Microsoft Products Articles

Article / Updated 08-28-2023

In Excel 2013, you can insert and delete individual cells or even ranges that don’t neatly correspond to entire rows or columns. When you do so, the surrounding cells shift. In the case of an insertion, cells move down or to the right of the area where the new cells are being inserted. In the case of a deletion, cells move up or to the left to fill in the voided space. Deleting a cell is different from clearing a cell’s content, and this becomes apparent when you start working with individual cells and ranges. When you clear the content, the cell itself remains. When you delete the cell itself, the adjacent cells shift. When shifting cells, Excel is smart enough that it tries to guess which direction you want existing content to move when you insert or delete cells. If you have content immediately to the right of a deleted cell, for example, Excel shifts it left. If you have content immediately below the deleted cell, Excel shifts it up. You can still override that, though, as needed. In the following exercise, you insert and delete cells. In the Lesson 5 Mortgage file from the preceding exercise, select A1:A6 and then choose Home→Delete. Excel guesses that you want to move the existing content to the left, and it does so. Click cell A1, and choose Home→Insert. Excel guesses that you want to move the existing content down, which is incorrect. The content in column B is off by one row, as shown in this figure. Press Ctrl+Z to undo the insertion; then from the Home tab, click the down arrow to the right of the Insert button and choose Insert Cells. The Insert dialog box opens, as shown. Select Shift Cells Right and then click OK. A new cell A1 is inserted, and the previous A1 content moves into B1. Save the changes to the workbook.

Article / Updated 08-17-2023

Word 2016 permits you to use wildcard operators in searches. A wildcard operator is a character that represents characters in a search expression. Wildcards aren't for everybody. Using them requires a certain amount of expertise, but after you know how to use them, wildcards can be invaluable in searches and macros. The following table explains the wildcard operators that you can use in searches. Click the Use Wildcards check box if you want to search using wildcards. Wildcards for Searches Operator What It Finds Example ? Any single character b?t finds bat, bet, bit, and but. * Zero or more characters t*o finds to, two, and tattoo. [xyz] A specific character, x, y, or z t[aeiou]pper finds tapper, tipper, and topper. [x-z] A range of characters, x through z [1-4]000 finds 1000, 2000, 3000, and 4000, but not 5000. [!xy] Not the specific character or characters, xy p[!io]t finds pat and pet, but not pit or pot. < Characters at the beginning of words finds information, infomaniac, and infomercial. > Characters at the end of words ese> finds these, journalese, and legalese. @@ One or more instances of the previous character sho@@t finds shot and shoot. {n} Exactly n instances of the previous character sho{2}t finds shoot but not shot. {n,} At least n instances of the previous character ^p{3,} finds three or more paragraph breaks in a row, but not a single paragraph break or two paragraph breaks in a row. {n,m} From n to m instances of the previous character 10{2,4} finds 100, 1000, and 10000, but not 10 or 100000. You can't conduct a whole-word-only search with a wildcard. For example, a search for f*s not only finds fads and fits but also all text strings that begin with f and end with s, such as for the birds. Wildcard searches can yield many, many results and are sometimes useless. To search for an asterisk (*), question mark (?), or other character that serves as a wildcard search operator, place a backslash () before it in the text box.

Article / Updated 08-03-2023

Giving people a chance to fly without all the time, money, and risk that goes into actual piloting makes flight-simulator video games such a fun and rewarding experience. Microsoft Flight Simulator is currently the best of its kind for casual players and hardcore enthusiasts alike. Currently, you can purchase three different versions of Flight Simulator: the Standard, Deluxe, and Premium Deluxe editions. Differences among editions include the number and type of available airports and aircraft, and of course, the price. Even the Standard version of Flight Simulator includes around 37,000 airports! Other good news is that the game is largely the same across platforms (PC and Xbox series), so you won’t compromise the experience when it comes to choosing the platform you want to play on. What platforms can you use to play Microsoft Flight Simulator? Flight Simulator originally debuted as a PC-only title when it first released in August 2020. It also received a special virtual-reality version in December 2020, the first time any flight simulator had done so. Though it remained a PC exclusive title for some time, on July 27, 2021, Flight Simulator debuted on Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S. The game likely won’t be available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, or Nintendo Switch in the near future, given that it’s a Microsoft-owned property. So, if you’re interested in playing, you need to have a PC or Xbox series platform. Here are a couple of thoughts for your platform choice: On an Xbox: You may find that picking up an Xbox console (if you don’t already have one) makes playing the game simpler. Flight Simulator is highly playable on Xbox consoles and may be more accessible for those who aren’t comfortable configuring PC games and software. On a PC: Flight Simulator can be quite demanding on computers that don’t have pricey gaming equipment. On the other hand, you can expect awesome graphics if you play on a gaming PC that has the latest and greatest graphic card and processor. Which version should you buy? Each version of Flight Simulator differs in scope of content, such as airplanes and airports. The versions (depicted below) are priced in tiers, and depending on the experience you want from the game, you can expect more or less content based on how much you’re willing to pay. Hey, becoming a pilot isn’t cheap! Here’s a quick reference guide to what each version contains: Standard Edition: The base version of the game. It comes with 20 different planes and 30 enhanced airports, and it retails for $59.99 (USD, 2023). Deluxe Edition: This version of the game comes with everything in the Standard Edition, plus five additional enhanced airports and five additional airplanes. It retails for $89.99 (USD, 2023). The enhanced airports included are: Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (Netherlands) Cairo International Airport (Egypt) Cape Town International Airport (South Africa) O’Hare International Airport (USA) Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas Airport (Spain) The additional airplanes included are: Diamond Aircraft DA40-TDI Diamond Aircraft DV20 Textron Aviation Inc. Beechcraft Baron G58 Textron Aviation Inc. Cessna 152 Aerobat Textron Aviation Inc. Cessna 172 Skyhawk Premium Deluxe Edition: This version of the game comes with everything that the Deluxe Edition includes, as well as five more enhanced airports and another five airplanes. It retails for $119.99 (USD, 2023). The enhanced airports included are: Denver International Airport (USA) Dubai International Airport (UAE) Frankfurt Airport (Germany) Heathrow Airport (UK) San Francisco International Airport (USA) The additional planes included are: Boeing Company 787-10 Dreamliner Cirrus Aircraft SR22 Pipistrel Virus SW 121 Textron Aviation Inc. Cessna Citation Longitude Zlin Aviation Shock Ultra If you decide that you want to upgrade to the Deluxe or Premium Deluxe editions later on, you just have to pay the difference on the platform of your choice. You can download the additional content you were missing to the installation you already have. No pressure! Wait, what are enhanced airports? Don’t confuse the small number of enhanced airports in the different versions of the game with the total number of airports that you can fly out of (around 37,000). More enhanced airports come with the Deluxe and Premium Deluxe versions, which means you get adapted constructions of airports (for example, Chicago O’Hare) that are more true-to-life than what they’d normally be in-game. Game designers handcraft an enhanced airport from the ground up to look exactly like the locations in question; the standard, procedurally generated airports aren’t nearly as detailed. So, if you have a soft spot in your heart for the San Francisco International Airport, you might want to pick up the version of the game that includes its enhanced version so that you can see it just like it looks in your mind’s eye. The enhanced airports may end up making it a much more exciting game to jump into — and you want to get the most out of your money, of course! What do you need to get started? Depending on which version of Flight Simulator you plan on playing, the answer to what you need varies. For the most part, whether you’re playing on PC, Xbox Series X, or Xbox Series S, you need only a copy of the game, your platform of choice, and some type of input. Your input can be a mouse and keyboard, game controller (I recommend an Xbox controller if you have one), or flight stick. Obviously, you can find a wide variety of all these things. But if you want to use a controller, you can simply use the Xbox gamepad that comes with your Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S by default. Otherwise, you need your sense of adventure and a little patience. Rome wasn’t built in a day. You can’t earn your fictional pilot’s license in a day, either. You have a lot to learn, but don’t get discouraged. As with all things, practice makes perfect, and the more time you spend learning to fly, the more you retain. The more you retain, the better you perform. The better you perform, the more you want to fly. And then, before you know it, you might want to try your luck behind the controls of a real plane! You might want to; not me. I’m still a little too terrified. Heights are not my thing.

Article / Updated 08-03-2023

To successfully fly in Microsoft Flight Simulator, you need to know how to use the various instruments included in your cockpit. At first, getting to know and understand each instrument may seem confusing. But, with a little time and guidance, you can discover what every instrument does, as well as how to read it during flight. The instruments in Flight Simulator can tell you how fast you’re going (airspeed), how high up you are (altitude), and other vital information you need to know, such as the direction you’re flying (your current heading). Flight Simulator has two primary types of cockpits that you can become acquainted with: An analog cockpit relies on analog instruments that appear as dials and gauges and rely on mechanical measurements to display information. You need to know how to read the various needles and indicators that relay these measurements. A glass cockpit relies on multiple electronic panels to sift through and display important information to you digitally during flight. This means you’ll get a direct readout rather than you having to interpret analog dials and gauges. Reading analog instruments Many of the planes in Flight Simulator have analog cockpits, especially the older planes. In fact, many of the planes that you fly during the game’s tutorial lessons rely on analog instruments for vital information such as heading, altitude, and so on. For that reason alone, you need to know how to read analog instruments early on in your career with Flight Simulator. However, some planes are hybrids with a combination of analog and digital systems. For example, the Cessna 172 includes a digital radio and navigation system but uses analog gauges for nearly everything else. Coming to terms with the instruments in your aircraft is about identifying each panel — where it is and what it does. Although a cockpit may look daunting at first, knowing the basics of each instrument (position and function) can make your flights easier in the long run. Overall, the exact layout, functionality, and appearance of instruments may vary depending on your aircraft. However, several fundamental instrument types are in each cockpit, so get acquainted with them. For this example, I present the cockpit of a Cessna 152, as shown below. The callouts in the figure above correspond with some of the instruments in this list: Airspeed indicator: Displays your airspeed (how fast you’re traveling), measured in knots (which is one nautical mile per hour). Pay special attention to this instrument during flight because aircraft are very sensitive to speed. For example, unlike cars, which will just stop in one place if you run out of speed, an airplane will drop like a rock. This situation is obviously bad for the pilot. The white lines on the airspeed indicator signal that you can extend the flaps at those speeds. Remember that the higher the speed, the lower the tilt (using the rudders to pivot the plane up or down). The green line marks the speed range in which you can safely tilt the rudders at their full range of movement. The yellow range means you’re quickly approaching the limit of the plane’s structural strength. Attitude indicator: Shows the current orientation of the plane in space. You make use of this instrument when you have to fly based on your instruments to ensure your angle of approach does not exceed recommendations. The brown portion in this indicator signifies the ground, and the blue part indicates the sky. Altimeter: Shows you the current ceiling (meaning the maximum density altitude an aircraft can reach) in feet or meters. Keep in mind that the altimeter measures the elevation of your craft Above Sea Level (ASL). Just because you’re on the ground doesn’t mean that you have an altimeter value of zero. When your craft is on the ground, the altimeter shows a value of anywhere from a few hundred feet to several thousand feet, depending on the elevation above sea level of the airport you’re currently visiting. Before takeoff, tune the altimeter to the barometric pressure at the airport’s location. Throttle RPM meter: Shows you the current revolutions per minute (RPMs) of the plane’s engine. Flaps control: Controls the flaps on the rear of the wings. Essentially, you can adjust these mechanisms to provide more load-bearing force — allowing the plane to take off from a shorter distance — or keep the plane airborne at a low speed. Additionally, flaps may be used to slow down the plane. Fuel Mixture control: Regulates how much fuel is injected into the engine. You need to reduce or increase the ratio of fuel to air being injected, depending on the altitude and density of the air that you’re flying through. Throttle: The throttle is pretty self-explanatory; it’s essentially your gas pedal. It controls the amount of fuel and air that is being injected into the engine. The more open the throttle, the more power the engine produces. Unlike cars, which have a gearbox to transfer power to the wheels, airplanes are direct drive, which means an increase in throttle always manifests as a higher RPM. Pitch Trim: By far one of the most important mechanisms in the cockpit. When set correctly, it allows the plane to fly without the pilot having to continuously hold the steering bar (also called the yoke). You may need to make adjustments to the pitch trim (which maneuvers the aircraft elevators) constantly throughout the flight in order to maintain altitude or a steady climb or decent. Vertical Speed indicator: Showcases the current speed of ascent or descent. It measures your plane’s speed in feet per minute. This instrument never sticks rigidly in one place; expect it to fluctuate. When landing or ascending, the standard rate of speed on this instrument varies from plane to plane. Current Heading: Shows the aircraft’s current heading course throughout the flight. The heading is essentially the direction that the aircraft is traveling relative to the magnetic north. The cardinal headings include: North at 360 or 0 degrees East at 90 degrees South at 180 degrees West at 270 degrees The Current Heading indicator itself gets input from a gyroscope, so you can expect it to show the wrong direction when not calibrated properly. Unfortunately, it becomes misaligned by itself often, and you need to calibrate it throughout your flight by resetting it every 10 to 15 minutes and ensuring it lines up with your compass. Parking brake: The parking brake is exactly what it sounds like. Use it at every takeoff and taxi situation to avoid any issues with air traffic control. Remember, when your aircraft’s engine is on, it generates thrust, even at idle. If you don’t make sure your parking brake is on, you may look down to hit a switch and find you’re rolling along.

Article / Updated 06-07-2023

To share Excel 2019 workbooks from your OneDrive, you follow these steps: Open the workbook file you want to share in Excel 2019 and then click the Share button at the far right of the row with the Ribbon. If you’ve not yet saved the workbook on your OneDrive, a Share dialog box appears inviting you to upload the workbook file to OneDrive. Once you have clicked the OneDrive button and the file is uploaded to the cloud, the Share dialog box changes into the Send Link dialog box (similar to the one shown in the figure) where you specify the people with whom to share the file. Begin typing the name or e-mail address of the first person with whom you want to share the workbook in the text box with the insertion point. When Excel finds a match to the person’s name in your Outlook address book or verifies the e-mail address you entered, click the button below this text box to add this recipient. (Optional) Click the Anyone with This Link Can Edit drop-down button to open the Link Settings dialog box where you can modify the people for whom the link works, deny editing privileges to those with whom you share the file, and/or set an expiration date after which the link is no longer operational before clicking the Apply button. By default, Excel 2019 creates a sharing link that enables anyone who can access the workbook file online access to the file even when they are not logged into Office 365 or OneDrive. To restrict access to only coworkers in your company who are logged into Office 365, click the People in <organization> option (where organization is the name of your company as in People in Mind Over Media, the name of my company). To restrict the file sharing to only those to whom you’ve given prior access to the workbook file or its folder on your SharePoint site, click the People with Existing Access option. To create a sharing link that only particular people can use, click the Specific People option before you click the Apply button. Then, in the Send Link dialog box, click the ellipsis (…) to the right of the Send Link title and click Manage Access on the drop-menu to open the Permissions dialog box where you select the names of the people with whom to share the workbook file before you click the back arrow button to return to the Send Link dialog box. By default, Excel allows the people with whom you share your workbooks to make editing changes to the workbook that are automatically saved on your OneDrive. If you want to restrict your recipients to reviewing the data without being able to make changes, be sure to click the Allow Editing check box to remove its check mark before you click Apply. If you wish to set an expiration date after which the sharing link is no longer operational, click the Set Expiration Date button to open the pop-up calendar where you select an expiration date by clicking it in the calendar. After selecting the expiration date, click somewhere in the dialog box to close the pop-up calendar and enter the date in the Link Settings dialog box. (Optional) Click the Add a Message text box and type any personal message that you want to incorporate as part of the e-mail with the generic invitation to share the file.By default, Excel creates a generic invitation. After adding all the recipients with whom you wish to share the workbook file in this manner, click the Send button in the Send Link pane.As soon as you click this Share button, Excel e-mails the invitation to share the workbook to each of the recipients. All the people with whom you share a workbook receive an e-mail message containing a hyperlink to the workbook on your OneDrive. When they follow this link (and sign into the site if this is required), a copy of the workbook opens on a new page in their default web browser using the Excel Online web app. If you’ve given the user permission to edit the file, the web app contains an Edit Workbook drop-down button. When the coworkers with whom you’ve shared the workbook click this button in Excel Online, they have a choice between choosing the Edit in Excel or Edit in Excel Online option from its drop-down menu. When the user chooses Edit in Excel, the workbook is downloaded and opened in his version of Excel. When the user chooses Edit in Excel Online, the browser opens the workbook in a new version of the Excel Online, containing Home, Insert, Data, Review, and View tabs, each with a more limited set of command options than Excel 2019, which you can use in making any necessary changes and which are automatically saved to workbook on the OneDrive when you close Excel Online. While sharing a workbook with the default Anyone Can Edit option, all changes made by the people with whom you’ve shared the workbook are automatically saved by the AutoSave feature. If you happen to have the workbook open in Excel 2019 on your computer with the same worksheet displayed, their editing changes automatically appear in your worksheet (in as close to real time as the speed of your Internet access provides). Likewise, all the editing changes that you make to the workbook in Excel 2019 are automatically updated in their workbooks in Excel Online. Microsoft refers to this process as co-authoring. If a questionable editing change appears in your worksheet when co-authoring with a coworker, add a comment to the cell containing the edit-in-question (Review-->New Comment) that communicates your reservations about the change they made. A small balloon then appears above the cell where you made the comment in the user’s worksheet in Excel Online. When the coworker clicks this balloon, Excel Online displays the text of your comment calling into question their edit in a Comments task pane. They can then reply to your reservations by typing their explanation for the change in the same comment in this task pane and then updating it in your workbook by clicking the Post button or they can just go ahead and make any necessary updates reflecting your reservations directly in the worksheet in Excel Online.

Article / Updated 06-07-2023

Excel can help you make all sorts of calculations. Here's a selection of Excel's statistical worksheet functions. Each one returns a value into a selected cell. Check out these functions for central tendency and variability. Function What it calculates AVERAGE Mean of a set of numbers AVERAGEIF Mean of a set of numbers that meet a condition AVERAGEIFS Mean of a set of numbers that meet one or more conditions HARMEAN Harmonic mean of a set of positive numbers GEOMEAN Geometric mean of a set of positive numbers MODE.SNGL Mode of a set of numbers MEDIAN Median of a set of numbers VAR.P Variance of a set of numbers considered to be a population VAR.S Variance of a set of numbers considered to be a sample STDEV.P Standard deviation of a set of numbers considered to be a population STDEV.S Standard deviation of a set of numbers considered to be a sample STANDARDIZE A standard score based on a given mean and standard deviation These handy functions for relative standing can also be very useful. Function What it calculates RANK.EQ Rank of a number in a set of numbers. If more than one number has the same rank, it returns the top rank of those numbers. RANK.AVG Rank of a number in a set of numbers. If more than one number has the same rank, it returns their average. PERCENTRANK.INC Rank of a number in a set of numbers, expressed as a percent of the numbers it's greater than or equal to. PERCENTRANT.EXC Rank of a number in a set of numbers, expressed as a percent of the numbers it's greater than. PERCENTILE.INC The indicated percentile in a set of numbers, in terms of "greater than or equal to." PERCENTILE.EXC The indicated percentile in a set of numbers, in terms of "greater than." QUARTILE.INC The 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th quartile of a set of numbers, in terms of "greater than or equal to." QUARTILE.EXC The 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th quartile of a set of numbers, in terms of "greater than." These functions for correlation and regression are also good ones to know. Function What it Calculates CORREL Correlation coefficient between two sets of numbers PEARSON Same as CORREL. (Go figure!) RSQ Coefficient of determination between two sets of numbers (square of the correlation coefficient) SLOPE Slope of a regression line through two sets of numbers INTERCEPT Intercept of a regression line through two sets of numbers STEYX Standard error of estimate for a regression line through two sets of numbers

Step by Step / Updated 06-05-2023

In PowerPoint 2016, a hyperlink is simply a bit of text or a graphic image that you can click when viewing a slide to summon another slide, another presentation, or perhaps some other type of document, such as a Word document or an Excel spreadsheet. The hyperlink may also lead to a page on the web. Adding a hyperlink to a presentation is easy. Just follow these steps:

Article / Updated 04-17-2023

The Artistic Effects command in PowerPoint 2013 applies one of several special filters to your picture in an effort to make the picture look like it was created by an artist rather than photographed with a $60 digital camera. Depending on the nature of the original picture, the results may or may not be convincing; the only way to find out is to try. Here is a list of the artistic effects that are available on the Artistic Effects button: Marker Pencil Grayscale Pencil Sketch Line Drawing Chalk Sketch Paint Strokes Paint Brush Glow Diffused Blur Light Screen Watercolor Sponge Film Grain Mosaic Bubbles Glass Cement Texturizer Crisscross Etching Pastels Smooth Plastic Wrap Cutout Photocopy Glow Edges To apply one of these effects, simply double-click the picture, click the Artistic Effects button on the Picture Tools Format tab, and choose the effect you want from the gallery. To give you an idea of what these effects can accomplish, this figure shows how a photograph appears with the Pencil Sketch, Watercolor Sponge, and Plastic Wrap filters applied.

Article / Updated 04-14-2023

By touching a couple of keys in combination in Office 2016 programs, you can save time with simple tasks, such as copying text from one place and pasting it somewhere else. The keyboard shortcuts included here work equally well in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2016. Both mouse and keyboard methods are provided here. To do this With the mouse With the keyboard Open a file File→Open Ctrl+O Create a new file File→New Ctrl+N Print active document File→Print Ctrl+P Save your work (first time), or resave with same settings File→Save Ctrl+S Save your work with different name, location, or type File→Save As F12 Copy selection to Clipboard Home→ Copy Ctrl+C Cut selection to Clipboard Home→ Cut Ctrl+X Paste selection to Clipboard Home→ Paste Ctrl+V Open the Paste Special dialog box Home→Paste→Paste Special Ctrl+Shift+V Display shortcut menu for selected item Right-click item Shift+F10 Left-align a paragraph Home→ Left Align Ctrl+L Center a paragraph Home→ Center Ctrl+E Right-align a paragraph Home→ Right Align Ctrl+R Make text bold Home→ Bold Ctrl+B Make text italicized Home→ Italic Ctrl+I Make text underlined Home→Underline Ctrl+U Make text larger Home→Increase Font Size Ctrl+> Make text smaller Home→Decrease Font Size Ctrl+< Undo previous action Undo button on Quick Access toolbar Ctrl+Z Redo previous Undo Redo button on Quick Access toolbar Ctrl+Y Insert hyperlink Insert→Hyperlink Ctrl+K Get help Type in Tellme what you want to do box F1 Close the active file File→Close Ctrl+F4 Close the application Close button on application window Alt+F4 Check spelling Review→Spelling F7

Article / Updated 03-15-2023

Like real-world flying, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 has a seemingly never-ending bag of tricks. Despite being an incredibly realistic sim, don’t forget that Flight Simulator is also a game — and there are always secrets and hints in games. These tips can make hopping into the cockpit and exploring the virtual world a little easier for beginners — and maybe even a bit more fun, too! Even a seasoned Flight Simulator veteran might find these tricks worth retaining, especially if you plan to play the game for many moons to come. For more information related to these tips, check out my book Microsoft Flight Simulator For Dummies. Start in midair Did you know you can completely skip the takeoff sequence? It's true, and you may prefer starting in midair if you want to (initially) avoid what can be a lengthy learning experience. To start your flights already in midair, follow these steps: Go to the World Map. Left-click or press A anywhere on the World Map that isn't an airport. Choose the Set As Departure option from the pop-up menu shown in the figure below. Press the Fly button in the lower right of the screen to start your flight. When you complete these steps, you can begin your journey at around 1,500 feet in the air. Find animals quickly How do you find animals so that you can get up close and personal? You can actually seek them out in a very simple way, and it only takes a few seconds. Follow these steps to get all the animal experiences you crave: Go to the World Map. Type the word "fauna" in the search bar (found on the left side of the screen) and click the Search icon. Click to choose your next destination from the list of locations that feature animals. After you start your flight and you’re on your way to the chosen destination, access the Pause menu by pressing Escape or the Menu button. Click the Assistance tab. Click the Navigation menu and find the Fauna Markers option. Click to toggle on the option. Markers appear on the map to show where you can find animals along your route. You need to decide which animals you want to find, but with Fauna Markers turned on, this decision becomes less of a headache. Refuel your aircraft anywhere In Flight Simulator, you can refuel while flying without missing a beat. You just need to change your keybindings (options that are tied to a specific input device key or key combination), but that change doesn't take very long. Just follow these steps: Access the Pause Menu and click the Controls tab. In the Controls Options window that appears (see below), choose the input type that you’re using. You can choose from Keyboard, Mouse, or Controller. Scroll down the resulting list of options and select the Repair and Refuel keybinding option. If you don’t want to scroll, you can type Repair and Refuel in the search bar in the left column of the Controls Options window, as shown in the figure below. Choose a key on your input device to which you want to bind the Repair and Refuel option. Press escape or the Menu button to exit the Pause menu screen. After you follow the preceding steps, you should still be in midair. You can press the key you just selected to instantly repair any issues with your aircraft that might be plaguing you at present, as well as receive an automatic refueling. You don't need to do anything special after that. Your gas gauge should be full once more! Turn off satellite overlay You can toggle on an instrument flight rules (IFR) view that may mitigate potential issues with locating landmarks. When you use IFR view, you get a plain gray map that makes it a lot easier to see things like distance between points at a glance. To turn on IFR view in the World Map, follow these steps: From the main screen open the World Map. Choose the Open Filters option that appears in the shortcut bar in the lower part of your screen. A window appears, as shown below, where you can scroll through filter options. Click the arrows to the left and right of the Background Map option to toggle the IFR option to replace Satellite. After following the preceding steps, you should have a better, more granular view of the Earth below. Explore outside the plane Did you know you can leave the plane in midair to look at the world around you? No, you aren't physically exiting the plane. But using a feature called Active Pause, you can take a look at your surroundings without having to land. Active Pause stops your plane right where it is, and you can explore your aircraft's cockpit, immediate surroundings in the air, or the entire world around you. Here's how to turn on Active Pause: Press Escape or the Menu button to go to the Pause menu, click on options, and click on the Assistance menu, which is shown in the figure below. Look for the Play/Pause icon on the toolbar that appears when you hover the mouse near the top of your screen. This icon represents a toggle for Active Pause. Click the Play/Pause icon to activate the Active Pause play mode. Toggling on the Active Pause mode activates a drone that you can maneuver using the standard aircraft controls on the keyboard or controller. You can explore to your heart's content without ruining your flight. And you don't even have to stop playing to do it! Explore the streets You may be playing a flight sim, but you still have plenty of ways to interact with the world around you. The same drone that allows you to exit the cockpit and travel around the world (during an Active Pause; see the preceding section) enables you to travel down to the streets and have a look around. It may take a bit of doing because your plane is fairly high up in the sky, but you absolutely can take your drone down to the streets (see below). Speed up your flight You can speed up the game's sim rate (the rate at which your flight proceeds along its route) in order to reach your destination more quickly. You can also fly to your endpoint more slowly if you want. You can adjust the sim rate up and down at your leisure. Follow these steps to adjust your game's sim rate if you’re playing on a PC: Press the R key on your keyboard. Hold the CTRL key and press either the plus (+) key or the minus (–) key on the number pad. As I’m sure you can guess, pressing + speeds up the sim rate and pressing – slows it down. Follow these steps to set your sim rate if you’re playing on a console: Press Escape or the Menu button to go to the Pause menu, select Options, and select Controls Options. From the Controls Options screen, as shown below, you need to assign a button for the sim rate. Type the search term sim rate in the search box on the left side of the Controls Options window, and then click the Search icon. Click to select the Sim Rate option. When prompted, choose a key or console button when prompted that you want to bind to your Sim Rate option. After following the preceding steps, you can adjust the sim rate on your console easily: Slow down: Press your chosen button and the left trigger. Speed up: Press your chosen button and the right trigger. By adjusting your sim rate, you can take those cross-country (or across-the-globe) flights in record time. Fast travel to flight phases If you don't care much for the lengthy cruise phase of a flight, you might opt to skip it entirely. You can do that. Instead of actively flying through the entire trip, you can fast travel to a phase that's more appealing to you. To use the Travel To option, just follow these steps: Press Escape or the Menu button to open your Pause menu. Click the Travel To button (which looks similar to a fast-forward button, as noted the figure below) to reveal your Travel To options. The Travel To window that appears lists the phases of your flight plan that you can choose from. The figure below shows Cruise, Descent, Approach, Final, and Taxi. Select the phase to which you want to fast travel. After you make your selection, your game skips to that phase. Hate taking off or cruising? Use this trick to skip past all of it! Customize your pilot avatar You're more than just your plane in Flight Simulator. You have a pilot avatar, too! You might not see your avatar much while playing the game (your view is as the avatar in the cockpit), but you do have a character that represents you. Plus, you can change what your avatar looks like. To customize your pilot avatar, follow these steps: Press Escape or the Menu button to open the Pause menu. Click Options and then General. In the General Options window that appears, click the Misc tab on the left. Under Pilot Avatar Settings, repeatedly click the forward or backward arrow beside the Pilot Avatar to scroll through your options. You can choose from 24 different pilot models. Find the one that suits you. The models appear on the right side of the General Options window, as shown below. When you find the avatar that matches your mood today, select it by making your choices and leaving the Misc menu. Now you can have a pilot that (hopefully) better represents you in the virtual world! Change your ATC call sign You can actually change your call sign, or title, that the air traffic control team uses to identify and address you over the radio. Follow these steps to customize your call sign: Press Escape or the Menu button to go to the Pause menu. Select the correct option to go to the World Map. Choose ATC Options by clicking on your airplane in the upper left part of the screen, then select Customization from the menu on the left column. In the text box next to Call Sign (see below), type in your desired call sign. For example, perhaps you’d like to be known as 8675309. Choose a fun call sign, but don't be naughty. The game doesn’t recognize profanity, so keep it G-rated (or you may be banned from online play). Save your choice by leaving the menu and return to your game. After you complete the preceding steps, ATC calls you by your desired call sign.