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

Windows 11
boasts a wide range of

useful tools and tricks
that customers can simply entry while not having to put in extra apps or software program. In the event you’re new to Home windows 11 or wanting to discover contemporary methods to make the most of Microsoft’s newest working system, you are in the appropriate 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 presents a spread of instruments designed to perform all that and extra. Beneath are 5 lesser-known (and underrated) instruments that I depend on every day to boost 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 software 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 far 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 gadget or an iPhone. Then, scan the QR code on the app and comply with the setup directions. You’ll be able to 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 software 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 every day to rapidly seize the screenshots I want for work, because it permits me to pick out which a part of my display to seize. You can too use the Snipping Device to take display recordings, which I incessantly do each time I must doc one thing taking place on my pc, comparable to when troubleshooting a problem.

To open the Snipping Device, press the Print Display screen (PrtSc) key in your keyboard. Alternatively, you’ll find it utilizing Home windows search. As soon as it is open, within the prime 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 kind. I take advantage of rectangle mode once I must seize a particular a part of my display, and I take advantage of full display once I wish to take a screenshot of my whole display, comparable to when enjoying a recreation.

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3

Digital Desktops

Nice for separating work and leisure

Pocket-lint / Microsoft

One in every of my favourite Home windows 11 instruments flies underneath the radar for a lot of customers, although 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 incessantly use your PC for work and leisure, it is a nice strategy to separate the 2.

I all the time have two digital desktops working: one with all my work functions open, comparable to Slack, Photoshop, and Chrome, and one other with all of the apps I take advantage of in my downtime, comparable to Steam, Discord, and Spotify. This characteristic not solely retains me centered but additionally helps me declutter my desktop by displaying solely the apps I want 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’ve gotten opened on a specific desktop and transfer apps between your completely different desktop environments. You can too rename them to make them simpler to maintain observe of. If you wish to change between completely different desktop environments rapidly, 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 incessantly in your Home windows PC, Snap Layouts will turn into your finest 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 big improve in Home windows 11 with the introduction of Snap Layouts, which lets you select from numerous structure choices to arrange your home windows.

To make use of Snap Layouts, hover over the Maximize button on an app to see completely different structure choices. Alternatively, once you seize a window, you’ll be able to drag it to the highest of your display to view numerous Snap Structure selections. The structure I typically use divides two apps evenly on my display, which I discover particularly useful whereas researching, as I can break 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 primary monitor. The variety of structure selections obtainable is dependent upon the dimensions of your show. I take advantage of two 27-inch displays, and Home windows offers me with 9 completely different Snap Structure choices on every. Nonetheless, 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

In case you have a behavior of strolling away out of your pc with out locking it, this software will help shield your PC from prying eyes. It is referred to as Dynamic Lock, and it really works by mechanically locking your PC once 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 will be particularly useful in case you overlook to lock your PC.

To allow Dynamic Lock, navigate to Settings > Accounts > Signal-in choices > Dynamic Lock. Once you flip it on, Home windows will immediate you to pick out a Bluetooth gadget for the characteristic to operate. Dynamic Lock is separate from Cellphone Hyperlink, so you’ll need to pick out your cellphone as a Bluetooth gadget once more for it to work.

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