5 lesser-known Home windows 11 options I can not stay with out

Windows 11
boasts quite a lot of

useful tools and tricks
that customers can simply entry without having to put in further apps or software program. In the event you’re new to Home windows 11 or wanting to discover recent methods to make the most of Microsoft’s newest working system, you are in the proper place.

In the event you’re seeking 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 day by day to reinforce my Home windows 11 expertise and workflow.

5

Telephone Hyperlink

Ship texts and make calls out of your PC

Pocket-lint / Microsoft

In the event you’re coming from macOS, the Home windows Telephone Hyperlink software is an identical 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 Telephone 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.

Telephone Hyperlink mechanically connects to your smartphone everytime you boot up your Home windows PC. I discover Telephone 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.

Associated

4 ways Windows Phone Link makes my life way easier

One in every of my favourite Home windows 11 functions is Telephone Hyperlink – this is how the Microsoft-made software streamlines my day-to-day workflow.

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 day by day to shortly seize the screenshots I want for work, because it permits me to pick which a part of my display to seize. You too can use the Snipping Instrument to take display recordings, which I continuously do at any time when I must doc one thing occurring on my pc, reminiscent of when troubleshooting a problem.

To open the Snipping Instrument, press the Print Display (PrtSc) key in your keyboard. Alternatively, you could find it utilizing Home windows search. As soon as it is open, within the prime bar, you possibly can select to take both screenshots or recordings. There are additionally 4 totally different modes you possibly can select from: rectangle, window, full display, or free kind. I take advantage of rectangle mode after I must seize a particular a part of my display, and I take advantage of full display after I wish to take a screenshot of my whole display, reminiscent of when taking part in a sport.

Associated

Microsoft’s latest Surface PCs are compact, lightweight, and missing Surface Connect

The tech big has simply unveiled two new compact Home windows 11 PCs: the Floor Professional, 12-inch two-in-one, and the Floor Laptop computer, 13-inch.

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, despite the fact that it is accessible on the taskbar from the second you boot up Home windows 11 for the primary time. That function is Virtual Desktops, which lets you create separate desktop environments in your PC. In the event you continuously use your PC for work and leisure, this can be a nice option to separate the 2.

I all the time have two digital desktops working: one with all my work functions open, reminiscent of Slack, Photoshop, and Chrome, and one other with all of the apps I take advantage of in my downtime, reminiscent of Steam, Discord, and Spotify. This function not solely retains me targeted but additionally helps me declutter my desktop by displaying solely the apps I want at that second.

To entry Digital Desktops your self, you possibly can click on the overlapping rectangles within the taskbar after which choose New Desktop. On the Digital Desktops display, you possibly can handle all of the apps you have got opened on a specific desktop and transfer apps between your totally different desktop environments. You too can rename them to make them simpler to maintain observe of. If you wish to change between totally different desktop environments shortly, hit Win+Ctrl +Left/Proper Arrow to navigate between them.

Associated

Windows 11 is evolving, and so is its iconic Start Menu

Alongside new Floor PC {hardware}, Microsoft has introduced a seize bag of latest AI options for Home windows 11 (along with a significant Begin Menu redesign).

2

Snap Layouts

Multitask like a professional

Pocket-lint / Microsoft

In the event you multitask continuously in your Home windows PC, Snap Layouts will turn out to be your greatest good friend for managing a number of home windows successfully on one display. Whereas the Snap function has been out there since Home windows 7, it obtained a major improve in Home windows 11 with the introduction of Snap Layouts, which lets you select from varied structure choices to arrange your home windows.

To make use of Snap Layouts, hover over the Maximize button on an app to see totally different structure choices. Alternatively, once you seize a window, you possibly can drag it to the highest of your display to view varied Snap Format selections. 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 important monitor. The variety of structure selections out there is determined by the scale of your show. I take advantage of two 27-inch displays, and Home windows supplies me with 9 totally different Snap Format choices on every. Nevertheless, on my 16-inch Asus Zenbook laptop computer, I solely get 5.

Associated

5 Windows services I disabled to make my PC run smoother

Disabling these background companies might assist velocity up your Home windows 11 PC.

1

Dynamic Lock

Hold 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 function 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. While you flip it on, Home windows will immediate you to pick a Bluetooth gadget for the function to operate. Dynamic Lock is separate from Telephone Hyperlink, so you have to to pick your cellphone as a Bluetooth gadget once more for it to work.

Associated

Windows 11 is great, but I wish Microsoft would give its screensavers more love

Home windows screensavers are an iconic a part of the PC’s historical past, and Microsoft must modernize them yesterday.