5 lesser-known Home windows 11 options I can not 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 extra apps or software program. Should 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 precise place.

Should 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 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 boost my Home windows 11 expertise and workflow.

5

Telephone Hyperlink

Ship texts and make calls out of your PC

Pocket-lint / Microsoft

Should you’re coming from macOS, the Home windows Telephone Hyperlink instrument is an analogous 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 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 through Bluetooth and customise the notification settings accordingly.

Telephone Hyperlink routinely 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.

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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. Should you’re unfamiliar with it, it is primarily used for taking screenshots. I take advantage of it day by day to rapidly seize the screenshots I would like for work, because it permits me to pick which a part of my display screen to seize. It’s also possible to use the Snipping Instrument to take display screen recordings, which I often do every time 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, yow will discover it utilizing Home windows search. As soon as it is open, within the prime bar, you may select to take both screenshots or recordings. There are additionally 4 completely different modes you may select from: rectangle, window, full display screen, or free kind. I take advantage of rectangle mode once I must seize a particular a part of my display screen, and I take advantage of full display screen once I wish to take a screenshot of my total display screen, reminiscent of when enjoying a sport.

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3

Digital Desktops

Nice for separating work and leisure

Pocket-lint / Microsoft

One among my favourite Home windows 11 instruments flies beneath the radar for a lot of customers, regardless 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. Should you often use your PC for work and leisure, this can be a nice approach to separate the 2.

I at all times have two digital desktops operating: 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 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 may click on the overlapping rectangles within the taskbar after which choose New Desktop. On the Digital Desktops display screen, you may handle all of the apps you could have opened on a selected desktop and transfer apps between your completely different desktop environments. It’s also possible to rename them to make them simpler to maintain observe of. If you wish to swap 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

Should you multitask often in your Home windows PC, Snap Layouts will turn out to be your greatest pal for managing a number of home windows successfully on one display screen. Whereas the Snap function has been out there since Home windows 7, it acquired a big improve in Home windows 11 with the introduction of Snap Layouts, which lets you select from varied format choices to prepare your home windows.

To make use of Snap Layouts, hover over the Maximize button on an app to see completely different format choices. Alternatively, if you seize a window, you may drag it to the highest of your display screen to view varied Snap Structure decisions. The format I usually use divides two apps evenly on my display screen, which I discover particularly useful whereas researching, as I can break up my display screen 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 predominant monitor. The variety of format decisions out there is determined by the scale of your show. I take advantage of two 27-inch displays, and Home windows gives 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

Maintain your PC protected

Pocket-lint / Microsoft

When you have a behavior of strolling away out of your pc with out locking it, this instrument might help defend your PC from prying eyes. It is known as Dynamic Lock, and it really works by routinely locking your PC if you distance your self from it by detecting the Bluetooth connection out of your cellphone. Should you work in an workplace constructing, this function 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. While you flip it on, Home windows will immediate you to pick a Bluetooth system for the function to perform. Dynamic Lock is separate from Telephone Hyperlink, so you have to to pick your cellphone as a Bluetooth system once more for it to work.

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