Articles by Nicole Johnston

In this era of instant messaging, video chat, and texting, email is still an important staple. But even the most vigilant users get overwhelmed by excessive spam messages, having their account compromised, or accidentally sending a note to the wrong person. So here are some of our best Gmail tips and tricks for using your email account more effectively, whether you’re on a Mac, Windows PC, Linux device, or one of the best Chromebooks.

1. Stop hackers by using two-step verification

Make sure no one is sneaking into your account and using your address to send spam messages. At the bottom of your inbox is an indicator that shows the last time someone used your account. Clicking on it will show you the IP addresses and devices used to send emails from your account. From here, you can block IP addresses from reaccessing your account.

If you don’t already have it enabled, two-factor authentication can be the thing that prevents your account from being overtaken by an unwanted intruder s…

We tested several of the best antivirus apps on Android cellphones and tablets to learn which offer excellent malware protection without causing too much drag on your device. Bitdefender Mobile Security is the overall best. In fact, it’s my top pick for Windows and Mac antivirus, too. Bitdefender ranks high for malware protection, doesn’t use too many resources, and includes a few extra tools. It’s also an overall good value.

Bitdefender Mobile Security

Best overall antivirus for Android

Bitdefender seems to do just about everything you’d need. It stops malware attacks and has web protection that warns of dangerous websites before you visit them. This app uses power management to use little of your phone’s battery to avoid slowdown.

With this app, you can also remotely access your phone to wipe data, lock it down, or send a message to the device. You can also locate it with this feature, and connects it to your Android smartwatch to help remind you to grab your phone or locate …

Top pick for students

Office 365 Education

Free at Microsoft

Pros

Access to eight Office programs
Teams allows real-time collaboration
Compatible with multiple devices

Cons

Not as many collaboration tools as Workspace
Saved files may be seen by administrators

You can get an Office 365 Education subscription free with your school email address. With this subscription, you get access to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneDrvie. You can collaborate with teachers and fellow students through Teams, OneNote and keep track of email messages and upcoming deadlines with Outlook.

Good collaborative tools

Google Workspace for Education Fundamentals

Free at Google

Pros

Access to Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides
Collaboration tools
Access school email through Gmail

Cons

School partnership is required
Collaborating features are clunky

Google Workspace allows real-time collaboration through all Google apps, including Docs, Slides, and Sheets. You can meet virtually usin…

Cyber attacks are on the rise, including data breaches that leave personal information compromised. One of the best ways to protect yourself is with an antivirus program designed to keep your locally stored information and your internet data secure. I spent several months testing and reevaluating the top antivirus programs currently available in 2021. While there haven’t been many changes since last year, these recommendations will keep your computers, mobile devices and networks as secure as possible. Bitdefender Antivirus Plus is still the best antivirus program with real-time protection that stops and scrubs threats from your system before they have a chance to start downloading. Still, there are several other excellent programs on this list to choose from, including a handful of these solutions that work with mobile devices. Check out my picks for the best antivirus apps for Android to see a more comprehensive list.

Best Antivirus Overall: Bitdefender Antivirus Plus

Bitdefend…

Deeply hidden in your Chrome settings are tools for blocking pop-ups, but because of how Chrome and other web browsers are programmed to earn money, there are still many types of ads that display. Cybercriminals cleverly disguised phishing schemes, adware, or malicious downloads as legitimate ads, so the best and easiest way to protect yourself is with an ad blocker. Here are some of our favorites.

Staff pick

AdBlock

Staff pick

On top of blocking pop-up ads, AdBlock keeps banner ads from downloading within the content you’re reading and stops commercials from showing in YouTube videos. AdBlock doesn’t ask for personal information before installing the browser extension, and it doesn’t keep information about your browser history or other online activity.

Free at Chrome Store

Adware and virus blocking

AdBlocker Ultimate

AdBlocker Ultimate stops every kind of ad. It doesn’t have a whitelist, so there is no way to make an exception for an ad or pop-up to get through. Th…

I spent six months testing and reevaluating the top antivirus programs currently available in 2021. While there haven’t been many big changes between last year and this year’s versions, I did want to make sure the programs I recommend will keep computers, mobile devices, and networks as secure as possible. This year Bitdefender Antivirus Plus is still the best antivirus program with real-time protection that stops and scrubs threats from your system before they have a chance to even start downloading. It includes helpful tools like a vulnerability scanner, social media protections, and a password manager. Here are several other excellent solutions to round out this year’s list of the top ten antivirus programs. A handful of these solutions work with mobile devices but check out my picks of the best antivirus apps for Android to see a more comprehensive list.

Best Antivirus Overall: Bitdefender Antivirus Plus

Bitdefender consistently earns high or perfect scores for malware protec…

College is exciting, crazy, and a little scary. The road has a lot of twists and turns, bumps, hurdles, and a few slides along the way. Here are a dozen great Android apps to help you through each part of your college career and get to the other side, ready to conquer the world.

Daily planner

Evernote

Staff pick

With this app, you can easily schedule your day with color-coded tasks, checklists, and reminders. It integrates with Google apps, including Google’s calendar, and both syncs and works across devices. There is a place to enter and keep notes from classes, file scanned documents and clips from online articles.

Get at Google Play

Discount textbooks

Chegg Books

Chegg lets you buy or rent textbooks – physical and ebooks – for up to 90 percent less than the campus bookstore. You can use the app to sell back books at the end of the semester to earn a little extra money. Other school supplies are also available for purchase through this app.

Get at Google Play…

Summer is almost over and it’s time to gear up for school. Whether your high school student is learning in the classroom, at home, or a hybrid of the two, there are several great Android apps that are designed to give your child the support they need to succeed. We chatted with a few teachers and school administrators to find the most helpful apps that work on both Android cell phones and tablets. Here is a quick rundown of the best.

Student Planner

Evernote

Staff pick

Evernote is the most popular personal planner and note-taking app available. It syncs to all your devices, so if you update your calendar or add a notation from one device it will show up on all your others. With Evernote, your student can create daily, weekly, and monthly to-do lists, set reminders for when homework is due, and annotate scanned files, including PDFs. They can also highlight, clip, and save passages from online textbooks or websites.

Get at Google Play

Note taking

Squid

This app keeps…

Working from home just got a lot easier.

The global pandemic has forced a lot of us to adapt to new work methods while we stay at home, and a big part of that is teleconferencing with your coworkers.

Google Meet is included as part of your G Suite account, but even those with a personal Gmail account can use Meet for free. However, you will be limited with the number of tools you have access to and each meeting is capped at 60 minutes total. You can find Meet listed under the Google apps after you’ve signed into your account, or download it from Google Play for your mobile device. Here are all the steps to take in order to set up a meeting with Meet

Products used in this guide

Desktop version: Google Meet (See at Google)
Mobile app: Google Meet (See at Google Play Store)

How to set up a video conference in Google Meet

Click the app icon (it looks like a video camera) to open the dashboard and get started.

In the upper right-hand corner you will see the settings icon. C…

Best for quick meetings

Google Meets

From $6/ mo. at Google

Pros

Share screen
Send files through chat
Free for everyone to use
No additional fee for call-in participants
Additional tools with G Suite subscription

Cons

Messy dashboard compared to Zoom
Can host fewer participants
Clunky and unreliable for Mac users

Google Meet comes free with your G Suite subscription for unlimited video conferencing or free to everyone for meetings up to 60 minutes long. This program is pretty basic but has all the collaboration tools you’ll need to conduct productive meetings.

Best for larger groups

Zoom

From $15/ mo. at Zoom

Pros

Collaboration tools
Free account available
Connects to conferencing equipment
Works with all operating systems including Linux
Host up to 500 people

Cons

Call-in access costs extra
Must disable popup blockers to use

Zoom is the best program for connecting to conferencing equipment such as telecoms and webcams to allow several people to join…