A new week is a great time to learn something new! Take a few minutes today to read over these five quick tips and see if you learn something that might make your life a little easier.

1. You Can Search Your Photos by More Than Just the Date 

Ever spent five minutes scrolling through your camera roll looking for one picture? You don’t always have to do that! 

If you use the Photos app on your iPhone or Google Photos on Android, try searching for what was in the picture instead of when you took it. Search for words like dog, sunset, receipt, beach, truck, or even text that appeared in the photo. Modern photo apps can recognize people, places, objects, and much more, making it much easier to find that one photo you know you have. 

If you need a better walk through: 

iPhone users: Apple's guide to searching Photos   

Android users: Google Photos search help  

2. Airplane Mode Can Fix More Than Air Travel 

If your phone suddenly has poor signal or your data isn't working correctly, you don't always have to restart it. 

Turning Airplane Mode on for about 10 seconds and then turning it back off forces your phone to reconnect to nearby cellular towers (I’m sometimes stinky and only leave it on for a second or two). It's one of the quickest troubleshooting steps you can try before diving into more complicated fixes. 

It won't solve every problem, but it can often clear up temporary connection hiccups. 

3. Your Phone Can Scan Documents 

Have you ever had to send a signed form, receipt, or insurance paperwork and had to make an extra trip to the office or a friends house? You probably didn’t have to, because you probably already have a document scanner in your pocket! 

Both iPhones and Android phones include built-in tools that automatically crop, straighten, and save documents as PDFs, no separate scanner required! The results are usually much cleaner than simply taking a picture.  

There are many ways to do this depending on your device, like the iPhone, so googling your particular make and model of phone is probably the easiest way to learn! 

4. Your Phone Already Includes a Password Manager 

If you're still using the same password for multiple websites because it's easier to remember, you're not alone, but it IS one of the biggest online security risks. 

The good news is that you probably don't need to download anything. Both Apple and Google include password managers built right into their devices that can create strong, unique passwords, securely save them, and automatically fill them in the next time you visit a website or app. 

That means you only have to remember one strong passcode for your device while your phone does the rest. 

Not sure how to set yours up? Here you go: 

iPhone users: Apple Passwords User Guide  

Android users: Google Password Manager Help  

5. Stop Scrolling and Search the Page Instead 

Reading a long webpage and trying to find one specific word or phrase? I’ve been there. 

On most Windows computers, press Ctrl + F. On a Mac, press Command + F. A small search box will appear where you can type a word, and your browser will instantly jump to every place it appears on the page. 

It's one of the simplest keyboard shortcuts out there, but once you start using it, you'll wonder how you ever lived without it. 

Technology changes quickly, but you don't have to learn everything at once. Sometimes knowing just one new trick can save you time or reduce frustration! I hope you found one here or at least got a refresher on one you already knew.