I’ve used Home windows 11 for years, but I am nonetheless stunned by how usually I discover new options I did not learn about earlier than. To be honest, Home windows 11 is kind of a complete desktop working system with many customization choices and settings, so it is simple to miss some useful instruments and options hidden in its menus.
Whether or not you are new to Home windows 11 or have been utilizing it for some time, these options I’ve just lately began using have considerably boosted my productiveness and improved how I handle my PC, and so they might do the identical for you, too. These options are constructed into Home windows 11 and can be found without cost, so that you need not set up any further software program to start out utilizing them. My solely want is that I might discovered them earlier.
Clipboard historical past
Maintain monitor of the whole lot you have copied to your clipboard
The primary characteristic I wish to spotlight known as Clipboard historical past. If you happen to do quite a lot of copying and pasting every day — whether or not for messaging apps, emails, spreadsheets, or picture enhancing — that is a straightforward solution to hold monitor of the whole lot you have copied so you’ll be able to entry it later. I am unable to depend what number of occasions I’ve copied a picture or hyperlink to incorporate in my notes or ship to somebody, solely to overlook to really do it after which lose it. So, Clipboard historical past has been a lifesaver and a helpful productiveness software for copying a number of gadgets without delay with out dropping any of them.
Clipboard historical past is not enabled by default in Home windows 11, so to activate it, go to Settings > Clipboard and toggle on Clipboard historical past. After doing that, press Win + V (win is the Home windows key), and your Clipboard historical past will seem, permitting you to click on on something you have copied previously to recopy it. To clear your Clipboard historical past at any time, merely click on the Clear all button. If you wish to save a copied merchandise, click on the pin icon on it to pin it.
Storage sense
Robotically preserve your system’s storage
Subsequent up is Storage Sense, a built-in Home windows 11 software that mechanically frees up disk area in your system drive (the C: drive) with out deleting any necessary information. Storage Sense deletes gadgets akin to short-term system information, information in your Recycle Bin, and previous Home windows set up information. What I like about Storage Sense is that it automates all these duties for you, eliminating the necessity to ever run Disk Cleanup manually. It is sensible, easy, and it helps hold your PC freed from pointless information.
Relying in your PC setup, Storage Sense may already be enabled however not configured. To show it on and alter the settings, go to Settings > Storage and toggle on Storage Sense. If you click on on Storage Sense, a menu with varied choices will seem, permitting you to customise when it runs and what it clears. By default, Storage Sense prompts solely when your system drive is low on area, however you’ll be able to change this to run weekly, every day, or month-to-month. I set mine to run as soon as a month as a result of I do not suppose I am accumulating sufficient pointless information to justify every day or weekly runs.
Moreover, you’ll be able to configure it to mechanically delete information out of your Recycle Bin. After I checked mine, I nonetheless discovered information from 2024, so I set it to delete information from the bin after 60 days. You may also set Storage Sense to mechanically delete information out of your Downloads folder as properly, which is beneficial for clearing out setup information you have in all probability downloaded for putting in apps and not want.
Shake to attenuate
Tidy your desktop in seconds
This characteristic is a nifty one, and if in case you have a behavior like mine of holding a number of Chrome cases open without delay and working a number of totally different applications concurrently, that is a straightforward solution to reduce all of them immediately to clear up your display screen. The characteristic known as “Title bar home windows shake,” and it permits you to shake your presently lively window to attenuate the whole lot behind it.
This characteristic has been out there on Home windows since Home windows 7, when it was first launched as Aero Shake. I’ve discovered it to be a helpful solution to tidy up my desktop and have some enjoyable. Sadly, it is not enabled by default in Home windows 11. To activate it, go to Settings > Multitasking and toggle on Title bar window shake. Then, simply seize any window you wish to give attention to, shake it, and all of the home windows behind it will likely be minimized, saving you the difficulty of minimizing every one individually. It is each a time-saver and enjoyable to make use of; what’s to not love?
You may want a mouse related to your laptop computer for this to work
If there’s one factor I continually do on my PC, it is adjusting the system quantity, whether or not I am in a gathering, listening to music, watching a video, or taking part in a sport. This lesser-known characteristic permits you to alter the amount in your PC even sooner, without having to press a button in your keyboard or open the fast settings menu.
All it’s a must to do is just hover your mouse cursor over the amount icon in your system tray and scroll up or down to boost or decrease your PC’s quantity. That is it. It is easy, but I’ve discovered it to be the quickest solution to alter my system quantity on the fly. It is saved my eardrums a couple of occasions when a video or music is out of the blue performed at a particularly loud quantity. This characteristic ought to work by default with out enabling any settings. Nevertheless, in case you encounter points with it, or it is not working, the issue can possible be resolved by going to Settings > Bluetooth & gadgets > Mouse and enabling Scroll Inactive Home windows When Hovering Over Them.
Enhanced Home windows Search
Discover any file in your PC sooner
Lastly, the final characteristic I like to recommend enabling is Enhanced Home windows Search. It has saved me quite a lot of time by serving to me discover information on my PC a lot sooner. By default, the Home windows Search index is about to Basic, which suggests Home windows Search solely seems for information in your Paperwork, Footage, and Music folders, in addition to your Desktop. So, in case you retailer information elsewhere in your PC, like on a secondary drive, Home windows Search will not discover them, which may be fairly irritating.
Fortunately, Enhanced Home windows Search fixes this downside as a result of enabling it permits Home windows Search to index all of the information in your PC, making the search characteristic truly helpful. To do that in your PC, go to Settings > Privateness & Safety > Search > Discover my Information. From there, change the search index from Basic to Enhanced. If you allow Enhanced, it can take a while for Home windows to index all of the information in your PC, particularly if in case you have 1000’s of information, so it is advisable be affected person because it does this. If you happen to’re on a laptop computer, I like to recommend plugging it in, as a result of it might probably drain the battery whereas indexing.
