Microsoft Windows Archives - Rick's Daily Tips

Q&A: How do I find the Control Panel in Windows 11?

Posted on October 21, 2025

Want to get my easy to follow Tech Tips in your email?

Note: The links in this post are affiliate links.

Question from Kerry: I have a Windows 11 question for you if you don’t mind.

I used to be a Windows guy, but several years ago when Microsoft stopped supporting Windows 7 I decided to switch to a Mac.

Well, my Mac recently bit the dust and I decided to switch back to Windows. Long story short, I ended up buying a new Windows desktop computer with Windows 11 on it.

Back when I was using Windows 7 I could open the Control Panel from the Start menu, but that’s apparently not the case with Windows 11. I’ve looked high and low and I can’t find it anywhere.

I’m pretty sure Windows 11 still has a Control Panel because I think I remember seeing it mentioned on your site a while back. Can you tell me how to find it? [Read more…]

Here’s the best way to open a link in a new browser tab

Posted on October 5, 2025

Want to get my easy to follow Tech Tips in your email?

If you’re like me you probably want many of the links you click to open in a new browser tab.

Most people do this in one of two ways:

1 – Hold down the Ctrl key while clicking the link.

or…

2 – Right-click on the link, then click on Open link in new tab.

Both of those methods work great in the browsers that support them, but there’s an even better way to get a link to open in a new tab… [Read more…]

How to disable the ‘Caps Lock’ key on your PC’s keyboard

Posted on September 20, 2025

Want to get my easy to follow Tech Tips in your email?

Have you ever tried to sign in to one of your accounts only to realize after a half-dozen password failures that the Caps Lock key was on?

Or perhaps you frequently catch yourself merrily typing a lengthy message in an email or chat session when you sudden realize you just shouted your digital lungs out at the person on the other end?

Unfortunately, this happens all the time, but you can prevent it from ever happening again by completely disabling the Caps Lock key on your Windows PC’s keyboard. [Read more…]

Q&A: My ‘Recycle Bin’ icon is gone. How can I get it back?

Posted on September 12, 2025

Want to get my easy to follow Tech Tips in your email?

Note: The links in this post are affiliate links.

Question from Uneva: I have somehow deleted the icon for the Recycle Bin from my desktop. How can I get it back?

My computer is an HP All-In-One with Windows 11 on it.

Thanks for your help in advance. I really appreciate it. [Read more…]

6 ways to make your Windows PC boot up faster

Posted on August 24, 2025

Want to get my easy to follow Tech Tips in your email?

Note: The links in this post are affiliate links.

One of the most irritating things about using a Windows PC is having to wait for it to boot up into a usable state after we turn it on.

To their credit, Microsoft has tweaked newer versions of Windows to reduce average boot times, but in my opinion it still takes longer for them to start up than it should.

Luckily, there are several things you can do to make your own PC boot up a lot faster than it does right now, even if your computer is brand new. Do as many or as few of them as you wish, then enjoy the fruits of your labor. [Read more…]