5 helpful Home windows 11 options I remorse not utilizing sooner

I’ve used Windows 11 for years, but I am nonetheless stunned by how usually I discover new features I did not find out about earlier than. To be truthful, Home windows 11 is kind 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 not too long ago began using have considerably boosted my productiveness and improved how I handle my PC, and so they might do the identical for you, too. These options are constructed into Home windows 11 and can be found at no cost, so that you need not set up any further software program to begin utilizing them. My solely want is that I might discovered them earlier.

Clipboard historical past

Hold observe of the whole lot you’ve got copied to your clipboard

The primary characteristic I wish to spotlight is named Clipboard historical past. For those who do loads of copying and pasting day by day — whether or not for messaging apps, emails, spreadsheets, or picture modifying — that is a straightforward approach to hold observe of the whole lot you’ve got copied so you possibly can entry it later. I am unable to rely what number of occasions I’ve copied a picture or hyperlink to incorporate in my notes or ship to somebody, solely to neglect to truly do it after which lose it. So, Clipboard historical past has been a lifesaver and a beneficial productiveness instrument for copying a number of objects 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’ve got copied up to now 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

Routinely keep your machine’s storage

Subsequent up is Storage Sense, a built-in Home windows 11 instrument that routinely frees up disk area in your system drive (the C: drive) with out deleting any vital recordsdata. Storage Sense deletes objects similar to momentary system recordsdata, recordsdata in your Recycle Bin, and previous Home windows set up recordsdata. 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 sensible, easy, and it helps hold your PC freed from pointless recordsdata.

Relying in your PC setup, Storage Sense may already be enabled however not configured. To show it on and modify 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 area, however you possibly can change this to run weekly, day by 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 recordsdata to justify day by day or weekly runs.

Moreover, you possibly can configure it to routinely delete recordsdata out of your Recycle Bin. After I checked mine, I nonetheless discovered recordsdata from 2024, so I set it to delete recordsdata from the bin after 60 days. You can even set Storage Sense to routinely delete recordsdata out of your Downloads folder as nicely, which is beneficial for clearing out setup recordsdata you’ve got 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 in case you have a behavior like mine of conserving a number of Chrome situations open without delay and working a number of completely different packages concurrently, that is a straightforward approach to reduce all of them immediately to clear up your display. The characteristic is named “Title bar home windows shake,” and it lets you shake your at present energetic window to reduce the whole lot behind it.

This characteristic has been out there on Home windows since Home windows 7, when it was first launched as Aero Shake. I’ve discovered it to be a helpful approach to tidy up my desktop and have some enjoyable. Sadly, it isn’t 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 it will likely be minimized, saving you the difficulty of minimizing every one 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 taking part in a recreation. This lesser-known characteristic lets you modify the quantity in your PC even sooner, without having to press a button in your keyboard or open the fast settings menu.

All it’s a must to do is just hover your mouse cursor over the quantity icon in your system tray and scroll up or down to boost or decrease your PC’s quantity. That is it. It is easy, but I’ve discovered it to be the quickest approach to modify my system quantity on the fly. It is saved my eardrums a number of occasions when a video or music is all of the sudden performed at an especially loud quantity. This characteristic ought to work by default with out enabling any settings. Nevertheless, if you happen to encounter points with it, or it isn’t working, the issue can probably be resolved by going to Settings > Bluetooth & gadgets > 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 loads of time by serving to me discover recordsdata on my PC a lot sooner. By default, the Home windows Search index is ready to Traditional, which implies Home windows Search solely appears for recordsdata in your Paperwork, Footage, and Music folders, in addition to your Desktop. So, if you happen to retailer recordsdata 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 recordsdata 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, change the search index from Traditional to Enhanced. Once you allow Enhanced, it can take a while for Home windows to index all of the recordsdata in your PC, particularly in case you have hundreds of recordsdata, so you have to 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.