It has just been over a year and a half since Windows 10 was officially launched. And if you look at the technical evolution, Windows has changed tremendously and it has done so rather beautifully. Now we have a whole different level of features which are not only brilliant but equally flexible (from a longtime Windows user’s perspective, of course).
It’s not essential that we know all the tricks that a particular tool has in its arsenal. Knowing the few important ones is all one needs for a smoother experience.
Features — big or small — play a big role in enhancing productivity. And while it was an arduous task of picking and testing them, we have done it and filed it. Phew!
Though you might know some of these, why take the chance of not going through this entire article and missing out on some cool ones, right?
Let’s jump in.
1. Dark Theme
The Windows dark theme comes in a time when most of us were bored of the ordinary look (read ancient). Initially, the darker theme could be enabled only through the registry, but now it can be achieved with just a few clicks.
Head over to the Settings > Personalisation > Colours, scroll down and choose Dark as the app mode.
The dark mode would appear mostly in the settings window, though. But explore the other features of this mode and you might end up with a very different looking desktop.
2. Resize & Unpin Tiles
I love the start menu tiles since the time when they were first launched, providing me with useful insights into the weather, mail snippets, news, Twitter feed, etc. In order to get the most out of it, this particular section can be customized to your utmost satisfaction.
For instance, if you want your favorite tile to occupy a much wider berth, right-click on it and choose the resize option. Similarly, for removing right-click and select Unpin from Start.
Speaking of weather, did you know that just pressing Win+S will show you the weather and news? You know it now.
3. Start Menu Customization
One of the best things about customization is that it lets you achieve a unique look and Windows isn’t far behind.
The start menu can be customized in many ways. Right from displaying the recently added apps to the frequently used apps, all these can be turned off/on depending on your choice.
Plus, if you want to get your hands on a sleek start menu, you can start by removing all the tiles and resizing it.
4. Alternate Start Menu
Surely, you must be knowing that you can right-click on the start button to access the Power User Menu, but what if you need it real quick?
Just hit Win + X and the menu will pop up. The menu holds a lot of useful apps in its quiver, like Command Prompt, Control Panel, Mobility center, etc. And if you will be using the keys to go around, the up/down keys should do the trick.
Another nifty trick to open the tools swiftly is to just press the underlined letter. For instance, hitting P would open the Control Panel.
5. Snap Windows
An impressive feature for the multi-tasker in you. This feature lets you snap the current window to one side and simultaneously open the second one on the other side. Just press Win and right/left arrow key. What’s more, you can just scroll through the windows sans the clicks.
Speaking of multitasking, here’s a quick approach to open the pinned apps,
Win + 1 — first app
Win + 2 — second app, and so on.
6. The Cortana Search
Cortana, the Windows personal assistant is a powerful aide that can be compared to the likes of Siri or Google Now.
“Microsoft’s voice-activated virtual assistant is more than just a direct link to Bing (or whatever search engine you’ve got her to use) — she’s, well, an assistant.”, writes CNET about this wonderful assistant.
And while she can do almost anything right from singing songs (bet you didn’t know that) to setting reminders, you can also customize the way Cortana operates. Whether it’s the type of cards that you want to see or the data that Cortana accesses, there’s a whole bunch of things hiding beneath the notebook icon.
Plus, Cortana handles most of the natural language commands seamlessly and while I did face an issue of Siri understanding my accent, Cortana just wowed me.
Cool Tip: Cortana has a useful built-in dictionary. So if you want to test her skills, type define followed by the word and the meaning will appear instantly.
7. Quick Access Files and Folders from File Explorer
One of the features that I was desperately waiting for and finally, Windows 10 answered my prayers. I find it feasible to have quick access to the recently used folders, but we are humans and we have a great reputation of not thinking alike.
So for those who would NOT like to have an open display of their recently accessed files & folders, there’s quite an easy trick to hide them.
Head over to the file explorer and click on View > Options and uncheck the privacy checkboxes. The file explorer will switch to the My PC look.
Discover four unique ways in which you can lock files and folders in Windows 10 natively.
8. Virtual Desktops
Task View, known popularly as Virtual desktops (VD), was added as a mainstream feature in Windows 10 and trust me, VDs can boost the productivity levels. In simple words, you get to have a number of desktops on your system.
There are a lot third party apps that let you have VDs, but a native one surely beats the odds when it comes to stability and accessibility. The choice is yours as to how you would utilize this space. For starters, you can have a work desktop and an entertainment hub.
Keyboard shortcuts for VD,
Open TaskView – Win + Tab
New Desktop – Win + Ctrl + D
Close the current desktop – Win + Ctrl + F4
Scroll through VDs – Win + Ctrl + right/left
9. Command Prompt Shortcuts
The previous versions of Command Prompt did a pro-level job of testing your patience. With Windows 10, it’s quite a breeze as it lets you to use a number of shortcuts in an effortless way.
Keyboard shortcuts for Command Prompt
Ctrl + C / V /A – Copy, Paste , Select All
Shift + Page Up / Page Down
Ctrl + Right/ Left arrow – Text browsing, etc.
10. Annotating in Edge & Calendar Sync.
We tend to mostly research online these days, ending up reading tons of articles. That also means getting lost in the sea of posts and not getting any meaningful work done. That’s when the annotation feature of Edge can come into great use.
It lets you annotate on a specific area of the webpage where you would like to add a note and save the same for later references.
Plus, Windows 10 not only has revamped the hideous calendar, you can now sync the core calendar app with any third-party calendars in a fairly easy process.
11. Select Audio Source from the TaskBar
On Windows 10, the audio source selection process (if one can call it a process), is neat. It can be done right from the comfort of your current window.
Windows 10 Audio Source
Just click on the volume icon on the taskbar and select the appropriate source. And when you compare it to opening the Audio Properties window and then choosing the audio source, this seems like a cakewalk.
12. Record your PC
Previously, capturing a screenshot or recording a screencast wasn’t possible without the use of third-party software. However, that’s not the case with Windows 10. All you have to do is press Win + G and you will be presented with a tiny window with all the necessary options.
Windows 10 Screen Record
Keyboard shortcuts:
Win + G+ PrntScr – Screenshot.
Win + Alt + R – Screen Recordings.
13. Picture Passwords & PIN
Because conventional passwords are just so passé.
On a serious note, we all know the vulnerabilities traditional passwords pose. So, the new sign-in options seem to be an added bonus since it gives you an alternative choice of having a picture or PIN as passwords.
Windows 10 Passwords & Pins
And not just a plain picture, you will need to annotate over three points in the picture — these can be a circle, a stroke or a dot on any random area.
As pictures have far more characters, it’s much safer to use them as passwords, provided you don’t use obvious gestures in noticeable places (over the nose and ears).
14. Block Suggestions/ Ads
Of all the possible places that Windows can advertise its products on, it chose the start menu. And if you find these suggestions bothersome, there’s a straightforward solution to block them out — once and for all.
Windows 10 adv
Head over to personalization in the settings menu and turn off the Occasionally show suggestions in Start option (under start) and stay Ad-free.
Speaking of ads, learn how to bypass Adblock detection on websites that literally bombard you with ads.
15. Find my Device
Ever faced the exasperation of tracking a lost device or a silent phone? Well, Windows offers the choice from where one can track the last known location of a device. It works similar to Google’s Device manager.
Windows 10 Device
Compared to the phone tracking, the device search has its limitations. For now, only the last known location of a PC can be tracked and you won’t be able to wipe or lock your device.
16. Filter Clipboard Contents in Command Prompt
Now that command prompt lets you copy-paste texts in a jiffy, chances are that you might end up copying stuff straight off from a browser.
And there are equal chances that those texts might have some special characters or an added tab. So what do you do with the unwanted content? Remove them manually? Naah, that’s too old.
Windows 10 CP filter
Well, there’s a nice little feature in the command prompt properties which automatically removes tabs and unsupported special characters from the copied text (when enabled).
17. Choose Printers
The latest version of Windows allows the system to set any last used printer as the default one. It can be both a boon or a bane for some users. If this setting is an over-kill, head over to the printer settings and turn it off.
The system will no longer switch between different printers and will stick to the default one.
18. Active Hour Updates
Windows 10 has come up with this amazing feature which lets you choose the time when you don’t want updates to be installed. It’s referred to as Active Hours and that’s enabled with the proper timings. Get ready to bid goodbye to untimely updates.
Windows 10 active hours
To set the active hours, head over to Settings > Update and security and click on active hours.
19. Block Notifications
Windows PC almost never stops from enlightening you on every single thing, whether it’s a Java update that’s available or a new notification. And like me, if you are annoyed with this feature, there’s an easy way to turn it off.
Windows 10 Notifications
All you need to do is head over to Settings > System and Notifications and actions and turn it off.
So how many of these were you already using? Any favorites yet? Tell us in the comments below!
Idoko Enenche
October 2, 2018