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, and so they may do the identical for you, too. These options are constructed into Home windows 11 and can be found at no cost, so that you needn’t set up any extra software program to begin utilizing them. My solely want is that I would discovered them earlier.

Clipboard historical past

Preserve observe of every thing you have copied to your clipboard

The primary characteristic I need to spotlight is known as Clipboard historical past. For those who do loads of copying and pasting every day — whether or not for messaging apps, emails, spreadsheets, or picture enhancing — that is a simple approach to preserve observe of every thing you have copied so you may entry it later. I am unable to depend 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 invaluable productiveness software 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 have copied prior 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 preserve your gadget’s storage

Subsequent up is Storage Sense, a built-in Home windows 11 software that mechanically frees up disk area in your system drive (the C: drive) with out deleting any vital information. Storage Sense deletes objects reminiscent of non permanent 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 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 alter the settings, go to Settings > Storage and toggle on Storage Sense. Whenever you click on on Storage Sense, a menu with numerous 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 may change this to run weekly, every 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 every day or weekly runs.

Moreover, you may configure it to mechanically 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 too can set Storage Sense to mechanically delete information out of your Downloads folder as nicely, which is beneficial for clearing out setup information you have in all probability downloaded for putting in apps and 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 directly and operating a number of totally different packages concurrently, that is a simple approach to reduce all of them immediately to clear up your display. The characteristic is known as “Title bar home windows shake,” and it permits you to shake your at present energetic window to reduce every thing behind it.

This characteristic has been accessible 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 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 consistently 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 permits you to alter the amount 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 amount 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 alter 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 a particularly loud quantity. This characteristic ought to work by default with out enabling any settings. Nevertheless, for those who encounter points with it, or it is not working, the issue can possible 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 loads of time by serving to me discover information on my PC a lot quicker. By default, the Home windows Search index is ready to Basic, which suggests Home windows Search solely appears to be like for information in your Paperwork, Photos, 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 may 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 Recordsdata. From there, swap the search index from Basic to Enhanced. Whenever you allow Enhanced, it should 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 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 drain the battery whereas indexing.