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 extra apps or software program. If you happen to’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 fitting place.

If you happen to’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 variety of instruments designed to perform all that and extra. Under are 5 lesser-known (and underrated) instruments that I depend on each day to reinforce my Home windows 11 expertise and workflow.

5

Cellphone Hyperlink

Ship texts and make calls out of your PC

Pocket-lint / Microsoft

If you happen to’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 telephone’s messages and notifications in your PC, make calls, or share information,

Windows 11 Phone Link
can try 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 comply with the setup directions. You possibly can then join your smartphone to your PC through Bluetooth and customise the notification settings accordingly.

Cellphone Hyperlink robotically connects to your smartphone everytime you boot up your Home windows PC. I discover Cellphone 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. If you happen to’re unfamiliar with it, it is primarily used for taking screenshots. I take advantage of it each day to rapidly seize the screenshots I would like for work, because it permits me to pick out which a part of my display screen to seize. You may as well use the Snipping Device to take display screen recordings, which I ceaselessly do every time I have to doc one thing taking place on my laptop, corresponding to when troubleshooting a difficulty.

To open the Snipping Device, press the Print Display screen (PrtSc) key in your keyboard. Alternatively, you will discover it utilizing Home windows search. As soon as it is open, within the high bar, you may select to take both screenshots or recordings. There are additionally 4 totally different modes you may select from: rectangle, window, full display screen, or free kind. I take advantage of rectangle mode after I have to seize a selected a part of my display screen, and I take advantage of full display screen after I need to take a screenshot of my complete display screen, corresponding to when enjoying a recreation.

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3

Digital Desktops

Nice for separating work and leisure

Pocket-lint / Microsoft

Certainly one of 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 characteristic is Virtual Desktops, which lets you create separate desktop environments in your PC. If you happen to ceaselessly use your PC for work and leisure, this can be a nice solution to separate the 2.

I all the time have two digital desktops operating: one with all my work functions open, corresponding to Slack, Photoshop, and Chrome, and one other with all of the apps I take advantage of in my downtime, corresponding 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 screen, you may handle all of the apps you could have opened on a specific desktop and transfer apps between your totally different desktop environments. You may as well rename them to make them simpler to maintain observe of. If you wish to change between totally 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

If you happen to multitask ceaselessly in your Home windows PC, Snap Layouts will change into your finest good friend for managing a number of home windows successfully on one display screen. Whereas the Snap characteristic 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 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 may drag it to the highest of your display screen to view numerous Snap Structure decisions. The structure I typically 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 most important monitor. The variety of structure decisions out there will depend on the scale of your show. I take advantage of two 27-inch displays, and Home windows gives me with 9 totally different Snap Structure 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

When you’ve got a behavior of strolling away out of your laptop 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 robotically locking your PC whenever you distance your self from it by detecting the Bluetooth connection out of your telephone. If you happen to work in an workplace constructing, this characteristic will be particularly useful in case you overlook 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 out a Bluetooth system for the characteristic to perform. Dynamic Lock is separate from Cellphone Hyperlink, so you have to to pick out your telephone as a Bluetooth system once more for it to work.

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