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 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 just 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 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

Maintain monitor of every little thing you’ve got copied to your clipboard

The primary characteristic I wish to spotlight known as Clipboard historical past. If you happen to do loads of copying and pasting each day — whether or not for messaging apps, emails, spreadsheets, or picture modifying — that is a simple option to hold monitor of every little thing 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 neglect to truly do it after which lose it. So, Clipboard historical past has been a lifesaver and a precious productiveness software for copying a number of objects without delay with out dropping 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 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 keep your machine’s storage

Subsequent up is Storage Sense, a built-in Home windows 11 software that routinely frees up disk area in your system drive (the C: drive) with out deleting any necessary recordsdata. Storage Sense deletes objects resembling short-term system recordsdata, recordsdata in your Recycle Bin, and outdated 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 regulate 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, 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 recordsdata to justify each day or weekly runs.

Moreover, you may 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 too set Storage Sense to routinely delete recordsdata out of your Downloads folder as properly, 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 attenuate

Tidy your desktop in seconds

This characteristic is a nifty one, and you probably have a behavior like mine of protecting a number of Chrome situations open without delay and operating a number of completely different packages concurrently, that is a simple option to reduce all of them immediately to clear up your display screen. The characteristic known as “Title bar home windows shake,” and it permits you to shake your presently energetic window to attenuate every little thing 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 option 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 deal with, 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 will 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 sport. This lesser-known characteristic permits you to regulate the quantity in your PC even sooner, with no need to press a button in your keyboard or open the fast settings menu.

All you must do is solely hover your mouse cursor over the quantity 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 option to regulate my system quantity on the fly. It is saved my eardrums a couple of instances when a video or music is abruptly 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 isn’t working, the issue can seemingly 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 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 to be like for recordsdata in your Paperwork, Photos, and Music folders, in addition to your Desktop. So, for those who retailer recordsdata elsewhere in your PC, like on a secondary drive, Home windows Search will not discover them, which might 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 recordsdata in your PC, making the search characteristic truly 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. Whenever you allow Enhanced, it’ll take a while for Home windows to index all of the recordsdata in your PC, particularly you probably have hundreds of recordsdata, so it’s essential to be affected person because it does this. If you happen to’re on a laptop computer, I like to recommend plugging it in, as a result of it may well drain the battery whereas indexing.