Introduction

Most printers come with the ability to communicate with an iPhone via Wi-Fi. It’s built in, and printer manufacturers have been including the ability for several years.

First check your printer can use AirPrint using my list below. Optional really, because you can just try it to see if it works because it is pretty quick!

If it can’t then you can still print directly from your iPhone to a Printer if you connect them via a lightning-USB cable.

Can you print to your printer?

Probably. The table below shows a simple list of 50 makers of printers that can use AirPrint. Most of these printers seem to have very many different models that can use air print.

For example:

• Canon have more than 1800 printer models that can use AirPrint. In fact 1865 Canon printer models at the time of writing can print using AirPrint, so it’s likely you do not even need an app!
• HP have around 1500 printer models that can use AirPrint.
• Seven hundred to nearly 1000 models each for Pantum, Epson and Brother printers can print using AirPrint.
  
• Over 300 models for Ricoh, Lexmark and Sharp can use AirPrint.

Jump directly to the method rather than scroll down the list if you want, as it is quite long.

As you can see, there are quite a lot and looks like all the popular printers on this list. It certainly contains all the big brand names.

So, next time you receive something in a message that you want to print, you should try to print it directly from your phone. You will quickly find whether it works or not for you.

Note: You can find a full list of all the printers and the specific models that can work with AirPrint at Apple. But be warned, it is a very very long list in which to search and find your printer!

It’s much easier just to try it, and see if your printer appears. So read on!

How to print a PDF from your iPhone directly to your printer

As I wrote above, first thing is to Check if your Printer can use AirPrint. Or just do the following!

Make sure your Wi-Fi is on, on your iPhone.

Make sure your printer is on.

1. Tap the message (in WhatsApp in my case) on the PDF to open it.
2. Tap Send (the box with the arrow).
   Yes, it’s a little strange but you will see there are many things you can do from this menu!
3. Down the screen after people or groups, AirDrop Mail etc., and Copy is Print.
4. Tap Print.
5. I found my Printer on the very first line under Options.
6. Select number of Copies you want, using the plus or minus signs (of leave as the default 1)
7. I chose to turn off double-sided as I needed them that way. I like that double sided was the default to minimize paper usage by default.
8. Check other options if you want.
9. Tap Print at the top right.

Printing from my iPhone 14 directly to my Epson WF-2750 printer, using iOS 17.

There! Your printer should start.

Also Useful, Read these:

• Since you might be working with PDFs, you might like to know how to copy a list of PDFs to Excel and just get only the file names.
• As you have an iPhone, you will love to know how to find your most recently added contacts (as you can’t find them via the contacts menu).

Background

Do you have to send a pdf to your desktop computer to print from your iPhone? No!

I learned today that I could print directly to my printer at home from my iPhone! How cool!

In the past, I will do something as silly as the following:

1. Open the PDF someone had sent me by text message.
2. Copy the PDF.
3. Open my email app.
4. Paste the PDF into the email.
5. Send the email to myself. 
6. Go to my computer at my desk.
7. Open the email in my email app.
8. Download or open the PDF in the browser.
9. Select to print the PDF from the menu.
10. Modify any options.
11. Click print!

This is a bit of a hassle and when I had the need today I found that you can print directly from your iPhone.

It seems there is this thing called air print, which allows your iPhone to print directly to the printer that has Air print capability.

When I first read that such a thing exists, I thought “Oh, great, this would be good if I had a modern printer”!

This is probably some new thing that only works with modern printers. My printer is quite old, so I thought it probably wouldn’t have this capability. But I was wrong!

I found I can print directly from my iPhone to my Epson WP-2750 printer!

I found that there are many printers, even some quite old that can use this a printer system

So, I think that you can probably print to your printer, from your iPhone even if it’s quite old. It seems that this is not new.  

Some frequently asked questions follow.

The post I found how to print a PDF from my iPhone directly to my printer appeared first on TheTechMentor.com.

The shortcut finds the 10 most recently added contacts in your iPhone. It might be handy in future if you find you want to see when the most recent contact was added, for example. In case you want more, I’ll also show you the details so you can edit it. If you like a challenge, I’ll show how to write your own shortcut to do this, if you prefer not to download one. Read on!

Introduction

Recently I wanted to find my most recently added contacts, in the Contacts app on my iPhone because I met someone a while back who’s name I didn’t remember. What I did recall is they had entered their details into my phone. I wanted to know is there a way to see recently added contacts in my iPhone.

But it seems there is no menu or button in the Contacts app to search by the most recently added ones.

However, the data is there in your phone, so you can use an iOS shortcut to go through the Contacts app and find the most recently added contacts.

As a bonus, you can select to find out when you added a contact to your iPhone.

This method uses a shortcut on your iPhone. Apple included by default the Shortcuts app in iOS 13 back in 2019.

You could alternatively download a third-party App from the app store, but that should not be necessary.

The great thing about using a ‘Shortcut’ in your own phone, is there is no risk of others tampering with your data.

You can even write it yourself with my guidance further below towards the end (after all that is more technical. but you probably can do it with my help).

Perhaps you could then change my shortcut to find your oldest contacts or filter contacts in a way you choose! Maybe you want to find contacts with an attachment (you can even filter by File Extension)!

When it does work for you, please remember to share this method with friends and family as it could help them also.

It means this will work for you if you have the new iPhone 16 or iPhone 15 along with their Pro Max or 16e versions. It will also work for these older models:

• iPhone 11
• iPhone 12
• (Oh, and any of the Pro or Max versions of all of these)
• iPhone 13
• iPhone 14
• And any older phone from iPhone 7 and up installed with iOS 13, iOS 14, iOS 15, iOS 16, iOS 17 and iOS 18 (the current one at time of this update edit).

On older version of iOS, you may have downloaded the shortcuts app so it might work for you.

How To Find Recently Added Contacts On iPhone

As written above, you can’t get find recently added contacts directly from within the app.

You need the shortcut that will interrogate the Contacts app data with your iPhone’s built-in Shortcuts app.

Are you familiar with the Shortcuts app? It is provided on every iPhone. Not everyone uses it though.

It was created by Apple to shortcut one or more tasks you do often.

For example you could get it to automate tasks, like open the weather and news every morning.

If you haven’t used the shortcuts app before, don’t worry it is pretty easy.

The nice thing about it is that it will only perform tasks Apple considers safe for your phone. I wrote the Shortcut, but it only uses functions your phone already has. The is no software by me and no risk to you, unlike with third-party apps (which should also have some level of safety by Apple, but may also have access to your data or other things you might not like).

Apple Shortcuts Notes:

NOTE 1: Apple shares Shortcuts like this via their own purpose-built sharing site to ensure that shortcuts have gone through a verification process, and prevent others tampering with them, to make sure there is no risk to anyone’s phone.

NOTE 2: If you still don’t trust downloading a shortcut that has been verified by Apple, I’ll show you the code further below so you can create your own shortcut in your own phone. It is a little more technical, but not too difficult. Don’t worry, we at TheTechMentor.com are here to mentor you on all things tech!

Here is how to find recently added contacts on your iPhone:

Click or tap the button image further below.

It will take you to Apple’s iCloud Shortcuts website where you can download it to your iPhone.

Click the image to download the shortcut from Apple’s verified iPhone shortcuts site. The title in English reads Find 10 Recent Contacts, 6 actions. (I’ll count the taps needed, so this is Tap 1)

When you see the page open in Safari (or your browser), tap or click ‘Get Shortcut’. (Tap number 2, & 3 to okay it.)

Go to the Shortcuts App. (It will likely open automatically.)

Find Apple’s Shortcuts app icon on your iPhone, which looks like this.

If you don’t see the app there already, then tap All, then search for “Find 10 Recent Contacts”.

It might find it if you just type ‘recent’ in the search (drag down to show the search entry).

If you don’t see the shortcut, you can drag down on the screen and tap to type into the search bar. In this image I type in English ‘Recent’. I’m not sure if you’ll need to type as shown or the translated equivalent in your language (yes, I get readers from all over the world to this helpful article, so I try to tailor for everyone).

The download link is repeated here for the shortcut in case you missed it.

Remember this is safe, as it is vetted and controlled by Apple.

Plus it relies only on your own iPhone to work, no third-party App required!

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How to run it

Tap the Shortcut to run it. (Tap count up to 4. That is all you need to get results!)

Your Contacts app will open or appear front of screen (if already open).

• Wait… a little.
• I found it took around 5 seconds to go through all my contacts and filter out the 10 most recent.

Hey, I have a lot of contacts!

No doubt your iPhone model and number of contacts in your app will affect how long it takes for you.

A list will appear to show your 10 most recently added contacts. See below.

Here you see the 10 most recently added contacts on my iPhone (blurred for privacy) in a ‘popup’ which overlays your Contacts app.

But Jeff, you say, I went to my local Meetup or BNI (Business Network International) meeting, and I met three people the same day! Which one was which?!

Bonus: See when you created a contact

There is a bonus in this shortcut so you can see when you created each contact in this list.

Here is how you do it:

Tap the row of any of the names in the list.

A new banner will pop up showing the date and time of the added contact you selected. See below.

Here you see exactly when the selected contact was created.

This can be very helpful if you are not sure which of your recent contacts is the one you are looking for.

By seeing the date and time of when you added it, and cross-checking against where you were or what function you were at at that date and time, you can be sure which contact it was you made.

If you use your iPhone calendar, that is the easiest way to see where you were or what function you had at that same date and time.

If you have another new contact and you’re not sure between the two (or three!) just repeat the process to see exactly when you added the other contact(s). Even if you met two or more people at the same event, you can likely match the time added to your phone with when you met each person.

This is so helpful – I have used it myself several times!

To finish up:

Tap ‘Done‘ to end the shortcut.

Most Recent Contact Added-iPhone

If you want to find most recent contact added to your iPhone, simply run the above shortcut and the most recently added contact will be the at the top of the list.

That is, the shortcut puts the last contact added to your iPhone, first.

Tap the top of the list to continue, and it will show exactly when that most recent contact was created.

Find Out When You Added A Contact-iPhone

To find out when you added a contact to your iPhone, you can use the shortcut above if that contact was within the last 10 you created.

If it was created longer ago, you can quite easily edit the code in the same Shortcut to search and filter many more that the most recent 10.

Let’s say you want the most recent 20, because (let’s assume) you are pretty sure the one you are looking for would be in that range.

Here is how you do it:

Tap the three dots top right of the Shortcut, and it will open it for editing.

See and tap the edit button top right.

The result you see might look unusual the first time you see it. Don’t worry, you can cancel an edit or delete it and download it again if you have to.

Scroll down until you see ‘Find’ ‘All Contacts’.

Change the ‘Get 10 contacts’ to a larger number, by tapping the plus sign. See below.

How to find someone you met recently but more than the last 10 that the shortcut normally shows.

Now tap the play button (right arrow at the bottom right of screen) to run it.

Done!

Sort Contacts by Date Added

The above method to change the number of contacts, and the code to sort them, effectively gives you what you need to sort your contacts by date added.

If you need only the more recent contacts, then that is already done for you, even if you need to increase the number as shown above. Admittedly, that could be a hassle if you want to see all your contacts sorted by date created. Especially if you have many. It can be done though, so don’t worry.

It might be more practical to re-enter that part of the shortcut.

Just leave ‘All Contacts’, i.e. don’t select a limit (leave the button off – see image further below to see what I mean).

Or you could write your own shortcut as shown below. Again, don’t select to put a limit. This way you can sort all contacts.

You can choose if you want oldest first or newest first at ‘Order’ (again, see image above or further below).

I’ve shown you how to see recently added contacts on your iPhone.

I’ve also shown how to find most recent contact on your iPhone.

Then I showed how to find out when you added a contact.

Did you like the above tool? It’s helped many people, and I’m proud of it. Please share with your friends.

There is more on this topic further below.

Another popular article I wrote with a tool to do a lot for you, is this article on how to copy file names and file paths to Excel. It’s helpful because normally when you want to copy a group of files in Windows, you copy the files not their name. Then, if you want the filenames only, what can you do? How do your trim the file path to leave only the filename? This tool I made does it for you!

Write your own shortcut to find most recently added contacts in your iPhone

Now, for those who like a little more of a challenge!

I’ll show you how to create your own shortcut rather than download the one above.

This is just in case there is a further change you want to make, or if you don’t want to download one even from Apple’s verified Shortcuts site.

Open the Shortcuts app.

Tap the plus sign top right to add a new one.

If you want you can add a comment to explain what the shortcut is, and who it is by so when you share with friends they know you wrote it (I’d still prefer your note it was really by Jeff at TheTechMentor.com first!).

In the search bar at the bottom of screen, type “comment” (or the equivalent in your language).

Tap the Comment box or button, so you can type in some text that will not do anything other than explain whatever you would like to write. This is good practice for larger shortcuts, so you know what parts of a shortcut do.

Here it is helpful to explain that this shortcut finds recently added contacts in your iPhone.

Tap Open App (further down the screen, not the first option). Then tap the ‘App’ button that appears for selection options.

Move down the list and tap on ‘Contacts’.

Type “Find” into the search bar at the bottom.

Now, look through the action options to see ‘Find Contacts’, under ‘Contacts’. Tap it.

Change the ‘Sort by’ option to ‘Creation Date’ further down the page (tap on None to change it). You will see here there are very many options!

How to find Newly Added Contacts iPhone (rather than default ‘Oldest’)

You wont get the newly added contacts by default.

For the Order, select ‘Latest First’ for the filter to find only the most recent contacts first (tap ‘Oldest First’ to change this).

Finally tap the slider button to turn on ‘Limit’. The default will be 5.

Use the plus or minus sign buttons to adjust the number of contacts you want to see.

More contacts will take slightly longer when it runs.

Your shortcut should start to look like the one below (if in English).

Here you see a Comment and more actions we built up so far.

The next step is optional. That is, if you want when they were added (not only to find newly added contacts to your iPhone).

Add step to see when newly added contact was created

In the search bar, type “Show” as the next action. Tap ‘Show Result’.

NOTE: when looking at a potential next action, you can tap the ‘i’ for information about the action at the right of the row.

Select ‘Creation Date’ from the many options.

You see here you can get all sorts of contact information you might be interested to find. But that is for you to make another shortcut if you want!

Now to run your own shortcut, press the play button (right arrow) bottom right.

For the remaining part of the original shortcut, see the image below.

Part two of the shortcut that also shows when the contact was created.

Some FAQs follow further below.

The key items I have shown above are:

1. How to find recently added contacts on an iPhone (the last 10 or so).
2. Find the most recent contact in an iPhone.
3. Find out when you added a contact to your iPhone.
4. How to sort contacts by date added.

The post How to Find Recently Added Contacts on iPhone appeared first on TheTechMentor.com.

Background

I’ve previously written about resetting the password for Windows 10 in this article here ‘Hiren boot reset password Windows 10‘. I thought I’d update it here for you here for the new version of Windows 11.

The key to this procedure, is to download the correct FREE software which makes it easy. I’ll give you links to everything you need here and show you in detailed steps how to use Hiren’s boot USB for a Windows 11 password reset.

Note: in the ol’ days, we would talk about Hiren’s Boot CD (and they continue to label it that way ongoing on their website, as it is in their domain name/URL), but PCs and laptops with CD drives are pretty rare these days, so sometimes I will just refer to it as Hirens Boot USB.

I’ll show it in detailed steps to first set up your Boot USB then how to use it to reset a Windows 11 password. If you want to change password in windows directly, you’ll need to set up the USB tool to use this method.

How to reset Windows 11 Password – with Hirens Boot USB

Download the executable file to set up your USB correctly, this is the first step.

Note: this is probably obvious: you will need to set up either the bootable USB on another computer that the one on which you need to do the password reset.

Step 1: Download the executable file for USB

You will need to download the USB version of Hiren’s boot CD/USB from the website; download USB version here. The version you need is:

Hiren’s BootCD PE – ISO2USB v1.1 (x86)

This is the Hiren’s BootCD PE – ISO2USB portable tool. Download ISO2USB-exe here and save to you PC.

It seems if you click on their website to download it, they show an ad these days just before it downloads (they have to fund their website, right). So click the ad if it appeals to you or close it with the little cross top right corner of the popup.

Step 2: Download the ISO file for HirensBoot CD

If you are not familiar with Hirens boot CD, it contains very many useful utilies. Only one section of it is used to reset passwords on Windows.

In it you will find:

• Windows Login Unlocker v1.6
• Lazesoft Password Recovery v4.0.0.1
• NT Password Edit v0.7

Download the ISO file here.

Now you can insert USB or after you start Step 4.

Step 3: Insert USB

Now, I suggest you start with a blank USB.

If you want, you can format and/or partition your USB first (they have a ‘how to’ on the Hiren’s Boot website if you haven’t done this before).

I propose the better way is to let their USB set up executable file do it for you. This is what I will show below.

Step 4 Run Hirens USB 1.1 and Select USB Set up Options

Run the exe file. A neat thing about the executable programming is that it will only show connected USB flash drives in the selectable items list under ‘USB Device’.

Run the exe file to set up the USB with Hiren’s Boot CD as a USB. Select ‘Yes’.

Note: You’ll need to run as Administrator.

This will bring up the Hiren’s Boot USB set up (Hiren’s BootCD PE ISO2USB v1.1) interface as shown below.

Setting up Hirens Boot CD on USB uses this interface to make sure you set up the USB correctly. After this we can change or remove the Windows 11 password with one of the utilities included.

Select your chosen USB if you have more than one connected.

WARNING: Make sure you pick the right USB devise! Do not re-format a USB with your data or files unless you want that!

Step 5 Provide new USB name (optional)

You can write a new name for the USB under ‘New Drive Label’.

Note: This needs to be an upper-case, alpha-numeric name or up to 11 characters.

Step 6: Select HirensBootCD ISO location.

By default, the exe looks in the same folder as itself for the iso file. It will already be shown here if you downloaded the iso and the exe files into the same folder.

If you downloaded them or moved them into locations separate from each other, then you can navigate to select the iso file location within ‘ISO File’ in the popup.

Step 7 Make the Hirens USB

You can leave the ‘Format Selected USB Device’ check box checked (as this is my preferred option).

Also leave the ‘Copy ISO Content to USB Device’ check box as checked.

Click ‘Process’ and you will be prompted are you sure. Be very sure, there is no going back after formatting your USB!

If you have formatted manually the way you prefer, you can un-check that first checkbox.

After some time, at the bottom of the window you’ll see a message stating that the ISO content was successfully copied to the drive containing your selected USB.

You can eject your USB (use ‘Safely Remove Hardware and Eject Media’ via the little up arrow and USB icon in the Windows 11 taskbar).

Step 8 Insert USB into locked Windows 11 PC tablet or Laptop and Boot-up

Restart to boot from the CD.

You may have to change the computer’s boot order in the BIOS in order to boot from the USB.

Step 9: Select Windows PE from the menu and reset Windows 11 Password

Windows PE is for deployment and recovery (if you’ve been around a while you might call it the mini XP for Windows 11).

When you boot from the USB, you will see a Hiren’s boot menu, a little like the one below (sorry that image is reused from the older article referred to above).  

As I state above, this is the deployment and recovery version for Windows 11.

The programs that can allow you to reset or change a windows password are:

• Windows Login Unlocker v1.6
• Lazesoft Password Recovery v4.0.0.1
• NT Password Edit v0.7 (basically the one in the image below)

So select the one most appropriate for your machine (using the arrow key) and press enter.

I’ll continue with steps per my method for the Windows NT machine, but yours will be similar.

Select the right one of the three programs listed above to change password. Yes, your version will be more recent than mine shown – last I checked it is up to v1.0.2 of the PE x64 version (1 July 2021).

Note: Several lines of text will roll up the screen, which may be a little disconcerting the first time you see it.

Step 10: (If necessary) Select the partition

If more than one partition is identified, it will prompt you to select the disk where Windows 11 is installed.

Note: Windows 11 installation normally takes up around 27 GB to 30 GB (ie. 27 to 30k MB) so look for a partition with that sort of size if you have more than one.

If prompted, type the number corresponding to the Windows partition on the screen.

Step 11: Acknowledge or Select Path

I expect most PCs will have the default path as Windows/System32/config.

For most PCs you can just hit <Enter>.

Step 12: Select Hirens boot cd PE Windows 11 Reset Password App

You can just press <Enter> again, because it is the ‘password reset’ option we need.

Step 13: Select to Reset Administrator or another user password

As I indicated what you see exactly will depend on which app you selected. Most will give you alternatives actions at this point.

You’ll need to choose the user account that needs its password reset.

The user accounts will now be displayed and usually include Administrator and Guest in addition to the users normal set name, which you (or they) should easily recognize.

Reset Administrator password Windows 11 with Hiren boot cd:

• Type ‘Administrator’ and press <Enter>.

Reset (User account) password on Windows 11 with Hiren boot cd:

In your case it’s you or your client’s username.

• Type the username from the list and press <Enter>.

Step 14: Select the Option to Clear Password

Again, this step is written to show you what to expect, but your view will likely be app-dependent.

Type ‘1’ and press <Enter> for the default option ‘Clear (blank) user password’, as in my version this is the actual step that will reset the password in Windows 11.

Of course you can opt to change password rather than clear it.

You should get feedback that it is successful, ‘Password cleared’.

Note: * Be sure to save the changes as you exit.

Press ‘q’ and hit <Enter> to commence quitting the main menu.

Note: Yes you can change password for Windows 11 (just write a new password) rather than clear it.

Step 15: Save Changes

Hit the ‘y’ key for yes (and press <Enter>), and your password reset will be saved (ie. the password is saved as null).

Step 16: Reboot Windows 11 PC, Laptop, or Tablet

Remove the USB. You are now ready to reboot the machine. 

Restart the PC.  You or the user can now log into the computer without a password.

You’ve now performed your very own Hirens boot USB password reset in Windows 11! Well done!

I’ve shown one method for the final few steps and as indicated, on how to reset a Windows 11 password. Your last few steps could be different depending on your selected app.

The post How to Remove Password in Windows 11 With Hirens Boot USB appeared first on TheTechMentor.com.

If you do want to see how to clean it including with a toothpick, see this article. But, be aware that is not the end-all be-all cleaning method.

Why is a toothpick not the most effective for cleaning your phone charger port?

Sure, a toothpick can get in and scrape out the bulk of the lint from your pocket that collects in the charger port.

I also like them because they are wood and fine, which means they are a little flexible. Less likely to break something. Not only that, but they will also likely break instead of your phone if you use too much force.

But they are not the only option by far. 

If soot has already started to burn onto the connector pins, the metal connectors that transfer power between the charger and the phone, can get soot deposited on them.

To clean them you need more than just to scrape the lint or dust out.

We will first look at alternative options for use instead of a toothpick for scraping. Then we will look at how to give an even better clean.

When you do use a toothpick, the idea is to gently glide up and into one edge of the charger port.

Then swipe across and then retain it at an angle and withdraw to scrape out any lint or dust collected in there. Repeat.

How to clean iPhone charging port without toothpick – Preferred Options

I talk about an iPhone charger port here, but of course it is relevant to any smartphone with a ‘female’ connector that makes a catchment pocket.

You can do something similar to above without a toothpick.

You will need something that is similar in size to the hole in your iPhone for the lightning connector. It’s surprisingly narrow!

WARNING: Make sure you do not use anything too hard. It could scratch and damage your phone. Also, I recommend you turn your phone off before putting anything other than the charger in it.

You can try one of the following.

1. Q-tip or Cotton Bud

A Q-tip often works well. Sometimes called a cotton bud in some locations.

I often recommended them, especially when doing a better clean with a cleaning fluid (see end of this article).

You can use pliers or your teeth to crush the stem to make it narrower.

I find that, even when crushed, the stems are still a little too wide to fit inside the port. 

This means often only the cotton part fits in. This allows you to do a partial clean. It is okay but perhaps not the best way to remove all lint from the port.

In fact, it’s better for rubbing the pins to clean them than to remove lint jammed up inside.

A great tool to use to clean iPhone charging port without toothpick, is a twist-tie.

2. Twist-tie

By twist-tie, I mean those plastic-coated wires that we use to twist around other things to keep them together or freezer bag, not a cable tie.

The ones that come with freezer bags are not very strong so are not very good at all.

The black or white ones used on loose parts in toys or cables or work quite well.

The best ones are the stronger black ones that are typically on serious quality electrical goods. Including on new USB cables! If you buy new charger cable, look for and use the twist-tie to clear out the phone charger port before you start using your new cable.

Use the same method as explained above for the toothpick, but of course you do it without the toothpick!

In fact, it might be better than a toothpick because you can bend slightly the end to make a tiny hook.

In the photo below, you can see some lint or dust removed when I did a clean that was a success. There was more removed than shown in the photo.

This is how I got lint out of iPhone charging port without a toothpick.

I had the black twist tie wrapped around my new charger cable when it arrived! Perfect to give the phone charger port a wipe before inserting my new cable.

After all, you don’t want to get a black stuff on your new charger cable right away.

How I cleaned my iPhone charging port without toothpick using the twist-tie that came with my new iPhone charger cable!

My choice of iPhone charger cable?

I bought some like this iPhone charger cable and found the two cables to be awesome with a very robust design, and I’m really happy with them.

That is my choice but there are many more options, of course. You can search and find your own choice. This one is just to get you started.

TIP: Look for something that is going to protect the cable near the ends as that is where they fail in a way you can’t easily fix them.

Note: the above link is an affiliate link and if you click and buy one and it qualifies then I’ll probably get a tiny fraction of that. Which is to say (with the price of a charger cable), almost nothing, lol!

More ways to clean an iPhone charger port without toothpick

Along similar lines to Part 1, there are other small plastic-only items you can use.

A great one, though not always handy, is a ‘cable tie’.

3. Cable Tie

I’m referring to the plastic ones.

Metal ones are rare but if you have one, and want to use it because you have nothing else, please take extra care!

A metal one will be hard and you run the risk of damaging your iPhone or Android phone port. Not worth it to just clean out some lint or other stuff!

A cable tie for those that don’t know is a narrow plastic strip with a step pattern on one side, and an end that it zips into. People clamp cables and hold other things tightly together using cable ties very often.

These come in all sorts or sizes and variations.

You can typically cut them with good scissors and strong force, or a knife.

The method is the same:

Push it gently up into one end.

Drag it along the inside of the port.

Hook out the lint at the other end.

Repeat a few times, including from the other side.

4. Plastic 3D printing filament

If you or a friend has a 3D printer, then they likely have bits and pieces of tiny plastic parts that they don’t know what to do with. In any case there will be spare off-cuts of raw filament that we use that don’t serve any other purpose.

These plastic filament ‘threads’ can be quite useful.

They are strong enough to not break off inside your phone port.

3D filament can be harder than compressed lint from clothes or jeans.

I had to shave off a small edge just slightly for it to fit into the iPhone charger port. It made a sharper point for scraping the lint out. You could squeeze it with pliers to make it narrower, or you could bite it if you don’t have any tools!

You can bend plastic filament, just enough at the end to help make it a little more L-shaped or hook-like.

Less recommended ways to clean an iPhone charger port without toothpick.

Here are some more alternatives, but these are less recommended.

Some are metal so the warning above holds true. You run a risk to damage your phone so be gentle.

5. iPhone Ejector Tool

You will know the iPhone ejector tool for accessing the SIM card tray is metal. It can be handy as some iPhone users keep them in their phone case.

It has a nice little handle and a long thin projecting part. Insert it gently and scrape outwards.

NOTE: For iPhone 14 models bought in the United States, they use an eSIM so you probably won’t have an ejector tool either!

6. Paper clip

This can be less preferred because it is metal.

Having written that, some paper clips come with a plastic coating or paint which makes them an ideal option to clean your phone or iPhone charger port.

Blue works better than yellow (no that is just a joke!)

Bend open the paper clip just at one end to provide a handle (the looped part) and a cleaning prong (the open end).

If you only have a metal paper clip, you can try to wrap some paper around the end before you insert. I’m mixed about this idea because you do not want a little piece of paper to become trapped in the end so you cannot insert your charger cable all the way in.

7. Folded cardboard

I have tested folded paper and typically it isn’t strong enough. Perhaps an origami expert can fold one to make a great hook that is also strong? I actually tried to make folded paper hooks, but found they unfold rather than being useful!

But I think there will always be some cardboard lying around that you can get your hands on if there are no toothpicks in sight.

You will need to make a few folds after you tear off a small piece. That can give it strength as well as creating extra pockets to catch the lint or dust.

Compacted cardboard may be enough like wood, and so it gives another way to clean your iPhone charger port without a toothpick.

After Removing Lint, Clean the Phone Connector Pins

It is a good idea to rub the tiny metal connector pins inside the phone/iPhone port to clean them with a suitable cleaning fluid. 

I use a mix of bicarb soda and vinegar on a Q-tip.

Those who tout a toothpick probably never do this and wonder why their chargers are always failing so soon.

The cleaning mix and Q-tip can work quite well. I can see the black remains coming off onto the Q-tip. That proves the pins inside are becoming cleaner.

It can take a little set up and effort, but it is worth it.

For detail on how to make a suitable cleaning fluid and what else to use and do, see this article.

Also Clean the Charge Cable

It is important to clean the iPhone lightning cable or other phone USB charging cable once you have removed lint.

It might even be more important!

Why? Because the cable pins may have some soot burnt on them. That started off as the lint or dust and maybe oils from our skin we try to remove from the port. 

When the power starts to flow for charging, the first arc can burn that dust or lint. Carbon (ie. Soot) is not a great conductor! Plus, some of it can wipe off one surface to foul another.

To clean and fix a lightning cable of the burnt soot on the pins as per this article is just as important as removing the lint.

Rub the burnt pin or black line on the charger with cleaning fluid.

After cleaning, be sure to keep a look out for a black line on your charger cable to reclean it before it gets too bad.

Summary

We have now shown how to clean iPhone charging port without toothpick. As you now know, it may be best to clean your phone/iPhone charger port without a toothpick! Some FAQs follow.

The post How to clean phone charging port with/without toothpick appeared first on TheTechMentor.com.

How to Disconnect AirPlay in Brief

To instantly disconnect Airplay devices (one or more) from your iPhone during audio playback, you need to select your iPhone as the playback device.

To disable Airplay on iPhone and iPad directly in the app, tap the AirPlay icon/button. This button is always visible in some apps (especially audio apps). In others apps it typically becomes visible when you touch your iPhone (or iPad) screen during video playback to bring up controls (like Pause, Forward, Backward etc.).

Then you will be able to tap from a selection of devices listed or tap ‘Turn off AirPlay’ for video.

Alternatively as stated above, for audio, select (your) iPhone at the top of the list to disconnect AirPlay instantly from all other devices. Siri can do it too in certain situations (read more below).

NOTE: In some situations, when you shut off Airplay that does not disable it, so your iPhone can reconnect without you. To understand and manage this, and for step-by-step methods explaining how to turn off AirPlay in detail, read on.

This is a detailed guide. You can read right through or click the in-page link in the Contents below to jump direct to the part most relevant to you. Be sure to read the section on how to disable airplay with screen mirroring ‘permanently’. By ‘permanently’ I mean it won’t restart unless you re-enable it (otherwise things can restart on their own!). This section shows the Settings you need and where to find them.

Contents

How to Disable Airplay in Brief

Helpful Background

Normal Methods:

How to Disconnect Airplay – Audio

Use Siri to Turn Off Airplay 2-enabled Devices

Turn Off Airplay – Video

How to Turn Off Screen Mirroring to TV or Mac

How to Disable Screen Mirroring ‘Permanently’ via Settings

What? It did not work or it turned back on!

Indirect/Special Methods:

Try Turning Off Bluetooth

How to Turn off Bluetooth ‘Permanently’

Try Turning Off Wi-Fi

Project to Screen Without AirPlay

More Information on AirPlay to stream Video and Audio

Helpful Background

It is helpful to cover this so you understand that how you shut off airplay can depend on what you are playing and whether you want to turn-off, disconnect, or disable it.

AirPlay seems like a single streaming system for both audio and video, however it is not. There are actually two systems.

• Bluetooth devices including AirPods, AirPods Max, AirPods Pro and Beats wireless headphones use Bluetooth when they are connected using AirPlay on iPhone or iPad.
• When you stream video, AirPlay uses Wi-Fi to transfer the data to AppleTV, smart TV, or Mac screen.

I guess that is why the AirPlay icons look different in audio apps, like the Music app compared to in Apple TV.

See more info about these two systems (and why there needs to be two) towards the end of this article.

Performing a very similar task to AirPlay is Screen Mirroring, and I will show how to shut off and ‘permanently’ disable that also.

How to Disconnect AirPlay on iPhone when Playing Audio

You can turn off a device using the iPhone touch screen in several ways.

Ultimately, the key to disconnect Airplay for audio playback, you select your iPhone as the playback device. This will un-check and immediately disconnect all other device(s).

To get to the point where you can do this, follow the steps below.

Step 1: Navigate to the ‘Now Playing’ screen, the Lock Screen, or to Control Center.

Yes, this is really three methods listed in one! In detail, to do this, do one of the following.

1. Tap the Music app player near the bottom of the screen to show the Now Playing screen. Or…
2. Tilt move your locked iPhone, or touch the Side button or Home Button (iPhone model dependent – see below) to show the Lock Screen. Or…
3. Swipe to show the Control Center.

The following images show the icon placement for each of these options.

How to disconnect Airplay from the music app: Step 1 – bring up the Music App, Step 2 – tap the AirPlay icon. See further below for the view of the next step after that.

How to disconnect AirPlay from the Lock Screen: Step 1 – tilt or touch to show Lock Screen, then Step 2 – tap the Airplay icon (blue when connected). See further below for the view of the next step after that.

Lock Screen Notes:

On iPhone 14, 13, 12, 11, X etc. all the way back to the iPhone 5 is the Side button.

Only iPhone SE, iPhone 8, 7, 6, 5 and older versions have the Home button, which you can touch without unlocking to access the Lock Screen.

Far top right of the music app indication is where the AirPlay icon is located in Control Center. Bluetooth and Airplay are switched off (icons are blue when On).

Control Center Notes:

Swipe down from top right with your iPhone 14, 13, 12, 11, X and their Mini/Pro/Max versions.

Swipe up from the bottom of the screen on iPhone 8, 7, 6 and iPhone 5.

Step 2: Find and Tap the Airplay symbol

The images above indicate where you should tap depending on which method to show the music that is playing.

Step 3: Tap the items you want to disable AirPlay on or tap iPhone

On the list that appears, tap the one (or more) for which you want to turn AirPlay off.

To Disconnect AirPlay with one or all devices at once, tap iPhone (see images below). This essentially refers to your iPhone’s speakers and toggles any other playing devices off.

NOTE: If you have moved away from every Bluetooth device beyond the Bluetooth range, only ‘iPhone’ will show as the play device. There will be nothing to select to disconnect AirPlay.

This is what it looks like from within the app to disconnect AirPlay:

Tap iPhone to disconnect from AirPLay when in the music app.

This is what it looks like from the Lock Screen to disconnect AirPlay:

This screen capture shows how to disconnect AirPlay on the Lock Screen. Tap the row showing ‘iPhone’. This will disconnect AirPlay from ALL devices at once.

NOTE: it is worth noting that when you disconnect Airplay in this way, the devices are still visible in your options so you can reconnect. If you want to disable AirPlay from selected devices until you next want to re-enable them, see how to do it via settings further below. If you want to disconnect from the devices completely, turn off bluetooth.

Once you have AirPlay disconnected, you can see the disconnected device(s), as shown below.

This reinforces the idea that you must select your iPhone as the playing device instead of other devices to disable airplay. If you really want to disable it and remove the other devices from the list, you can turn off Bluetooth (see further below).

As you might expect, this can cause your iPhone to start playing. You can choose to either continue listening or press pause to stop playing.

A final note on How to Disconnect AirPlay While Playing Audio

When you want to disconnect airplay, there is one more option I haven’t mention until now. It might seem obvious, but you can also power-off the device.

So, let’s say you were playing to your car radio as the receiving device.

You can either:

Press the power button to turn off the radio.

Press the Radio/CD/Auxiliary button (or what ever the equivalent is on your car radio) to select ‘Radio’, ‘CD’ or ‘USB’ (or other options if you have them) rather than Bluetooth.

Use Siri to Turn Off Airplay-2 Enabled Devices

You probably know how you can ask Siri a question, like “hey Siri, how do I disconnect AirPlay on iPhone?” to do a search.

Do you know you can disconnect Airplay without touching your iPhone?

Well, with AirPlay-2 and Siri on iPhone, you can!

It is possible to play audio on one or more AirPlay-2 enabled devices at the same time (dependent on your set up). You can turn off all of them at once or switch off only a specific device, like your speakers only.

Wow! Did you know Siri could do that?

Here is how you do it:

Step 1: Tell Siri to “stop playing on (connected device)” or other similar language.

For Example, you can say something like “Hey Siri, remove music from living room”.

To turn AirPlay off from your iPhone to your Speakers only

You could say “hey Siri, stop playing music on speakers only”.

Want to turn Airplay off everywhere?

Try “hey Siri, stop playing music everywhere”.

That is it! There is only one step!

Exactly what you find works for you will depend on your device(s) and their set up or names and whether Siri recognizes the language you choose to try.

TIP: Did you know you can hold down the side button and ask the question rather than say “Hey, Siri”?

AirPlay-2 and touchscreen

You can otherwise select AirPlay-2 playback destinations to turn off several or only one device (or stereo speaker pair) using the iPhone touch screen.

Step 1: As described above in the first method, tap the Airplay symbol on the ‘Now Playing’ screen, on Lock Screen, or in Control Center.

Step 2: On the menu that appears, tap the one (or more) for which you want to turn AirPlay off.

NOTE: When you have turned off everything within range, ‘iPhone’ will show as the play device.

Turn off AirPlay – Video

This could be in the Apple TV app, or another supported video app on your iPhone or iPad.

Step 1: While watching the video in the app, tap the screen to show the controls. What you need is there along with other controls you normally use, like Pause, Forward, Backward etc.

Step 2: Directly in the app, tap the blue AirPlay icon.

It becomes visible when you touch your screen during video playback to bring up controls.

It might be difficult to see the AirPlay icon – it is here as shown.

While you are playing, the airplay icon will appear blue and is located near the top right of the screen.

TIP: You can stream photos, not just videos with AirPlay.

To stop AirPlay streaming photos, tap the blue AirPlay icon at the top of the screen on your iPhone, then tap ‘Turn off AirPlay‘.

NOTE: You can mirror your screen, so it plays everything your iPhone or iPad shows (not just while watching a video). You do this with Screen Mirroring.

How to Turn off Screen Mirroring to TV or Mac

Screen Mirroring shows everything on your screen on your iPhone or iPad (and plays the sound) to your Mac or Apple TV. You do this from Control Center. You can also disable it from there.

Step 1: Swipe to open Control Center.

Swipe down from top right with your new iPhone 14.

If you have an iPhone 13, iPhone 12, iPhone 11, iPhone X or their Mini/Pro/Max versions you also swipe down from top right.

Swipe up from the bottom of the screen on iPhone 8, iPhone 7, iPhone 6 and iPhone 5.

Step 2: Tap the blue Screen Mirroring icon.

You might notice the icon is slightly different while playing to the one you use to turn it on. It shows one screen shaded.

TIP: I will also cover how to turn off Screen Mirroring in Settings. See the so-called ‘Permanent’ method below.

How to Turn Off Screen Mirroring ‘Permanently’ via Settings

Some devices like Apple TV that you connect to can automatically reconnect. Apple enabled this option it by default. Thankfully there are alternatives.

It might be helpful or frustrating to connect to your TV every time you play a video within your Wi-Fi network.

There are settings you may adjust that will turn off AirPlay ‘Permanently’. Here is how you do it.

Step 1: Go into settings.

Step 2: Tap General.

I figure you all can get that far.

Step 3: Tap ‘AirPlay & Handoff’.

Where to go to turn off Screen Mirroring permanently in iPhone settings.

Step 4: Tap ‘Automatically play to TVs’.

Step 5: Tap to select ‘Never’.

Finally you disable AirPlay by selecting Never in your iPhone settings.

Alternatively, you can choose to have it ‘Ask’ you each time.

As stated above it would initially be on ‘Automatic’, and so that is your third option.

What? It didn’t Work or it turned back on!

FREAKY! It could be, so do read this.

There are a few important things to know relating to AirPlay. The first is that sometimes it does not turn off.

NOTE: When you disconnect from a network, for example when you move away from a location with a Wi-Fi network, AirPlay still works and is not turned off.

Your iPhone automatically re-joins known networks as you change locations. That is, when you move into a location with a network you previously joined, so it can restart. (Your iPhone will remember even if you forgot!) You do not do anything. Your iPhone just does it.

After all, most people expect that their phone will automatically reconnect to their home network. It would be a pain to reconnect every day! Remember it could reconnect to other previously used networks too, not only at your home.

AirPlay uses Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Either can be ‘on’ the next time you are in Airplane mode! This can be if you turned on either Bluetooth or Wi-Fi when you were previously in Airplane mode. For these situations, you may want to follow steps in the ‘indirect’ methods further below.

In certain situations, devices can reconnect automatically and so AirPlay can restart.

Especially so on iPad or iPhone with Apple TV as ‘Automatically connect to TVs’ is enabled by default. For this, you will want to read ‘How to Turn Off Screen Monitoring ‘Permanently’ via Settings’ above.

Now I am going to cover some indirect methods. Maybe they could work if you forget the above and want to turn it off quick!

Try Turning Off Bluetooth

This method is quick and will always work when you are using Bluetooth for audio (if your device is using Bluetooth).

I suppose I’d expect you will want to use one of the normal methods explained in detail above, but I figure these indirect ways would work based on how the technology works.

Be sure to check the note below, however as this method might not be so permanent!

It might be a useful thing to do or check when you change to Airplane mode.

Audio Airplay can operate via Bluetooth (as we explained in the intro.).

So go to the Control Center and tap the Bluetooth button (if it is on).

Here are the steps.

Step 1: Swipe to open Control Center.

Swipe down from top right with your iPhone 14, 13, 12, 11, X and their Pro and Max versions.

Swipe up from the bottom of the screen on iPhone 8, 7, 6 and iPhone 5.

Step 2: view the Bluetooth icon and if it is blue tap it to turn it off.

That will stop your phone from anything connected via Bluetooth.

That will typically mean to turn off airplay from speakers.

Other methods further below will explain how to turn airplay off without turning off Bluetooth, as I understand you might not want to be doing that. For example, if you are using Bluetooth for some other purpose right now.

NOTE: Bluetooth will restart automatically later (the next day) if you turn it off that way.

Yes, it might seem creepy if you did not know that could happen.

I imagine Michael Jackson’s Thriller playing in the night when you turn your iPhone back from being in airplane mode! Or when you come home and walk near enough to your speakers. (Assuming you were playing it.) Scary, LOL!

But seriously, you might get a surprise if you miss the message saying “Turning off Bluetooth until tomorrow”.

Therefore, this might not be the best way to turn it off ‘permanently’. I mean until you want it again, that is. You will still be able to do that!

You want the next method for that.

How to Turn Off Bluetooth ‘Permanently’

Turn off Bluetooth and have it stay off until you decide you want it again.

Like the above method, this will always work when you are using Bluetooth for audio (if it is using Bluetooth).

Step 1: Go to Settings.

Step 2: Go into Bluetooth

Find and view the Bluetooth icon and row, and view if the setting shown to the right is ‘Off’ or ‘On’. If On, Tap the row or arrow to go into the setting.

Step 3: Turn off the Bluetooth toggle switch.

NOTE: you can see a list of things already connected or that were previously connected but that are now not connected.

This way Bluetooth will not automatically restart again later.

You will need to turn it back on when next you want to connect to a Bluetooth device.

TIP: To turn Bluetooth back on, you can do it quickest via the Control Center. Just swipe and then tap on the Bluetooth icon. Funny that to turn it off again from this same place won’t keep it ‘permanently’ turned off as we explained above. I suppose that is why the icon has a different type of shading.

Alternatively, to turn it back on you can also follow the steps above to find again the toggle switch under Settings.

Try Turning Off WiFi

This might seem extreme. However, if you are finding it difficult and want to make sure you turn off a video streaming from AirPlay, you can turn off Wi-Fi on your iPhone or Mac.

As stated above video streaming via AirPlay uses Wi-Fi. No Wi-Fi means no Airplay!

It might be useful if you are intending to go to airplane mode soon anyway. Tired and going to bed, for example?

Step 1: Go to Control Center

On your iPhone swipe to enter Control Center.

Again, as covered above, that means to swipe down from top right with your iPhone 14, 13, 12, 11, X and their Pro and Max versions.

Swipe up from the bottom of the screen on older iPhones (iPhone 8, 7, 6 and iPhone 5).

(“What? Somebody reading this is still using an iPhone 4? And you want to see it listed?” Lol!).

Anyway, I’m glad Apple went straight to the iPhone X and skipped the 9 just so there is a clear delineation between what we can consider newer and old!

Step 2: View your Wi-Fi icon

If your Wi-Fi icon is blue, then it is currently on.

Turn it off by tapping on the button.

Alternatively, you can turn it off inside settings.

Just go to Settings from your Home Screen.

Then tap on the Wi-Fi network line, to go into the settings. There you turn off Wi-Fi with the toggle switch.

TIP: If your Wi-Fi icon is not blue, then perhaps you could be streaming video via Mobile Data.

Project to screen without AirPlay

You want to turn off AirPlay, which as I explained runs over Bluetooth or W-Fi, so I figured you might be interested in how to not use AirPlay at all. There might be some who are concerned about ‘waves’, be concerned about AirPlay starting automatically, or have other motivation.

NOTE: You can connect from your iPhone to a TV, monitor, or projector with a cable and adapter. No wireless communication required!

For this, you will need a lightning to digital AV adapter or Lightning to VGA. Plug it into the bottom of your iPhone into the charging port. Then connect the cable, be it HDMI or VGA.

TIP: your lightning to digital AV adapter or Lightning to VGA adapter should have a charging port. This way you can keep up the juice to your iPhone while playing.

More Information on AirPlay to stream Video and Audio

FAQ: Why does AirPlay use both Bluetooth and WiFi?

The reason for this is that audio and video need different levels of data transfer and compression. Bluetooth is enough for Audio (for most needs). Only Wi-Fi is sufficient for the more demanding data transfer requirements of video.

FAQ: Why use Bluetooth at all?

Where you have no Wi-Fi or your device is only capable of Bluetooth.

Bluetooth connections are made by two (or more) devices directly between themselves. For example, your iPhone and your Bluetooth speakers or Beats headphones. No other device or network is used nor needed.

To use Wi-Fi, you need well, Wi-Fi! To state the obvious. That of course means you need a Wi-Fi system over which one or more devices are using to connect. That might mean you need a WiFi network at home or equivalent.

Bluetooth uses Apple AAC Bluetooth codec, which gives excellent audio quality although it is not lossless. There is some data and potentially quality loss.

It is a question of the limitations of data transfer rate with Bluetooth. They are finding a balance between not overloading data transfer for excellent non-interrupted audio streaming and suitable compression to give high quality audio.

For Video, an Apple-developed system is used and carried by your Wi-Fi.

Video has a greater demand for data transfer. Bluetooth cannot keep up (as it is slower). AirPlay taps into your Wi-Fi system and connects to the device, which also uses your W-Ffi. Wi-Fi is much faster for data transfer and thus AirPlay using Wi-Fi can transfer your video at the quality required.

You can configure AirPlay to search, find, and automatically connect to any Apple TV or smart TV from Apps you use with AirPlay. It does this via Wi-Fi.

Credit:

Some information and/or images are derived from iPhone User Manual iOS 16.

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