All Questions
3,445
questions
77
votes
4answers
65k views
How do I take a screenshot on a Windows Phone device?
On iOS devices you can take a screenshot by pressing the home & sleep buttons at the same time. Is there a similar way to take a screenshot with Windows Phone?
42
votes
1answer
18k views
Is it possible to “root” a Windows Phone device? What are the benefits?
Android devices can be "rooted", allowing unrestricted access to the file system, tethering, extra hardware control, and more.
The Windows Phone operating system is not a Linux-based operating system,...
38
votes
8answers
62k views
I don't want to see birthdays from every Facebook contact on my phone's calendar. How can I limit this?
Presently all birthdays for all my Facebook contacts appear on my phone's calendar. At one point I had all Facebook contacts available on my phone, but I've since filtered them so that only those ...
36
votes
5answers
210k views
How can I export or extract my text messages to a file?
I would like to save all of my text messages that are on my phone to a file on my computer. The WP cloud did a good job of saving them across new devices and software resets, but I'm going back to a ...
28
votes
6answers
318k views
What “funny” questions can Cortana answer?
I don't mean commands that Cortana transforms into some helpful work, but I mean those questions Cortana responds with some smart reply :)
For example, if I say "Hi", Cortana reply with "Hello".
28
votes
1answer
4k views
How do I type a backtick (`) using the software keyboard?
When I bring up the keyboard and press the &123 button, I don't see the backtick character anywhere. I have also pressed the right arrow button to see more symbols, but it's not on that screen ...
27
votes
3answers
2k views
How do I tell how much space my applications use
My phone is usually pretty full and I don't really have much music or photos on it, so most of the space is used by probably over 100 applications I have installed. Is there a way to see which ...
25
votes
8answers
18k views
How can I share my current location with my friends?
Can I use my Windows Phone to allow my friends to see my current location?
Is it possible without having to explicitly share using an application?
How to friends get to access the information? Can ...
25
votes
4answers
69k views
How to use Project my screen in Windows Phone 8.1?
In Windows Phone 8.1 there is a new feature called Project my screen. I've not been able to make it work.
How do I use it?
24
votes
4answers
38k views
24
votes
6answers
69k views
How to share internet over USB from PC to a Windows Phone 8 device?
I know, that this works out of the box for Zune-compatible devices, but what about Windows Phone 8? I don't have a micro-SIM yet and there is no way to set up a WiFi hotspot.
23
votes
3answers
6k views
Does Windows Phone prioritize between using a data plan and wi-fi connection?
When downloading apps, I prefer using a WiFi connection over a mobile data connection. So I switch off the mobile data connection and switch on the WiFi for the duration of the download and revert ...
22
votes
3answers
47k views
How to turn off Windows Phone if it is unresponsive and has an internal battery?
Today my Samsung Focus hung while installing an app. When I pressed the bottom hardware buttons, it vibrated, but there was no feedback on the screen.
I held the power off button but nothing happened....
22
votes
2answers
7k views
How can I sync my Windows Phone device with my Mac?
I'm using OS X Lion on a MacBook Pro. I know I can use iTunes to sync music, apps, contacts, calendars, and such with iOS devices. What are my options for syncing a Windows Phone device?
21
votes
3answers
3k views
Where is the forward button in Internet Explorer?
I can't find a forward button in IE. It is very frustrating when I am filling some form on the page and accidentally touch the back button and the page with the filled form is gone. There is no way to ...
21
votes
6answers
7k views
How can I backup my SMS
I need to restore my phone.
How can I make a backup of my text messages on my computer?
Is it possible to restore text messages on the new phone?
20
votes
4answers
5k views
How do I prevent a word from being auto-corrected?
This seems kind of obvious but.... if I type in a word that is misspelled and press space, the phone automatically replaces the word with what it thinks is the correct one. How do I prevent this from ...
19
votes
2answers
177k views
Where do downloaded files go?
I downloaded a file (PDF) from a web page using the Internet Explorer in Windows Mango. As soon as I downloaded it, I was able to see the document in Adobe PDF Reader. But where is the file stored? ...
19
votes
5answers
5k views
How do I get other calendars (shared) from my gmail account to sync to my windows phone?
I currently have my google account hooked up to my windows phone 7.5 (mango) device and it works fine, syncing my email, calendar, and contacts.
However, it only seems to sync my main calendar, not ...
19
votes
3answers
6k views
Is the text in the calendar's month view supposed to be readable?
The month view in the Calendar on my device looks something like this:
On my device (HTC Titan, one of the larger WP handsets) I can only see teeny tiny text inside each day and there's no pinch/zoom ...
19
votes
2answers
81k views
How can I use Google Hangouts?
My employer moved all of us to Google Apps. Hangouts is really useful to me, because it allows us to have one-on-one chats, a couple of chat rooms for departments and for specific topics and problems.
...
18
votes
6answers
39k views
Is there a way to force quit an app?
Is it possible to end, or "kill", a process?
On Windows if an application is acting up we can force it to close, is there something like this in Windows Phone?
18
votes
4answers
5k views
What is the difference between rooting, unlocking, and custom ROMs?
In this answer it was mentioned that the process of rooting is different from unlocking or using custom ROMs.
What are the differences between these processes (and any other potentially related terms)...
18
votes
3answers
4k views
Remove contact picture
How can I remove a contact's picture?
The only option I'm being given is to replace it with another picture. I added the picture and the contact through my phone.
17
votes
3answers
22k views
How to resolve Lumia 920 Battery Life problems?
My Lumia 920 runs out of battery in around 6 hours. I have full battery when I leave my home in the morning at around 08:50 and at 14:33 it's empty (Battery Widget). I have disabled all background ...
17
votes
5answers
145k views
Phone is locked and says I need to wait for more than 2 weeks to unlock!
I locked myself out of my phone by entering the wrong password too many times. However, instead of the usual "Try again in 1 minute" message, it says I need to wait 24,135 minutes (more than 16 days)!
...
16
votes
4answers
8k views
Will my phone be able to update to Windows Phone 8?
I currently have a Windows Phone 7.1 (Mango or 7.5) and want to know if I can update it to the upcoming Windows Phone 8?
16
votes
3answers
8k views
Is it possible to use my phone as a mass storage device to transfer files between two otherwise disconnected computers?
I sometimes have the need for a way for transferring relatively large files (e.g. zip archives) between two computers, and don't always remember to have a USB stick with me. Is it possible to use a ...
16
votes
8answers
22k views
How to move Apps and Data to a bigger SD Card
I realized the SD-card I used initially is too small and I want to move to a bigger one. I store most Apps and Data on the SD card.
I just made a copy of all files on the old card to the new one (...
16
votes
3answers
20k views
Cortana weather forecast in Celsius
How to switch Cortana to show weather forecast in Celsius instead of Fahrenheit? I thought changing it in Bing Weather will affect Cortana, but she doesn't want to.
16
votes
2answers
40k views
What exactly is needed to activate Cortana?
Now that Windows Phone 8.1 Preview for Developers is available, I was looking forward to testing out Cortana. However, it's initially available only in the US. For those outside the US, it doesn't ...
16
votes
3answers
25k views
How can I make Google the default search provider instead of Bing?
I was wondering if Google could be made the default search engine by pressing the 'Search' button rather than Bing. I'm not sure if Microsoft is okay with this.
15
votes
3answers
92k views
How to update Windows Mobile 6.1 to Windows Mobile 7.5?
I have HTC TyTN II with Windows Mobile 6.1 and would like to update to Windows Mobile 7.5. I went to Windows Mobile site and downloaded the Zune software but nothing worked. Most of apps these days ...
15
votes
4answers
2k views
Is it possible to categorize the app list?
Now with hundreds of apps in my device, it's really a pain to find an app. Sometimes I don't know its name, which makes it difficult to search. Is there a way to group the apps in my device? Somewhat ...
15
votes
3answers
9k views
Is there a way to “undo” in Windows Phone?
In the old days (Pocket PC, Windows Mobile) it was possible to use CTRL+Z on the soft keyboard just like on a full keyboard.
Now in Windows Phone, with no CTRL key, is there a way to "undo" a typing ...
15
votes
3answers
32k views
Find IP Address on Windows Phone
I could swear I used to know how to do this, and can't believe how much of a hard time I'm having trying to search for it online.
How do I get information on the current IP address(es) assigned to my ...
15
votes
5answers
38k views
How can I connect my computer to internet through my Windows Phone 7 device?
I am traveling a lot and I need to be online on my laptop. How can I use 3G connection of my phone to browse internet on my PC?
I have Samsung Omnia 7.
15
votes
3answers
15k views
Why am I not able to switch-off my Windows Phone while it is charging?
Today I bought a Nokia Lumia 525 and I tried to switch it off while charging but I was not able to do that since my phone automatically turned on after being switched off.
There is no problem in ...
15
votes
1answer
388 views
What is the naming system of Nokia Lumias?
Inspired by recent question about difference between two Lumias, I wonder what are the general rules in the Lumia numbers.
(including those ?rare? numbers like 928 etc).
15
votes
4answers
264k views
My Family settings prevent app downloading
I have an issue with my first Windows Phone device. When trying to download an app from the marketplace I get this message:
The My Family settings for your account prevent you from downloading ...
15
votes
2answers
22k views
Media Transferred via WhatsApp
I would like to know when I get a photo or a song transferred via whatsapp where is it stored on the device.
15
votes
3answers
960 views
Is there a way to quickly switch between silent and vibrate? (not vibrate and ring + vibrate, or silent and ring)
I only ever want my phone on one of two settings:
Completely silent at night, during classes, and during meetings
Vibrate during the rest of the day
I never want it to ring, ever.
When I change the ...
15
votes
1answer
3k views
How are podcasts managed on the file system in WP8?
The preview apps for syncing WP8 are so useless when it comes to podcasts that people are actually suggesting using iTunes to sync podcasts! Excuse me, I think I'm getting physically ill.
But, there ...
15
votes
1answer
2k views
Excel file in OneDrive has conflicts, even though it's only updated from the phone
I have an Excel file in OneDrive that I update every few days, always from my phone. However, sometimes when I try to save, Excel says Can't upload, A conflict occurred....
Then I have to resolve the ...
14
votes
2answers
5k views
Can I remove the alphabetical section headers from the app list?
When I first got my phone this weekend, I'm pretty sure there were no alphabetical section headers in the apps list. However, it seems to have suddenly turned on and I'm not quite sure why. I can only ...
14
votes
2answers
3k views
Is there any way to backup my entire phone?
From this question we know what can and can't currently be backed up. Are there any 3rd party tools or homebrew apps that will let me back up everything and restore it to a different device? I ...
14
votes
6answers
242k views
How to set song as ringtone WP 8
Yesterday I bought a Nokia Lumia 520.
How do I set a song as ringtone in this device?
Steps that I followed:
1. Setting -> Ringtones+Sounds
Inside this setting, there is no option for to custom ...
14
votes
1answer
1k views
How do I remove a misspelled word that I accidentally taught to my phone?
The autocorrect has the ability to learn new words, and I accidentally taught it a fake word. How can I remove it?
14
votes
2answers
7k views
Is it possible to turn off buttons light on Lumia 920?
When i watch movies on my phone in the dark, the three buttons light up and are disturbing my view. Is there any way to turn them off? or an app that do this for me?
I have read that if you lock the ...
13
votes
2answers
930 views
Is the Wi-Fi symbol always supposed to have “full connection”
The symbol in the top bar always shows the 4 bars, when WIFI is activated. Is this normal, or should it (as on iPhone) represent the WIFI strength?