SFCT.NET - Technology Help and Questions Answered

Working with the iOS Mail Give me back my unified inbox Use a filter on the inbox to help you find specific kinds of email, based on criteria like unread, with attachments, or flagged. Tap the Filter button on the bottom left of the inbox, tap the middle blue criteria listed to display and change the criteria. Turn off the automatic categories new to iOS mail. Tap the 3 dots on the top right choose List View Update vs. Upgrade Upgrade, optional, is usually a major change in the platform and user interface where as an Update is important to complete because it usually is fixing a bug or security flaw. Extensions on a Web Browser Extensions add functionality to your web browser (Safari, Chrome, Firefox, etc). Click the browser name on the top left, choose settings and look for Extensions. You will see a list of current extensions installed. Review the list and if you see anything suspicious, remove it. (malicious extensions are common) Add a new extension by clicking on the store to find...

Annoyances External Buttons -       Standby/Sleep Button - Hold the button for Siri (Turn off - Go to Settings > Go to Accessibility > Go to Side Button > Turn Off) Turn off the Device = Hold the Volume Up or Down and hold the Standby Button Holding the Volume Up and Standby Button also accesses: your Medical ID information (found in the Health app, tap the circle on the top right, tap medical ID) Call Emergency Services (911) Screenshot = quickly press Volume up and Standby button (Why do I need a screenshot? Capture what is on the screen like a QR Code, Receipt, Text Message and it's stored in Photos for you to share or print) or Use Siri - "Hey Siri (Siri) Take a Screenshot" Case - Difficult to press the buttons? Remove the iPhone from the case and try pressing the buttons. If that works better, get a new case. Do I need a case? No, if you're not accident prone. The screens are built to withstand small impact. iPad Volume The buttons are on the longer edg...

Keyboard Shortcut Keys Brightness (F1 and F2) Volume (F10 Mute, F11 and F12) Show all Open Windows (F3) Eject (button sometimes on the far top right) Play and Pause (triangle pointing right > and two vertical lines ll) Change Display Settings (Apple Menu -> System Settings -> In the Search type in Display) Turn off automatically adjust brightness TrueTone Control Screen Color Blue Light Blue light is the wavelength of light emitted from electronic devices like a computer screen and artificial lights. Blue light may cause eye problems. Many accessories can be found to reduce blue light eye strain. How to Reconnect my Wireless Mouse/Keyboard On/Off Switch on the Top or Bottom of the Mouse WiFi Auto-Join and Forget (Open WiFi Settings, look for the network you want to change. Click the three dots and reveal auto-join or the option to forget. Control Center Settings and Menu Bar Icons Click the Apple Menu -> System Settings -> Search for Control Center Dock Customize your do...

Annoyances I open my web browser and I have 20 tabs open on the top. ~Close multiple tabs (Mac) - Hold Command and hold Down on W The emails I am drafting disappear, what happened and where is it? ~Look in the Drafts Folder for the email you were working on. Where are items automatically saved and how can I put them into a easier to find place? Downloaded files I can see. - Default saved location is in the Downloads Folder or a Temporary Mail Folder ~When you download a statement, invoice, file from the internet a download arrow will appear on the top right indicating the download has started and the file is being saved to the Downloads folder ~Open the file to view it and go to File - Save As (or Move) to save the file to Documents (preferred location) or Desktop *Remember name the file so it's unique and easy to search for PDF documents how can I fill them out or edit them AND SAVE to send it along. ~Turn on Autofill and fill in the form fields, then save/move the file to documen...

Managing iCloud Storage 1. Go to Settings 2. Tap your Name at the top 3. Tap iCloud 4. Tap Storage 5. A bar will appear showing you how much storage you're allocated and how much you have used 6. To add more storage, tap Change Storage Plan Beware of messages that say you are out of storage, have been compromised, or have malware. It's most likely a SCAM. If you play free games on your device, Solitaire, Mahjong, Freecell please pay the one-time $12 fee to remove ads that can be misleading. Managing Text Messages Save using storage on your device by deleting photos and videos that people send to you via text. Blue Text Messages vs. Green Text Messages Blue bubbles are from others with an Apple device Green text messages use SMS and are those that don't have an Apple device Creating a Text to More than One Contact 1. Type the name or phone of the first contact 2. Press Return or tap the name that matches 3. Type in the second recipient Pin a Text conversation to someone by h...

iOS Mail App Commonly used app to retrieve emails on an iOS device Alternatives are Apps developed by Gmail, Microsoft (Outlook), AOL, Yahoo and more Using the app from your email provider allows you to benefit from the enhanced features developed by the mail provider. To change the mail email app on your device, go to Settings > Go to Apps > Go to Mail > Tap Default Mail App How access more options related to an email like forwarding, printing, etc. Tap the arrow or three dots to display more options available for the email you are viewing. Create a Group/List of email addresses to easily send the same email to more than one address Tap Contacts > Tap Lists > Tap Add List > Create a Name for the list > Tap the List > Tap Add Contacts to grow your list Send to the entire group by typing in the name of the group in the To: when sending an email

Email Security Use a reliable email service. *If you are on @comcast.net setup a secondary email address. And you can forward emails from @comcast.net to your new email while you slowly transition over to a more secure email provider. Getting too much Spam (Junk Mail) Unsubscribing doesn't usually work Use the SPAM/Junk filters Create your filters/rules ~If the above options don't help, setup a secondary email address and share the new address with friends and family while leaving the junk behind in the old email. How to create a new email address? Go to gmail.com (Google), outlook.com (Microsoft) Choose Create Account, follow the prompts How do you access your emails? Webmail = gmail.com, outlook.com (this is recommended by the email provider because they have control over what you see, including the ads) Mail Client App = Macintosh Mail, Outlook, Thunderbird,  2 Layer SPAM filter 1st filter = Mail Providers Spam/Junk filters from your provider. Best Spam/Junk filters gmail.co...

My emails have been hacked! What do I do? Notify all your contacts, friends and family to ignore the recent email and NOT send you money or respond to the email. This includes someone to send the message on your behalf.  Or create/use a secondary email to send a notification email to your friends/family group or distribution list NOT to send you money or respond to the email. (Be sure to put all the contacts in the BCC and send to groups of no mare than 50 contacts at a time) 1. Contact a Computer Tech to help cleanup and verify your email settings are properly configured, change your password and setup 2 factor authentication 2. Determine the extent of the Hack and if your original email can be secured you can continue to use it OR you might need to create a new email address What's a podcast? On-Demand Streaming Radio Shows Apple has a podcast app on their Computers and iOS devices ~Open the app to search for a show by name or host. ~Choose follow to add the show and newly added ...

Recording Voice Memo 1. Search for the Voice Memo app on your iPhone. The app comes standard with iOS. 2. Tap the Red Dot to start recording 3. Tap the Red Square to stop recording 4. The most recent recording will appear on the top of the saved recordings Tap the title to change it Scan a Document Start by placing the Document you want to scan flat or standing with a contrasting background 1. Search for the Notes App 2. Tap the Piece of Paper with a Pencil to create a new Note 3. Tap the Paperclip 4. Tap Scan Documents 5. The camera will turn on 6. Hover your device over the document you want to scan and automatically your phone will can the document 7. Scan additional pages to create a multi-page pdf document 8. Click Save to finish the scanning Send a Scanned Document saved in Notes 1. Open the note with the scan 2. Tap the title of the scan 3. A menu appears 4. Tap Share 5. Choose how you want to share the scanned document View Past Notifications Pull down from the top right of the...

  Get Rid of Predictive Typing in Emails (only accessed on webmail, i.e. gmail.com, hotmail.com, ...) Go to settings Choose Mail Outlook/Hotmail go to "Smart Suggestions" turn off the settings Gmail go to General then, "Smart Compose" turn it off Keep the Predictive Typing that appear by pressing TAB Avoid the AI on your emails by using Macintosh Mail to access your emails (get to Macintosh Mail in the Applications Folder) My Safari doesn't work with my Bank or other websites. It tells me it's not compatible or out of date. Safari stops updating itself when your operating system is out of date. So Safari won't have the newest and necessary security credentials and settings. Work Around is to use an alternate browser like Firefox (Mozilla), Chrome (Google), Brave, Edge (Microsoft) How do I learn to use...? Ask copilot.microsoft.com ( Co-Pilot), Google.com (Gemini) Try to use all the products connected to the provider of your email. Gmail = Google Products...

Syncing multiple devices Unifying essential services Checking/Canceling subscriptions Syncing Devices (Tablet, Smartphone, Computer) Apple Devices (and Windows computers) - Sync using iCloud     Use your Apple ID & Password     Go to Settings to view iCloud and the settings for each of the Apple Apps like Contacts, Photos, Calendar, Notes, Reminders, Books, Podcasts, etc.     Compare your devices to one another to be sure the same apps are On (syncing) or Off (not syncing) Check your iCloud Storage     **Beware of emails or text messages that say to upgrade your iCloud Storage. Many of them are scams! ****Check your current iCloud Storage yourself! Go to Settings, click your name, click iCloud and on the top a bar graph will appear showing you how much storage you have allocated and how much of the storage you used. If you need to add more storage click "Manage Storage" choose the next storage size or downgrade if you're no...

 Internet Connection Issues? Use your phone as a Temporary fix via the Hotspot option (in your phone's settings) Look at the WiFi Name your phone's hotspot (and password if needed) will use and connect your computer to that WiFi name When getting a new Tablet or Smart Watch consider getting the cellular connection so you have the freedom of being connected to the Internet all the time and everywhere. Ask you Cellular provider for any promotions and the monthly cost associated with the feature. Split Screen on a Mac 1. Open the two windows you want to see side by side 2. Click and hold on the Green Dot 3. Choose where to put the first screen 4. The other side will show you all the open screens so you can choose which screen to fill the other side with To resize split screen place your mouse arrow on the light grey handle in the middle of the split bar and drag To close or ext split screen click the green dot or red dot to close the window you are done with Exit out of iPad split...

 Default Apps on Mac Computers Chess, Maps, Books, Podcasts, Safari, Notes, Calendar, Garage Band These applications reside on your computer. Or use these services online Chess.com, Maps.Google.Com, Kindle Use Tabs in a Browser To View Multiple Windows Click the + to open new tabs Click the x to close the tabs you don't need - Tile windows side by side to get two windows on one screen Open both windows you want to see at the same time Click and hold on the green dot - choose where to place the window (right or left) The opposite side will display all the open windows Click the window you want to fill the other side Dictation - Click the Edit menu and choose Dictation Live Closed Captioning - Go to Settings, Accessibility, Hearing, Turn on Live Closed Captioning Look for Volume Controls on the top Right of your Keyboard Look for Screen Brightness controls on the top Left of your keyboard Turn on the Stage Screenshots Command + Shift press 3 for entire screen Command + Shift press 4 ...

I never receive your emails! What to do. Check for return or error emails "Mail Daemon" Tell them to check their SPAM/JUNK folder     If it's there...they need to Mark It NOT Junk     AND add the sender's email to your Address Book Ask them to send you an email so you can reply to their email. Ask them to use another email Use another option for communication, phone call, text, What's App, Facebook, etc. Other communication apps, Discord & Telegram My gmails are going to Important how do I stop that? Go to Settings (the gear on the far right) Choose "See All Settings" Turn off " Smart features and personalization:" Schedule Send or Send Later Helpful to send reminders Access emails on your computer Use Safari, Edge, Chrome or your web browser Access email on your phone Use the Mail app or download the app from your email provider Visit Apple.com to compare Apple devices

 First! Know which OS (Operating System you are using) 1. Go to the Apple Menu 2. Go to About this Mac 3. Look for your OS 12 Monterey, 13 Ventura, 14 Sonoma, 15 Sequoia (newest) Look at the list of all the Macintosh OS systems in order -  https://setapp.com/how-to/full-list-of-all-macos-versions  (click your version and look at the features your system has that you might want to explore) Dive into your OS and learn more about what you can do. Choose the User Guide for you OS 15 Sequoia -  https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/welcome/mac 14 Sonoma -  https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/welcome/14.0/mac/14.0 13 Ventura -  https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/welcome/13.0/mac/13.0 12 Monterey -  https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/welcome/12.0/mac/12.0 Exploring some of the features and functions of Sonoma OS 14 More choices for changing the Login Screen, Screensaver and background picture. 1. Click the Apple Menu 2. Choose System Prefe...