Use Cortana, Microsoft's personal assistant - Windows 10

Windows 10 - Use Cortana, Microsoft's personal assistant

Cortana is Microsoft's digital assistant that helps you with various tasks. Think of her like Amazon's Alexa, Apple's Siri or Google Assistant but baked into Windows 10.

You likely were asked if you wanted to enable Cortana when you set up Windows 10 for the first time. If not, here's how to get started:

1. Activate Cortana by tapping or clicking Start | Cortana.

2. Select Use Cortana. Click Yes if you want speech, inking (support for a digital pen) and typing personalization turned on. This helps Cortana get to know you better and can help her complete various tasks. You also can choose No thanks if you don't want this feature turned on.

3. Cortana now sits on your task bar at the bottom of your screen. You can wake her up by saying “Hey, Cortana,” if you enabled that or by clicking the Cortana icon on the taskbar, which looks like a circle, and is to the right of the search window.

After you've awakened her, try asking, “What can you do?"

Cortana can help manage your calendar and keep your schedule up to date, join a meeting in Microsoft Teams or find out who your next meeting is with, create and manage lists, set reminders and alarms, and find facts, definitions and other information.

Be aware: Cortana asks for permissions to track your activity so it can be useful, and Microsoft makes it difficult to totally disable Cortana once you've enabled it. So be sure you don't mind that tracking.

Customize the look of Windows 10

Customize the look of Windows 10

You can make the look of Windows 10 work better for you in several ways.

To adjust size of text:-

1. Select the Start button, then Settings | Ease of Access | Display.

2. Use the slider under Make text bigger to make the text on your screen larger. Or select an option from the drop-down menu under Make everything bigger to change the size of all the elements on your screen.

If you don't see enough contrast among the elements on your screen, try using a high contrast theme. Select the Start button, then Settings | Ease of Access | High contrast, and click on the toggle under Turn on high contrast.

To make the apps in your Start menu appear larger, right click or tap and hold the app tile you want to resize, select Resize, and choose the size you want.

To see the mouse pointer better, select the Start button, then Settings | Ease of Access | Mouse pointer, and choose the options that work best for you.

By adding “pointer trails” you can see where your mouse is moving on the screen.

1. Select the Start button, then Settings | Devices | Mouse | Additional mouse options.

2. In the Mouse properties window, select the Pointer options tab | Display pointer trails | OK.

Windows 10 also lets you magnify your screen to see words and images better. To open Magnifier quickly, press the Windows logo key and plus sign (+). When Magnifier is open, use Windows logo key and plus sign (+) or Windows logo key and minus sign (-) to zoom in or out. To close Magnifier, press Windows logo key and Esc.

How to set a password expiration date in Windows 10

To keep your Computer safe, it is a good idea to change your computer password every time, or else you need to see the computer repairer every time to restore your compromised data. Windows 10 makes this easier because you can set the password expiration date.

The steps for doing this vary, depending on whether you use a local account or a Microsoft account to log in to your Windows PC, so we will consider the process for both.

Set a Password Expiration Date for Your Microsoft Account

On Windows 10, you may have noticed that Microsoft wants you to use a linked Microsoft account to sign in instead of a local account.

You can set the password line password expiration date for your Microsoft account. Then you will be asked to reset your password every 72 days. You must set a new password before enabling (or disabling) this setting.

To do this, go to the Microsoft account security zone and sign in. At the top “Change password”, click “Change”.

You are prompted to provide the current password, as well as a new password (you cannot reuse the existing password, so type a new and secure password).

Since you want to set the password expiration date, click the box next to “Change my password every 72 days” to enable this feature.

Click “Save” to apply your new password and expiration date.

If the change is successful, you will be directed to the Microsoft Account Security page. Log in and out of windows to use the new password.

Your Microsoft account password will expire within 72 days, and you will be prompted to change it the next time you log in.

Set a Password Expiration Date for Your Local Account

Use a local account on your PC instead of Microsoft, you can still set your password expiration date.

Enable Password Expiration

First, you’ll need to disable a setting that prevents your password from exiting.

To do this, press the Windows + R button to open the Run box. Type netplwiz, then click OK to open your user account settings.

In the “Advanced” tab, click “Advanced” to open the “Advanced User Management” tool.

Here, click “Users” in the right menu, then right-click on your user account. Click “Properties” to enter advanced user settings for your local user account.

In the “Properties” menu, remove the “Password never expires” option, and then click “OK.”

Set the Maximum Password Age

You now need to set the maximum password age for your password. Unlike a Microsoft account, you can set your local account password to expire at any time.

The default on Windows 10 is 42 days. If you want to exceed this length, you can still use your personal computer as usual. When the time comes to reset your password, you will be prompted to change it