Windows Tricks

Windows 11 – 11 Tips and Tricks: For Beginners, Experts and Professionals

Updated on May 11, 2023

Windows 11 / Win 11 is the latest version of Microsoft's operating system, released in October 2021. It is the successor to Windows 10 and offers several new features and improvements. We have also written extensively about tips and tricks for Windows 11 on our blog, including in these articles:

So, is that everything to say about Windows 11? Far from it. Whether you're a beginner, an experienced user, or a professional: if you want to, there's still much to learn about Microsoft's new operating system. In this blog post, we'll give you 11 tips and tricks for everyday use of Win 11. We're targeting both newcomers and experienced users, and we'll provide tips on settings, the menu, the button, the system after startup, and much more.

Windows 11 – 4 Tips and Tricks for Beginners

Our first four tips and tricks for Windows 11 are aimed at beginners.

1. Customizing the Start Menu

What you'll probably notice first in Windows 11 is the new Start menu. The bar is located in the center of the screen. Many may find the design stylish, but for some, the transition from Windows 10, which has been used for years or even decades, will certainly be difficult. But it's easy to fix. Here's how:

Simply open the "Personalization/Taskbar" section in the Windows settings.
Now open the "Taskbar behavior" section below.
And select the "left" option in the "Taskbar alignment" dropdown menu.

The changes to left-aligned take effect immediately, and the menu appears in its usual place – and new became old again.

2. Searching in Windows 11

Here, too, the easiest way is through the Start menu. The search field is located in this menu. Even though it appears in the Start menu, your search is not limited to the Start menu. You start a system-wide search. Whether it's data, files, a document, or for example, a video: enter the name, and you'll probably quickly find the desired file with a click of the mouse.

Also great: simply entering the first letter of installed programs is usually sufficient. After just a few letters, Windows 11 has recognized the program you are looking for. It can then be opened immediately with a simple click on "Enter".

3. The Snap Feature

Do you know this feeling: you need several windows open simultaneously for your PC work, but you only have one monitor or too few to display everything you need properly?

This is where the Snap feature helps. You no longer have to awkwardly drag windows to the right size and position them. With the Snap feature, you save yourself this "mouse acrobatics." You also don't have to press or hold a key or use a shortcut. Simply hovering the mouse pointer over the window icon is enough. An additional dialog box will appear, offering you various window configurations to choose from. You click on a selection, and your windows will arrange themselves as you wish.

And best of all: the windows you have now "married" are grouped together by Windows 11, and you can recall them in this constellation at any time – should you have opened other programs and apps in the meantime.

4. Displaying Important Information as Widgets on the Screen

Do you remember widgets from earlier Windows versions and missed them? Then you'll be happy, because with Windows 11, these mini-applications are back – and better than ever.

Important information such as

News
Appointments
Sports results
Weather
Stock prices
Etc.

can be personalized and customized to your interests, and then received automatically. You set which media content you want to see yourself.

Implementing this tip is also incredibly simple. Use the keyboard shortcut Windows + W to open the widgets. The initial arrangement is a good first suggestion that you can choose or change. Simply press the mouse pointer on the title bar of a widget, and you can move the windows as you like – and of course, also close, replace, and resize them. For example, if you enlarge the widget that shows you the current weather, you will get the forecast for the coming week in addition to the current day's forecast. More space in some widgets therefore means more information can now fit into the window.

Windows 11 – 4 Tips and Tricks for Experienced Users

Our next tips are for experienced users of Windows operating systems. Even though the following tips and tricks are primarily written for users who are already familiar with Windows 11, we still want to describe them in a way that even Windows 11 beginners don't have to stop reading and trying them out here 😊

1. Setting Up Virtual Desktops

Windows 11 allows you to create multiple virtual desktops. For example, you can create one desktop for your work and another for your personal needs – and switch between both desktops at any time with a keystroke or mouse click. Then, on your "work desktop," you might have different programs and documents for work in quick access than on your "private desktop." And just as you leave the virtual desktop after a session – with an Edge browser open in the middle of a Google query, for example – you will find it again in the same state.

This is quite simple using the Task View. You activate the icon for this in the taskbar next to the magnifying glass.

Here you will find your desktop as "Desktop 1", and to its right, a plus icon labeled "New desktop". Simply click on it, and for the task view, there is another icon, your "work desktop". Of course, you can repeat this process several more times and set up even more virtual desktops for yourself and, of course, for anyone else who uses your PC.

2. Optimize PC Performance and Adjust Power Settings

Windows 11 offers you several ways to save energy while still getting the most out of your PC. For example, with the help of so-called power plans. With these, you actively influence your PC's behavior and also have a choice:

between one and several power plans
few details or many details when configuring these plans

You can find the power options in the classic Control Panel under "System and Security." Here you not only have options such as sleep mode, power-saving mode, etc., but under "Advanced settings," you'll find a wealth of options that primarily protect your battery longer during mobile use.

Options you'll find here include:

Power-saving mode by optimizing background processes
Options to automatically put hard drives into standby mode when not in use
Adjusting the transmit power of the Wi-Fi adapter
And several more

3. Fingerprint for Authentication

You want to use your fingerprint as a biometric access control and not the traditional PIN or a password? No problem. Many notebooks and tablets already have an integrated scanner for placing your finger. If the scanner is missing, you can also retrofit it. You will then need a Windows Hello-compatible USB fingerprint scanner.

Whether with a built-in scanner or an external USB scanner: setup is, as always, extremely intuitive. Simply expand the "Fingerprint recognition (Windows Hello)" section in the "Accounts / Sign-in options" area, and then set it up. A wizard will then help you set up this authentication method. It begins with entering your password or PIN and ends with you placing your index finger on the scanner several times from different angles. Once the wizard has collected enough data, you can log into your system using your fingerprint.

Of course, this works not only with one finger, but also with multiple fingers or even face recognition. And there are many more possibilities. But we'll reveal those tips another time 😊

4. Using Cortana "Privacy-Compliantly"

You surely know Cortana. She's kind of Alexa's little sister. Microsoft's voice assistant can interpret and understand human speech. Instead of typing questions, you simply speak aloud to the computer. And Cortana answers, follows instructions, and Googles for you.

To use Cortana efficiently, you need to link Cortana to your Microsoft account. Cortana is a standalone app. If you don't want to use Cortana, you can simply ignore the app. However, if you want to benefit from Cortana's services, you must link Cortana to a Microsoft account the first time. And here's the tip: nobody forces you to use the Microsoft account you provided for your Windows 11 and which is linked to your online activities. You can set up a different "new and empty" account specifically for Cortana. To do this, simply click on "Then create one now!" (referring to the account) in the login dialog instead of logging into your existing account.

Once you have Cortana set up, you can control things on your computer with your voice and simply speak aloud questions you would normally Google. But here you'll best test it yourself. Especially the first time, it's a lot of fun.

Windows 11 – 3 Tips and Tricks for Professionals

Are you a Windows professional and knew all the tricks up to this point? Was everything old and familiar and nothing new until now? Then with the following 3 tips, you might learn something new. At least, we tried to find things that are not quite as well-known or simple. But here again, our claim applies: We try to describe even the pro tips in such a way that even experienced users or beginners can reproduce them.

1. Running Problematic Software

Do you have tools that worked correctly under an earlier Windows version but are now causing problems since the operating system is new?

In such cases, it has proven useful to make the program believe it is still running on the old operating system. Windows 11 offers this option, and it works as follows:

First, locate the program file of the application in the installation directory.
Right-click on the program file and select "Properties" from the context menu.
Here, select the "Compatibility" tab, and now you'll probably see for yourself how to proceed: Under "Run program in compatibility mode," you'll find a selection field where you can choose the operating system under which the program last worked.

The next time you start this program, the compatibility mode will be executed for this software, simulating the installation of a different operating system for the tool. All other programs are not affected by this.

2. Uninstalling Cortana

As mentioned in the expert tips, Cortana is a standalone app. But it's not as easy as you might think to uninstall Cortana. What works conveniently through the Control Panel for other apps included with Windows, you have to do the hard way for Cortana. You need to remove the software using Windows PowerShell – and with administrator rights.

Here's how it works:

Find and open Windows PowerShell via the search field – and run it as an administrator.
Now type this command into the input console (or copy the command from here):
Get-AppxPackage -allusers Microsoft.549981C3F5F10 | Remove-AppxPackage

If you use this text correctly, Cortana will then be safely uninstalled for all PC users. Of course, everything can be changed again, and you can reactivate Cortana at any time.

3. Checking Hard Drives with SMART Tools

To minimize data loss due to hardware failures (especially hard drive failures), S.M.A.R.T. tools can help. S.M.A.R.T. stands for Self Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology. These tools check the status of hard drives. If an error is found, it is quickly reported.

To retrieve the most important parameters of your hard drives, we recommend the free CrystalDiskInfo.

It shows you values such as:

Overall health of the hard drives
Temperature of the hard drives
As well as several S.M.A.R.T. parameters

If everything is okay, you will see this in the overall status, and the parameter values will be green. There is cause for concern as soon as you see the message "Caution" in the overall status and there are yellow or red messages under the individual parameter specifications. If this is the case, then you should take a closer look at the values and look up their meaning in a list.

Win 11 / Windows 11 – Compact Practical Knowledge - with everything there is to know about Windows 11 and its new features

Do you want even more tips and tricks for Windows 11?

Then we recommend the e-book "Compact Practical Knowledge Windows 11 – the New Features". Here you will find everything worth knowing about Microsoft's new operating system. Even experts and professionals are guaranteed to find something new about the new features that they didn't know before. The table of contents and all cross-references within this e-book are linked. This way, you can quickly find exactly what you are looking for. If desired, you can also read the book online via your browser.

And the best part: The book (see image) is currently available free of charge for our newsletter subscribers as a download. Simply sign up for the book via the link. You will receive another link by email to a new page where you can view this book free of charge in your browser – or download it to a folder on your device.

Compact Practical Knowledge Windows 11 – the New Features

So let's go: We wish you a lot of fun reading and trying things out, and from then on – from time to time – we will be happy to keep you updated on the latest features, as well as tips and tricks and other tools 🙂