DIY (Page 17)

PopSci's curated collection of life skills, tech tips, and hands-on projects we think you'll love.

Latest in DIY

How to enjoy fall festivities during the COVID pandemic

By Rachael Zisk

Example of golden ratio in photography

Learn the golden rules of photography (before you break them)

By Harry Guinness/Popular Photography

A bald man wearing a dust respirator and earmuffs working in a woodshop and milling his own wood to make it straight.

Every woodworker should know how to mill their own boards

By Jean Levasseur

Screenshot of noisli platform

19 free online tools you’ll want to bookmark right now

Restroom sign with figures in a holding position

What to do when you’re trying not to poop

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

A hard drive cloaked in shadow.

What various weird computer noises mean for your machine

By Whitson Gordon

Your smartphone camera has great hidden features—here’s how to find them

Your smartphone camera has great hidden features—here’s how to find them

By Jeff Carlson / Popular Photography

screenshots of the letterboxd mobile app

7 ways movie lovers can make the underrated Letterboxd feel like home

Best VPNs for multiple devices

The best VPNs for multiple devices

By Steven T. Wright

Person checking their phone and their laptop in a coffee house

How to see if someone has been snooping on your devices

Screenshot of google tv

How to ditch the default Google TV home screen and build something better

A young man standing among numerous houseplants and looking at his phone in front of a white wall with an acoustic guitar hung on it.

A bit of care can keep your houseplants from sheltering harmful mold

By Ellen Airhart

An iPhone iMessage conversation about basketball, with an incorrectly sent message to a romantic partner at the end.

7 tips and tricks to get more out of Apple’s newly updated Messages app

side by side comparison of dog photo with and without background

4 free apps that remove photo backgrounds with little fuss

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

new android 13 player

The new Android 13 features you need to be using

woodshop wall covered in hanging tools

3 reasons to join your local makerspace

By Jean Levasseur

A woman wearing white headphones playing League of Legends on a triple-monitor setup.

6 ways to fight back against motion sickness while gaming

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

A black screen showing JavaScript code.

Work faster in Google Docs and Sheets by creating your own shortcuts

macos restart screen

How to stop apps from automatically launching when you start your computer

Serving Turkish coffee cup

How to enjoy the flavor, history, and science of Turkish coffee

By Alisha McDarris

two phones on desk one android one iphone

How to make Android look like iOS

A busy woman overwhelmed at work, holding her face in her hands in front of a Macbook laptop with some open notebooks around it.

6 apps and tools to help organize your life

Stop struggling with ‘inbox zero’ and just delete all your emails

TV in living room with netflix on screen

When should you use a TV over a monitor?

How to replace an old or clogged car radiator

How to replace an old or clogged car radiator

By Chris Rosales / The Drive

notebooks on yellow background

The Opt Out: School devices are sharing your family’s data, but you can stop them

By Karina Montoya

phone next to coffee cup on table showing the twitter app

11 Twitter bots that will make the most of your timeline

A person in a blue buttondown shirt using a Macbook laptop on a wooden desk with a plant and some books nearby.

Your inbox can do a lot more than just organize your email

expiration date on covid test

How to check if your at-home COVID test has expired

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

organized desktop

Teeny desk? Here’s how to make the most of it.

By Anthony Fordham

Person with earbuds and eyes closed

How to find music and videos with zero plays—and discover the next big thing

Out of focus magnifying glass lens hovering over DuckDuckGo search engine homepage

Anyone can now sign up for DuckDuckGo’s private email service

openemu showing nintendo game

Macs are better at video gaming (emulators) than PCs. Here’s how to set up yours.

Hand under a go pro camera hanging in the air

Get better video with these 7 GoPro tips and tricks

A person wearing a jean jacket and posting multiple photos to their Instagram story at once on an iPhon.

The fastest way to post multiple Instagram story pics at once

By John Kennedy

How to engineer the best sandcastle

How to engineer the best sandcastle

By Joseph Scalia / The Conversation

hands holding phone showing google maps in spanish

Android 13 lets you change the language in individual apps. Here’s how.

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

A phone screen with the Kiwi Browser, Ecosia browser, Brave browser, and Firefox browser icons on the screen.

7 alternatives to your phone’s built-in web browser

What to know about polio boosters, oral vaccines, and your medical history records

What to know about polio boosters, oral vaccines, and your medical history records

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

A homemade wooden DIY headphone stand on a lighter-colored wooden table, complete with a phone holder, a USB charging port, and slots for pens and pencils.

Start organizing your chaotic, messy desk with this DIY headphone stand

By Jean Levasseur

close up of girl's hand using smartphone with instagram app

This tool lets you find out for yourself how much Big Tech is snooping on you

laptop showing broken website on google chrome

5 steps to solve the most common browser problems

A scuba diver takes a step into the ocean.

A diver’s guide to a more sustainable scuba adventure

By Carla Delgado

A person using an iPhone in front of a silver Macbook laptop.

With the right software, you can build your own cloud storage service

All the ways you can reduce screen time across your devices

All the ways you can reduce screen time across your devices

Phone showing tiktok on screen

7 tricks to make the most of TikTok

A DIY jointer sled holding a small piece of wood in place atop a table saw in a woodworking shop.

Two ways to joint wood on your table saw—no jointer needed

By Jean Levasseur

A glass of water with crystal-clear ice cubes in it on a sunlit wooden table.

How to make crystal-clear ice cubes

stack of magazines with page markers

5 bookmarking apps to keep your unread open tabs organized

three kids on a couch looking at phones and tablets

How to use built-in parental controls on Instagram, TikTok, and more

A person sitting at a wooden desk in front of a large window, bathed in sunlight, with the Google search engine open on a laptop and a small cup of coffee on a saucer next to them.

How to get the most space in your cloud storage—without paying to upgrade

honda element suv in front of welcome to utah sign

Why and how to convert a Honda Element into a van-life dream

person sleeping on the kitchen floor next to open refrigerator door

11 ways to sleep better in unbearable heat

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

A TV in a dark room, backlit by purple light, with a lot of streaming TV and music apps visible on the screen.

Where to find new music, movie, and TV recommendations

How to get rid of painful muscle knots

How to get rid of painful muscle knots

By Zachary Gillen / The Conversation

Hand holding a google tv remote

Remap the streaming service buttons on your Google TV remote

Children running a race at sunset

How to protect your children during heat waves

By Emmarie Huetteman / KHN

phone on fake lawn with no trespassing sign on it

The Opt Out: You have the power to protect your data. Own it.

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

Person jumping on a hill with mountains on the background

7 tips to stay clean and fresh in the outdoors

By Alisha McDarris

A person shooting with a Super 8 camera on the beach pointing at the sky.

Super 8 film is making a comeback. Here’s how to get started.

By Marissa Wu / Popular Photography

A red-haired woman facing the camera, using her black iPhone to take a photo, with the phone covering her face.

Make the most out of your iPhone’s back tap feature

By John Kennedy

A Microsoft Surface tablet with a red keyboard and mouse on a shiny black countertop.

Find out if you need to replace your laptop with a tablet

hand holding dice with board game on background

10 useful tools built into Google Search you should know about

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

A small child standing at a large glass window in an airport, looking out at the planes on the tarmac.

A parent-tested plan for flying with a toddler