Guides

Built-in tools, PowerShell and a free duplicate file finder — step by step.

Explorer's F2, PowerShell and a free bulk renamer with live preview — step by step.

Storage settings, manual Explorer tricks and a free treemap analyzer — step by step.

Step-by-step: find empty folders on Windows 10/11 — including nested chains of folders that only contain other empty folders — and remove them safely to the Recycle Bin.

Step-by-step: give folders custom icons on Windows — any .ico file or an icon borrowed from an .exe/.dll — plus why Windows 11 removed the built-in picker and how to reset.

“The file is in use by another program” without a name? See the exact process holding any file open on Windows 10/11 — Resource Monitor, PowerShell notes, and a free one-click reader.

Step-by-step: verify a downloaded file against its MD5, SHA-1, SHA-256 or SHA-512 checksum on Windows 10/11 — with PowerShell Get-FileHash or a free app that compares the hash for you.

Why byte comparison misses resaved photos and how perceptual hashing finds them.

Tags vs sound: copies of one song, even MP3 vs FLAC at different bitrates.

Strip GPS location, camera model, dates and other EXIF/XMP metadata from JPEG and PNG photos on Windows — with the built-in Properties trick or a free batch tool that never re-compresses the image.

Windows won't open a .webp? Convert WebP to JPG or PNG losslessly in batches — and turn images into smaller WebP for the web — with a free offline converter.

Resize one image or a whole folder on Windows 10/11: by width, height, a box or percent — with the built-in Paint route, PowerToys notes, and a free batch tool that keeps originals untouched.

Compress photos and screenshots on Windows 10/11: what the built-in Paint route can and cannot do, why online compressors upload your files, and a free offline app that hits an exact KB/MB target without touching the originals.

iPhone photos stuck as .heic that Windows won't open? Convert HEIC/HEIF to JPG on Windows 10/11 — the iPhone camera setting, online converters to avoid, and a free offline batch app.

Step-by-step: check a monitor or laptop screen for dead, stuck and hot pixels with fullscreen colours — and try the flashing trick that often revives a stuck pixel.

Get the exact HEX/RGB value of any pixel on your Windows screen: Settings and Paint limits, the PowerToys route, and a free standalone eyedropper with live preview and colour history.

Measure widths, heights and spacings on your screen in pixels — how to check element sizes for CSS, verify touch targets, and compare layouts with a free on-screen ruler.

Windows has no built-in keyboard tester. Check every key in a browser — or use a free offline app that lights up dead keys and measures how many keys register at once.

Diagnose a mouse that double-clicks on its own: count every button, measure clicks per second and check double-click speed against a 500 ms threshold on Windows 10/11.

Windows hides the refresh rate two menus deep, and online tests only show what the browser can draw. Here is how to check and measure the real Hz on Windows 10/11 — and what to do when the picture stutters.

Check battery health, wear and charge cycles on any Windows laptop in a minute — with the built-in powercfg battery report or a free one-card app that reads it for you.

Find out what is inside your PC on Windows 10/11: CPU model, RAM size and speed, graphics card, disks — with built-in tools (msinfo32, dxdiag, Settings) or a free one-window viewer.

Step-by-step: see what starts with Windows 10/11 — Registry Run/RunOnce, the Startup folder and Task Manager — and disable entries safely, with or without a free app.

Forgot your Wi-Fi password? Windows remembers it — here is how to see it: current network in Settings, any saved network via netsh, or a free viewer that shows every password at once.

Port 8080 already in use? See which program owns any TCP/UDP port on Windows 10/11 — with the built-in netstat method or a free searchable list with process names and PIDs.

Find every device connected to your Wi-Fi from a Windows PC: the router admin page, the ipconfig+arp command-line route, and a free scanner that does the sweep for you.

Step-by-step: read your Wi-Fi signal strength on Windows 10/11 — the tray icon in 4 bars, the exact percentage via netsh, and a free app that draws a live 2-minute graph and helps you find the best spot for the router.

Create QR codes for links, Wi-Fi networks and e-mail on Windows 10/11 — with a free offline generator, crisp PNG export and no uploads to a website.

Windows has no built-in QR reader. Here is how to decode a QR code from an image file on your PC — screenshot, photo or download — with a free offline scanner.

Win+. opens the built-in emoji panel, but its search only knows localized names. Here is how to find emojis by keyword and copy them in one click on Windows 10/11.