything applies to Word 2010, 2013, 2019, and some other versions.

How to Fix Spell Check Not Working in Word with Language Settings

If you are writing in English and your Word app language is set to French or Spanish, then spell check might not work.

The steps below takes you through how to select the right language:

Step 1: Click on File in the menu bar and select Options.

Step 2: Head over to the Language tab.

Step 3: Under “Office authoring language and proofing”, select your preferred language and click Ok.

If your preferred language is not available in the list, click on “Add a language” and look for your language.

How to Fix Spell Check Not Working in Word by Turning off Disabling Add-ins

Firstly, you need to test if an add-in is preventing spell-check from working.

To do this, hold CTRL and open your Word app. If spell check isn't working, then an add-in might be the culprit.

To disable an add-in, follow the steps below:

Step 1: Click on the File tab in the menu bar and select Options.

Step 2: Select add-in on the left.

Step 3: Left-click on the add-in you want to remove and click “Go”.

Step 4: Check the add-in, then click “Remove”.

Do this for the individual add-ins you have and cross-check if spell check is working after each one. This way you'll know which add-in is the culprit.

How to Fix Spell Check Not Working in Word by Turning off the Hide Spelling Error and Hide Grammar Error

Step 1: Make sure you have the Word document open where spell check is not working.

Step 2: Click on the File tab and select Options.

Step 4: Select Proofing.

Step 5: Uncheck both “Hide spelling error in this document only” and “Hide grammar error in this document only”, then select “Ok”.

How to Fix Spell Check Not Working in Word by Turning on Check Spelling as you Type

Step 1: Make sure the file is opened.

Step 2: Click on the File tab in the menu bar and select Options.

Step 3: Select Proofing.

Step 4: Make sure “Check "spelling as you type" is checked under “When Correcting Spelling and Grammar in Word”, then click Ok.

Final Thoughts

Spell check is a cool feature of Word that speeds up your productivity. And now you know how to fix it if it fails.

You can also apply these fixes to other Windows OS versions as Word works the same way in them.

It's tricky to make a good-looking and functional table of contents in Microsoft Word.

You might often encounter documents that have messy tables of contents along with navigation panes with links to missing headings, non harmonized styles, and badly structured sections.

This wouldn't be a big problem for smaller documents, but with hundreds of pages in a file it ruins the user experience and makes it painful to navigate from one section to another. Not to mention that non-harmonized styles throughout the file can mess with the overall hierarchy of titles.

So how can you build a customizable and structured table of contents with pretty personalized titles and numbering? You'll learn how in this guide.

How to Build a Table of Contents in Microsoft Word

How to Define Numbering Styles in Word

What we're going to do first is define a new list style to create a personalized numbering for our titles. Go to the Home tab > Paragraph section and click the multilevel list button. Choose Define New List Style.

This will open the Define New List Style window which we will use to customize the numbering style and format of our titles.

Name your style however you want (here MyNewListStyle), then click the Format button > Numbering... This will open the Modify Multilevel list window.

We will only define the numbering ("1)","a)") and no format or style will be applied at this level. We'll define and apply font styles and formats later on.

Let's take the following numbering for our titles "1.","1.1","1.1.1","2.","2.1","2.2" and so on.

First replace the parenthesis character with a dot character in the Enter formatting for number field. This will change the level 1 numbering format to "1.".

Then we'll define the second level of numbering by clicking the number 2 in the Click level to modify list.

Change the Number style for this level by clicking the associated dropdown menu then select 1,2,3, ... You should get this result:

Erase the parenthesis character in the Enter formatting for number field and place a dot before the "1". You should have ".1".

Now how do I get the numbering style 1.1 at level 2? Pretty simple! Place your mouse before the ".1" in the Enter formatting for number field. Then open the Include level number from dropdown menu and select Level 1.

This will insert the numbering for level 1 before your numbering for level 2. You should get this result:

Inserting numbers manually in this field will give you static numbers which won't be linked to any dynamic numbering in your document. These numbers won't be highlighted in grey in the Enter formatting for number field.

Let's repeat the same steps for level 3. Select level 3 in the Click level to modify list. Select the right Number style for this level in the dropdown menu. Remove unwanted characters and add a dot before the "1".

Then place your mouse before the ".1" in the Enter formatting for number field and open the Include level number from dropdown menu and select level 2. Add a dot before the level 2 "1" in the Enter formatting for number field. Then open Include level number from and select level 1. You should get this result:

You can modify the space character following the number by clicking More >> then Follow number with and select what you want. Here I am going to use Tab character for all my levels.

Click the OK button and you're all set for the numbering part! You won't have to do these steps again as the styles you define can be available from one Word document to another. We'll talk more about that later.

Your list style should be available by clicking the Multilevel list button in the Paragraph section of the Home tab.

We will now define our title styles.

How to Define Title Styles in Word

In the Home tab and under the Style section, click the down arrow next to the different styles available.

Then click Create a Style.

Give your new style a name. It's good practice to include the level number where you're going to apply this title so it's easier to follow your title hierarchy. I am going to name mine NewStyle1 for level 1. Then click Modify.

If you've clicked OK too fast don't worry – you can find your style and modify at anytime in the style section. You can edit it by right clicking on it and clicking Modify...

We are going to apply formatting to our title style.

Start by opening the Style based on dropdown menu and select Heading 1 for level 1. This is an important step for Word to understand the title hierarchy level. You'll apply this step to each level (Heading 2 for your level 2 style, Heading 3 for your level 3 style...).

Then open the Style for following paragraph and select Normal. This will prevent any formatting from applying automatically to the following lines of text you type.

Open the Format menu and open the Numbering... menu. Make sure that None is selected then click OK. This will prevent any conflict between the numbering we defined earlier.

You can then select any font formatting that you want. This is what I picked:

Let's create a style for level 2 and 3 by following the same steps. Be sure to have the numbering set to None each time. This is what I have for level 2:

And level 3:

We are now going to link our title styles with our numbering style.

Go to the Home tab, Paragraph section, Mutlilevel list. Then right click on the Numbering list style we created in the first part and click Modify.

Open the Numbering window by clicking Format. Select the level 1 and in the Link level to style dropdown menu select the level 1 style you created for your level 1 title. You should get this:

Repeat these steps for level 2 and 3.

Then click OK.

How to Apply Your New Title Styles

Now let's try to apply our new title styles. Type in Title 1 in your document without any formatting applied.

If you already have a format applied you can remove it by clicking in the paragraph and applying the Normal style in the Styles section. This is useful to remove any unwanted formatting or styles you may find.

Now click in the Title 1 text and click on your newly created style for level 1. This will apply your level 1 style to the whole paragraph.

If you go to the View tab you can check the Navigation pane and see that "1. Title 1" just appeared as a selectable heading on the left Navigation panel, allowing you to go to it quickly.

Let's try our other titles styles as well. Type in the text without formatting, place your mouse in the relevant paragraph, and then click on your newly created styles to apply them. You should get something like this:

As you can see on the left panel, all my titles are appearing in a structured way with harmonized numbering. You can collapse are expand these to navigate faster. There is also a search engine available on top of this panel.

You can now insert a structured table of contents by going to the References tab > Table of Contents > Automatic table 1. You should now have something like this:

You can customize this table of contents to only display titles down to a certain level by clicking Table of Contents > Custom table of Contents > decrease the Show levels number > OK.

How to Preserve Your Styles in Word

At the moment, these title styles are only available in this Word file. We are going to make them available every time we open Word as well as make them transferable to other people.

Open the Developer tab in Word. If you can't see it displayed click File > Options > Customize Ribbon > Check Developer in the right panel > OK.

Once you're in the Developer tab go to Document Template > Organizer.

In the left panel (in Document1 for me) you can see the styles available in this file. In the right panel are the styles available in the Normal.dotm which allows you to store styles that will be available every time you open Word.

Let's select all our newly created styles then click Copy->. You should get something like this:

Now if you open another file your styles will be directly available in the styles section. This can be useful if you want to transfer styles among your group and harmonize the structure and format of your files.

That's it!

Voilà! You are now able to build a structured Word document with customizable titles styles and a reliable navigation panel.

This scanning and repairing can take several hours, or even cost you a whole workday (as I can attest myself). It is usually caused by incorrect shutdown – forced shutdown, power outage, sudden battery removal, badly configured drivers, malware, or other virus attacks.

In this guide, I will show you 3 ways you can fix a drive that's stuck scanning and repairing on Windows 10. The first solution works in normal mode – if you're able to start your computer – while the second and third require booting your computer into safe mode.

How to Fix a Stuck Scanning and Repairing Drive by Using Windows Error Checking Tool

Step 1: Launch your Windows 10 File Explorer and Click on "This PC".

Step 2: Right-click on the hard drive that Windows is scanning and repairing and select Properties. The hard drive might be available as F, E, or any drive letter you have set.

Step 3: Click on the Tools tab and select "Check" under "Error Checking".

Step 4: If there's an error on the hard drive, you will be prompted to repair the drive.

If there is no error on the hard drive, you can decide not to scan it.

How to Fix a Stuck Scanning and Repairing Drive with Windows PowerShell

To use this solution, you need to start your Windows 10 Computer in safe mode.

Follow the steps below to start your computer in safe mode:

Step 1: On your computer's login screen, press and hold SHIFT, select Power, and then Restart.

Step 2: Select "Troubleshoot" in the "Choose an option" screen.

Step 3: Select "Advanced options".

Step 4: Select "Startup Settings".

Step 5: Click on "Restart".

Step 6: When your computer restarts, press 4 or F4 to finally boot your computer into safe mode.

To fix a drive that's stuck scanning and repairing with PowerShell, follow the steps below:

Step 1: Click on Start and search for "powershell".

Step 2: You need to run Powershell as an administrator, so select "Run as Administrator" on the right.

Step 3: Type in the command repair-volume -driveletter x and hit ENTER on your keyboard. Make sure you replace "x" with your hard drive letter.

Step 4: Restart your PC.

How to Fix a Stuck Scanning and Repairing Drive With the Command Prompt

Step 1: Start your computer in safe mode. Refer to the last fix above for how to do this.

Step 2: Click on Start and search for “cmd”, then hit ENTER.

Step 3: Type in the command chkdsk x: /f and hit ENTER. Replace x with your hard drive letter.

Step 4: Restart your PC.

Final Words

In this detailed guide, you learned how to fix a hard drive that's stuck scanning and repairing.

The fixes discussed in this article also apply to any other drive – including C.

As a last resort to fix this issue, you can back up your data and restore your computer.

Thank you for reading.

But sometimes when you're trying to back up or retrieve files from an external hard drive, the drive might not show up. There are several possible reasons for this, like lack of power, faulty drivers, or hardware issues.

In this guide, I will show you 5 ways you can fix an external drive not showing up.

How to Fix Your External Hard Drive Not Showing Up by Plugging it In

Your hard drive might not show up because it has little or no power supply to it.

A lot of hard drives are optimized to receive their power supply through USB ports, while some others have separate power sources.

If you're using one that gets power through a USB port, it'll have a light (usually blue) that indicates that it's receiving power. If this light isn't turned on, it means the hard drive isn't receiving power.

If this is the case, you should make sure the USB cord fits in correctly, or you can try another USB port.

How to Fix Your External Hard Drive Not Showing Up by Trying Another USB Port or Computer

Computers usually come with up to 3 USB ports, or at least 2. So, if your external hard drive is not showing up while plugged into a particular USB port, you should try another one.

You can also try using your external hard drive on another computer in case your computer has faulty drivers or damaged USB ports. If the hard drive works on another machine, you can look into fixing your computer.

How to Fix Your External Hard Drive Not Showing Up by Updating Drivers

If your external hard drive fails to show up on your computer, you can try updating or reinstalling your computer's USB drivers.

Follow these steps to update your USB drivers:

Step 1: Right-click on Start (Windows logo) and select "Device Manager". You can also launch Device Manager by searching for it and then clicking on the "Device Manager" search result.

Step 2: Expand the Disk drives option.

Step 3: Right-click on the device and select "Update drivers".

Step 4: Choose "Search automatically for driver software".

Windows will now search online for driver updates and install them on your computer.

How to Fix Your External Hard Drive Not Showing Up by Changing the Drive Letter in Disk Management

On almost all cases, Windows automatically assigns all external drives an appropriate letter.

If the hard drive hasn't been assigned one, it will not show up, so you need to do it yourself. And even if it's already assigned a letter, changing it might resolve the issue for you.

Follow the steps below to assign your hard drive a letter:

Step 1: Right-click on Start (Windows logo) and select "Disk Management".

Step 2: Right-click on the external hard drive and select "Change Drive Letter and Paths…".

Step 3: If the drive has an existing letter, then click "Change".

Step 4: Select your preferred letter from the drop-down menu.

Step 5: Click Ok, then Ok again.

How to Fix Your External Hard Drive Not Showing Up by Formatting the Hard Drive in Disk Management

Formatting is a common way of fixing issues with external disks, so when your hard drive refuses to show up, you should try formatting it.

Be aware that formatting the external drive will erase all the data in it – so this may not be a viable or your first option if your drive is full of data.

The steps below will help you format your external hard drive.

Step 1: Right-click on Start (Windows logo) and click on "Disk Management".

Step 2: Right-click on your drive and select "Format".

Step 4: Click "Ok" to run the format.

Conclusion

In this article you learned 5 different ways you can get your hard drive to show up when you plug it into your computer.

In addition to the fixes suggested in this article, consider updating Windows 10 as well because it fixes a lot of issues.

If you find this article helpful, don't hesitate to share it with your friends and loved ones so they can confidently fix this issue in case they experience it.

Thank you for reading.

You need to move some folders higher, move some other folders lower, and move lots of files into some new folders you're going to create.

You start shifting the code around, checking that everything works, and adding some folders that the next project is going to need.

These new folders are empty at the minute. But the next project starts in 2 days and it's best if you add these new folders since you're already moving the codebase around.

You push everything into your project branch and you're ready for someone to QA it. So you tell the code-reviewer you're finished on Slack.

They then clone your branch, and fail your code-review because you forgot to add all the new folders you promised to add.

Wait.... what?

What happened?

git can't push empty directories. It can only track files.

If you try to push a folder with nothing in it, although it will exist on your local machine, nothing will go into your branch.

So if someone tries to clone your code, they won't have the same folder structure as you do on your local machine.

So if it doesn't work, what do you need to do?

How to Use .gitkeep

Now we know that Git only tracks files, so we know we need to add something to the folder.

You can add anything. You just need to add a really simple dummy file to make sure that the folder is tracked, and will be pushed.

You could copy and paste a text file file.txt with nothing in it, and that would work. You could put a PNG image of a cat.

A common, standardised practice to solve this exact issue, however, is to push a file called .gitkeep into your empty folders.

This isn't a feature of Git! So you could name it anything. There's nothing special about the name .gitkeep – some developers add .gitignore instead, for example.

.gitignore is a little confusing, though, as you are trying to make git not ignore your file, and actually push it into your branch.

Either way, by adding this simple file to your folders, they'll get pushed when the time comes.

Conclusion

.gitkeep is a common thing you will see in codebases, where an empty folder needs to be tracked via Git.

The name of the dummy file may not always be .gitkeep but you'll see the actual practice over and over again as a developer.

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