Technology & accounts
Deleting accounts, app settings, phone and computer cleanups - step by step, no jargon.
How to Delete Your Facebook Account - Permanently, Step by Step
To delete your Facebook account, go to Settings & privacy, open Accounts Center, head to Personal details, then Account ownership and control. Choose Deactivation or deletion and select permanent account deletion. The profile disappears for good after 30 days - during that time you can get it back by logging in again.
How to Delete Your Instagram Account - Permanently or Temporarily
To delete your Instagram account, go to Settings and privacy, open Accounts Center, then Personal details and Account ownership and control. Choose Deactivation or deletion, select the account and confirm the permanent deletion option. After confirming you have 30 days to change your mind and recover the profile by logging in again.
How to Delete Your Google Account - From Your Phone or for Good
Removing a Google account from your phone only disconnects it from the device - the account still exists. To delete it completely, go to myaccount.google.com, open Data & privacy, scroll to Delete your Google Account and confirm with your password. After permanent deletion you lose Gmail, Drive, YouTube and your Google Play purchases.
How to Turn Off an iPhone: Slider, Settings, and Force Restart
On an iPhone with Face ID, hold the side button and either volume button together until the slider appears, then drag it to the right. You get the same result via Settings → General → Shut Down. If the screen isn't responding, do a force restart with the volume and side buttons - a restart alone doesn't erase any data.
How to check a phone number: your own and an unknown one
The fastest way to check your own phone number is in the phone's settings or by calling or texting a friend. For an unknown number that called you, type it into a search engine or a 'who called' site and read what others reported. Public tools won't reveal the owner's name, though, because personal data laws protect it.
How to check your Orange account balance on prepaid and contract
The fastest way to check your Orange prepaid balance is a USSD code - type *124*# and press the call button, and your balance plus the account's expiry date will appear on screen. The free Mój Orange app is often more convenient, because it also shows your data and minute usage. On a contract plan, you'll find your billing status, limits, and invoice in the same app or after logging in at orange.pl.
How to Turn Off Your Phone: Android, Samsung, Motorola, and Force Restart
On most Android phones, you turn the device off by holding the power button for a moment and choosing Power off. On newer Samsungs, the side button alone opens the assistant, so press and hold the side button together with volume down, or pull down the notification shade and tap the power icon. If the phone is frozen, hold the same buttons longer until the screen goes dark and the device restarts.
How to Reduce PDF File Size - Offline, Online, and on a Mac
The fastest way to shrink a PDF is to compress the images inside - they carry most of the weight, not the text. On a Mac, use Preview and a Quartz filter; on Windows, export the document from Word optimized for minimum size; and as a last resort, use an online tool. Never upload confidential documents to third-party servers.
How to Reduce Photo File Size on Your Phone and Computer
The biggest lever for cutting a photo's file size is lowering the resolution, meaning the pixel count - a 4000 by 3000 pixel photo can easily go down to 1920 pixels with no visible difference on screen. On your phone, use the resize option when sharing; on a computer, use Paint or Preview and save as a JPG at medium quality.
How to transfer data from one phone to another
On a new Android phone, sign in to the same Google account and restore your backup, or connect both phones with a cable during setup. On Samsung phones, the Smart Switch app transfers the most. Before you wipe the old phone, secure your 2FA codes and banking apps.
How to check if your phone is tapped: a practical guide
There is no single app or magic code that simply "detects tapping". Instead, check specific signals: battery and data usage, apps with admin or accessibility permissions, and the microphone and camera indicators. You can view call forwarding with the *#21# code and scan the phone with Google Play Protect. If nothing helps and the suspicion remains, the most reliable fix is a factory reset.
How to Delete FB: Your Profile, a Page, a Group or Just the App
First work out what you actually want to delete, because Facebook treats each thing differently. You delete a personal account in Accounts Center, a page in its settings with an admin role, and a group by removing all of its members. Just uninstalling the app from your phone deletes nothing.
How to Connect Your Phone to a TV
Wireless is the easiest way: an Android phone sends its screen via Google Cast (Chromecast) and an iPhone via AirPlay - both the phone and the TV must be on the same Wi-Fi network. A USB-C to HDMI cable works only if your phone supports video output over USB-C. A regular TV can be connected through a streaming box.
How to Transfer Data from Android to iPhone
The easiest way is to transfer your data during the new iPhone's initial setup - use the Move to iOS app from Google Play. If the iPhone is already set up, you can either erase it and start over, or move your data manually through your Google account and Google Photos.
How to Delete Facebook Stories - Active and Archived
To delete an active story, open it, tap the three-dot icon in the corner and choose Delete. The story disappears from your profile after 24 hours anyway, but it stays in your story archive. You delete it from the archive the same way - through the three-dot menu and the delete option.
How to Turn Off Google Assistant - Step by Step on Android
Open the Google app, go to Settings and the Google Assistant section, then turn off Hey Google detection. To stop the assistant from popping up after a gesture or button press, also set the default assistant app to None in your phone's system settings.
How to Block Private and Hidden Numbers on Your Phone
A private number is a call with hidden caller ID - no name or digits on your screen. On Android, you block such calls in the Phone app by switching on the block for unknown or hidden numbers. On iPhone, use the Silence Unknown Callers option, which sends them straight to voicemail.
How to Block a Phone Number and Hide Your Own Caller ID
You can block a specific number in seconds from your call list or a contact - on Android via the Block option, on iPhone via Block this Caller. To hide your own number for a single call, dial #31# before the number, or hide it permanently in your phone settings or through your carrier. Both the block and the hidden caller ID can be undone at any time.
How to Install Windows 11 from a USB Drive Step by Step
The easiest way to install Windows 11 is to create a bootable USB drive with the Media Creation Tool from Microsoft's website and boot your computer from it. First check that your hardware meets the requirements, mainly TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot, because without them the installer will refuse. On a compatible computer, upgrading from a genuine Windows 10 is free.
How to set up a signature in Outlook: new, classic, and mobile
You set up a signature in Outlook in the mail settings. In the new Outlook and the browser version, go to Settings → Mail and find the Signatures section; in the classic desktop program, go to File → Options → Mail → Signatures. You can have separate signatures for new messages and for replies.
How to Delete Cookies in Any Browser
In every browser you'll find this in the privacy settings under Clear browsing data. On a computer the fastest route is the shortcut Ctrl+Shift+Delete (Cmd+Shift+Delete on a Mac) - tick Cookies, choose a time range and confirm. You can delete the cookies of all sites at once or of a single website only.
How to Remove a Virus from Your Phone - Android and iPhone Step by Step
On Android, boot your phone into safe mode to stop the suspicious app from running, revoke its device admin rights and uninstall it, then scan the phone with Google Play Protect. On an iPhone, real viruses are rare - it is usually calendar spam, an unknown configuration profile or scam pop-ups. You can remove all of that for free with built-in tools.
How to Turn Off Safe Mode on Your Phone and Keep It from Coming Back
The simplest way to turn off safe mode is to restart your phone: hold the power button and choose Restart. After the reboot, Android starts normally. If safe mode comes back after every boot, the culprit is a stuck volume button or a faulty app you need to uninstall.
How to Connect an HP Printer to WiFi Step by Step
The easiest way to connect an HP printer to WiFi is the HP Smart app. Install it on your phone or computer, sign in to an HP account, switch the printer on, and let the app detect it. The app will ask you to pick a WiFi network and enter the password, then pass those details to the printer. Remember that the printer and your phone must be on the same 2.4 GHz network, because most HP printers can't connect to the 5 GHz band.
How to Connect Wireless Headphones to Your Phone
Put your headphones in pairing mode - usually by holding the button until the LED starts flashing. Then turn on Bluetooth on your phone, search for new devices, and tap the headphones' name. You only need to pair them once; after that they reconnect automatically as soon as you turn them on.
How to Clean Up Your Phone: Storage, Viruses and a Clogged Speaker
It depends on what you mean. To free up storage, clear junk files with the Files by Google app and move photos to the cloud. Uninstall suspicious apps and scan the phone with Play Protect. Clean a clogged speaker with a soft brush and tape, never a needle.
How to Delete Your FB Account on Your Phone Step by Step
You can delete your Facebook account straight from the app on your phone. Go to Settings & privacy, open Accounts Center, then Personal details and Account ownership and control - that's where you'll find the Deactivation or deletion option. After choosing deletion and confirming with your password, you still have 30 days to change your mind. If you don't log in during that time, the account disappears for good.
How to Delete Messenger Messages for You and the Recipient
Press and hold the message you want to delete and choose Remove. You have two options: Remove for you hides it only on your side, while Remove for everyone takes it off the recipient's phone too. The second one only works for a short time after sending, about 15 minutes. After that, deleting on your side is all you have left.
How to Delete Gmail - Just the Mail or Your Whole Google Account
First decide what you want to achieve. You can delete just the Gmail service at myaccount.google.com in the Data & privacy section by choosing Delete a Google service - your Google account with Drive, Photos and YouTube stays. If you want to get rid of everything, delete the whole Google account. And if the mail only needs to disappear from your phone, simply remove the account in the settings without deleting anything.