5 lesser-known Home windows 11 options I can not stay with out

Home windows 11
boasts a wide range of

helpful instruments and methods
that customers can simply entry while not having to put in extra apps or software program. In case you’re new to Home windows 11 or wanting to discover recent methods to make the most of Microsoft’s newest working system, you are in the precise place.

In case you’re trying to work together seamlessly together with your

cellphone in your PC
, seize screenshots or recordings, and handle a number of home windows extra effectively, Home windows 11 presents a spread of instruments designed to perform all that and extra. Beneath are 5 lesser-known (and underrated) instruments that I depend on each day to boost my Home windows 11 expertise and workflow.

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5

Telephone Hyperlink

Ship texts and make calls out of your PC

Pocket-lint / Microsoft

In case 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 recordsdata,

Home windows 11 Telephone Hyperlink
can try this and far 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 machine 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 by way of Bluetooth and customise the notification settings accordingly.

Telephone Hyperlink robotically 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 Software. In case you’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 which a part of my display to seize. You can even use the Snipping Software to take display recordings, which I ceaselessly do at any time when I have to doc one thing taking place on my laptop, equivalent to when troubleshooting a problem.

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

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3

Digital Desktops

Nice for separating work and leisure

Pocket-lint / Microsoft

Considered 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 function is Digital Desktops, which lets you create separate desktop environments in your PC. In case you ceaselessly use your PC for work and leisure, it is a nice technique to separate the 2.

I at all times have two digital desktops operating: one with all my work functions 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 targeted 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’ll be able to click on the overlapping rectangles within the taskbar after which choose New Desktop. On the Digital Desktops display, you’ll be able to handle all of the apps you’ve opened on a selected desktop and transfer apps between your totally different desktop environments. You can even rename them to make them simpler to maintain observe of. If you wish to swap 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

In case you multitask ceaselessly 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 totally different structure choices. Alternatively, if you seize a window, you’ll be able to drag it to the highest of your display to view varied 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 break 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 fundamental monitor. The variety of structure selections obtainable is dependent upon the scale of your show. I take advantage of two 27-inch screens, and Home windows gives me with 9 totally different Snap Format choices on every. Nonetheless, on my 16-inch Asus Zenbook laptop computer, I solely get 5.

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1

Dynamic Lock

Hold your PC protected

Pocket-lint / Microsoft

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

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