With most of the tech world shifting its focus to the cloud, Microsoft contributed toward it by launching OneDrive (introduced as SkyDrive). Taking it a step further, the company decided to integrate it with Microsoft Office using an application called Upload Center. This comes along with any edition of Office 2010 or later. With this, whenever you use Office logged in with a Microsoft account and save a file, in addition to creating a local file, it will automatically upload one to your OneDrive account as well. While Microsoft regards it as a useful feature, most users consider it as a breach to their privacy. The application is enabled by default and has no option available to turn it off. That being said, there are several workarounds to disable this. If you are looking for the same, here are several ways for how to disable Microsoft Office Upload Center:

Note: I tested the following methods on my computer running Windows 10 Pro and Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2016. These should work for other Windows versions like Windows 8.1, 8, 7, as well with Office 2010 or higher.

Remove Office Upload Center Using Registry Editor

Almost all Windows-related problems seem to be solvable by a few tweaks in the Registry Editor, so why not this one. Follow the steps mentioned below to know how to remove Microsoft Office Upload Center using Registry Editor.

• Open Run command by pressing Windows + R on your keyboard. Here, type “regedit” and then hit enter to open the Registry Editor.

• If you have the Address Bar enabled here, you can copy and paste the path below, and if not, you'll have to navigate there manually.
  

  HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

• Here, in the right pane, you’ll find a value of type “REG_SZ” named “OfficeSyncProcess”.

• Right-click on this and click on “Delete”.

• When the “Confirm Value Delete” window pops up, click “Yes”.

Now the next time you restart your computer, Microsoft Office Upload Center should be removed.

Disable Office Upload Center By Changing Its File Name

This method involves renaming the executable file of Microsoft Office Upload Center. This way, Windows will not find the file it needs in order to open Upload Center. To know how to do this, follow the steps mentioned below.

• Open File Explorer on your computer by pressing Windows + E. Here, either type the following path in the address bar or go there manually:
  

  C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office16

  Note: The “Office16” folder would be present only if you have Office 16. For any other version, the folder name will differ accordingly.

• Here, look for a file named “MSOSYNC”. Rename this to anything you like. I changed it to “MSOSYNC-old”.

This method stops Upload Center for opening as Windows will not find a file named “MSOSYNC” that it requires to open the application. If, in case, you get any error messages or want to turn Upload Center back on, rename the file to “MSOSYNC” again and you’ll be good to go.

Disable Microsoft Upload Center Using Task Scheduler

This method works only if you use Office 2013. In this, disable the schedule for opening Microsoft Office Upload Center Everytime. Here are the steps to do that:

• Open the Run command by pressing Windows + R on your keyboard. Here, type "taskschd.msc" and click on "OK" to open Task Scheduler.

• Here, in the left pane, click on “Task Scheduler Library”.

• Now you’ll notice that a few tasks show up in the middle pane. Go to the one that reads “Microsoft Office 15 Sync Maintenance for <your PC’s name>“.

• Right-click on this task and then click on “Disable”.

This disables the task that schedules the running of Microsoft Office Upload Center. The next time you reboot your computer, you won’t find the application running.

Bonus: Hide Office Upload Center From Notification Area

This method does not exactly stop the service, but stops it from showing in the notification area of your computer. If this works for you, then read the steps below to implement it.

• Open the Start menu and type “Upload Center”. Then click on it to open it.

• In the Upload Center window, click on “Settings”.

• Now under “Display Options”, uncheck the box that says “Display icon in notification area”.

This will remove the Microsoft Office Upload Center icon from the notification tray of your computer, but still let the application work in the background.

Disable Microsoft Office Upload Center in Windows

While uploading your files on the cloud can come in very handy, some providers offer these services at the cost of your privacy. Unless you are a OneDrive for Business user, your data is encrypted only during transit and not while at rest. This means that Microsoft can access your data any time they want. But now that you know how to disable Microsoft Office Upload Center, you can protect your privacy. So which method did you opt for? Do let me know in the comments section below.

iOS 11 brings a ton of new features, making one of the greatest mobile operating systems even better. Some of the major features include the all new Dock for iPads, easier multitasking, the new Files app, Drag and Drop, refreshed App Store, and the redesigned Control Center among others. Of all the features, the most controversial feature in iOS 11 is the new redesigned Control Center. Some people love its customisability while the others hate its looks. As an Android user, I have always given more importance to customisability over looks, so, needless to say, I quite like it. However, I don't like it enough to ever switch to an iPhone from my Android phone. If only there was a way to run the Control Center on my Android device. Well, if you’ve ever thought the same, and you want to experience the Control Center on your Android device, here is how to get iOS 11 like Control Center on any Android device:

Note: I am using my OnePlus 3 for this tutorial, but the process will work on any Android Device running 4.1 or above.

Get iOS 11 Control Center on Android Using Third-Party Apps

 

There are a lot of apps on the Play Store which promise to bring the iOS Control Center to Android, but none of them matches "Control Center OS 11" (free). The app just works. In my one day of use, unlike other apps, this one never crashed on me. Since the moment I enabled it, till the time of writing this article, the app was working without any hiccup. That's why this app is your best bet, when it comes to getting Control Center on your Android device.

Once you install the app, the app will ask for various permissions, which you will have to grant for it to work. The app needs these permissions to work properly. If you don't grant these permissions to the app, it will crash and will not work properly. As far as the process of granting permission is concerned, it is really easy. The app itself will guide you to the settings page and all you will need to do is to enable the respective setting for the app.

Once you grant the permission, you can open the app to access its settings. The app settings page allows to highly customise the Control Center. For example, you can decide, if you want to access the Control Center using the bottom, right, or the left swipe. Here you can also enable the size and colour of the swipe area. To do this, just launch the app and tap on "size" as shown in the figure. Here you can make all the above-mentioned changes. While you are here, you should also enable the "Show on everything" option, this will allow you to access the Control Center from everywhere (even from the lock screen).

One neat feature here is that other than adding settings, you can also add app shortcuts. On the app's homepage tap on "Add favorite app" and then press the (+) icon. Now, you will be guided to a list of all your apps and you can choose the one you like.

For example, I chose the Fenix app and now I can access it from the Control Center. There are a lot of other settings to play with. For example, you can enable "Assistive Touch", change the colour and the background of the Control Center, and change the language among other things. Feel free to explore the settings and customise the Control Center to your liking.

There's one more point that I want to discuss and that is the 3D-touch part. You can use the 3D-touch gesture present on the iPhone by long pressing an icon on the Control Center. However, it doesn't work for all the icons, for example, the music icon doesn't have a long press gesture.

Probably the only bad thing about this app is that it is supported by ads. There's no pro version, so you cannot disable the ads even if you want to. However, the good thing is that you will open the app only when you are setting it up.

Use The iOS 11 Control Center On Android

So, there you have it. You can just install the Control Center OS 11 app to get the iOS 11 Control Center on Android. It’s simple and works very very well, unlike most other apps which claim to bring iOS-like features on Android. Well, try the app out and let us know how you like the Control Center on your Android smartphone in the comments section below.

Since 2014, the iPhones came in two sizes, one with a 4.7-inch screen and another with a 5.5-inch screen. This year, it’s no different if you don’t take the iPhone X into consideration. The smaller iPhone 8 packs an inferior 1821 mAh battery whereas the larger iPhone 8 Plus packs a 2691 mAh battery. Now, I’d personally consider the iPhone X to be slightly larger iPhone 8 in terms of footprint, as it looks similar when you put them right next to each other. Despite this compact footprint, the iPhone X packs a 2716 mAh battery, which is bigger than what’s found on the larger iPhone 8 Plus. So, you might be wondering how Apple made this possible. Well, let me explain how.

Apple’s latest and greatest smartphone so far, the iPhone X has undergone a major redesign since 2007. Yes, I’m talking about its bezel-less looks which most people are drooling over. Due to this design approach, the company had to sacrifice something that every previous iPhone used to have, which is the home button. Apart from this, it’s also the first iPhone to boast a gorgeous OLED display. Now, as you all might probably know, OLED panels are considerably thinner than LCDs, because it requires no backlighting.

Credits: iFixit

Thanks to these two changes and also the extra space that Apple got by ditching the headphone jack, the Cupertino-based company was able to cram a bigger battery at the bottom portion of the phone. As revealed by the teardown video, it was made possible by including two batteries inside the phone, which is a first for any smartphone. Remember the early iPhone X rumors which suggested that Apple would be opting for an “L-shaped battery unit” manufactured by LG? Well, it looks like the company came close by using multiple batteries rather than a single unit.

Apple has just pushed the final version of the macOS High Sierra to the public and while the upgrade doesn't seem as groundbreaking as it has been for iOS with the iOS 11 update, there's still a lot to like here. While macOS High Sierra deals mainly with under-the-hood improvements, most of which will go unnoticed by the users, there are some changes which have rightly garnered some limelight. One of those improvements is coming to our beloved Safari browser. Now, with Safari, you can block those annoying auto-playing videos which previously you had no control over. This is a functionality for which I have been waiting for what feels like years, and finally, it's here. If you also want to stop those annoying auto-playing videos on websites, you have come to the right place. Because, in this article, we are going to show you, how to block autoplaying videos in Safari on macOS High Sierra:

Stop Autoplaying Videos in Safari

Safari gives you the ability to block auto-playing of videos on any website. You can enable this feature either individually for each website or for every website at once. I prefer to do it individually only for those websites which irritate me the most, however, you can do this for all the websites at once. We will take a look at both the methods one by one:

Block Autoplay Videos in Safari (Individual Websites)

1. Launch Safari and load the website that you want to block the auto-playing videos on. For this tutorial, we will just load our own website. By the way, if you are wondering, there are no auto-playing videos on our website. Now, right-click (control-click) on the address bar and click on "Settings for This Website".

2. Now, click on the drop-down menu next to where its written "Auto-Play".

3. You will get three options to choose from in the drop-down menu. You can either "Allow All Auto-Play" which basically defeats our purpose, or you can choose one of the other two options, which are "Stop Media with Sound" and "Never Auto-Play". The former will only stop those videos from auto-playing which contain audio, while the later will stop all the videos, irrespective of the fact that they contain audio or not.

4. I don't want any video to autoplay ever, that's why I went with the last option.

Disable Autoplaying Videos in Safari (All Websites)

1. Launch Safari and open its "Preferences" panel.

2. Here click on "Websites" and then select "Auto-Play" from the side menu.

3.  Now, you should see an option at the bottom of the page where it says "When visiting other websites:" and a drop-down menu to its right.

4. By default "Stop Media with Sound" option is selected, however, you can choose any of the three options that we discussed earlier.

One thing to keep in mind is that the changes you made to the overall setting will not reflect in the websites for which you have changed the settings individually. As you can see the Auto-Play panel shows you the websites for which you have altered the settings individually. If you want to add them to universal settings, just click to select the website and hit the delete key. Or, you can change their settings individually to match your universal settings.

Stop Videos From Auto-Playing in Safari

As you can see, it's a very handy feature that you can use to stop those annoying videos from auto-playing. Apart from this, there are also a lot more changes that Safari is bringing with the High Sierra update. For example, now Safari stops websites from tracking you while you are browsing the web. So, have you updated your Mac to High Sierra? Tell us your favourite features that are coming with macOS High Sierra by dropping them down in the comments section below.

It's been almost a year since Google launched Allo and Duo, as its primary chatting and video calling applications. While Duo has been an instant hit, the same cannot be said about Allo. There are a couple of reasons why Allo could not match its launch expectations. Firstly, the instant messaging app market is already crowded with some really great apps like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. And although Allo brings a ton of cool new features (like incognito chat, self-destructive messages, awesome stickers, and more), it also lacks some basic functionalities, which has held the app back. For instance, until recently, there was no desktop client for Allo. Technically, there isn't one even now, but Google has just launched a web version of the app (just like WhatsApp did in the past) which allows you to use it on PC and Mac.

Although it's not the same as having the native desktop apps, still, it is better than having nothing at all. In this article, we are going to show you how to use the web version of the app and while we are at it, we will also give you some tips as to how to convert the web version into a standalone web app for your desktop. So, if you are an Allo user, or someone who didn't consider it just because it lacked a desktop version of the app, read the article to find out, how to use Allo app on PC and Mac:

Things to Know Before Using Allo on Web

Allo has just been released as a web app and you might think that you only need a web browser to access it, but you would be wrong. Right now, even the web app comes with certain restrictions. Currently, the web version of the Allo app can only be accessed if you own an Android phone. However, the support for iPhones is coming soon. Also, the web app is only supported on the Chrome browser. If you use any other browser and don't have Chrome on your desktop, go the link and download and install the app. All right, now that you know these things, lets start the tutorial.

Use Allo on Chrome

Since the methodology for using Allo on Chrome will be the same, irrespective of the OS you are using, there's no point in showing it twice. So, doesn't matter whether you are a Mac or a Windows user, this is how you do it.

1. Open the Chrome browser on your desktop and visit the Allo web app page.

2. Now, launch the Allo app on your Android smartphone and tap on the hamburger menu. Here, tap on "Allo for web" option.

3. Now, scan the QR code present on the browser tab by tapping on the "SCAN QR CODE" button on your phone and pointing the camera to the browser.

4. As soon as scan the code, you will be logged into your account and be able to use the Allo app on your desktop.

Create Allo Web App for Windows

As I mentioned in the introduction, apart from showing how to use the web version of the Allo app, I will also help you create a desktop app which will work as a stand alone app. Now, I should point out that, it won't be a native app and will just use the Chrome browser as its base. But, it will run in its own window and will sport the Allo's app icon too. It is pretty cool that we can do that, as it allows us to use the Allo app without having to open our Chrome browser just for its stake.

1. Chrome natively allows you to create a windowed app version of any website on the Windows OS. To do that for Allo, first, complete the first part of the tutorial and login to your Allo account.

2. Now, on Chrome (while you are on the Allo tab), click on the 3-dot menu present on the top-right corner of the browser and go to More tools -> Add to Desktop and click on it.

3. Now, you will see a popup card where you can rename the app. Before you hit the Add button, remember to ensure that "Open as Window" option is checked on.

4. As soon as you click on the Add button, you will find the Allo app icon on your desktop. You can double-click to open the app, as you would with any other app.

5. Just to be sure that it works, here is a picture of the app working on a different window. You can see that, there's an icon for the Allo app beside the Chrome icon.

6. You can also right click on the icon to add it to either the Start menu or the Taskbar for quick access.

Create Allo Web App For Mac

Chrome doesn't allow you to do the same on macOS due to its restrictions hence we will have to use a third party app to do that. Thankfully, I know just the app for that, so let's get started, shall we?

1. Download and install the "Coherence 5" app (free to create 4 web apps) by clicking on the link. Now launch the app. This is how the app looks after it is launched.

2. Now, fill up the required fields. The name section is where the name of the app goes, and the URL section will host the website URL of the web version of the Allo. For your convenience, I have linked the Allo's website URL here. Just copy and paste it in the required field.

3. Now, before you hit the Next button, click on the "Get favicon" button to get the logo for the Allo app. Conversely, you can even upload your own logo (by clicking on the browse button and selecting the logo file), if you want to.

4. Now keep clicking on the Next button till you reach the screen shown in the picture below. Here, click on the "Standard App" button to create your app. As soon as click on the button, a pop card will inform you that your app has been created.

5. Now, as you can see that the Allo app lives along side other apps on my Mac. It will just behave like a normal app. You can search for it in the Spotlight, find it inside the application folder, and so on. Launch the app, as you normally do.

6. When you launch the app, you will have to login into it before you can use it. Just scan the QR code with your Allo app (just like in the Chrome tutorial). This is how the app looks on my desktop.

Use Allo on PC and Mac

Although the web version of the Allo app is not fully functional (as it works only with Chrome and Android), this is a step in the right direction. Also, till Google launches the desktop apps, you can use the methods mentioned above to create one for you. It is not much different than using the WhatsApp on your PC or Mac, as that too feels like a port of its own web version. Let us know your thoughts about the Google Allo app in the comment section below. Also, now that it has a web version, are you more likely to use it than before? Drop down your thoughts on the subject below.

Apple is slowly bringing lots of file management features to both iOS and iPadOS. It can be viewed as Apple’s renewed push to make its devices much more productive and useful. With iOS 13 and iPadOS 13, you can natively extract ZIP files on your device and that is simply amazing. And that is not all, you can also create ZIP files right from the Files app. So, in this article, we bring you a straightforward guide on how to compress and extract ZIP files on iPhone and iPad. We have also mentioned another method that lets you deal with other archive formats as well as use it on iOS 12. With that said, let’s go ahead and learn about the steps.

Compress and Extract Archive Files on iPhone and iPad

As mentioned above, you can manage archive files natively through the Files app on iOS 13 and iPadOS 13. However, it only supports two archive file formats (ZIP and RAR) and there are a few limitations for compressing files. So, if you want to uncompress other file formats such as TAR or 7z and without any restriction then you can use use the Shortcuts app method which we have discussed below. Further, if you are on iOS 12, you can also use the Shortcuts app to zip and unzip files seamlessly.

• For iOS 13 and iPadOS 13

iOS 13 has native support for uncompressing both ZIP and RAR files. However, you can only compress a folder to the ZIP file format. For most purposes, it’s adequate and works pretty great. In case you want more options, you can move to the next section. With that said, here are the steps to follow.

1. To uncompress a ZIP or RAR file, open the Files app on your iPhone or iPad and find the file you want to unzip. Now, tap and hold the compressed file and you will find a few options. At the bottom, tap on “Uncompress” and a new folder will be created right there with all the content.

2. Similarly, to compress a folder on your iPhone or iPad, tap and hold the folder you want to compress and select “Compress” at the bottom. A ZIP file will be created then and there.

• For iOS 12 and Other Archive Formats

1. Open the Shortcuts app and tap on the “+” button on the top-right corner. After that, search for “zip” and tap on “Make Archive” for compressing files. Similarly, you can add “Extract Archive” for uncompressing files as another shortcut.

2. Next, tap on the edit icon on the top-right corner and enable the toggle for “Show in Share Sheet”. Further, you can give a name to your Shortcut as well.

3. After that, change the format to “Ask When Run” so that you can choose your preferred archive format. Having done that, tap the “Done” button on the top-right corner to save the Shortcut.

4. Now, just share the file with the Shortcut app and choose the particular Shortcut.

5. You will be prompted with a “Save” dialog box. Here, you can change the file format and then tap on “Done” to finally compress the file. You can find the compressed file in the Files app.

Unzip Files on the Fly on your iPhone and iPad

So that was our quick guide on how to compress and extract ZIP files on iPhone and iPad. If you have updated to iOS 13 or iPadOS 13 then the process is a breeze as the system now supports these features natively. However, if you want more flexibility then you can use the second method. Anyway, that is all from us. If you liked this simple guide, do comment down below and let us know.