Another one of those 'how did I not know this' threads

[JustHereWithMyPopcorn]

I have just discovered, by accident, that if you open another tab in your web browser, you can click on the tab and drag it away so that you have a second separate browser open at the same time. I don't mean split screen but like you have opened a separate thing. Did you all know this already?

I know this is a pathetic thing to get excited about but I was literally like this and then giddy with excitement.

AIBU to be be pleased with my discovery?

If you accidentally close down a tab you wanted (happens to me all the time as I usually have a million tabs open) you can hit control + shift + T and it will restore your most recently closed tab.

OK definitely won't be putting the toaster on its side!!

I discovered that you can use a potato peeler to take the skin off a cucumber.

I'd only ever used a potato peeler for potatoes or carrots until this week.

I wondered why my husband looked at my amazed face with dismay.

Not me, but I just taught someone this morning that they could save a Word document straight to pdf, so they don't have to print it out and scan it back in to attach to an email!

You just made my life a bit easier

I used to cook potato waffles in the toaster. And smiley faces (in a sandwich cage). I have a Dualit toaster and have had to replace an element in there a couple of times - the toaster is SO greasy inside! I think it is from the potato products. I would be wary of toasting them in there now TBH.

Add whole, uncrumbled Oxo cubes to stews/casseroles.

By the time it's cooked the cubes have completely disintegrated and mixed in.

I knew my iPhone had a calculator as I use it often but only found out yesterday that if I turn my phone on it's side I can do much more on the calculator 😲

I've had various generations of iPhones over the years and never knew this 🤦🏻‍♀️

Ooh I found out about the arrow on the petrol thing just last week and I forgot to tell my oh who always forgets. It’s going to BLOW HIS MIND

Oh THANK YOU for the tip about opening the camera on an iphone by swiping right, even when locked! Brilliant!

I have one that will blow your mind
I discovered that you can change the length of time that the nespresso machine runs for by holding your finger on the button till it has filled your mug to your satisfaction. It will then forever more run for that length of time giving you a cuppa that you want instead of a tiny dribble of super strong coffee. I’ve had that machine for five years and been topping up with hot water like an idiot till this week. Revolutionary.

I also recently discovered that my iPhone has a magnifying glass! So handy when I forget my glasses (all the time). Just triple click the home button and it opens up.
DS showed me and I think he might have installed it first but that bit is beyond my tech abilities

Here: Enabling it is easy: Launch the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad, navigate to General -> Accessibility -> Magnifier, and toggle on the Magnifier switch. After that, all you need to do to use it is triple-click the Side button (or Home button, depending on your device)

• My favourite computer hack is everything you can do with CTRL + *

One for the Alt key and mouse. If you are in a decent text editor (not notepad, it's shite), hold down the Alt Key click anywhere in a line and move the mouse pointer down, you select from that point on in every line and the same if you move across.

Not a new one at all, but thought I'd show the Alt key some love.

Thanks to you @Wasail I now have a magnifier

Oh Ctrl+Alt+Del but it doesn't have same same impact as it used to sadly.

I found out last week, that adding cold water to too hot coffee, or reheating cold coffee in microwave, doesn't make it taste awful. I'm 53!

WHOA OP just tried that with the tab, had no idea. Thanks

I discovered recently that if you have a laptop with a tracker pad, you can fast scroll through documents, web pages etc if you use two fingers on the tracker pad as if you were pushing the page up/down. So the same as using the rollerball on the mouse.

Another useful one is in MS Word you can open duplicate windows of the same document you are working in if you need to edit it on different pages or cross refer. View + new window.

Wasail
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I will be sharing with all my friends!
We can now order in restaurants without rummaging in our bags or sharing glasses

Sue THANK YOU for the trackpad tip!

Cassimin and Layoverlife enjoy the lifesaving loveliness of the magic magnifyer

My favourite computer hack is the snipping tool. You can take an image of anything on your screen and save it or paste it in any document you like. Revolutionary!!

^^On a related note, if you want to paste the image into a document rather than use it within the snipping tool itself, then you don't even need to open up the Snipping Tool to do so! Pressing SHIFT+Windows+S will bring up the snipping curser, you can select what you to copy and then just paste into your document.

I love the snipping tool and use it pretty much daily but didn’t know the SHIFT+Windows+S trick - will be trying it, thanks!

Wasail - you clearly just hadn't read the manual for your Nespresso machine!

Re: the swiping left for iPhone camera, I remember when they released the update for that and there was uproar because it left all of your photos vulnerable to anyone who found your phone if it was lost/stolen, etc... They quickly changed it so you can only see the photos that you have taken in that "swipe left session", without unlocking your phone.

Another iPhone one, if you hold your finger on the screen whilst typing, you can drag your cursor around.