You can’t keep track of everything on paper. Excel can play a significant role in your daily workload. Whether you’re a beginner or a pro user, there’s a lot to learn — like these five useful Excel tricks.

Want to become an Excel expert in 2023? It’s a good strategy for small business owners who want to grow this year. After all, you’ll generate tons of data. Speaking of which, here’s how to stop third parties from selling your data.

Maybe you’re overlooking the most useful Excel strategies. Scroll down for five Excel tricks that will make your professional and personal life much easier.

1. First of five useful Excel tricks: Solve errors

Microsoft Excel is chock full of practical formulas. They help save hours you’d otherwise spend clacking away at a calculator.

Unfortunately, it’s easy to make mistakes when calculating through Excel. Its formulas reference many cells — and if you don’t pay attention, you can confuse them. Use this table to fix common Excel error messages:

2. Transpose data in a snap

So you transferred some data into Excel — but it didn’t look how you wanted it to. Maybe you entered the data as rows when you wanted them to become columns. Don’t worry: You don’t have to reformat each cell manually.

With these steps, you can rotate data in your worksheet from columns to rows and vice versa.

1. First, select the data in your desired column or row.
2. Then, press Ctrl + C to copy the selected cells.
3. Right-click an empty cell in a row or column where you want the copied cells to go.
4. Select Transpose from the paste options.

Just like that, you’ll be able to reformat your data.

3. Master the substitute function

Want to replace a specific character or set of characters with a new set? First, select the cell you want to replace, like so.

Then, enter the = sign and type Substitute. A formula window will pop up.

Double-click the Substitute function. Then, type the cell location followed by a comma. Here’s what it will look like:

Next, type quotation marks and enter the old text you’re replacing, followed by a comma. Since I’m replacing the words “WestStar Multimedia Entertainment,” I typed that.

Then, type more quotation marks and enter the new text exactly how you want it to appear. Enter another comma. Close the function by typing a close parenthesis, the “)” symbol, and pressing the Enter key.

Select Enter. Just like that, I replaced the data in one cell with the data in the other cell, C4, that I typed. Nifty!

4. Quickly split columns

Let’s say you have multiple words in a single cell. You want to move one of those words into another cell. Maybe you’re writing a spreadsheet full of business contacts and wish to make a column for first names and another for last names.

Good news: You can use the Text to Columns feature to spread text across multiple columns. Here’s how:

1. Select the column to the right of the column with your data. Right-click on an empty cell and select Insert.
2. Then, select the column with your data. From the Data tab, select the Text to Columns button.
3. Then, select Delimited > Next and select your delimiter from the available options. (Not sure what a delimiter is? That’s a character that separates the text in your column, like a comma or space.)
4. Lastly, go to Next > Text > Finish.

This will save you a ton of time if you use Excel to keep track of business contracts. Want more small business tips? Tap or click here for five useful productivity tricks to try this year.

5. Last of our five useful Excel tricks: Set your own styles

There’s a lot of creative potential in Excel. Here’s how to create a style:

1. Put your cursor in a cell.
2. Select the Home tab, find the Styles group and click the Cell Styles button.
3. Next, click the New Cell Style button… at the bottom of your dialog box.
4. This pops up a Style Name box.
5. Enter your style name. (NOTE: You can’t use spaces.)
6. Then, click OK.

Then, you can apply those formats to text — or a range of text — simultaneously. Just do this.

1. To apply a style, select a cell or range of cells.
2. Then, go to the Home tab in the Styles group.
3. Click the Cell Styles button.
4. Select your desired cell style from the Custom styles area.

Just like that, you’ve applied a style and added some pizazz to your spreadsheet. Although you’ve learned some of the most useful Excel tips and tricks, remember that Excel can’t do everything. Sometimes, you need a tool with more robust features.

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Windows 11 upgrades are being pushed by Microsoft using some of the firm’s more unwelcome tactics (as seen with Windows 10), at least according to a new report.

Ghacks first flagged this up, as spotted by Neowin, the latter of which published a grab of a sneakily redesigned nag screen (that appears on boot-up) to prompt Windows 10 users to upgrade to Windows 11. (Note that the screenshot was aired by a Reddit user, though the post has now been deleted – so take this with an appropriate dose of seasoning).

At any rate, the upgrade screen shown has been changed from a previous format – which made it easier to see the choice to stick with Windows 10 – to a new design where that option is harder to spot (on a bar at the bottom of the screen).

Moreover, the new design brings in a pair of buttons in the center of the screen: ‘Get it’ and ‘Schedule it’, with the former highlighted.

Now, what could happen to inattentive users, or those in a rush to get to the desktop, is that they see the highlighted ‘Get it’ button and assume the button next to it is the choice to decline. When in fact it is also a ‘yes’ response to the upgrade, the only difference being the process will be scheduled to happen in the future, rather than right now.

This is a typical shady trick used to help generate more clicks to upgrade – although we’ve seen worse from Microsoft in the past. But as noted, we have to be careful about the source, and even if true, this is presumably something Microsoft is testing right now (as the new nag screen hasn’t been flagged up anywhere else).

We hope, then, that nothing will come of this. Although as we already mentioned, Microsoft has past form pulling this kind of nonsense with the free Windows 10 upgrade and dual options which might appear to be different at a glance, but both are actually saying ‘yes’ to the upgrade.

(Incidentally, in case you were wondering, the free upgrade to Windows 10 is still available to this day: we used the media creation tool to upgrade an old Windows 8.1 PC – which had just gone out of support – to Windows 10 just this past weekend).

In all honesty, the existing nag to upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11 is already a rather monstrous affair, even without these fresh button shenanigans. If we recall correctly, there are three screens you have to pass through to decline the upgrade, and you already have to be a bit careful where you click. Windows 11 should stand on its own merits; never mind laborious multi-screen nags to get the new OS.

Microsoft has got a lot of flak in the past for this kind of badgering, but doesn’t appear to have fully learned its lesson yet. (And while we’re on the complaining train, the same is true of trying to sneak adverts for Microsoft services into bits of the Windows 10 or 11 interface – just stop it, in testing or otherwise).

A version of this article was published in TIME’s newsletter Into the Metaverse. Subscribe for a weekly guide to the future of the Internet. You can find past issues of the newsletter here.

The AI chatbot ChatGPT has become mega-popular in just a matter of weeks—way faster than social media platforms like TikTok or Instagram.

Only two months after its launch in late November, the chatbot had 100 million monthly active users in January, according to data from Similarweb. A study from Swiss bank UBS noted that “in 20 years following the internet space, we cannot recall a faster ramp in a consumer internet app.” OpenAI, which owns and hosts ChatGPT, recently became one of the 50 most visited websites in the world, according to Digital-adoption.com.

For context, it took Instagram two and a half years to get to 100 million. TikTok got there in nine months.

The astonishing rise of ChatGPT reveals both its usefulness in helping with a wide range of tasks and a general overflowing curiosity about human-like machines. Experts are split on whether this marks the dawn of a new AI-era or if the hype will die down as people hit the limits of ChatGPT’s current capabilities.

Here’s why ChatGPT rose in popularity so fast, and what that means for the future.

What is ChatGPT?

ChatGPT is a chatbot created by the San Francisco company OpenAI. Known as a generative AI, it responds to virtually any prompt you provide it with startling speed and clarity. Whereas many chatbots only know how to respond to certain keywords or triggers, ChatGPT can respond to complex questions and spit out comprehensive, essay-length answers on virtually any topic.

ChatGPT is able to do this by running the Internet’s vast amounts of data through powerful neural networks: software loosely designed on neurons in the human brain. This technology has existed for several years. Yann LeCun, the chief AI scientist at Meta, recently argued that ChatGPT was “not particularly innovative” and relied largely on Google’s Transformer neural net technology unveiled in 2017.

“Most of us are pretty surprised” about the explosive popularity of ChatGPT, admits Margaret Mitchell, the chief ethics scientist at the AI company Hugging Face. “The technology wasn’t putting forth any sort of fundamental breakthroughs.”

But ChatGPT was the first major project to roll out such an AI for the public to use, play with, and break. Other companies like Google held theirs back due to the unpredictability of this new technology and the potential harms it could cause, like the spreading of misinformation or hate speech. OpenAI, meanwhile, chose to rush their product to market this fall in the face of potential looming competition, according to the New York Times.

While ChatGPT is underpinned by complex technology, its visual interface is incredibly intuitive: you simply enter text into a text box, just like you would on Google. This streamlined interface has allowed people of all ages and backgrounds to instantly engage with it. Another one of ChatGPT’s strengths is its flexibility. If you don’t like its response to your prompt, you can tweak your suggestion, and the AI will adjust accordingly.

What are people doing on ChatGPT?

The first reason that ChatGPT started going viral was its novelty factor. Users asked ChatGPT to create a biblical verse about removing a peanut butter sandwich from a VCR, or for Elvis-themed fantasy weapons. Within seconds, the AI would spit out options like “Love Me Tender Dagger” and “Blue Suede Sword.”

Very soon, however, ChatGPT’s usage elevated far beyond memes and parlor tricks, and into the professional sphere. ChatGPT can brainstorm ideas, write articles and code. People began to use it to write entire job applications, curriculums, academic papers and scripts in different programming languages. In particular, programming and developer software has emerged as one of ChatGPT’s main use cases, Similarweb data shows.

Sean Ellul, co-founder of the 3D development studio Metaverse Architects, wrote in a ChatGPT-assisted email to TIME that the AI had been a “game-changer for our productivity and creativity” and that he uses it to brainstorm code, prepare articles and ideate new projects. Many companies have since tweaked their business models to implement it into workflows, including Buzzfeed—which said it would use the technology for quizzes and personalized content.

A predictable backlash has ensued: in order to halt the creation of AI generated homework, school districts around the country, including in New York City, have banned ChatGPT.

The interest in the site has skyrocketed so dramatically that OpenAI is turning away many users, who simply are shown a message saying, “ChatGPT is at capacity right now.” The company recently announced a paid tier that allows those users access during peak times.

Is this just the start of generative AI adoption?

The explosion of interest in ChatGPT has sent tech competitors scrambling to release their own versions. Google declared a “code red” in response to ChatGPT, and recently announced its own Bard AI that will be rolling out in the coming weeks. The Chinese tech giant Baidu is prepping a similar chatbot for March, according to Reuters, while Anthropic, an AI company started by former OpenAI employees, is raking in hundreds of millions in funding.

Microsoft, which invested in OpenAI, is in the process of implementing ChatGPT into its Bing search engine and into its Teams messaging platform. All of this means that many everyday work processes will soon be augmented by generative AI technology, likely without you realizing it.

But risks loom ahead. AI has written hate speech and misinformation, and is now being used to help write malicious code. “As the initial honeymoon period dies down, there’s going to be more and more criticisms of all the problematic ways this technology is being used,” Mitchell says.

Mitchell is concerned about how ChatGPT might influence those who use it for mental health guidance. “ChatGPT will say things that are toxic or bullying or bad advice without having the sense of what it means to have bad advice, because it hasn’t learned larger world knowledge,” she says.

She is also concerned about its usage as a search engine replacement, as ChatGPT answers declaratively things that are false. (It once wrote a detailed history of a “successful civilization” created by the dinosaurs.) “People are much more likely to accept what something says when it’s automated,” she says. “I’m really concerned ChatGPT will be used as if it is factual because our cognitive bias tells us it’s factual.”

And it’s possible that the current AI arms race kicked off by ChatGPT’s rapid ascendance could cause its competitors to cut corners in hopes of gaining market share. During the rise of social media a decade ago, the world saw what happened when “move fast and break things” was the prevailing credo: safety was ignored, and social media platforms played a role in inciting genocides and manipulating voters.

“I’m concerned that regulation tends to be reactive, and will only follow something horrible happening,” says Mitchell. “So I’m really concerned about whatever that horrible thing is.”

Contact us at letters@time.com.

The Ring Video Doorbell is one of the best smart doorbells of 2023. Not only is it affordable, but it can capture HD video, store footage for later review, and is remarkably easy to install regardless of your existing setup. However, if you’re looking to make the most of your fancy smart doorbell, you’ll want to dive into its accompanying smartphone app and make a few tweaks to your settings. Here are five tips and tricks for the Ring Video Doorbell to Strengthen its performance.

Set up your motion zones

The first thing you’ll want to do after installing your Ring Video Doorbell is set up motion zones. These are customizable areas that will trigger an alert if motion is detected — and properly setting them up will save you the headache of getting unwanted updates. To customize your motion zones, load up your Ring app and tap the three lines at the top of your screen. From there, select Devices, then navigate through Motion Settings to Motion Zones. You’ll now be able to add zones and adjust the size of existing zones.

Turn off motion notifications

Motion zones do a great job of reducing unwanted motion alerts — such as when people are walking on the sidewalk outside your home or far off in the peripheries. However, sometimes you want to turn off motion notification entirely (a useful feature if someone in your family will be going in and out of the front door repeatedly over the course of a few minutes). To turn off your motion detection or motion alerts, simply open the Ring app, click on the three lines at the top of the screen, then head to the Devices menu. Select the device you want to adjust, then toggle the Motion Detection or Motion Alerts button on or off.

Activate Mode Settings

Want your Ring Video Doorbell to monitor your home while you’re away, but turn off entirely when you’re home? Consider setting up Mode Settings. These allow you to automatically activate certain features with a single button press instead of wading through a sea of menus. To enable this functionality, head back to the Devices screen and click on the product you want to modify. Next, click Mode Settings. You’ll then be walked through the activation process. Once enabled, you’ll have the option to choose three different Modes – each one offering different functionality and activated with just one touch on the Device menu.

Extend your battery life

Unfortunately, there’s no foolproof way to provide your Ring Video Doorbell a significant boost in battery life. You can eke out a bit more juice by disabling motion detection or moving your Wi-Fi router closer to your front door, but those will only get you so far. You might also consider picking up a new battery pack if yours is a few years old, as they lose their longevity as they age. And keep in mind that during the winter months, you’ll probably see a drop in performance – cold weather tends to drain the battery faster than warm weather.

Sync with your smart home

The Ring Video Doorbell can be paired with several different smart home ecosystems, including Google Home and Alexa. Once paired (see our guides for Google Home and Alexa), you’ll have access to several different features depending on what else is in your home. One of the coolest features is being able to check your front door on your smart display, which offers a much larger view of your front door than your smartphone.

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Putting proverbial pen to paper for our Corsair HS65 Wireless review is like gaming headset déjà vu, as the new cans on the block feel like a familiar friend. The company’s headphone rendition effectively lobs the cable off of the HS65 Surround – a move that sets one of our favourite wired headsets free from tethers. While that ultimately makes for a fantastic cordless solution, it feels like my gripes with the original have been largely ignored.

At $119.99 USD, the Corsair HS65 Wireless isn’t exactly cheap, sitting firmly within the high-end ring alongside the best gaming headset 2023 contenders. That said, its price point isn’t egregious, and you won’t be disappointed by what the setup offers compared to more expensive alternatives. However, it’s worth considering whether you really need a cordless solution, as the wired HS65 Surround offers similar levels of quality for a chunk less.

Don’t get me wrong, Corsair’s new HS65 has a lot going for it, as it cuts the cord while dodging traditional wireless caveats. Again, my issues with this version also apply to the wired original, but I’d prefer to actually call them minor niggles rather than proper concerns. Both stand out among their competitors using style and substance, and the HS65 Wireless brings the headset to a new wave of players that need to ditch wires.

Specs

The Corsair HS65 Wireless packs 7.1 surround sound capabilities just like its predecessor, but swaps out the wires for low-latency 2.4GHz and Bluetooth connectivity. It’s also armed with the same 50mm Neodymium drivers that have already proven their worth on the gaming PC audio battlefield, accompanied by that omnidirectional flip-to-mute microphone we raved about (and dunked on for its design).

In the box, you’ll get a 2.4GHz adapter and a USB-C cable, with the latter only serving as a means to charge. Perhaps that’s to be expected given the headset’s wireless title, but I feel like it’s one of the reasons why Corsair misses a trick in terms of versatility – one of those “minor niggles” that I’ll elaborate on in a little bit.

Design

Corsair clearly understands the assignment when it comes to headset aesthetics, as the HS65 Wireless embodies the same subtle approach to style as the Surround model. I’m a huge fan of the mesh grill design on the cups, and the white variant helps fight off my inner gaming PC goth dwelling within. The black model looks pretty swish too, but I personally think white and grey feels like a good fit.

Pivoting cups once again provide the HS65 an on-the-go vibe, as I’m currently wearing the headphones as if they’re an accessory. Ditching wires means I’m able to actually walk away from my desk this time around, and a sturdy combo of aluminium and high-quality plastics provides reassurance that the headset will survive chaotic journeys both around my neck and in a backpack.

Sadly, I feel like that same praiseworthy on-the-go vibe is limited, as the headset’s flip mic still isn’t removable. Personally, I’m not really into the idea of walking around outside looking like I could join a Microsoft Teams call at any second when really I just want to use the cans to listen to Midwest emo playlists on the train. Being able to pop the mic arm off is a small thing that’d make a huge difference in terms of versatility, as it could entice both desk users and anyone looking for a stylish pair of headphones.

In spite of this, Corsair has implemented tiny changes to some parts of its headset, most notably with its left-hand volume wheel. The dial now features clicky steps, rather than the smooth feel adopted by the HS65 Surround. It’s a small tweak, but it helps add definition to the headset’s volume controls and facilitate a more premium vibe.

Now that the HS65 is unshackled by built-in cables, Bluetooth and power buttons join the aforementioned volume wheel, and they’re easy to access while wearing. In addition, there’s now a dedicated mute button over on the left-hand cup, which feels slightly redundant given the flip-to-mute nature of the mic arm. During use, I’d either remember the microphone’s neat flippy tricks or click a mute button on the screen, rather than using the additional push button.

While I don’t find myself using the mute button, I’m not actually a big fan of the flip mechanism either. In theory, it should feel slick, but just like with the wired version, it collides with my forehead when angled towards my mouth. As such, I normally just either keep the mic flipped down while at my desk, or take it off to pop it back into place. Admittedly, neurodivergent traits mean I’m a bit more sensitive to this kind of thing, and your own personal mileage may vary.

As you’d perhaps expect, giving the HS65 wireless innards changes its weight, but the wired version’s lightweight comfort levels are retained. You won’t be itching to take the headset off after a long gaming session, and it doesn’t pinch your head like some options out there. Although, my ears are pretty small, so some of you may find the narrow cups to be a bit of a tight fit.

The HS65 does commit a cardinal sin in terms of connectivity, as it forgoes wired functionality completely. The absence of a backup 3.5mm jack connection, or even USB audio playback, is an undeniable sore spot for me, as it means I’m at the mercy of a charged battery. I say charged, but I regularly forget to actually do that, and backup cords can’t save the day this time around.

Quality

The Corsair HS65 Wireless shines in the gaming headset quality department, as it offers balanced audio across the board. Windows spatial audio superpowers provide pinpoint accuracy in FPS games like Overwatch 2, something that enabled me to get the jump on sneaky players by listening out for footsteps.

It also provided an extra sinister layer of immersion during my latest Dead Space Remake review, with 7.1 surround sound serving up an extra plate of dread while exploring the USG Ishimura. I’d foolishly started playing the game using a Razer V3 Hypersense, but Corsair’s cans helped provide a wireless break from the wonderful horrors of haptic feedback.

Naturally, the HS65 caters to gaming wants and needs, but it really holds up as a Spotify daily driver. As I’ve said in numerous other headset reviews, while you should never expect audiophile levels of fidelity, blasting the new Fall Out Boy singles using Corsair’s cans is a pure joy thanks to well-balanced bass, mids, and treble.

Using the headset’s 2.4GHz with a Windows PC means you’ll be able to use Corsair’s iCue software, which boasts equaliser settings and ‘SoundID personalisation’. That latter feature aims to create a fine-tuned profile using feedback, but just like with the HS65 Surround, I can’t seem to get it to please my ears. I tend to just stick with ordinary EQ presets, but that’s not to say the tool won’t be to your tastes.

Of course, mic quality is equally important, even if a headset will never compete with the best gaming microphone. I’m willing to eat my words with the last statement, but the HS65 Wireless certainly isn’t going to put your fancy streaming setup to shame. I’m not disappointed with Corsair’s mic this time around, and it provides perfectly serviceable capture quality for team chat and calls. However, it does fall slightly short compared to the HS65 Surround, as it’s every so slightly tinny compared to its corded counterpart.

I tend to use the original HS65 while playing Steam Deck, so I swapped it out for a week to check out the wireless version’s Bluetooth capabilities. Thankfully, it provided a similar experience, so I didn’t have to trade away quality while exploring my Steam library on the go. You’ll miss out on the low latency provided by 2.4GHz, but I’d argue that’s not entirely necessary when playing on a portable PC or other devices like your phone.

Battery life

Using the HS65 Wireless headset on Steam Deck provided me with an opportunity to put Corsair’s battery life claims to the test, as the peripheral maker says it’ll endure a full 24 hours of gameplay. I managed to dip in and out of Dead Space 2 on Steam Deck in multiple spurts over the course of a weekend and still have the juice to spare, so the company’s facts seem to line up.

Battery life while using the 2.4GHz wireless dongle also holds up, and I’ve yet to feel cheated by the headset’s daily longevity. As someone who regularly forgets to plug in devices, I’m also pleased with how much juice the headset gets from a 15-minute charge time, as it gives me a chance to repent for my forgetfulness.

I can say in good faith that while the Corsair HS65 Wireless isn’t perfect, it deserves a place at the best wireless gaming headset table. Not only does it embrace everything that was great about its stylish wired sibling, but it offers excellent gaming audio quality and respectable battery life to boot.

I do feel like Corsair could reach new headset heights by implementing small changes like a removable mic, as the HS65 Wireless almost has what it takes to challenge fashionable alternatives. Nevertheless, the new version still absolutely slaps, and it’s a winner for anyone who can’t abide wires.