Help Desk

(Twitter/iStock/Washington Post Illustration)

Twitter privacy settings to change now

Your tweets may be public, but you can still have more privacy on the social media service.

Recycling should be easier. These home appliance start-ups are trying to help.

How to keep your phone charged and useful in dangerous weather

Tech tips to stay in touch, find help and be safe during storms, from getting the right emergency alerts to making your smartphone battery last in a power outage.

By Heather Kelly and Chris Velazco

Ask Help Desk: Stop auto-correct from ducking up

From perplexing auto-corrections to the best way to call 911, we answer your biggest tech questions.

By Heather Kelly

The next generation of home robots will be more capable — and perhaps more social

By Chris Velazco

Privacy Reset: A guide to the important settings you should change now

From Facebook to Venmo, staying on top of your privacy starts with these key settings.

By Heather Kelly and Geoffrey A. Fowler

THE HELP DESK TEAM

Geoffrey Fowler has for more than a decade been holding tech companies accountable where it matters most: the products you use every day.

Heather Kelly is a veteran journalist on the intersection of humans and gadgets, and offers humorous advice on our digital lives.

Chris Velazco is the guy you’d want to take shopping with you for deep knowledge about what’s new, what’s a rip-off and what’s actually right for you and your family.

Tatum Hunter goes deep into how apps, websites and other technology actually works to help you get the most out of it.

Danielle Abril covers how technology is impacting the way we work and how companies are using artificial intelligence and other tools to exert more control over us.

Ask us your personal tech questions

We want to hear your questions about the phones, computers, apps and speakers that we surround ourselves with.

TECH IN YOUR LIFE

Ask Help Desk: Stop auto-correct from ducking up

By Heather Kelly

Finding reliable masks online can be tricky. Here are tips that can help.

By Chris Velazco

Review

You’re going to be asked to prove your vaccination status. Here’s how to do it.

By Chris Velazco and Geoffrey A. Fowler

Email spam is breaking through again. Here’s what you can do to minimize it

By Heather Kelly

TECH AT WORK

Front-line workers are getting some of the tech (and tracking) of office workers

By Danielle Abril

Ask Help Desk: Creating community and safety at work while omicron surges

By Danielle Abril

Future of Work: Computer vision and machine learning may soon bolster restaurant jobs

By Danielle Abril

Future of Work: Requiring workers to return to the office is a ‘doomed approach’

By Danielle Abril

Your Data and PRIVACY

Twitter privacy settings to change now

By Heather Kelly

Surveillance will follow us into ‘the metaverse,’ and our bodies could be its new data source

By Tatum Hunter

The ultimate guide to secure passwords

By Tatum Hunter

How to read and understand Apple’s new iOS App Privacy Report

By Heather Kelly

Internet Access

The latest space race is all about improving Internet access. Here’s what you should know.

By Chris Velazco

Analysis

5G is a little better than before, but don’t rush to upgrade your phone just yet.

By Chris Velazco and Geoffrey A. Fowler

Perspective

How Internet and TV providers get away with jacking up your bill

By Geoffrey A. Fowler

Perspective

5 tricks to lower your Internet bill

By Geoffrey A. Fowler

WHAT’S NEW

Recycling should be easier. These home appliance start-ups are trying to help.

By Chris Velazco

The biggest tech trends to watch for in 2022

By Tatum Hunter and Chris Velazco

Perspective

If you need your music everywhere, Apple Music’s ‘voice plan’ isn’t for you

By Chris Velazco

Apple will start selling you the parts you need to fix your iPhone in early 2022

By Chris Velazco

ETHICAL ISSUES

Your drawer full of old tech could have a new life — or start a fire. Here’s how to handle it.

By Chris Velazco

Perspective

Anyone with an iPhone can now make deepfakes. We aren’t ready for what happens next.

By Geoffrey A. Fowler

Perspective

Everyone’s AirPods will die. We’ve got the trick to replacing them.

By Geoffrey A. Fowler

Review

Not all iPhones are the same. These cost less and are better for the Earth.

By Geoffrey A. Fowler

The Price of BigSeries on how tech monopolies impact you

Perspective

How Internet and TV providers get away with jacking up your bill

By Geoffrey A. Fowler

Perspective

Want to borrow that e-book from the library? Sorry, Amazon won’t let you.

By Geoffrey A. Fowler

Perspective

There’s no escape from Facebook, even if you don’t use it

By Geoffrey A. Fowler

Perspective

iTrapped: All the things Apple won’t let you do with your iPhone

By Geoffrey A. Fowler

VIDEOS

(Jonathan Baran /The Washington Post)

The weird, wild world of CES 2022

Many people stayed home but Help Desk reporter Chris Velazco turned out to find the weirdest and most interesting technology of the annual consumer tech show.

Help Desk

Making tech work for you