This week's top tips

Remember the "My Computer" icon?  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ [Windows Intelligence](#) [Windows Intelligence](#) While I like a nice clean PC desktop free of icons, I know that many people swear by desktop icons. Both are totally valid ways of using Windows — whatever works for you! But Microsoft has increasingly been hiding desktop icons. Years ago, there was a "My Computer" icon on the desktop. "My Computer" was renamed to "This PC" — but it also vanished from the desktop along the way. You still have a choice. There's a very buried place where you can turn these special "system" desktop icons on and off. ⌚ This entire email will take you two minutes to read. Remember: If you'd rather not receive these Monday tip roundups, [you can easily opt out of them](=) without affecting the rest of your subscription. ☑ [Got it — don't show this again](=)​ This week's reader suggestion 🧰 Let's talk about desktop icons! Windows gives you a streamlined desktop icon experience out of the box — just the Recycle Bin and that's it. If you want to turn on other classic desktop icons like "This PC" — or if you want to remove the Recycle Bin — you'll have to find your way to a buried configuration window. 💻 This works on both Windows 10 and Windows 11. ➜ Windows Intelligence reader Elias M. says he really does prefer having that "This PC" icon on his desktop. Here's how you can find this option: On either Windows 11 or Windows 10, right-click an empty spot on the desktop and select "Personalize." Click "Themes" in the Settings window. On Windows 11, you'll have to scroll down and click "Themes." On Windows 10, you'll see "Themes" in the left sidebar. Scroll down and click "Desktop icon settings." (On Windows 10, you may see this option at the right side of the window instead.) [Click "Desktop icon settings" in the Themes settings window.] From this window, you can toggle various icons including Computer, Recycle Bin, your user file folder, Control Panel, and Network. Check the icons you want, uncheck the icons you don't want, and then click "OK." [The Desktop Icons Settings window.] Who knew desktop icons were related to Themes? That's definitely not the first place I'd look! 📲 Looking for this week's Android Intelligence reader tip? It's all about [an incredibly useful photo widget](. Take a look! 💡 Got a useful tip you'd like to share with other Windows enthusiasts? [Submit it here](=) — or just reply to this email and share it with me! I'd love to feature your useful advice in a future newsletter. --------------------------------------------------------------- Some tips you don't want to miss Now, a rapid-fire summary of the best useful tips from our most recent issues — just in case you overlooked something or haven't explored it yet! 🗣️ Control your PC with your voice (and speak to type, too): Voice input isn't just for phones. You don't have to spend hundreds of dollars for professional software to get it like you used to, either. Windows has built-in ways to control your entire PC with your voice — and type in documents by speaking out loud, too. Discover [5 different ways to control your PC with your voice](=). 📱 Use Phone Link for PC-to-phone file sharing: The Phone Link app is now integrated with the Share sheets on both Windows and Android, providing an easy way to send things back and forth. For example, you can right-click a file in File Explorer, select "Share," and choose "Phone Link." Or, from Android, tap the "Share" button and select "Link to Windows." Here's [Microsoft's guide to this new feature](=). 🗑️ Get easy access to your Recycle Bin in File Explorer: Want one-click access to Recycle Bin in File Explorer? Just open a File Explorer window, and then drag and drop the Recycle Bin icon from your desktop the "Quick Access" area at the top-left corner of the File Explorer window. Then, you can hide your desktop icons, if you like! 🤔 When was your last audit? IT audit, that is! It may not sound especially glamorous, but regular audits ensure you have efficient processes in place to scale your device fleet effectively. Whether your last audit was this year, or *gasp* eons ago, [Esper’s IT Audit Checklist](=) has you covered with 10 critical questions for you to consider. Don’t let your device fleet become obsolete or compromised — [download the free audit guide today](=). [SPONSORED] 📨 Create quick calendar invites from any email: Flipping between your inbox and calendar app is an annoying waste of time. A clever new tool called [Fwd2cal​]( makes that attention-stealing task-switching a thing of the past by [interpreting your messages for you and then adding new events directly into your calendar on your behalf](=). It's incredibly cool — and completely free to use. ☝️ Bring a remarkable new reminder system to any Android device: Google's got an incredible idea with its new Pixel-9-exclusive reminders system — but you don't need a shiny new phone to enjoy the same sort of info-saving smartness. [Here's how to implement something similar on any Android device]() for the affordable price of precisely $0. 🌍 Upgrade your Android browser toolbar: The Chrome Android browser has a helpful option to add a custom shortcut into its toolbar, and some interesting new choices have been added into the mix as of late. Check 'em out by tapping the three-dot menu icon in Chrome's upper-right corner, then selecting "Settings" followed by "Toolbar shortcut." 🗳️ Do you hide your PC's desktop icons? [Cast your vote in this week's Windows Intelligence poll!](=)​ 🙌 Save hours of work with AI: Email, data analytics, article summaries — you’re not still doing these menial tasks by hand, are you? The [AI Task Delegation Playbook](=) by HubSpot teaches you to use AI to automate tasks almost instantly (for free!). [Download the AI delegation guide](=) and free yourself from the shackles of monotony! [SPONSORED] --------------------------------------------------------------- What did you think? Was this email worth your time? Did you enjoy reading it? [Thumbs Up]() [Thumbs Down](=) Hit the thumbs-up or thumbs-down above to let me know what you think. Thanks as always for reading, and I hope you have an awesome week! Too much email? No worries: You can [opt out of receiving these roundups or unsubscribe entirely here](=). Hungry for even more? [Learn about becoming an Intelligence Insider]( to gain access to our one-of-a-kind community, power-packed advanced resources, our on-demand help desk, and tons of free apps and services. Finally, if you enjoyed this issue, please consider supporting my work directly with [one-time contribution](=), or make a contribution via [PayPal]( or [Venmo](=)! Published by The Intelligence • 2733 E. Battlefield Rd. #255 • Springfield, MO 65804