Ed Bott - Windows 10 Support Secrets

70 CHAPTER 5 | Connecting to the Internet and cloud services Figure 5-3: Most home networks use a shared key for security. Anyone who has the key can enter it here and connect to the network. Figure 5-3 also offers an opportunity to demonstrate another useful Windows 10 feature. See the small button that looks like an eye at the right side of the password box? You’ll find a similar button in many places where you’re asked to type a password in Windows 10. Click that eye and hold down the mouse button to make the password you’ve just typed visible. Release the mouse button to hide the password again. This is an extremely useful way to confirm that you typed correctly, especially when you’re typing a long, complex passphrase or security key. When you sign in to a secure network, you can click the Connect Automatically box to have Windows 10 store the security key for reuse. Later, when you’re in the vicinity of that access point, you don’t need to take any special steps to reconnect. If you sign in to Windows with a Microsoft account, those network credentials are synchronized across other devices where you use the same Microsoft account, making it possible to automatically connect to a wireless network even on a brand- new device. Over time, especially for anyone who travels frequently, you can build up a long list of saved networks, many of them associated with destinations you’ll never visit again. If you’d like to review and clean out this list, you’ll find it in Settings under the Network & Internet category. In the Anniversary Update, version 1607, choose Wi-Fi > Manage Known Networks. With Windows 10 version 1511, go to Wi-Fi > Manage Wi-Fi Settings, and scroll down to the Manage Known Networks section. As Figure 5-4 shows, each entry has two buttons associated with it.