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 find out 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 simple 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 free of charge, so that you needn’t set up any extra software program to start out utilizing them. My solely want is that I would discovered them earlier.

Clipboard historical past

Hold monitor of all the things you’ve got copied to your clipboard

The primary characteristic I need to spotlight is known as Clipboard historical past. For those who do a number of copying and pasting each day — whether or not for messaging apps, emails, spreadsheets, or picture modifying — that is a simple solution to hold monitor of all the things you’ve got copied so you may entry it later. I am unable to 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 beneficial productiveness device for copying a number of objects directly 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 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

Routinely keep your system’s storage

Subsequent up is Storage Sense, a built-in Home windows 11 device that robotically frees up disk house in your system drive (the C: drive) with out deleting any vital information. Storage Sense deletes objects equivalent to short-term system information, information in your Recycle Bin, and outdated 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 sensible, easy, and it helps hold your PC freed from pointless information.

Relying in your PC setup, Storage Sense would possibly already be enabled however not configured. To show it on and regulate the settings, go to Settings > Storage and toggle on Storage Sense. While 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 may 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 suppose I am accumulating sufficient pointless information to justify each day or weekly runs.

Moreover, you may configure it to robotically delete information out of your Recycle Bin. After I checked mine, I nonetheless discovered information from 2024, so I set it to delete information from the bin after 60 days. You can too set Storage Sense to robotically delete information out of your Downloads folder as properly, which is helpful for clearing out setup information you’ve got most likely downloaded for putting in apps and now not want.

Shake to reduce

Tidy your desktop in seconds

This characteristic is a nifty one, and when you’ve got a behavior like mine of conserving a number of Chrome situations open directly and working a number of totally different packages concurrently, that is a simple solution to reduce all of them immediately to clear up your display. The characteristic is known as “Title bar home windows shake,” and it means that you can shake your at present 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 helpful solution 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 need to deal with, shake it, and all of the home windows behind it will likely 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 will want a mouse linked 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 means that you can regulate the quantity in your PC even quicker, with no need to press a button in your keyboard or open the short settings menu.

All it’s important to do is solely 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 solution 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. Nevertheless, in case you encounter points with it, or it is not working, the issue can seemingly 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 quicker

Lastly, the final characteristic I like to recommend enabling is Enhanced Home windows Search. It has saved me a number of time by serving to me discover information on my PC a lot quicker. By default, the Home windows Search index is ready to Traditional, which suggests Home windows Search solely seems to be for information in your Paperwork, Photos, and Music folders, in addition to your Desktop. So, in case you retailer information elsewhere in your PC, like on a secondary drive, Home windows Search will not discover them, which could be fairly irritating.

Fortunately, Enhanced Home windows Search fixes this downside as a result of enabling it permits Home windows Search to index all of the information in your PC, making the search characteristic truly helpful. To do that in your PC, go to Settings > Privateness & Safety > Search > Discover my Recordsdata. From there, change the search index from Traditional to Enhanced. While you allow Enhanced, it can take a while for Home windows to index all of the information in your PC, particularly when you’ve got 1000’s of information, so you’ll want 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.