5 lesser-known Home windows 11 options I am unable to stay 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 precise 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 gives a variety of instruments designed to perform all that and extra. Under 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 telephone’s messages and notifications in your PC, make calls, or share information,

Windows 11 Phone Link
can do 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 system or an iPhone. Then, scan the QR code on the app and observe 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 robotically 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 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 exploit it day by 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 also use the Snipping Device to take display recordings, which I ceaselessly do each time I have to doc one thing occurring on my pc, corresponding to when troubleshooting a difficulty.

To open the Snipping Device, press the Print Display screen (PrtSc) key in your keyboard. Alternatively, you could 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 exploit rectangle mode once I have to seize a particular a part of my display, and I exploit full display once I need to take a screenshot of my whole display, corresponding to when enjoying a sport.

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3

Digital Desktops

Nice for separating work and leisure

Pocket-lint / Microsoft

One in all my favourite Home windows 11 instruments flies beneath 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 ceaselessly use your PC for work and leisure, it is a nice approach to separate the 2.

I at all times have two digital desktops working: one with all my work purposes open, corresponding to Slack, Photoshop, and Chrome, and one other with all of the apps I exploit in my downtime, corresponding 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 have got opened on a specific desktop and transfer apps between your completely different desktop environments. You may also rename them to make them simpler to maintain observe of. If you wish to change 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 ceaselessly 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 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 format choices to arrange your home windows.

To make use of Snap Layouts, hover over the Maximize button on an app to see completely different format choices. Alternatively, while you seize a window, you’ll be able to drag it to the highest of your display to view numerous Snap Format decisions. The format 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 major monitor. The variety of format decisions obtainable is determined by the scale of your show. I exploit two 27-inch displays, and Home windows offers me with 9 completely different Snap Format 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 can assist shield your PC from prying eyes. It is referred to as Dynamic Lock, and it really works by robotically locking your PC while you distance your self from it by detecting the Bluetooth connection out of your telephone. In the event you work in an workplace constructing, this characteristic might 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 system for the characteristic to perform. Dynamic Lock is separate from Telephone Hyperlink, so you have to to pick your telephone as a Bluetooth system once more for it to work.

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