5 lesser-known Home windows 11 options I am unable...

Windows 11
boasts quite a lot of

useful tools and tricks
that customers can simply entry while not 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 best 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 provides a variety of instruments designed to perform all that and extra. Beneath are 5 lesser-known (and underrated) instruments that I depend on day by day to boost my Home windows 11 expertise and workflow.

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 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 recordsdata,

Windows 11 Phone Link
can try this and rather 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 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 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 Tool. In case you’re unfamiliar with it, it is primarily used for taking screenshots. I take advantage of it day by day to rapidly seize the screenshots I want for work, because it permits me to pick which a part of my display to seize. You too can use the Snipping Instrument to take display recordings, which I often do at any time when I have to doc one thing taking place on my laptop, reminiscent of when troubleshooting a difficulty.

To open the Snipping Instrument, press the Print Display (PrtSc) key in your keyboard. Alternatively, you’ll find 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 completely different modes you’ll be able to select from: rectangle, window, full display, or free type. 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 total display, reminiscent of when enjoying a sport.

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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 underneath 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 case you often use your PC for work and leisure, it is a nice method to separate the 2.

I all the time have two digital desktops working: one with all my work purposes open, reminiscent of Slack, Photoshop, and Chrome, and one other with all of the apps I take advantage of in my downtime, reminiscent of Steam, Discord, and Spotify. This function not solely retains me targeted but additionally helps me declutter my desktop by displaying solely the apps I want 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 might have opened on a selected desktop and transfer apps between your completely different desktop environments. You too can rename them to make them simpler to maintain observe of. If you wish to swap between completely 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 often in your Home windows PC, Snap Layouts will grow to be your finest good friend for managing a number of home windows successfully on one display. Whereas the Snap function has been out there since Home windows 7, it obtained 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 completely different structure choices. Alternatively, whenever you seize a window, you’ll be able to drag it to the highest of your display to view numerous 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 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 primary monitor. The variety of structure selections out there will depend on the dimensions of your show. I take advantage of two 27-inch screens, and Home windows gives me with 9 completely 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

Preserve your PC protected

Pocket-lint / Microsoft

In case 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 referred to 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 cellphone. In case you work in an workplace constructing, this function might 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 system for the function to operate. Dynamic Lock is separate from Telephone Hyperlink, so you’ll need to pick your cellphone as a Bluetooth system once more for it to work.

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