7 Tips for Using the Internet Explorer App to the Fullest
After learning how to access the Internet Explorer app and getting familiar with the options and buttons that are available on the screen, it is time to dig deeper to some other tweaks that are present within the Internet Explorer 11 app. Some options such as clearing the history, pinning a site to the Start Screen and other stuff are essential things to learn so you can use the Internet Explorer app to the fullest. In this tutorial, we will be going through some tips that will help you master all that there is in the Internet Explorer app so prepare your Windows 8.1 machine and be sure to follow the steps that I will be showing below.
1. Accessing Some Options and Settings
Internet Explorer 11’s desktop version has some options that are accessible within the screen and can be opened by doing a few clicks. The same is true with the modern app version though the other advanced options are outside the main screen and can only be accessed by clicking on one of the Charms. To see these advanced options, simply open the app and once you are on the main screen, just summon the Charms bar by pressing on the Windows + C keys. Once it appears, click on the Settings Charm and all available options will appear on the Settings screen that comes out of the right edge.
Another way of accessing the Settings screen is by using the keyboard shortcut Windows+ I while the app’s main screen is open.
2. Get Familiar with the Options
From the Settings screen, try clicking on the “Options” menu and you will be able to access some tweaks that you can do to Internet Explorer’s appearance. First, you can have the address bar to appear always at the bottom of the screen by flipping the switch “On”. Next, you can adjust the current zoom settings of the screen by dragging the “Zoom” knob. Dragging it to the right will make things on the screen appear larger while dragging it to the left will make things look smaller.
Moving on, the next option will let you change the Home page and below it is the “Reading view” option where you can choose from four available styles. Four different “Font sizes” for the texts that appears on the browser screen is also available so if you want to see more in one screen then you can simply switch the font size to “Small” while for some older users,the “Font size” can be adjusted to “Extra large”.
Scroll a bit towards the bottom and you will see even more options for the Internet Explorer 11 app. You will see a “History” option which will let you select from the browser’s history and cookies which you want to delete. Next to it is the “Passwords” settings which you can turn on or off if you want the app to save the passwords that you enter in certain websites or not. Below it is another option for viewing and managing some saved passwords and deleting the ones that you want to remove from the saved passwords list.
Now, we will move on to the last available items under the “Options” menu which you can access by scrolling down even more until you reach the bottom-most portion. You will see the “Phone Numbers” and as well as the “Fonts and encoding” option. You can automatically check for phone numbers on a webpage so you can call them right away by turning on the “Phone numbers” option and if you want some unique fonts and encoding on websites, simply hit the “Select” button under the “Fonts and encoding” option and choose from available fonts and other settings.
3. The Privacy Options
Just below the “Options” menu is another important aspect in browsing with the Internet Explorer 11 app which is labeled “Privacy”. When you click on it, you will be able to see some toggle switch for certain aspects of your privacy while using the app. All available options within the “Privacy” menu have very clear descriptions. If you want to turn on something or adjust some aspects in it, simply scroll through the available items and turn on or off the ones that best fits the things that you want to do.
4. Accounts and Notifications
The next two items towards the bottom are the “Accounts” and the “Permissions” menu. If you logged in to Facebook using the Internet Explorer app then Facebook should appear within the “Accounts” menu when you click on it. Next, under the “Permissions” menu, you will be able to enable or disable the app from showing notifications on your computer screen and its default setting is turned “On”.
5. Pinning a Site to the Start Screen
One awesome thing about the Internet Explorer app is that it allows you to pin your favorite websites to the Start Screen so that you can access it in just one click or tap. Doing this is very easy. First, you will need to access the website that you want to pin to the Start Screen and once it loads completely, you will need to right-click an empty space on the screen then click on the “Favorites” button at the bottom and after doing so, the bar will expand and show your favorite sites as thumbnails. On top of these thumbnails at the right-hand portion are buttons and one of it is the “Pin site” option. Simply click on it and on the small Window that appears, simply hit the “Pin to start” button.
6. Sharing a Website
Another great thing about the Internet Explorer App is that it works perfectly with the Share charm. This means that you can share a website easily in a few clicks/taps. To do this, simply open the site that you want to share and once it loads completely, you will need to right-click an empty space on it. Next, click on the “Favorites” button at the bottom and just beside “Pin site” is the “Share” button.
If you click on it, the Share screen will appear with a list of all available options for sharing the website or content that you found. The number of sharing options that are listed on the Share screen depends on how many share capable apps are installed on your computer.
7. Clearing your Browser History
Finally, after you used the Internet Explorer App for browsing through your favorite sites, you will need to occasionally clear the browsing history which have accumulated through time. This will help to free some disk space and make the the app work faster and smoother. To do this, simply open the Internet Explorer app and once its homepage fully opens, you will need to press the Windows + I keys to access the Settings screen.
Now, under the “Options” menu, simply scroll and click on the “Select” button under History. You will then be able to access a list of items that you can select to delete. Just tick the boxes that you want to delete and hit the “Delete” button at the bottom.
A Better Way of Browsing Through Websites
Microsoft’s step to include the app version of the Internet Explorer 11 browser into the brand new Windows 8.1 operating system has paved the way to a better and faster browsing experience for Windows users. If you are new to Windows 8.1 then you’ll need to master working with this app by reading our three part tutorial which we’ve done to assist you in getting acquainted with all of the available options, tweaks and settings in the IE 11 app.