Microsoft has focused on introducing key Windows features but has often been less enthusiastic about introducing handy tools to help users save time significantly. It is a fact that there are a lot of enthusiast-friendly powerful built-in tools that lurk in every corner of Windows 10. These hidden but helpful tools can enhance the performance of every PC user.
To help you get the most out of your Windows 10, we will show you 5 useful Windows 10 secret tools that you probably accidentally omitted or are not aware of just yet.
#1 Virtual Desktops – Instantly skyrocketing your productivity
Virtual Desktops is an extremely useful feature when you run multiple application (link ảnh)
Virtual Desktops is an extremely useful feature by allowing you to set up separate “virtual” Desktop screens on your desktops, wherein each virtual Desktop runs one or more separate software programs. For example, you can run one virtual desktop for work tasks, and another for entertainment applications…, or keep a main desktop containing Office applications for spreadsheet recording and another screen for Photoshop editing.
Virtual Desktops has been brought to Windows 10 after many years of popularity on Linux operating systems… but Microsoft has hidden this outstanding feature for quite a long time.
To start using the Virtual Desktop on Windows 10, click the Task View icon on the Windows 10 Taskbar to summon your Timeline => and select New Desktop at the top-left of the screen.
Alternatively, you can use the Windows + Tab key combination to create and manage Virtual Desktop screens extremely quickly.
Herein, we will share with you some shortcuts that support using Task View and Virtual Desktop:
- Windows + Tab: launching Task View.
- Alt + Tab: Launch Task View, and if you keep pressing this key combination, a selection box will jump between windows. Take your hand off the key and the selected App will appear in front
- Windows + Ctrl + left/right arrow: Moving between virtual Desktops together. This Virtual Desktop is a whole Desktop area, not just windows.
- Windows + Ctrl + D: Creating a new virtual desktop
- Windows + Ctrl + F4: Closing the current virtual desktop.
#2 Snap Windows – Helping you flexibly to move or resize the application window
Snap feature helps you to organize your desktop space more efficiently Link ảnh
The Snap feature on Windows 10 is completely different from that on Windows 7 and 8. This outstanding feature helps users to reduce the difficulty of changing or moving work windows. On Windows 10, Snap helps you organize your desktop space more efficiently, improving your productivity. Using this feature, you can quickly move windows to the sides or corners perfectly with your mouse, keyboard, without manually resizing them. Here are some features of Aero Snap.
So specifically, what shortcut combinations will we have in Windows 10’s Snap feature? Please refer to the following.
- Hold down the Windows key Left arrow or Windows Right arrow will shrink the Windows window to the left or right of the screen, respectively
- Hold down the Windows key Up arrow or Windows Down arrow will respectively shrink the Windows window to the top or bottom of the screen.
- Hold down the Windows key and double-press the Left arrow key to narrow the Windows window to the upper corner of the screen.
- Similarly, when you hold down the Windows key, press the left arrow key twice and press the lower arrow key once more, the Windows window will immediately expand to the bottom.
- Holding down the Windows key Right Arrow key will shrink the Windows window to a quarter of the screen, and pressing the Down Arrow key further will make the Windows window expand directly below.
- Hold down the Windows key and press the Up arrow key twice to make the Windows window shrink in the upward direction.
#3 Cloud Clipboard
Cloud Clipboard helps you to sync data to cloud easily (link ảnh)
Microsoft always tries to help users sync data to their cloud and can use it anywhere if using Windows 10 (of course linked to your Microsoft account). This feature is natively integrated into Windows 10 and simply termed as Clipboard by Microsoft.
It works as keeping a copy of the text you copy, images as well as keeping a copy of multiple items so you can retain all of them even after a restart. If you opt to also Sync these copied files/data across devices including Windows 10 and connected Android Devices, then it makes use of the cloud.
You can easily enable and customize Clipboard history in Windows 10. You only need to turn on the toggle for Sync across devices. Then, when you access it on any other device, the same Clipboard data will present on your other device.
So, how to use Cloud Clipboard on Windows 10?
- Press Win+V anywhere to access Clipboard.
- To copy-paste any of the text or images, you just only click on it, thereby it will automatically appear in the editor.
Clipboard data except for the pinned ones may be cleared by rebooting or manually
#4 Nearby Sharing
Nearby Sharing tool helps you to share files and data in a convenient way Link ảnh
Sometimes you need to share data between multiple computers, or between computers and other devices such as smartphones… and this need is totally necessary.
Nearby Sharing is an added feature on Windows 10 that allows you to use Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to share files and links with your PC in a very convenient way.
You just need to right-click on the file => select Share => option and select the device that you want to share. The recipient will receive a notification with your link and file.
You’ll need to set up the Nearby Sharing feature on Windows 10 before you can use it, and your device must be Bluetooth-enabled to use it.
Go to Start => select Setting (or use the Windows + I key combination) => select System => select the Shared Experiences tab => and switch Share across devices to ON mode.
You can choose whether the sharing feature works with any nearby PC, or only ones tied to your own Microsoft account.
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#5 Storage Sense – Automatic junk file cleaning feature
Storage Sense – An old but powerful feature on Windows 10 (link ảnh)
Storage Sense has been available on Windows for a long time since Windows 10 with the 2017-2018 update or something. Storage Sense is an added feature Microsoft can help your computer automatically delete unwanted files in locations you choose.
Storage Sense can be said to be an upgrade of the Disk Cleanup tool available on Windows since ancient times. Mainly, Storage Sense will be set up automatically so that users don’t have to manually clean up the computer anymore, all have a system to take care of.
You can ask Storage Sense to manage files stored in your OneDrive folder and back it up to the Microsoft cloud service.
Storage Sense can send any file that hasn’t been opened for a certain period straight to the cloud and delete that version on the computer. This is really a great utility to help users free up hard drive space regularly.
By default, Storage Sense is not enabled on Windows, you must activate it manually:
Settings → System → Storage → Storage management → Storage Sense.
After turning it on, go deeper into Storage Sense, tick the box “Keep Windows running smoothly by automatically cleaning up temporary system and app files“
Here, you can set the sequence and time for the system to automatically clean up the drive à deleting the file in the Download folder, and finally selecting the option to launch Storage Sense manually.
In addition: Snipping Tool: This built-in utility allows you to quickly and easily capture screenshots of any portion of your screen. It also provides basic annotation options for marking up the screenshot before saving or sharing it.
Disk Cleanup: This tool helps you free up space on your hard drive by removing unnecessary files such as temporary files, system files, and files in the recycle bin. T
ask Manager: This tool provides a detailed view of all the processes and applications running on your system, as well as their CPU, memory, and network usage. It can also help you quickly close unresponsive programs or background processes that are using up too many system resources.
Resource Monitor: Similar to the Task Manager, the Resource Monitor is a more detailed version of the tool, it’s a system diagnostic and troubleshooting tool which gives you a more in-depth look at your system resources, like memory, disk, and network usage, as well as showing all the currently running processes, services, and network connections.
Command Prompt: While most people are familiar with the graphical user interface of Windows, the command prompt can be a powerful tool for advanced users. It allows you to enter text commands directly to the operating system and perform a wide range of tasks, such as managing files and folders, troubleshooting network connections, and automating repetitive tasks with batch files.
Conclusion
These are just a few examples of the many built-in tools that Windows 10 offers. With a little bit of exploration and experimentation, you may be able to find other tools that can help improve your productivity and streamline your workflow. We have provided you with 5 extremely useful tools on Windows 10 that you might not know or rarely use. In fact, there are more hidden yet powerful tools or features on Windows 10 that we cannot list here for reasons of duration. If you are still using any other cool features, don’t hesitate to comment at the end of this article.