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 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 just lately began using have considerably boosted my productiveness and improved how I handle my PC, they usually 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 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

Maintain monitor of the whole lot you’ve got copied to your clipboard

The primary function I need to spotlight known as Clipboard historical past. When you do quite a lot of copying and pasting every day — whether or not for messaging apps, emails, spreadsheets, or picture enhancing — that is a straightforward option to maintain monitor of the whole lot you’ve got copied so you may entry it later. I can not 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 really do it after which lose it. So, Clipboard historical past has been a lifesaver and a worthwhile productiveness device for copying a number of objects directly 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 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

Mechanically keep your gadget’s storage

Subsequent up is Storage Sense, a built-in Home windows 11 device that mechanically frees up disk area in your system drive (the C: drive) with out deleting any necessary information. Storage Sense deletes objects similar to short-term 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 sensible, easy, and it helps maintain 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. If 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. Once I checked mine, I nonetheless discovered information from 2024, so I set it to delete information from the bin after 60 days. You can even set Storage Sense to mechanically delete information out of your Downloads folder as nicely, which is helpful for clearing out setup information you’ve got most likely downloaded for putting in apps and not want.

Shake to reduce

Tidy your desktop in seconds

This function is a nifty one, and you probably have a behavior like mine of protecting a number of Chrome situations open directly and operating a number of completely different applications concurrently, that is a straightforward option to decrease all of them immediately to clear up your display. The function known as “Title bar home windows shake,” and it means that you can shake your presently lively window to reduce the whole lot behind it.

This function 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 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 need to concentrate on, shake it, and all of the home windows behind it is going to 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 always 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 function means that you can regulate the amount in your PC even quicker, with no need to press a button in your keyboard or open the short settings menu.

All you must do is just 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 option to regulate my system quantity on the fly. It is saved my eardrums a couple of occasions when a video or music is instantly performed at an especially loud quantity. This function ought to work by default with out enabling any settings. Nonetheless, if you happen to 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 quicker

Lastly, the final function I like to recommend enabling is Enhanced Home windows Search. It has saved me quite a lot 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 appears to be like for information in your Paperwork, Photos, and Music folders, in addition to your Desktop. So, if you happen to 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 function 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. If you allow Enhanced, it is going to take a while for Home windows to index all of the information in your PC, particularly you probably have hundreds of information, so you have to be affected person because it does this. When you’re on a laptop computer, I like to recommend plugging it in, as a result of it may drain the battery whereas indexing.