Information Technology Services

If there are apps you use often, you can make sure they’re easily available with a single click.

Microsoft offers step-by-step instructions for pinning apps in Windows 10, and Apple has made it equally easy to add apps to the Dock in macOS. Even Chromebooks give you an easy way to add apps to the ChromeOS shelf.

You can use this for major apps, like a web browser, Google Meet, or word processing software, or even for convenient, quick apps like a notepad app or a calculator. This can save you time digging through menus and folders to get to the apps you use most.

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You may have noticed that what Google Chat used to call “Rooms” is now called “Spaces”. So far, the change has been subtle. For instance, in your Gmail window in a browser you might find something like this in the sidebar:

You’ll see something very similar if you go to a separate Chat window as well. In the mobile app, it will look something like this:

However, it’s more than a name change. Over time, Google will add more features to Spaces. Spaces will also seamlessly integrate with Calendar, Drive, Tasks and other Google Workspace services to allow for better collaboration and communication.

Learn more about Google Spaces.

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When you will be away from the office for an extended period of time, there are several steps you can take to help ease the process.

• For instance, you can set up a vacation responder in your email, to let people know that you’re unavailable and what their options are.
• There are various steps you can take for managing voicemail while you’re out.
• If you use a personal device to check email, you can turn off notifications for your work accounts. Here’s how to do that on Android devices and Chromebooks, iPhone and iPad, Mac, and Windows.
• Add “Out of Office” events and set your work hours in Google Calendar to automatically decline calendar invites during your absence.

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Last week’s Tech Tip provided info on taking and editing screenshots in Windows using Snip & Sketch. But what about people using Macs and Chromebooks?

Apple Support offers clear instructions on how to take screenshots in macOS. Macworld also gives you a rundown on how to edit your screenshots on a Mac.

Chromebook users can check out Google’s own guide to screenshots in ChromeOS. Once you’ve taken your screenshot, ChromeOS offers a basic photo editor to make simple edits.

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Today’s tech tip comes courtesy of TechGumbo. Here’s a quick tutorial about using the Snip & Sketch feature to take and edit screenshots in Windows 10.

Next week we’ll cover taking and editing screenshots in macOS and ChromeOS.

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Have you ever been certain you received an email (or sent one), but you aren’t sure how to find it so you can view it again?

Fortunately, your Allegheny account with Gmail offers you a rich variety of ways to search for those, using the search bar at the top of your Gmail inbox page. Here are just a few:

• You can search by date if you know when the email was likely to have been sent. This can be especially useful if you want to delete messages older than a specific date.
• If you use labels in Gmail to organize your messages, you can filter by specific labels.
• You can use the Advanced Search to find email messages that have attachments.
• You can check your spam folder for messages that might have been mislabeled as spam.
• You can use search operators to conduct sharply focused searches.

There are many more ways to conduct a search in Gmail. Visit the Gmail Help Center to learn more about searching in Gmail.

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If your organization or department is still using the classic Google Sites service for a web page, please remember to transition to the new Google Sites interface before the end of the year. Google will phase out classic Sites with new Sites, with updated features and a new interface.

Here are the steps to convert a classic Google Site to use new Google Sites:

1. Open your Google Site.
2. Click on the Settings icon (the little gear in the upper right corner.)
   
3. Choose Manage site.
4. In the side menu, choose Convert to new Sites.
   
5. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the conversion.
6. Note that you will need to do this for each individual Google Site you maintain.