# Zepe > Step-by-step Windows 10 and Windows 11 guides that explain what each setting actually does, written for people who just want the thing fixed. Zepe publishes step-by-step guides for Windows 7, 10 and 11. Each guide opens with a direct two-to-three sentence answer, then explains the underlying mechanism before giving steps. Guides are written and maintained by Robert Moca, https://zepe.online/author/robert-moca. Editorial method and sourcing policy: https://zepe.online/editorial-standards. Every guide is also available as plain Markdown by appending `.md` to its URL — for example https://zepe.online/guides/show-hidden-files-windows.md. The complete text of every guide in one file is at https://zepe.online/llms-full.txt. ## Files and folders Guides for File Explorer: showing hidden files, hiding and protecting folders, clearing recent-file history, selecting in bulk, and opening unfamiliar file types. - [How to Show Hidden Files in Windows 10 and 11](https://zepe.online/guides/show-hidden-files-windows): Reveal hidden files and folders in File Explorer on Windows 7, 10 and 11 — including the protected system files the ordinary checkbox will not show. - [What Is Windows Explorer? File Explorer Explained](https://zepe.online/guides/what-is-windows-explorer): Windows Explorer is both the file manager and the Windows shell: the taskbar, Start menu and desktop. That is why restarting it fixes a frozen taskbar. - [How to Hide Folders in Windows 10 and 11](https://zepe.online/guides/hide-folders-windows-10): Hide a folder in Windows using the Hidden attribute or attrib +h +s, and an honest account of what hiding protects against, which is very little. - [How to Clear Recent Files in Windows 10 and 11](https://zepe.online/guides/clear-recent-files-windows): Clear Quick Access recent files and jump lists in Windows, and switch the history off permanently so you are not clearing the same list every week. - [How to Select Multiple Files in Windows](https://zepe.online/guides/select-multiple-files-windows): Select several files at once in File Explorer with Ctrl, Shift, marquee dragging, checkboxes and Invert selection — plus selecting by file type using search. - [How to Open .aae, .msg and .json Files on Windows](https://zepe.online/guides/open-aae-msg-json-files-windows): What .aae, .msg and .json files actually are, which ones are safe to delete, and how to open each one on Windows without installing anything. ## Desktop and display Brightness, screen scaling, icon size, wallpaper, dual monitors, screenshots and window-management shortcuts for Windows 10 and 11. - [Minimize, Maximize and Close Windows: Shortcuts](https://zepe.online/guides/minimize-maximize-close-windows-shortcuts): Every keyboard shortcut for minimizing, maximizing, snapping, switching and closing windows on Windows 10 and 11, and what each one does to a snapped window. - [How to Reduce Screen Brightness in Windows](https://zepe.online/guides/reduce-screen-brightness-windows): Lower screen brightness on Windows 7, 10 and 11 — plus why the brightness slider is missing on desktop PCs and how to fix it when it vanishes on a laptop. - [How to Take a Screenshot in Windows 7, 10 and 11](https://zepe.online/guides/take-screenshot-windows): Every way to take a screenshot on Windows — PrtScn, Alt + PrtScn, Win + Shift + S, Snipping Tool and Game Bar — with what each captures and where the file goes. - [How to Set Up Dual Monitors in Windows 10 and 11](https://zepe.online/guides/set-up-dual-monitors-windows-10): Connect and arrange two monitors in Windows, set per-monitor scaling and refresh rate, and work through the second-monitor-not-detected checklist. - [How to Change Desktop Icon Size in Windows 10](https://zepe.online/guides/change-desktop-icon-size-windows-10): Resize desktop icons with Ctrl and the scroll wheel, and work out whether the real problem is icon size, display scaling or the wrong screen resolution. - [How to Change Your Desktop Wallpaper in Windows](https://zepe.online/guides/change-desktop-wallpaper-windows): Change the desktop background in Windows 7, 10 and 11, set a different wallpaper per monitor, run a slideshow, and set one when Personalization is locked. - [How to Type ñ, Accents and Emoji on Windows](https://zepe.online/guides/type-accents-emoji-windows): Type ñ, é, ü and emoji on Windows without a numpad, using the emoji panel, the US-International keyboard layout, and Character Map. ## Accounts and security User accounts, administrator rights, passwords and PINs, Windows Defender, the firewall, and folder encryption on Windows 10 and 11. - [How to Password-Protect a Folder in Windows](https://zepe.online/guides/password-protect-folder-windows): The honest options for encrypting a folder on Windows Home and Pro — 7-Zip AES-256, BitLocker and EFS compared, and why the batch-file locker scripts do nothing. - [How to Turn Windows Defender On or Off](https://zepe.online/guides/turn-on-windows-defender): Turn Microsoft Defender real-time protection on or off, add folder exclusions, and understand why it switches itself back on after a restart. - [How to Turn Off the Windows Firewall](https://zepe.online/guides/turn-off-windows-firewall): Turn the Windows Defender Firewall off per network profile or with netsh, and why allowing a single app through is nearly always the better answer. - [How to Create a New User Account in Windows 10](https://zepe.online/guides/create-user-account-windows-10): Add a local or Microsoft account in Windows 10 and 11, including the offline-account workaround, and choose correctly between standard and administrator. - [How to Delete a User Account in Windows 10](https://zepe.online/guides/delete-user-account-windows-10): Remove a user account in Windows without losing their files, why you cannot delete the last administrator, and how to clean up the leftover profile folder. - [How to Change the Administrator Name in Windows 10](https://zepe.online/guides/change-administrator-name-windows-10): Rename a Windows account properly — display name, account name and the user profile folder are three different things, and only two of them are easy to change. - [How to Change Your Windows Password or PIN](https://zepe.online/guides/change-windows-password-and-pin): Change or remove a Windows 10 and 11 password or PIN, understand why a PIN is usually safer than a password, and what removing sign-in actually costs you. ## Network and devices Wi-Fi, Bluetooth pairing, MAC addresses and connecting an iPhone to a Windows PC, with the diagnostic steps that come before reinstalling a driver. - [How to Find Your MAC Address on Windows](https://zepe.online/guides/find-mac-address-windows): Find the MAC address of any Windows adapter with ipconfig /all, getmac or Settings, and why every adapter has its own, and randomised Wi-Fi MACs break allowlists. - [How to Connect to Wi-Fi on a Windows Laptop](https://zepe.online/guides/connect-wifi-windows-laptop): Connect to Wi-Fi on Windows 7, 10 and 11, and fix the wireless-capability-is-turned-off message — hardware switch, Fn key, airplane mode, service and driver. - [How to Connect Bluetooth Devices in Windows](https://zepe.online/guides/connect-bluetooth-windows): Pair Bluetooth devices on Windows 7, 10 and 11, and fix pairing failures — support service, adapter state, stale pairings, drivers and the A2DP audio split. - [How to Connect an iPhone to a Windows Laptop](https://zepe.online/guides/connect-iphone-to-windows-laptop): Connect an iPhone to Windows for photos, files, backups and notifications — what genuinely works through cable, Phone Link and iCloud, and what does not. - [How to Change DNS Settings in Windows 10 and 11](https://zepe.online/guides/change-dns-windows-10): Set a custom DNS server in Windows through Settings or netsh, flush the resolver cache, and tell a DNS problem apart from a real connection problem. ## Performance and storage Force-quitting applications, clearing temporary files and Windows.old, extending the C drive, and removing developer tools cleanly. - [How to Force Quit an App on Windows](https://zepe.online/guides/force-quit-app-windows): Close a frozen program on Windows using Alt + F4, Task Manager or taskkill — in escalation order, plus what to do when a process refuses to end at all. - [How to Delete Temp Files and Windows.old Safely](https://zepe.online/guides/delete-temp-files-windows): Free space in Windows with Disk Cleanup, Storage Sense and the %temp% folder, which files are safe to delete, and the real deadline on removing Windows.old. - [How to Extend Your C Drive in Windows 10](https://zepe.online/guides/extend-c-drive-windows-10): Extend the C partition using Disk Management, and understand exactly why Extend Volume is greyed out — adjacency, unallocated space and the recovery partition. - [How to Uninstall Python, Node and Java on Windows](https://zepe.online/guides/uninstall-dev-tools-windows): Remove Python, Node.js, Java and Eclipse from Windows completely, including the PATH entries, caches and config folders their uninstallers leave behind. ## Updates and recovery Controlling Windows Update, repairing a damaged installation without reinstalling, and factory-resetting a Windows 7 or 8 machine. - [How to Stop Automatic Updates in Windows 10](https://zepe.online/guides/stop-automatic-updates-windows-10): Pause, defer or block Windows 10 updates, which methods still work in 2026, which Microsoft has closed off, and what each one costs you in security. - [How to Repair Windows Without Reinstalling](https://zepe.online/guides/repair-windows-7): Repair a damaged Windows installation in escalation order: Startup Repair, sfc, DISM, chkdsk, System Restore and bootrec, least destructive first. - [How to Factory Reset a Windows 7 or 8 Laptop](https://zepe.online/guides/factory-reset-windows-7-8): Reset Windows 8's Refresh and Reset options, use an OEM recovery partition on Windows 7, and understand why a reset is not a secure wipe before selling. ## Command line Command Prompt, PowerShell, Windows Terminal and WSL explained, plus finding what is holding a port and running shell scripts on Windows. - [How to Open the Terminal in Windows](https://zepe.online/guides/open-terminal-windows): Open Command Prompt, PowerShell, Windows Terminal or WSL on Windows 10 and 11 — including as administrator and directly inside a chosen folder. - [How to Kill a Process Using a Port in Windows](https://zepe.online/guides/kill-process-using-port-windows): Find what is holding port 3000, 8080 or any other port on Windows with netstat -ano, then end it with taskkill — plus the PowerShell one-liner equivalent. - [How to Run a Shell Script (.sh) on Windows](https://zepe.online/guides/run-shell-script-windows): Run .sh files on Windows using WSL, Git Bash or Cygwin — how they differ, and how to fix the CRLF line-ending error that breaks scripts edited on Windows. ## Versions and licensing Choosing between Windows 7, 10 and 11, understanding Home versus Pro, and finding the product key or digital licence on your PC. - [Which Windows Version Is Best? 7 vs 10 vs 11](https://zepe.online/guides/best-windows-version): Choosing between Windows 7, 10 and 11 on support dates and hardware requirements rather than preference, plus what actually differs between Home and Pro. - [How to Find Your Windows Product Key](https://zepe.online/guides/find-windows-product-key): Read your Windows product key with PowerShell or wmic, and understand why most modern PCs return a generic OEM string instead of a unique key. ## Site - [About](https://zepe.online/about): who runs the site and why it exists. - [Editorial standards](https://zepe.online/editorial-standards): how guides are researched, sourced and corrected. - [Contact](https://zepe.online/contact): contact@zepe.online - [Privacy](https://zepe.online/privacy), [Terms](https://zepe.online/terms), [Cookies](https://zepe.online/cookies), [DMCA](https://zepe.online/dmca), [Disclaimer](https://zepe.online/disclaimer) ## Notes - 37 guides. Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation; Zepe is not affiliated with or endorsed by Microsoft. - Guides do not cover circumventing Windows activation, recovering passwords you do not own, or bypassing device security.