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 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 recent methods to make the most of Microsoft’s newest working system, you are in the suitable place.

In the event 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 affords 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 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 software 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 information,

Windows 11 Phone Link
can do 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 observe 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 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 proper screenshot

Pocket-lint / Microsoft

Subsequent up is a software 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 exploit it day by day to rapidly seize the screenshots I would like for work, because it permits me to pick which a part of my display screen to seize. You too can use the Snipping Software to take display screen recordings, which I incessantly do every time I must doc one thing taking place on my pc, corresponding to when troubleshooting a problem.

To open the Snipping Software, press the Print Display screen (PrtSc) key in your keyboard. Alternatively, you’ll find it utilizing Home windows search. As soon as it is open, within the prime 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 exploit rectangle mode after I must seize a selected a part of my display screen, and I exploit full display screen after I need to take a screenshot of my total display screen, corresponding to when enjoying a sport.

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3

Digital Desktops

Nice for separating work and leisure

Pocket-lint / Microsoft

One in all 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 the event you incessantly use your PC for work and leisure, this can be a nice option to separate the 2.

I at all times have two digital desktops working: one with all my work functions open, corresponding to Slack, Photoshop, and Chrome, and one other with all of the apps I exploit in my downtime, corresponding to Steam, Discord, and Spotify. This function not solely retains me centered but additionally helps me declutter my desktop by displaying solely the apps I would like 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 specific desktop and transfer apps between your totally different desktop environments. You too can 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 the event you multitask incessantly in your Home windows PC, Snap Layouts will turn into your finest good friend for managing a number of home windows successfully on one display screen. Whereas the Snap function has been accessible since Home windows 7, it acquired a major improve in Home windows 11 with the introduction of Snap Layouts, which lets you select from numerous 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, whenever you seize a window, you possibly can drag it to the highest of your display screen to view numerous Snap Structure decisions. The structure I typically use divides two apps evenly on my display screen, which I discover particularly useful whereas researching, as I can cut 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 essential monitor. The variety of structure decisions accessible will depend on the dimensions of your show. I exploit two 27-inch displays, 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

Maintain your PC protected

Pocket-lint / Microsoft

In case you have a behavior of strolling away out of your pc with out locking it, this software may also help defend your PC from prying eyes. It is known 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 the event you work in an workplace constructing, this function will be particularly useful in case you neglect to lock your PC.

To allow Dynamic Lock, navigate to Settings > Accounts > Signal-in choices > Dynamic Lock. Whenever 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 have to to pick your cellphone as a Bluetooth machine once more for it to work.

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