{"id":4345,"date":"2016-01-05T10:02:19","date_gmt":"2016-01-05T16:02:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/?p=4345"},"modified":"2015-11-30T13:20:39","modified_gmt":"2015-11-30T19:20:39","slug":"18-great-tips-and-tricks-for-windows-10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/18-great-tips-and-tricks-for-windows-10\/","title":{"rendered":"18 Great Tips and Tricks For Windows 10"},"content":{"rendered":"

Windows 10 arrived relatively recently to much fanfare. However, early adopters were often faces with a less than premium experience.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"18WindowsTips_Windows\"<\/a>As is often the case with new software these days, Windows 10 seems to have been released as a somewhat work in progress with bugs and idiosyncrasies abound for Microsoft\u2019s newest operating system.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Internet connectivity is no doubt generally a good thing for software developers and customers as it means that updates and patches can be rolled out and delivered in a relatively speedy and efficient manner. However, the safety net of these systems does lead some developers to believe that they can rush software out in an unfinished state and adopt the \u201crelease now, patch later mentality.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nowhere is this more evident than in the video games industry, but that is a rant for another day.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The purpose of this article is to take a look at some of the more esoteric functions of Windows 10 and suggest some tips and tricks to make your experience a more streamlined and stress-free one.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

So, without further ado, here are 18 great tips and tricks for Windows 10.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

1.<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0Minimize all Windows but one:<\/strong> If you click on the active window that you are using and quickly shake it to the left and right, Windows 10 will minimise all windows except that one. Very useful for clearing your screen in an instant.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

2.<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0Special touchpad swipes:<\/strong> If your laptop has a precision touchpad (go to Settings>Change PC settings>PC and devices>Mouse and touchpad to check) then you can access some great shortcuts with special swipes by placing three fingers on the pad.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Swipe up to see task view<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7 Swipe down to show the desktop<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7 Flick to the left and right to switch between open apps<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7 Tap to access the Cortana Search<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

3.<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0Keyboard shortcuts:<\/strong> There are also a bunch of new keyboard shortcuts to make your life easier:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

4.<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0Snap active window:<\/strong> Pressing the Windows key and the Left or Right Arrow key will snap the active window to the indicated side of the screen.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

5.<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0Show open windows:<\/strong> Pressing Alt and the Tab key will show all open windows which you can then cycle through with repeated Tab presses. Pressing the Windows key and Tab does much the same thing but the selected window stays open on release, rather than switching to the open one.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

6.<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0Virtual desktops:<\/strong> Pressing the Windows key with Control and D will create a new virtual desktop. Pressing Windows, Control and F4 will then close the current virtual desktop. Windows, Control and the Left or right Arrow keys will switch between them.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

7.<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0Voice search:<\/strong> Saying \u201cHey, Cortana\u201d will activate the Cortana voice search. If it doesn\u2019t work go to Settings>Cortana & Search to activate it. You can program your voice to make the experience even smoother. However, you may want to disable it when working away from a power point as it is a bit of a battery hog.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

8.<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0Disable sign in:<\/strong> If you are using Windows 10 on your home computer and it never leaves the house then you can speed things up by disabling the sign in password. Head to Settings>Accounts>Sign-in Options and set the option to \u201cNever.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

9.<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0See disk space usage:<\/strong> If you go to Settings>System>Storage>This PC you can see a breakdown of your storage usage. Great when you need to free up some space and want to see what is dominating your hard drive.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

10.<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0Privacy settings:<\/strong> One of the biggest concerns about Windows 10 was its attitude towards the privacy of its users. Thankfully you can force the system to respect yours by going to Settings>Privacy>General and turning off all of the options. Hint: you may want to leave SmartScreen Filter active as it helps with virus detection.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

11.<\/span><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0Limit diagnostic data:<\/strong> Stay in the Privacy menu for a moment and head to Feedback & Diagnostics. Under the Diagnostic and Usage Data menu \u2013 select Basic. This will limit the diagnostic data that Windows sends back to Microsoft to the most basic health and performance feedback.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

12.<\/span><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0Control peer-to-peer sharing:<\/strong> Windows 10 has introduced a new peer-to-peer feature that shares update files with other internet active computers. It is claimed that that this system will speed up app and update downloads, but if you\u2019d rather restrict this to only local systems you can head to Settings>Update & Security>Windows Update>Advanced Options>Choose how Updates are Delivered and either turn it off or choose the \u201cPCs on my Local Network\u201d option.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

13.<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0Screen recorder:<\/strong> Windows 10 has a hidden screen recorder feature. It only records the active screen so you cannot record or whole session or switch between apps. It\u2019s designed for capturing video game play, but it can be used to record anything that you are doing.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Open the Xbox app and hit the Windows key and G. When the dialogue box asking if you want to open the Game bar pops up, check the box that reads \u201cYes, this is a game\u201d. Hit the record button to start\/stop recording and view the file in File Explorer>This PC>Videos>Captures.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

14.<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0Start Menu:<\/strong> One of the most anticipated features of Windows 10 was the return of the much loved and much missed Start Menu. More great news is that it is fully customisable as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

15.<\/span><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0Resizing menu:<\/strong> Move your mouse to the top edge of the menu to drag it up and down and make it any size that you wish.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

16.<\/span><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0Colored Start Menu:<\/strong> Head to Settings>Personalisation>Colors. Then switch off the option that reads \u201cAutomatically pick an accent color from my background\u201d and switch on the one that says \u201cShow color on Start, taskbar and action centre.\u201d Now your Start Menu will be in your selected color.\"18WindowsTips_18\"<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

17.<\/span><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0Ask Cortana:<\/strong> You can right click on any term that you find in the Edge browser and select \u201cAsk Cortana\u201d to look up more information on it.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

18.<\/span><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0Pin to Start Menu:<\/strong> You can right click on any category in the settings menu and pin it to the Start Menu. Useful for Wi-Fi and other setting that you change regularly.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Windows 10 arrived relatively recently to much fanfare. However, early adopters were often faces with a less than premium experience. \u00a0 As is often the case with new software these days, Windows 10 seems to have been released as a somewhat work in progress with bugs and idiosyncrasies abound for Microsoft\u2019s newest operating system. \u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":4349,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-it","category-windows"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4345"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4345\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4352,"href":"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4345\/revisions\/4352"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}