Press down on the handle locking lever with your left foot. This will release the brush head latch from the motor/blade assembly. Sounds easy. However, for the brush head to work, you must hold the brush head with the toe of your foot while tilting the motor/blade to the other side. At this point you can start vacuuming. However, if you pull the handle back too far, the motor/shovel will detach from the base without warning. You then need to find the on/off switch, which is oddly located on the motor/shovel block rather than the handle, before reassembling the block to try again. Oh, and the cable is too stiff and short for $120. In general, this vacuum cleaner works. There seems to be too much marketing gimmick in this design to be anything other than a polished mid-level vacuum cleaner. With an improved footlock design, a decent lanyard and storage for a pet hair attachment, this would be a 4 star device. This is an average value for now.