5 lesser-known Home windows 11 options I am unable to reside with out

Windows 11
boasts a wide range of

useful tools and tricks
that customers can simply entry while not having to put in further apps or software program. In the event you’re new to Home windows 11 or desirous to discover contemporary methods to make the most of Microsoft’s newest working system, you are in the proper place.

In the event you’re trying to work together seamlessly together with your

phone on your PC
, seize screenshots or recordings, and handle a number of home windows extra effectively, Home windows 11 affords a spread of instruments designed to perform all that and extra. Beneath are 5 lesser-known (and underrated) instruments that I depend on each day to reinforce my Home windows 11 expertise and workflow.

5

Cellphone Hyperlink

Ship texts and make calls out of your PC

Pocket-lint / Microsoft

In the event you’re coming from macOS, the Home windows Cellphone Hyperlink instrument is the same expertise to utilizing iMessage in your Mac. If you wish to entry your cellphone’s messages and notifications in your PC, make calls, or share information,

Windows 11 Phone Link
can do this and rather more.

To start utilizing Cellphone Hyperlink, merely seek for it within the Home windows search bar. From there, open the app and begin the setup course of with both an Android machine or an iPhone. Then, scan the QR code on the app and comply with the setup directions. You may then join your smartphone to your PC through Bluetooth and customise the notification settings accordingly.

Cellphone Hyperlink mechanically connects to your smartphone everytime you boot up your Home windows PC. I discover Cellphone Hyperlink handy for making cellphone calls on my PC and responding to textual content messages on the fly with out pulling my cellphone out of my pocket.

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Take the proper screenshot

Pocket-lint / Microsoft

Subsequent up is a instrument I depend on most whereas utilizing Home windows 11: the Snipping Tool. In the event you’re unfamiliar with it, it is primarily used for taking screenshots. I take advantage of it each day to shortly seize the screenshots I would like for work, because it permits me to pick which a part of my display to seize. You may as well use the Snipping Software to take display recordings, which I often do at any time when I have to doc one thing occurring on my pc, similar to when troubleshooting a problem.

To open the Snipping Software, press the Print Display (PrtSc) key in your keyboard. Alternatively, you’ll find it utilizing Home windows search. As soon as it is open, within the high bar, you’ll be able to select to take both screenshots or recordings. There are additionally 4 completely different modes you’ll be able to select from: rectangle, window, full display, or free type. I take advantage of rectangle mode once I have to seize a selected a part of my display, and I take advantage of full display once I wish to take a screenshot of my complete display, similar to when taking part in a sport.

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3

Digital Desktops

Nice for separating work and leisure

Pocket-lint / Microsoft

Considered one of my favourite Home windows 11 instruments flies below the radar for a lot of customers, despite the fact that it is accessible on the taskbar from the second you boot up Home windows 11 for the primary time. That characteristic is Virtual Desktops, which lets you create separate desktop environments in your PC. In the event you often use your PC for work and leisure, it is a nice approach to separate the 2.

I at all times have two digital desktops operating: one with all my work purposes open, similar to Slack, Photoshop, and Chrome, and one other with all of the apps I take advantage of in my downtime, similar to Steam, Discord, and Spotify. This characteristic not solely retains me targeted but in addition helps me declutter my desktop by displaying solely the apps I would like at that second.

To entry Digital Desktops your self, you’ll be able to click on the overlapping rectangles within the taskbar after which choose New Desktop. On the Digital Desktops display, you’ll be able to handle all of the apps you might have opened on a specific desktop and transfer apps between your completely different desktop environments. You may as well rename them to make them simpler to maintain observe of. If you wish to swap between completely different desktop environments shortly, hit Win+Ctrl +Left/Proper Arrow to navigate between them.

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2

Snap Layouts

Multitask like a professional

Pocket-lint / Microsoft

In the event you multitask often in your Home windows PC, Snap Layouts will change into your greatest good friend for managing a number of home windows successfully on one display. Whereas the Snap characteristic has been obtainable since Home windows 7, it acquired a major improve in Home windows 11 with the introduction of Snap Layouts, which lets you select from numerous structure choices to prepare your home windows.

To make use of Snap Layouts, hover over the Maximize button on an app to see completely different structure choices. Alternatively, whenever you seize a window, you’ll be able to drag it to the highest of your display to view numerous Snap Structure decisions. The structure I usually use divides two apps evenly on my display, which I discover particularly useful whereas researching, as I can cut up my display between the doc I am analyzing and my notes.

I additionally make the most of Snap Layouts on my second monitor to evenly divide apps, like Spotify and Slack, whereas engaged on my foremost monitor. The variety of structure decisions obtainable is determined by the scale of your show. I take advantage of two 27-inch displays, and Home windows supplies me with 9 completely different Snap Structure choices on every. Nevertheless, on my 16-inch Asus Zenbook laptop computer, I solely get 5.

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1

Dynamic Lock

Preserve your PC protected

Pocket-lint / Microsoft

If in case you have a behavior of strolling away out of your pc with out locking it, this instrument will help defend your PC from prying eyes. It is referred to as Dynamic Lock, and it really works by mechanically locking your PC whenever you distance your self from it by detecting the Bluetooth connection out of your cellphone. In the event you work in an workplace constructing, this characteristic may be particularly useful in case you neglect to lock your PC.

To allow Dynamic Lock, navigate to Settings > Accounts > Signal-in choices > Dynamic Lock. Whenever you flip it on, Home windows will immediate you to pick a Bluetooth machine for the characteristic to perform. Dynamic Lock is separate from Cellphone Hyperlink, so you will want to pick your cellphone as a Bluetooth machine once more for it to work.

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