5 lesser-known Home windows 11 options I can ...

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 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 best place.

In the event 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 presents a variety of instruments designed to perform all that and extra. Beneath 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

In the event you’re coming from macOS, the Home windows Cellphone Hyperlink instrument is the same 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 machine or an iPhone. Then, scan the QR code on the app and comply with the setup directions. You’ll be able to then join your smartphone to your PC through 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 telephone calls on my PC and responding to textual content messages on the fly with out pulling my telephone out of my pocket.

Associated

4 ways Windows Phone Link makes my life way easier

One in all my favourite Home windows 11 purposes is Cellphone Hyperlink – this is how the Microsoft-made instrument streamlines my day-to-day workflow.

Take the right screenshot

Pocket-lint / Microsoft

Subsequent up is a instrument 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 take advantage of it each day to shortly seize the screenshots I want for work, because it permits me to pick which a part of my display to seize. You may as well use the Snipping Device to take display recordings, which I continuously do every time I must doc one thing taking place on my laptop, equivalent to when troubleshooting a difficulty.

To open the Snipping Device, press the Print Display (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 possibly can select to take both screenshots or recordings. There are additionally 4 completely different modes you possibly can select from: rectangle, window, full display, or free kind. I take advantage of rectangle mode after I must seize a particular a part of my display, and I take advantage of full display after I wish to take a screenshot of my complete display, equivalent 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

One in all my favourite Home windows 11 instruments flies beneath the radar for a lot of customers, though 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. In the event you continuously use your PC for work and leisure, it is a nice strategy to separate the 2.

I all the time have two digital desktops working: one with all my work purposes open, equivalent to Slack, Photoshop, and Chrome, and one other with all of the apps I take advantage of in my downtime, equivalent to 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 want at that second.

To entry Digital Desktops your self, you possibly can click on the overlapping rectangles within the taskbar after which choose New Desktop. On the Digital Desktops display, you possibly can handle all of the apps you will have opened on a specific desktop and transfer apps between your completely different desktop environments. You may as well rename them to make them simpler to maintain monitor of. If you wish to change between completely different desktop environments shortly, 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 latest AI options for Home windows 11 (along with a significant Begin Menu redesign).

2

Snap Layouts

Multitask like a professional

Pocket-lint / Microsoft

In the event you multitask continuously in your Home windows PC, Snap Layouts will turn out to be your finest buddy for managing a number of home windows successfully on one display. Whereas the Snap function has been obtainable since Home windows 7, it obtained a major improve in Home windows 11 with the introduction of Snap Layouts, which lets you select from varied structure choices to arrange your home windows.

To make use of Snap Layouts, hover over the Maximize button on an app to see completely different structure choices. Alternatively, once you seize a window, you possibly can drag it to the highest of your display to view varied Snap Format selections. The structure I usually 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 important monitor. The variety of structure selections obtainable is determined by the scale of your show. I take advantage of 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.

Associated

5 Windows services I disabled to make my PC run smoother

Disabling these background companies might assist velocity up your Home windows 11 PC.

1

Dynamic Lock

Maintain your PC protected

Pocket-lint / Microsoft

When you’ve got a behavior of strolling away out of your laptop with out locking it, this instrument will help defend your PC from prying eyes. It is known as Dynamic Lock, and it really works by mechanically locking your PC once 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 function may be particularly useful in case you overlook 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 machine for the function to operate. Dynamic Lock is separate from Cellphone Hyperlink, so you will want to pick your telephone as a Bluetooth machine 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.