How to Connect Your Surface to a Printer
Microsoft Surface tablets running Windows 8 Pro can connect with just about any printer that works with your desktop PC. Surface tablets with Windows RT, by contrast, are pickier about their printers. [more…]
How to Connect Bluetooth Accessories to Your Surface
When you’re running out of room to plug in USB accessories to your Microsoft Surface tablet, Bluetooth is your friend. Bluetooth works much like Wi-Fi, but it specializes in connecting gadgets that live [more…]
Connect a Digital Camera to Your Surface and Import Photos
Windows makes it easy to import your camera’s photos onto your Surface, where they shine on the big screen. And you can do it all from the Start screen, making it an easy task to perform while in the field [more…]
Connect Your Surface to a Monitor, HDTV, or Digital Projector
The screen on your Surface is larger than an iPad, but it’s probably smaller than your desktop PC’s monitor. That doesn’t mean you’re stuck with your Surface’s small screen, though. Your Surface includes [more…]
Four Ways to Use an Attached Monitor with Your Surface
After you’ve connected your Surface to a monitor with the right cable, you need to tell your Surface exactly how to send its image. Windows offers you four options, and you can see them by following these [more…]
Three Ways to Add Portable Storage to Your Surface
Your Surface’s drive is speedy but tiny, especially when compared to today’s desktop PCs, which usually include more than 300 GB of storage space. Because apps can be installed only on your Surface’ internal [more…]
Connect Your Surface to Built-In Memory Cards
Your Microsoft Surface tablet includes a special slot for sliding in a tiny memory card. Many cell phones accept the same type of memory card: microSD, microSDHC, or microSDXC. [more…]
Connect Your Surface to Portable Hard Drives and Flash Drives
If you own a large music or video collection, your Surface’s hard drive won’t be large enough. Only one gadget can handle the job: a portable hard drive, like the one shown here. [more…]
Connect Your Surface to the Cloud with SkyDrive
Your Surface’s drive is speedy but tiny, especially when compared to today’s desktop PCs, which usually include more than 300 GB of storage space. Because apps can be installed only on your Surface’ internal [more…]
Tips for Using the Trackpad on Your Surface Keyboard
Both the Touch and the Type keyboards for the Microsoft Surface tablet include a trackpad below the keyboard. Chances are you won’t use it much: It’s easier to simply touch the Surface to do what you want [more…]
Use the Start Screen of Your Surface with a Mouse and Keyboard
If you plan on using the Desktop app to crank out some serious work on your Microsoft Surface computer, you’ll want to attach your Surface’s keyboard or plug in a mouse and keyboard. The mouse and keyboard [more…]
Change Your Sign-In Account on Your Surface
You may want to change the account you use to sign in on your Surface. For example, you may want to sign on with the same account you use for your Xbox, or you may want to switch to a newly remembered [more…]
Customize Your Surface through PC Settings
The Surface's Start screen’s control panel, called the PC Settings screen, lets you polish off your Surface’s rough edges. Each section in the PC Settings screen lets you customize a different area of [more…]
Surface's General Settings Tab
Although this section of Surface's settings area sounds the most boring, you just might spend most of your time here. Here are a few gems, as well as a few misleading items: [more…]
How to Back Up Your Surface
Your Surface does a remarkable job of backing up itself. Your Microsoft account remembers how you personalize your Surface, as well as the settings you change. It also remembers your e-mail accounts, calendar [more…]
How to Fix Problem Apps on Your Surface
Occasionally, your Surface either misbehaves or falls ill. There are several possible treatment plans for apps that are not working quite right, as well as a few tweaks to solve specific problems. [more…]
How to Refresh Your Surface
Refreshing is a good option to try when you're having problems with your Surface. When your Surface isn’t working correctly, you can tell it to reinstall its operating system, but save your files. It’s [more…]
How to Reset Your Surface
Resetting is a last-resort option that wipes your Surface completely clean, removing everything. When it wakes back up, it behaves like it was just removed from its shiny new box. It’s a drastic measure [more…]
How to Take Notes with OneNote on Your Surface
A computerized three-ring tabbed binder, Microsoft’s OneNote organizes your notes on your Surface. It’s not picky, letting you add notes in any form: typed by hand, copied from websites, recorded as audio [more…]
Print Your Document in Office on Your Surface
It’s no coincidence that the Surface with Windows RT includes a free, installed copy of Microsoft's Office Home and Student 2013 RT. Printing a document with any of those popular programs — Word, PowerPoint [more…]
Open an Office Document on the Surface
Whether you want to create a new document, open an existing one, or start working from a template, follow these steps to open a document in Word, Excel, or PowerPoint: [more…]
How to Save Your Work on Your Surface
Your Surface with Windows RT can read, save, and create Office files stored nearly anywhere: on your Surface, a flash drive, a networked PC, or on SkyDrive [more…]
Ten Tips and Tricks for Surface
With the Surface, the hard part is limiting it to just ten tips and tricks. After paring down the list from twenty, here are 10 essential tips ‘n’ tricks to wring the most out of your Surface. [more…]
Make the Surface Desktop Icons Larger
Although the Desktop app looks like a normal Windows desktop, don’t forget it’s just an app. And, as with all other apps, you still have the Charms bar at your disposal, making it easy to jump between [more…]
Manage Files and Folders on Your Surface
Surface does not use the earlier versions of Windows, with a program named Windows Explorer that let you view your computer’s files and storage spaces, shuffling files between them as necessary. [more…]
