5 helpful Home windows 11 options I remorse not utilizing sooner

I’ve used Windows 11 for years, but I am nonetheless shocked by how typically I discover new features I did not learn about earlier than. To be honest, Home windows 11 is sort of a complete desktop working system with many customization options and settings, so it is easy 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 lately began using have considerably boosted my productiveness and improved how I handle my PC, they usually may do the identical for you, too. These options are constructed into Home windows 11 and can be found without spending a dime, so that you need not set up any further software program to start out utilizing them. My solely want is that I would discovered them earlier.

Clipboard historical past

Preserve observe of all the things you have copied to your clipboard

The primary characteristic I wish to spotlight known as Clipboard historical past. For those who do a variety of copying and pasting each day — whether or not for messaging apps, emails, spreadsheets, or picture enhancing — that is a straightforward technique to preserve observe of all the things you have copied so you possibly can entry it later. I can not depend what number of instances I’ve copied a picture or hyperlink to incorporate in my notes or ship to somebody, solely to overlook to truly do it after which lose it. So, Clipboard historical past has been a lifesaver and a priceless productiveness device for copying a number of gadgets without delay with out shedding 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 keep your gadget’s storage

Subsequent up is Storage Sense, a built-in Home windows 11 device that mechanically frees up disk house in your system drive (the C: drive) with out deleting any necessary information. Storage Sense deletes gadgets resembling non permanent 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 good, easy, and it helps preserve 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 regulate the settings, go to Settings > Storage and toggle on Storage Sense. Once 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 house, however you possibly can change this to run weekly, each day, or month-to-month. I set mine to run as soon as a month as a result of I do not assume I am accumulating sufficient pointless information to justify each day or weekly runs.

Moreover, you possibly can configure it to mechanically delete information out of your Recycle Bin. Once I checked mine, I nonetheless discovered information from 2024, so I set it to delete information from the bin after 60 days. You may as well set Storage Sense to mechanically delete information out of your Downloads folder as effectively, which is helpful for clearing out setup information you have in all probability downloaded for putting in apps and now not want.

Shake to reduce

Tidy your desktop in seconds

This characteristic is a nifty one, and you probably have a behavior like mine of preserving a number of Chrome cases open without delay and working a number of completely different packages concurrently, that is a straightforward technique to reduce all of them immediately to clear up your display screen. The characteristic known as “Title bar home windows shake,” and it means that you can shake your presently lively window to reduce all the things behind it.

This characteristic has been obtainable on Home windows since Home windows 7, when it was first launched as Aero Shake. I’ve discovered it to be a useful technique 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 concentrate on, shake it, and all of the home windows behind will probably be minimized, saving you the difficulty of minimizing each 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 continuously 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 enjoying a sport. This lesser-known characteristic means that you can regulate the amount in your PC even sooner, with no need to press a button in your keyboard or open the fast settings menu.

All you need to do is just hover your mouse cursor over the amount icon in your system tray and scroll up or down to lift or decrease your PC’s quantity. That is it. It is easy, but I’ve discovered it to be the quickest technique to regulate my system quantity on the fly. It is saved my eardrums just a few instances when a video or music is all of a sudden performed at an especially loud quantity. This characteristic ought to work by default with out enabling any settings. Nonetheless, for those who encounter points with it, or it is not working, the issue can possible be resolved by going to Settings > Bluetooth & units > 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 a variety of time by serving to me discover information on my PC a lot sooner. By default, the Home windows Search index is about to Traditional, which suggests Home windows Search solely seems for information in your Paperwork, Footage, and Music folders, in addition to your Desktop. So, for those who retailer information elsewhere in your PC, like on a secondary drive, Home windows Search will not discover them, which will be fairly irritating.

Fortunately, Enhanced Home windows Search fixes this drawback as a result of enabling it permits Home windows Search to index all of the information in your PC, making the search characteristic really helpful. To do that in your PC, go to Settings > Privateness & Safety > Search > Discover my Information. From there, swap the search index from Traditional to Enhanced. Once you allow Enhanced, it would take a while for Home windows to index all of the information in your PC, particularly you probably have 1000’s of information, so you could be affected person because it does this. For those who’re on a laptop computer, I like to recommend plugging it in, as a result of it may possibly drain the battery whereas indexing.