5 lesser-known Home windows 11 options I can not 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 extra apps or software program. In case 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 correct place.

In case you’re seeking to work together seamlessly along with your

phone on your PC
, seize screenshots or recordings, and handle a number of home windows extra effectively, Home windows 11 provides 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 boost my Home windows 11 expertise and workflow.

5

Telephone Hyperlink

Ship texts and make calls out of your PC

Pocket-lint / Microsoft

In case you’re coming from macOS, the Home windows Telephone Hyperlink device is an analogous expertise to utilizing iMessage in your Mac. If you wish to entry your telephone’s messages and notifications in your PC, make calls, or share recordsdata,

Windows 11 Phone Link
can try this and way 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 possibly can then join your smartphone to your PC by way of 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 telephone calls on my PC and responding to textual content messages on the fly with out pulling my telephone out of my pocket.

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Take the right screenshot

Pocket-lint / Microsoft

Subsequent up is a device I depend on most whereas utilizing Home windows 11: the Snipping Tool. In case you’re unfamiliar with it, it is primarily used for taking screenshots. I exploit 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 regularly do each time 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 screen (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 totally different modes you’ll be able to select from: rectangle, window, full display, or free kind. I exploit rectangle mode after I have to seize a particular a part of my display, and I exploit full display after I wish to take a screenshot of my whole display, similar to when enjoying a recreation.

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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 case you regularly use your PC for work and leisure, this can be a nice option to separate the 2.

I at all times have two digital desktops working: one with all my work functions open, similar to Slack, Photoshop, and Chrome, and one other with all of the apps I exploit in my downtime, similar to Steam, Discord, and Spotify. This characteristic not solely retains me centered 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 will have opened on a selected desktop and transfer apps between your totally different desktop environments. You may as well rename them to make them simpler to maintain monitor of. If you wish to change between totally 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 case you multitask regularly in your Home windows PC, Snap Layouts will develop into your greatest buddy for managing a number of home windows successfully on one display. Whereas the Snap characteristic 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 numerous structure choices to prepare your home windows.

To make use of Snap Layouts, hover over the Maximize button on an app to see totally 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 selections. The structure I usually 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 principal monitor. The variety of structure selections out there is determined by the scale of your show. I exploit two 27-inch displays, and Home windows offers me with 9 totally 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

Maintain your PC protected

Pocket-lint / Microsoft

In case you have a behavior of strolling away out of your pc with out locking it, this device may also 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 telephone. In case you work in an workplace constructing, this characteristic could 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 characteristic to operate. Dynamic Lock is separate from Telephone Hyperlink, so you have to to pick your telephone as a Bluetooth gadget once more for it to work.

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