So for my 30th birthday I received a Canon Rebel T6. It came with a telephoto lens, a macro, wide angle.....I mean, there's stuff I don't even know what the technical names of it are. I'll take my time learning the ins and outs of everything that came soon, but for now I just want to try out the zoom and focus around town for the day. So what are the basics of getting this damn thing to zoom properly and why does it keep wanting to tell me it won't focus? Lol......thanks for helping a lady out y'all. Haha

The manual that came with the camera is a good starting point... However, Canon has been abridging their printed manuals a lot lately and apparently doesn't even included a printed copy with some cameras. If you visit the Canon USA website and look up the Rebel T6, in the download section you'll find a complete, free copy of the manual available as a PDF. Get that and put it on your computer for reference. If you have a smart phone you might also copy it to that, to have with you in the field for reference.

Beyond the manual, I HIGHLY recommend getting one of the guide books for your specific camera: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss/135-4042111-8356105?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Canon+T6. I'm familiar with David Busch's and David Taylor's guide books for other manuals and found them good. I am not a fan of the "Dummies" series, found that "too basic".... but maybe that's just me and because I've been using SLRs and DSLRs for 30+ years. Other folks like the Dummies books. Read the reviews and comments on Amazon, to help you decide for yourself.

For more general information about using DSLRs, I HIGHLY recommend Bryan Peterson's "Understanding Exposure", which is also available at Amazon.

Take a class locally, join a photography club (meetup.com probably lists one or more in your area), take some online courses, etc.

As to your focusing issues... there are three key things that effect autofocus performance: the camera, the lens and the user themselves.

Your T6 has a fairly basic and simple AF system. Like most Canon DSLRs, it has three AF modes that you can select: One Shot, AI Servo and AI Focus.

One Shot is for stationary subjects. It IS NOT for moving subjects. One Shot achieves focus, then stops, "locks", and gives you "Focus Confirmation". On many Canon the latter is indicated by a green LED that lights up in the viewfinder. In One Shot mode there's also an optional, audible Focus Confirmation "beep" on most cameras that you can enable or disable as you see fit.

AI Servo is for moving subjects. This mode will achieve focus, then continue to update as long as you maintain "half press" on the shutter release button (or hold down the AF On button on the rear of the camera with your thumb, on many models... not sure if the T6 has this, though). AI Servo doesn't stop focusing, so there's no "locking" or Focus Confirmation possible with it.

AI Focus isn't really a separate focus mode at all. Set to that, the camera is supposed to decide for you whether or not the subject is moving, and then switch to use either AI Servo or One Shot, as appropriate. In my experience with it, AI Servo seems to slow things down a bit, doesn't always choose correctly and can be slow or fail to switch if a subject stops or starts moving unexpectedly. Maybe it's better on more recent cameras like the T6... But I wouldn't know because I've avoided AI Focus for many years. With it I simply had too many missed focus shots. I got much better results just choosing between One Shot and AI Servo myself, depending upon what was needed in any given situation. (It might be a hint of sorts, that the most pro-oriented Canon models.... the 1D-series... don't even have AI Focus. They only offer choice of One Shot and AI Servo.)

Next you need to choose between "focus patterns". The T6 only has two focus patterns (some of the more advanced models have 7 or 8): All Points/Auto Selection and Single Point/Manual Selection. Those are just what they sound like.... All Points leaves it up to the camera to decide where to focus, while with Single Point the decision is in your hands. When you let the camera decide with All Points, it will usually select to use whatever AF point is covering the closest object... which might cause the camera and lens to focus in front of your subject, instead of on it. It's sort of a crap shoot, using All Points.

Using Single Point puts you much more in control of where the camera and lens focus. It's more work for you, butcan greatly improve the odds that you'll get shots in focus. I use that mode most of the time with my Canon cameras... including a recent event where I shot nearly 6000 images. I've been sorting, editing and reviewing those... have now checked nearly all... and so far have only had 24 where focus was missed. And I'd wager at least half of those were not the fault of camera or lens... but were ME doing something wrong such as firing too fast before focus had been achieved, or something dumb like pressing the wrong button.

Your camera has 9 AF points. The very center one is a higher performance "dual axis/cross type" that is best to use as much as possible. It will particularly work well with f/2.8 and larger aperture lenses (which aren't typically sold "in kit" with the cameras, so probably aren't what you've got).

Also be aware that if you use some of the highly automated modes such as the A+/Green Box (super auto everything) or some of the "scene modes" (the icons such as "running man" for sports, "mountain" for scenic, etc.) in many cases those will force you to use the most automated focusing modes and take autofocus control away from you. Your camera has at least three "auto exposure" modes that WILL NOT do that.... Tv, Av, P (it might also have Auto ISO with M, a fourth form of auto exposure). I would recommend using those initially, if you want to take control of the AF and get the best out of it. I think your camera also has "Creative Auto" (CA), which let's you make a lot of the settings yourself, but gives you guidance on the rear LCD screen (this can be a very helpful learning mode, though it might slow you down, so you probably will want to discontinue using it once you're more familiar and comfortable with the camera).

It takes some patience and practice... AF isn't instantaneous and you need to learn to see the cues when focus has been achieved. In AI Servo, in particular, you have to learn how long focus takes with your particular lenses and to trust the camera and yourself. Practice, practice, practice!

The third key factor effecting AF is the lenses you use upon the camera. You weren't specific which lenses you got, but generally the T6 is sold in two-lens kit with Canon EF-S 18-55mm IS II and either Canon EF-S 55-250mm IS II or Canon EF 75-300mm telephoto zooms. All of these are "micro motor" focus drive lenses. This type of auto focusing is slower and noisier. There are "STM" or "stepper motor" versions of both the 18-55mm and 55-250mm lenses, which cost about $50 more each, which are faster and quieter focusing. Those are usually what's offered in kit with more upscale models such as the T6i, T6s, T71 or 77D.

Canon also makes a number of "USM" or "ultrasonic motor" autofocus drive lenses.... which are the fastest of all (and pretty quiet, too). Canon sports shooters like myself try to stick with USM lenses for the fastest focus acquisition and best tracking of moving subjects. AFAIK, no USM lenses are offered "in kit" with any of the Rebel series (only with 80D, 7D Mark II and 5D-series or 1D-series models). But with care and practice the other types of lens auto focus systems can do pretty well.... with some patience and practice. With faster moving subjects, you might need to do what we did with our manual focus lenses 25 years ago... pre-focus on a spot where the subject will come and then wait and trip the shutter at just the right moment. With all subjects you should get in the habit of stopping the lens down a bit whenever you can, to render greater depth of field which can be a little more forgiving of minor focus errors.... especially with telephoto lenses which naturally tend to render shallower depth of field (also sometimes called "depth of focus").

Finally, there are some factors largely out of your control.... such as ambient light conditions or subject contrast and detail. Low light, low contrast situations are more challenging to autofocus systems. A subject with a lot of detail and "sharp edges" is also easier to focus upon. Large aperture (f/2.8, f/2, f/1.8, f/1.4 etc.) lenses also can help autofocus performance, allowing in more light for the system to work with.

There are some other things you can do that might help.... For example, if they weren't included with your lenses, buy the matched lens hoods and use them. The EF-S 18-55mm "II" uses Canon EW-60C hood (or cheaper third party such as Vello). The EF-S 55-250mm "II" and EF 75-300mm "III" both use the same Canon ET-60 lens hood (or cheaper Vello equiv.) If your lenses are different from those, they may use something different so look them up carefully to be sure to get the correct lens hood. Lens hoods shade the front element of the lens to keep oblique light off of it, which can help with AF at times. A hood also gives good physical protection against bumps (much better than a thin glass "protection" filter ever could).

Also remove any filters from your lenses. Those can effect AF performance in various ways. Very few filters are necessary or serve any real purpose with digital, anyway. One of the most useful is a Circular Polarizer, but those "cost" between 1 and 2 stops of light (depending upon type and how the filter is adjusted), which can slow down AF or cause it to fail in more challenging lighting situations. While a C-Pol can improve photos in some cases, it needs to be used sparingly, only when it offers a real benefit (you'll learn more about it's uses in the future). All three of the specific lenses mentioned above use 58mm filters, so they could share a single C-Pol. If you get one in the future, I recommend you be sure it's a good, high quality, multi-coated one (such as B+W F-Pro MRC or XS-Pro Nano MRC, which are some of the best for the money). These aren't cheap, but will do the best job and are unlikely to cause issues.

If, by chance, the "kit" of gear you got included a polarizing filter, be sure it's not a "linear" polarizer. Those will mess with autofocus badly (and sometimes with metering systems, too). "Circular" Polarizers are required for use with AF cameras and lenses.

Your camera actually has a second form of autofocus... Contrast detection in Live View mode (displayed on the rear LCD screen, instead of seen in the viewfinder). This can be very accurate... but it's quite slow. It's basically not usable with moving subjects. But it can be helpful with stationary subjects such as scenic shots or similar (Note: some newer Canon camera models have a new form of Live View autofocus that's much faster.)

Hope this helps! Be patient. It takes time to learn to use a DSLR. Even a "basic" one like a T6 is a highly capable and fairly sophisticated piece of equipment!

So for my 30th birthday I received a Canon Rebel T6. It came with a telephoto lens, a macro, wide angle.....I mean, there's stuff I don't even know what the technical names of it are. I'll take my time learning the ins and outs of everything that came soon, but for now I just want to try out the zoom and focus around town for the day. So what are the basics of getting this damn thing to zoom properly and why does it keep wanting to tell me it won't focus? Lol......thanks for helping a lady out y'all. Haha