5 lesser-known Home windows 11 options I am unable to reside with out

Windows 11
boasts quite a lot of

useful tools and tricks
that customers can simply entry without having to put in further apps or software program. In case you’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 correct place.

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

phone on your PC
, seize screenshots or recordings, and handle a number of home windows extra effectively, Home windows 11 gives a variety of instruments designed to perform all that and extra. Under are 5 lesser-known (and underrated) instruments that I depend on day by 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 instrument is the same 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 try this and far 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 gadget 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.

Cellphone Hyperlink robotically 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.

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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 case you’re unfamiliar with it, it is primarily used for taking screenshots. I take advantage of it day by day to shortly seize the screenshots I want for work, because it permits me to pick out which a part of my display screen to seize. You can even use the Snipping Instrument to take display screen recordings, which I regularly do each time I have to doc one thing occurring on my laptop, resembling when troubleshooting a problem.

To open the Snipping Instrument, press the Print Display (PrtSc) key in your keyboard. Alternatively, you could find 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 totally different modes you possibly can select from: rectangle, window, full display screen, or free kind. I take advantage of rectangle mode once I have to seize a selected a part of my display screen, and I take advantage of full display screen once I wish to take a screenshot of my complete display screen, resembling when enjoying a recreation.

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3

Digital Desktops

Nice for separating work and leisure

Pocket-lint / Microsoft

One among my favourite Home windows 11 instruments flies below 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 Virtual Desktops, which lets you create separate desktop environments in your PC. In case you regularly use your PC for work and leisure, this can be a nice strategy to separate the 2.

I at all times have two digital desktops operating: one with all my work functions open, resembling Slack, Photoshop, and Chrome, and one other with all of the apps I take advantage of in my downtime, resembling 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 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 screen, you possibly can 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 change between totally different desktop environments shortly, 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 regularly in your Home windows PC, Snap Layouts will turn into your greatest pal for managing a number of home windows successfully on one display screen. Whereas the Snap function has been out there since Home windows 7, it acquired a major improve in Home windows 11 with the introduction of Snap Layouts, which lets you select from varied format choices to prepare your home windows.

To make use of Snap Layouts, hover over the Maximize button on an app to see totally different format choices. Alternatively, while you seize a window, you possibly can drag it to the highest of your display screen to view varied Snap Structure decisions. The format 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 important monitor. The variety of format decisions out there depends upon the scale of your show. I take advantage of two 27-inch screens, and Home windows gives me with 9 totally different Snap Structure choices on every. Nevertheless, 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

If in case you have a behavior of strolling away out of your laptop with out locking it, this instrument may help shield your PC from prying eyes. It is known as Dynamic Lock, and it really works by robotically locking your PC while 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. Once you flip it on, Home windows will immediate you to pick out a Bluetooth gadget for the function to perform. Dynamic Lock is separate from Cellphone Hyperlink, so you’ll need to pick out your cellphone as a Bluetooth gadget once more for it to work.

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