Windows 10 for Dummies

The #1 source for Windows 10 help

Millions of Windows users have turned to Windows For Dummies for quick, friendly, and easy-to-understand help with their computers. Windows 10 For Dummies, 3^rd Edition continues this tradition as it helps you navigate the twists and turns of Windows. Start at the beginning to discover the basics of the Windows interface or flip to later chapters to help you work with Windows apps, connect to the Internet, or customize your privacy settings.  

Updated to cover the latest changes to Windows 10, this revised edition is ideal for first-time Windows users who need a guide to their operating system as well as experienced users who need a road map to the latest features. Inside, the book quickly and easily shows you how to do everything from establishing a user account, to corralling your photos, to setting up a printer, to using Windows on a tablet—and everything in between. 

• Manage the start-up menu and the Windows desktop
• Get to know the programs that come with Windows 10
• Discover troubleshooting tips and privacy tricks
• Be productive at home or in the office 

If you use Windows 10, you’ll want to keep this updated edition of the trusty companion nearby as you make your way around the new OS.

Andy Rathbone is author of all previous editions of Windows For Dummies. His expertise has helped millions of Windows users since the first edition of the book published over 20 years ago. Andy answers reader questions and shares his tech insight at www.andyrathbone.com.

Introduction 1

About This Book 2

How to Use This Book 3

Touchscreen Owners Aren’t Left Out 4

And What about You? 5

Icons Used in This Book 5

Beyond the Book 6

Where to Go from Here 6

Part 1: Windows 10 Stuff Everybody Thinks You Already Know 7

Chapter 1: What Is Windows 10? 9

What Is Windows, and Why Are You Using It? 10

What’s New in Windows 10? 12

Should I Bother Upgrading to Windows 10? 14

What’s So Different About Windows 10? 16

Why Does Windows 10 Keep Changing? 17

Can My Current PC Still Run Windows 10? 18

The Different Flavors of Windows 10 19

Chapter 2: Starting with the Start Menu 21

Being Welcomed to the World of Windows 22

Understanding user accounts 24

Keeping your account private with a password 25

Signing up for a Microsoft account 27

Figuring Out the Windows 10 Start Menu 29

Toggling between Tablet and Desktop mode 32

Launching a Start menu program or app 33

Finding something on the Start menu 35

Viewing, closing, or returning to apps 36

Getting to know your free apps 38

Adding or removing Start menu items 41

Customizing the Start menu 42

Exiting from Windows 46

Temporarily leaving your computer 47

Leaving your computer for the day 48

Chapter 3: The Traditional Desktop 51

Finding the Desktop and the Start Menu 52

Working with the Desktop 53

Launching apps with the Start menu 55

Jazzing up the desktop’s background 56

Toggling between Tablet mode and the desktop 58

Dumpster diving in the Recycle Bin 60

Bellying Up to the Taskbar 61

Shrinking windows to the taskbar and retrieving them 63

Switching to different tasks from the taskbar’s Jump Lists 64

Clicking the taskbar’s sensitive areas 65

Opening the Action Center 67

Customizing the taskbar 69

Setting Up Multiple Desktops 71

Making Programs Easier to Find 74

Chapter 4: Basic Desktop Window Mechanics 75

Dissecting a Typical Desktop Window 76

Tugging on a window’s title bar 77

Navigating folders with a window’s Address bar 79

Finding commands on the Ribbon 80

Quick shortcuts with the Navigation Pane 82

Moving inside a window with its scroll bar 84

Boring borders 85

Maneuvering Windows Around the Desktop 86

Moving a window to the top of the pile 87

Moving a window from here to there 87

Making a window fill the whole desktop 88

Closing a window 88

Making a window bigger or smaller 89

Placing two windows side by side 89

Making windows open to the same darn size 90

Chapter 5: Storage: Internal, External, and in the Cloud 91

Browsing the File Explorer File Cabinets 92

Getting the Lowdown on Folders 96

Peering into Your Drives, Folders, and Other Media 97

Seeing the files on a drive 97

Seeing what’s inside a folder 100

Creating a New Folder 101

Renaming a File or Folder 103

Selecting Bunches of Files or Folders 104

Getting Rid of a File or Folder 105

Copying or Moving Files and Folders 106

Seeing More Information about Files and Folders 108

Writing to CDs and DVDs 111

Buying the right kind of blank CDs and DVDs for burning 111

Copying files to or from a CD or DVD 112

Working with Flash Drives and Memory Cards 115

OneDrive: Your Cubbyhole in the Clouds 116

Setting up OneDrive 117

Changing your OneDrive settings 120

Opening and saving files from OneDrive 122

Customizing OneDrive for different devices with OneDrive Files On Demand 123

Accessing OneDrive from the Internet 126

Part 2: Working with Programs, Apps, and Files 129

Chapter 6: Playing with Programs, Apps, and Documents 131

Starting a Program or an App 132

Opening a Document 134

Saving a Document 136

Choosing Which Program Should Open Which File 138

Navigating the Microsoft Store 141

Adding new apps from the Store app 142

Uninstalling apps 145

Taking the Lazy Way with a Desktop Shortcut 146

Absolutely Essential Guide to Cutting, Copying, and Pasting 147

The quick ’n’ dirty guide to cut ’n’ paste 147

Selecting things to cut or copy 148

Cutting or copying your selected goods 149

Pasting information to another place 151

Chapter 7: Finding the Lost 153

Finding Currently Running Apps and Programs 153

Finding Lost Windows on the Desktop 155

Locating a Missing App, Program, Setting, or File 156

Searching with Cortana 159

Setting up Cortana for the first time 160

Turning off Cortana 163

Finding a Missing File inside a Folder 164

Finding Lost Photos 166

Finding Other Computers on a Network 167

Chapter 8: Printing and Scanning Your Work 169

Printing from a Start Menu App 170

Printing Your Masterpiece from the Desktop 172

Adjusting how your work fits on the page 173

Adjusting your printer’s settings 175

Canceling a print job 177

Printing a web page 178

Troubleshooting your printer 180

Scanning from the Start Menu 181

Part 3: Getting Things Done on the Internet 185

Chapter 9: Cruising the Web 187

What’s an ISP, and Why Do I Need One? 188

Connecting Wirelessly to the Internet 189

Browsing the Web with Microsoft Edge 191

Moving from one web page to another 194

Making Microsoft Edge open to your favorite site 195

Revisiting favorite places 197

Finding things on the Internet 198

Finding More Information with Cortana 199

Saving Information from the Internet 201

Saving a web page 201

Saving text 202

Saving a picture 202

Downloading a program, song, or other type of file 203

Chapter 10: Being Social: Mail, People, and Calendar 205

Adding Your Accounts to Windows 205

Understanding the Mail App 207

Switching among the Mail app’s views, menus, and accounts 208

Composing and sending an email 211

Reading a received email 213

Sending and receiving files through email 215

Managing Your Contacts in the People App 217

Adding contacts 219

Deleting or editing contacts 220

Managing Appointments in Calendar 221

Chapter 11: Safe Computing 225

Understanding Those Annoying Permission Messages 225

Staying Safe with the New Windows Defender Security Center 226

Avoiding and removing viruses 228

Avoiding Phishing Scams 231

Setting Up Controls for Children 232

Part 4: Customizing and Upgrading Windows 10 235

Chapter 12: Customizing Settings in Windows 237

Finding the Right Switch 238

Flipping Switches with the Windows Settings App 239

System 240

Devices (Adjusting mice, keyboards, scanners, and other gadgets) 246

Phone (Android, iPhone, and Windows) 250

Network & Internet 250

Personalization (Changing your PC’s look and feel) 250

Apps 255

Accounts 258

Time & Language 258

Gaming 259

Ease of Access 259

Cortana 260

Privacy 261

Update & Security 261

Chapter 13: Keeping Windows from Breaking 263

Backing Up Your Computer with File History 264

Finding Technical Information about Your Computer 268

Freeing Up Space on Your Hard Drive 270

Setting Up Devices That Don’t Work (Fiddling with Drivers) 272

Chapter 14: Sharing One Computer with Several People 275

Understanding User Accounts 276

Changing or Adding User Accounts 277

Adding an account for a family member or friend 278

Changing existing accounts 282

Switching Quickly between Users 283

Changing a User Account’s Picture 285

Setting Up Passwords and Security 287

Signing in with Windows Hello 289

Chapter 15: Connecting Computers with a Network 291

Understanding a Network’s Parts 292

Setting Up a Small Network 294

Buying parts for a network 294

Setting up a wireless router 295

Setting up Windows computers to connect to a network 296

Sharing Files with Your Networked Computers 298

Setting your home network to private 298

Sharing files and folders on your private network 301

Accessing what others have shared 303

Sharing a printer on the network 305

Sharing with Nearby Sharing 306

Turning on Nearby Sharing 306

Sharing files with Nearby Sharing 308

Part 5: Music, Photos, and Movies 311

Chapter 16: Playing and Copying Music 313

Playing Music with the Groove Music app 314

Handing Music-Playing Chores Back to Windows Media Player 317

Stocking the Windows Media Player Library 320

Browsing Windows Media Player’s Libraries 323

Playing Music Files in a Playlist 326

Controlling Your Now Playing Items 327

Playing CDs 329

Playing DVDs 330

Playing Videos and TV Shows 330

Creating, Saving, and Editing Playlists 331

Ripping (Copying) CDs to Your PC 333

Burning (Creating) Music CDs 334

Chapter 17: Fiddling with Photos (And Videos) 337

Dumping a Camera’s Photos into Your Computer 338

Taking Photos with the Camera App 342

Viewing Photos with the Photos App 343

Viewing your photo collection 344

Viewing photo albums 346

Viewing a slideshow 349

Copying digital photos to a CD or DVD 350

Part 6: help! 353

Chapter 18: The Case of the Broken Window 355

Toggling between Tablet and Desktop Mode 356

The Magic Fixes in Windows 357

Resetting your computer 357

Restoring backups with File History 361

Windows Keeps Asking Me for Permission 366

I Need to Retrieve Deleted Files 367

Fixing Broken Apps 368

My Settings Are Messed Up 368

I Forgot My Password 370

My Computer Is Frozen Solid 371

Chapter 19: Strange Messages: What You Did Does Not Compute 373

Add Your Microsoft Account 374

Choose What Happens with This Device 374

Did You Mean to Switch Apps? 375

Do You Want to Allow This App to Make Changes to This Computer? 376

Do You Want to Save Changes? 376

Threats Found 377

How Do You Want to Open This? 378

We’re Not Allowed to Find You 378

Reconnect Your Drive 379

There Is No Email Program Associated to Perform the Requested Action 379

You Don’t Currently Have Permission to Access This Folder 380

Chapter 20: Moving from an Old PC to a New Windows 10 PC 381

Hiring a Third Party to Make the Move 382

Buying Laplink’s PCmover program 382

Visiting a repair shop 384

Transferring Files Yourself 385

Chapter 21: Help on the Windows Help System 389

Getting Started with Windows 10 390

Contacting Support 391

Microsoft’s paid support options 392

Microsoft’s free support options 393

Part 7: The Part of Tens 397

Chapter 22: Ten Things You’ll Hate about Windows 10 (And How to Fix Them) 399

I Don’t Want Windows 10! 399

Windows 10 Keeps Changing! 400

I Want to Avoid the Apps! 401

Pruning apps from the Start menu and your PC 401

Telling desktop programs, not apps, to open your files 402

I Want to Avoid the Desktop! 403

I Don’t Want a Microsoft Account 404

Windows Makes Me Sign In All the Time 405

The Taskbar Keeps Disappearing 406

I Can’t Line Up Two Windows on the Screen 406

It Won’t Let Me Do Something Unless I’m an Administrator! 407

I Don’t Know What Version of Windows I Have 408

My Print Screen Key Doesn’t Work 409

Chapter 23: Ten or So Tips for Tablet and Laptop Owners 411

Turning on Tablet Mode 412

Switching to Airplane Mode 413

Connecting to a New Wireless Internet Network 414

Toggling Your Tablet’s Screen Rotation 415

Adjusting to Different Locations 416

Backing Up Your Laptop Before Traveling 417

Accessing the Mobility Center 418

Turning Calculator into a Road Warrior Tool 418

Index 421

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