New research, commissioned by Wiztek, a provider of online and mobile tech support, reveals that forty-seven per cent of the population admit they’re not very knowledgeable when it comes to resolving computer and tech issues.

Unable to fix troublesome tech, 15 per cent of adults have reached the end of their tether and attempted to destroy the frustrating device.

Almost eight million Brits have broken gadgets – in a fit of RAGE, the study found.

Those polled will typically endure 63 IT issues a year – including intermittent Wi-Fi, endless pop-up adverts and patience-testing paper jams.

And when trying to fix problems such as these it’s just 12 minutes before they start to lose their cool.

In fact, the research of 2,000 adults, commissioned by Wiztek, found a third have become so fed-up by their tech woes they’ve purchased a replacement device rather than get it repaired.

And a fifth have fallen out with their other half as a direct result of their phone, computer or tablet not working as it should.

“Tech is an integral part of our lives – whether it be through our jobs or through our home lives,” said Paul Amsellem, CEO of Wiztek.

“And as such, we’d be significantly hampered in our daily lives – unable to check emails for important messages, use sat nav to successfully get from A to B or to keep track of appointments.”

“So when our devices stop working or don’t operate as they should it understandably becomes extremely frustrating,” Amsellem continued.

Forty-seven per cent of the population admit they’re not very knowledgeable when it comes to resolving computer and tech issues.

And of the 60 plus problems faced annually, the research found they will only successfully resolve 14 of them without help.

Instead, when attempting to fix IT and tech problems, 3 in 10 revealed they’ve made the problem worse.

So perhaps it’s no wonder three quarters have turned to someone else to help them with a tech issue.

But even this comes with risk – a quarter admit they later regretted getting a helping hand when their gadgets were returned in a worse state than before.

Further frustrating tech problems include apps which keep on crashing, slow downloads and accidentally deleting something significant.

The Wiztek research carried out through OnePoll, found 40 per cent of the population has been left unable to work following problems with IT equipment.

And 25 per cent have lost important files such as cherished family photos and key documents as a direct result of a tech failure.

“Tech and computing issues are such a minefield – there’s so many possible causes to everyday problems, even the most knowledgeable of people can get stumped from time to time. Downtime from tech problems can lead to many wasted hours and in today’s society where we are all so busy, time costs money,” Amsellem added.

“That’s why we launched Wiztek – thankfully you no longer need to have excessive downtime or rely on a family member, friend or colleague with your tech issues, you can simply connect to a trusted tech expert anytime, anywhere on your phone, tablet or PC to help with your problem within 30 seconds with a no subscription, ‘no fix, no fee’ promise,” Amsellem concluded.

Don’t wait for your next tech issue to arise, be ready and prepared by downloading the free Wiztek app from the iTunes or Google play.

TOP 20 – MOST ANNOYING TECH PROBLEMS:

1. Slow internet
2. Slow computer
3. Pop-up ads
4. Wi-Fi keeps disconnecting
5. Forgotten password
6. Slow downloads
7. Software updates making things worse
8. Can’t login
9. Printer won’t work
10. Phone battery keeps dying quickly
11. Accidentally deleting something important
12. App keeps on crashing
13. Paper jams
14. ‘Blue screen of death’
15. Can’t open email attachments
16. Keep seeing ‘there is a problem with this website’s security certificate’
17. Ink not printing properly
18. Hard drive failure
19. Remembering where you stored particular files/data
20. Running out of hard drive space