Windows Tips and Tricks 2021
By Scott Sekinger
In this article I will tell my favorite Windows tips and tricks. Most of the tips and tricks focus on Windows 10/11 as of the date of this article, but some are available in earlier unsupported versions of Windows.
Classic Start Menu
Get the classic Windows Start menu by downloading and installing the free program Open Shell at Welcome to the Open-Shell-Menu | Open-Shell-Menu . It is free and could make using Windows 11 easier.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Use Windows keyboard shortcuts to navigate and get things done faster. There are a lot of keyboard shortcuts in Window’s 11. A lot of them carry over from versions of previous Windows. You can check out my article on Windows 11 Shortcuts for a list of keyboard shortcuts I use often. Most are these shortcuts work for Windows 10.
Video Editor
There is a great free video editor in Windows 11, which is buried in the Photos app. Just type Video Editor in the Search box. This gem is also in Windows 10. Check out the Youtube video How to use Free Windows 10 Video Editor to learn how to use it.
If this video editor is not to your liken then checkout OpenShot.
God Mode
God Mode is a shortcut you create that gives you access to all of the Windows settings in one place to create a folder for God Mode and renamed to GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}. I think you will think this cool. God mode is available in all versions of Windows.
Windows Commands
The command line is very powerful. It can make it easier, and quicker to do something. With either a command, or a script. Check out my article Top 76 Windows Commands for a list of useful commands. These commands are available in Windows 10 and 11.
Web Site File Explorer Access
Windows 10 /11 allows you to go to a website by entering in the address bar. Once you enter the site address and hit enter, it launches your default browser, and goes to the site.
Free Antivirus
Starting with Windows 10 Windows has started to called Windows Defender in Windows 10, Microsoft Defender in Windows 11, which is very good. In my opinion there is no need to pay for one To learn more go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Defender#:~:text=%20%20%20Other%20names%20%20%20Microsoft,Microsoft%20Security%20Essentials%20%202%20more%20rows%20, and Microsoft Defender Antivirus in Windows | Microsoft Docs to learn more.
Create PDFs
Windows 10 / 11 has a way you can save any web page, picture, or documents, etc to PDF. All you have to do is print it to a PDF.
Record your Steps
Windows has a program called the Problem Step Recorder, which allows yo record your steps. This is great to show some what the problem is, or how to something. It records all of the steps with pictures. The Problem Step Recorder was introduced in Windows 7. Go to Windows Problem Steps Recorder (PSR): quick and easy documenting of your steps and procedures to learn more. This is on of my favorite tips.
Virtual Desktops
Virtual Desktops is away you can have more then one desktop. It was introduced in Windows 10.This allows you to be more productive or hide what you are doing from prying eyes. Check out the articles and How to use Virtual Desktops in Windows 11
Windows Sandbox
Windows Sandbox is a virtual machine of either Windows 10 or 11 Pro , which gets completely erased when you exit it This is great if you want to try to out a piece of software before installing / using it on your PC. Check out Microsoft’s article Windows Sandbox for more information.
Virtualization
Windows 10 and 11 Pro have a feature called Hyper-V which allows you to set a virtual machine like Windows Sandbox. Hyper-V allows you to install different operating Systems on your PC without doing a dual boot, or dedicating machine for the OS like Linux. You use a free program like Virtualbox Ii you do not have Pro You can learn more about Hyper-V by reading Hyper-V – Wikipedia.
Recovery Drive
Windows 10 / 11 have a feature called Recovery which is a way you can make your own recovery media. This is very important, because if some happens to your PC you can use the recovery drive to restore your PC, back to the way it was when you last made the recovery drive. Check out Create a recovery drive to learn more.
Refresh, Reset or Restore Your PC
Windows has a way to reinstall Windows with or without keeping your data. This was introduced in Windows 8.X. A Refresh keeps your data. A reset does not. Windows also has away to undo changes recently made. Checkout How to refresh, reset, or restore your PC
Window Snap layout
Windows 11 has a great way to snap your windows that is very cool. Check out How to use snap layouts in Windows 11 to learn more.
I hope you find these tips and tricks useful.