Setting Up Your Home Office

We may earn a commission from links on this page. You’ve seen it at the end of hundreds of recipes: “Add salt to taste.” Whether it’s beef stew or a chocolate chip cookie, salt is a seasoning we often lean on as an inoffensive way to wake up the palate. But, like it or not, sometimes salt needs help. (Coming from a long-time salt worshiper, this is saying a lot.) For a surefire way to kickstart your tastebuds, crack open the MSG. I do it on a regular basis. What is MSG? Though the misinformation about MSG is waning, there are still plenty of folks who’ve heard (and believe) that it’s poisonous, leads to health problems, or is bad for you just because. This is incorrect. O…

Tax season is now open, and the last thing you want to do is pay money to, well, prepare your return and pay your taxes by April 15. Thankfully, more taxpayers are eligible to file their taxes for free this year thanks to the expansion of the IRS' new Direct File program alongside its long-standing (but income-capped) Free File partnerships. Here are all the ways to file your taxes for free in 2025. IRS Free FileIRS Free File is one of several free filing options provided by the IRS. With Free File, you complete your tax return using guided software via a partner site, which then e-files it with the IRS. Most commonly used federal tax forms and schedules are available t…

Screenshots are a core pillar of the smartphone experience. When you come across something you simply must share with friends, family, or followers, taking a screenshot is often the fastest way to do so. But if you recently bought a brand-new Android phone, and especially if you’re coming from an iPhone, you might have no idea how to take screenshots. Unlike iPhones, which are all made by Apple, Android phones come from many different manufacturers. You might be trying to figure out how to take a screenshot on your Google Pixel, Samsung Galaxy, OnePlus, Nokia, or Motorola. All are running Android, but each deals with Android in its own unique way. Luckily, screenshot sho…

If you're an Android Auto user, you may already know that setting up phone notifications while you're driving isn't as straightforward as it could be—though Google has recently made a settings tweak that should simplify things. On the one hand, you don't want to miss important messages or calls, but on the other you definitely don't want to put yourself and other road users at risk by getting distracted while driving. A careful balance is needed, and it's important to know what options are available on your phone. If you're a Pixel user, Do Not Disturb is handled by Modes, which you can find by tapping Modes in Settings. Pick Driving, and if you enable the While driving t…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Amazon's Memorial Day sale is in full swing, featuring deals on garden, sports, beauty, home items, electronics, and more. A particular sale that stood out to me, as a deals writer who frequently reviews headphones and speakers, is the one on Beats products. While it's not uncommon to see Beats products with a good discount, it is rare to see the newest product (the Beats Powerbeats Pro 2) included in the sale. Right now, you can get the Beats Pill, Beats Powerbeats Pro 2, and the Beats Studio Buds+ for up to 41% off. All of these options are at t…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Garmin Fenix 8 $799.99 at Amazon $999.99 Save $200.00 Get Deal …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Black Friday sales officially start Friday, November 28, and run through Cyber Monday, December 1, and Lifehacker is sharing the best sales based on product reviews, comparisons, and price-tracking tools before it's over. Follow our live blog to stay up-to-date on the best sales we find. Browse our editors’ picks for a curated list of our favorite sales on laptops, fitness tech, appliances, and more. Subscribe to our shopping newsletter, Add to Cart, for the best sales sent to your inbox. Sales are accurate at the time of publication, but prices an…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Most of Beats by Dr. Dre's lineup of headphones and earbuds are on sale right now. The brand has been slow to release new products since the acquisition by Apple back in 2014, but the good news is that even its newest product (the Beats Powerbeats Pro 2) are included in the sale. At the moment, you can get the Beats Studio Pro, Beats Solo 4, Beats Studio Buds, Beats Powerbeats Pro 2, and the Beats Studio Buds+ for up to 51% off. Most of these options are at or matching their lowest prices ever, according to price-tracking tools. Beats Studio Pros a…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Remember when two-day shipping seemed novel? "Wow—I can order this item on Amazon on Monday, and get it Wednesday? That's amazing!" Now, orders are coming next day, sometimes as early as 4 a.m. I'm all for convenience, but how much faster do deliveries really need to get? The answer, apparently, is much faster. On Tuesday, Amazon announced two new delivery options for customers in "a growing number of cities and towns:" For over 90,000 products on Amazon's store, the company will let you choose to get the item in three hours or less. For those in select areas, you'll even have the option to get it as soon as one hour. Fo…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Did you know you can customize Google to filter out garbage? Take these steps for better search results, including adding Lifehacker as a preferred source for tech news. At its fall hardware event today, Amazon announced a new lineup of Kindle Scribe devices, less than a year after the release of the second generation of its writeable e-reader. All three of the devices sport a new design with smaller bezels and a larger 11-inch screen, but the key takeaway is that the same display tech that powers the Kindle Colorsoft is coming to the digital notebook—along with a hefty price tag. Three new Kindle Scribes are on the wayAt …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Hopefully, you're done paying off your credit card bill from October Prime Day, but regardless, Amazon is ready for another round—a Spring sale is around the corner. Here is everything you need to know about Amazon's Big Spring Sale if you're looking for some deals. What is Amazon's Big Spring Sale?Amazon's Big Spring Sale is the spring version of Prime Day, although it lasts longer and features less impressive deals. It's a seven-day sale with deals focusing on seasonal items from winter- and spring-like apparel, travel, sports, furniture, gardening, lawn, grilling, storage, and bedding supplies. And, of course, tech. Thi…

Amazon and the White House are not getting along at the moment. A report from Punchbowl News claims that Amazon had plans to disclose how tariffs are raising the price of products across the site. It seems that when you clicked on a product, you would not only see the current cost, but also the northward effect The President's tariffs had on that price tag. The move directly contradicts the notion, oft-repeated by the administration, that the costs of tariffs are paid by the countries the tariffs are levied against. Amazon showing a tariff-related price increase would make it plain as day to consumers that they are, in fact, the ones making up the difference. The W…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. You can get thousands of free e-books over the course of 2025 if you know where—and when—to look. All year long, Amazon is offering free Kindle e-books to readers, with new opportunities popping up every month. In February, Prime members can get two free Kindle e-books from Amazon's First Reads program. What is Amazon's First Reads?Amazon First Reads is a program aimed at Prime members that offers early access to new e-books across many genres, as curated by First Reads editors (one of your many Prime Member benefits). Prime members can choose to do…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. The Kindle Colorsoft is Amazon's most expensive e-reader (technically, the Kindle Scribe is more of an e-note), but that doesn't automatically make it the best Kindle. In fact, if you mostly use your Kindle for novels or even black-and-white manga rather than color comics or picture books, the Colorsoft will actively make that content look worse. While I've been banging this drum about color e-readers for a while, you don't have to take my word for it: Amazon actually used to warn buyers about this too, but has since taken that warning down. As far back as February, according to a page saved by The Internet Archive, Amazon…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. It hasn't even been a month since Samsung announced the new Galaxy S26 lineup of phones, and the flagship version, the Galaxy S26 Ultra, which starts at $1,299.99, is already getting a solid deal from Amazon: You can get a $200 Amazon gift card when placing your order through the online retailer. The deal applies to all four colors, and both the basic 256GB version and the maxed-out 512GB storage option as well. It's worth noting that if you plan to do a trade-in, Samsung offers better trade-in credits than Amazon, going up to $720. …

At the beginning of February, Amazon officially launched Alexa+, the company's new AI-powered assistant. Alexa+ is like the old Alexa, but with new contextual abilities. Users can ask complex, multipart questions, as well as requests for tasks, like asking Alexa to book you concert tickets. If you've used a voice mode on chatbots like ChatGPT or Gemini, you're familiar with the concept—it's just now available on your Echo devices, too. Now, Amazon is letting you lightly customize the personality of your new AI assistant, offering the choice between concise, calm, and enthusiastic bots. On Wednesday, Amazon announced "Alexa+ personality styles," a new feature that lets yo…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Black Friday sales officially start Friday, November 28, and run through Cyber Monday, December 1, and Lifehacker is sharing the best sales based on product reviews, comparisons, and price-tracking tools before it's over. Follow our live blog to stay up-to-date on the best sales we find. Browse our editors' picks for a curated list of our favorite sales on laptops, fitness tech, appliances, and more. Subscribe to our shopping newsletter, Add to Cart, for the best sales sent to your inbox. Sales are accurate at the time of publication, but prices an…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. I love my (admittedly last-gen) Kindle Paperwhite, but even though I know its 6.8-inch screen isn't actually that much smaller than most paperback pages, I still sometimes feel like I have to squint to read it. Maybe it's my fault for seeing it as more of a tablet than an out-and-out digital book, but I do sometimes feel tempted to read on my iPad instead and just put up with the glare. Luckily, Amazon does make a bigger Kindle, and now it's on sale. Amazon Kindle Scribe …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The price of Amazon's Kindle Colorsoft was one of the biggest barriers to recommending when I reviewed the device earlier this year and compared it to cheaper options like the Kobo Libra Colour, but thanks to Amazon's Big Spring Sale, it's now a significantly more attractive option. Normally selling for $280, it's now down to $225, actually making it cheaper than the Kobo and similar color e-readers from Boox or Bigme. Amazon Kindle Colorsoft …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. A lot of TVs are still perfectly fine screens. They’re just stuck with slow menus or outdated apps. The Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Select is an easy fix for that, and right now it’s $19.99, down from $39.99, its lowest price yet, according to price trackers. It streams in 4K with HDR10+ support, so compatible TVs get brighter highlights and better contrast. That said, it skips Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, so this is not the model for someone building a high-end home theater setup. But for most living rooms and bedrooms, the picture quality looks more …

If you're preparing for a move, you have a lot to think about and most of it revolves, in some way, around your new place: Finding it, buying or leasing it, and moving all your stuff to it in a way that is fast, efficient, and as inexpensive as possible. There's a lot on your plate and I get that, but you also need to spare a thought or two for the spot you're vacating, especially if you rent. Remember that security deposit you put down when you moved in? You want that back—and your landlord doesn't want to give it to you. Here's how to get it back, or at least try. What is the landlord looking for?First, think like a landlord or building manager. After all your stuff is…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. With Amazon’s annual Big Spring Sale right around the corner, we’re starting to see prices drop on Amazon devices. That includes the newest model of the Echo Spot, which combines smart home and speaker perks with an alarm clock. Right now, there's a 38% discount on this device, bringing it to $49.99 (down from $79.99). Amazon Echo Spot $49.99 …

On Wednesday, Apple officially revealed the iPhone 16e, the spiritual successor to the iPhone SE. While the second and third-generation SEs borrowed from the design language of the iPhone 8, this new iPhone looks just like an iPhone 14. There are a lot of perks that come with that decision, but in doing so, Apple has also done something pretty drastic: It has officially killed off the Home button. With the launch of the iPhone 16e, no iPhone, nor any iPad Apple currently sells, ships with a Home button. (The iPod touch was killed off a long time ago.) This is, definitively, the end of an era, and I come not to mourn the Home button, but to praise it. Let's take a look at …

In the long-running Android vs. iOS competition, iPhones have historically had the edge in terms of parental controls: They've been a bit more straightforward and intuitive, and easier for caregivers to understand and manage. Apple does many things well, and getting its apps and devices working seamlessly together is definitely one of them. Google, however, is gradually improving the experience for parents, with a batch of updates earlier this year, and now some more changes as part of a significant Android 16 upgrade. The latest changes mean more controls can be accessed on your kids' devices. What's new in Android 16The usual Android caveat applies here: Each Android ph…

Stock Android added the concept of App Pairs back in Android 15. You choose two apps to use in split screen mode, add a shortcut to the paired apps to the home screen, and it's now trivially easy to trigger split screen multitasking (instead of having to perform multiple tap and drag gestures). It sounds neat, but I never really used it, because on my small Pixel 9a, using apps in 50:50 split-screen mode is hardly user-friendly. There's just not enough room on the screen for each app to take up half of it and still be usable. But that changed with Android 16, thanks to a small update to how split screen works. In Android 16, the split screen ratios for app pairs are much …