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 with no need to put in further apps or software program. In case 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 fitting place.

In case you’re trying 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 affords a spread of instruments designed to perform all that and extra. Under are 5 lesser-known (and underrated) instruments that I depend on each 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 case you’re coming from macOS, the Home windows Cellphone 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 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 system or an iPhone. Then, scan the QR code on the app and observe the setup directions. You may then join your smartphone to your PC by way of 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.

Associated

4 ways Windows Phone Link makes my life way easier

Certainly one of my favourite Home windows 11 functions is Cellphone Hyperlink – here is how the Microsoft-made software streamlines my day-to-day workflow.

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 case you’re unfamiliar with it, it is primarily used for taking screenshots. I exploit it each day to rapidly 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 incessantly do each time I have to doc one thing occurring on my pc, similar to when troubleshooting a difficulty.

To open the Snipping Device, press the Print Display (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 may select to take both screenshots or recordings. There are additionally 4 completely different modes you may select from: rectangle, window, full display, or free kind. 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 complete display, similar to when enjoying a sport.

Associated

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

The tech large 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

Certainly 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 incessantly 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, 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 may click on the overlapping rectangles within the taskbar after which choose New Desktop. On the Digital Desktops display, you may handle all of the apps you have got opened on a selected desktop and transfer apps between your completely different desktop environments. You may also rename them to make them simpler to maintain monitor of. If you wish to swap between completely different desktop environments rapidly, 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 recent AI options for Home windows 11 (along with a serious Begin Menu redesign).

2

Snap Layouts

Multitask like a professional

Pocket-lint / Microsoft

In case you multitask incessantly in your Home windows PC, Snap Layouts will change into your greatest pal 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 prepare your home windows.

To make use of Snap Layouts, hover over the Maximize button on an app to see completely different structure choices. Alternatively, whenever you seize a window, you may drag it to the highest of your display to view numerous Snap Format selections. The structure I typically 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 predominant monitor. The variety of structure selections obtainable relies on the dimensions of your show. I exploit two 27-inch displays, and Home windows supplies me with 9 completely 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 may assist pace up your Home windows 11 PC.

1

Dynamic Lock

Hold your PC protected

Pocket-lint / Microsoft

When you’ve got a behavior of strolling away out of your pc with out locking it, this software might help shield your PC from prying eyes. It is known 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 cellphone. In case you work in an workplace constructing, this characteristic 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. Once you flip it on, Home windows will immediate you to pick a Bluetooth system for the characteristic to perform. Dynamic Lock is separate from Cellphone Hyperlink, so you’ll need to pick your cellphone as a Bluetooth system 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.