Latest Features in Windows 10 - Tips and Tricks

From minimizing the inactive windows and opening the secret start-menu, to cutting down distractions and using background scrolling, Rapid IT Support London brings you this ultimate-guide for discovering the latest tricks and tips in the Windows 10. 

Minimize every window except the one that is active

If you want to have multiple windows to be opened, but need only one window to work on, you can have the rest of the windows minimized.

For having this implemented, click the title bar of the window that you want to remain open. It is for having it selected. Hold the mouse down, and quickly move and forth the very window, shaking it in a way. After shaking the window a few times, the rest of your windows will be minimized, and the desktop will be left with the one that you had shaked.

Open the 'secret' start-menu

Almost everyone knows, even those who are not frequent users of the windows, that to have the start-menu in the windows popped-up, the windows-button on the keyboard is struck. It is however little known to the Windows users that there is another start-menu which is rather secret, and includes all the important features like the Command Prompt, the Control Panel and the Task Manager. 

For opening a secret menu using the Windows 10, press the windows button along with ‘x’,or right click on the windows icon.

Create an event without opening the Calendar app

A standard procedure for creating an event is to open up the calendar app. Now, however, you may also create an event without needing to visit the calendar app. For having this done, it requires the following steps:

• On your Taskbar, click the box with the time and date in it in the right corner. 
• Click the date when you want to schedule an event. 
• Enter the event name, time and location. (If you have multiple calendars, click the down arrow next to the event name field to choose the one you want to add it to.) 
• Click save. The event should appear in your Calendar app across your devices.

Opening items on the Taskbar using keyboard shortcuts

If a user has pinned some particular programs to its taskbar, it won't be required to have the icon of the program to be clicked in order to open it. Instead, what windows does is that it  assigns a number to every pinned program. And so, when the user wants to open a specific program, all it requires is to press the Windows key along with the number assigned to it.

Figuring out how much space apps have covered

With more space, comes more system-speed. Similarly, lesser the space, lesser will be the speed of the system.

For looking how much space your apps are occupying, go to Settings then System then Storage. Click the drive whose apps you want to check, and click apps & games to see how much space has been occupied.

Getting rid of the ads in Start menu

What you see as the ‘suggestions’ from Microsoft are actually the advertisements for the windows store app.

To do away with it, go to Settings then Personalization then Start. Switch-off the setting of ‘Show suggestions occasionally’ to get rid of the ads in the Windows 10.

Shut down background apps

Apps which are running in the background: receive info, send notifications, and keep on updating, even when not being in use. This can be helpful at times, however mostly it comes at the cost of the battery power.

To control the background running of the apps, so as to save some battery power, go to the Settings then Privacy then Background apps. To have all the apps stopped from running in the background , toggle the ‘Let apps run in the background’ to off. For that matter, you can also toggle some specific apps.

Perform simultaneous scrolling

With this one feature of the windows, you can perform side-by-side scrolling on as many windows as you want. To make things clear, say you open a browser page and a word document. Arrange the both on screen such that so you can see at least some of the text from each window. Now become active on one of the windows, and hover the mouse to scroll from the inactive window, and you will be able to do so successfully.

This feature is on by default. However, if it isn't, go to Settings then Devices then Mouse, and toggle ‘Scroll inactive windows when I hover over them’ to ON. And start scrolling concurrently on the multiple windows.

Show file extensions in File Explorer

Microsoft, by default, hides few extension-types. This makes finding specific-type files difficult. Nevertheless, to have this by-default setting toggled, perform the below steps in order:

1. Go to the Search bar at the bottom of the screen, and type in File Explorer Options, and click it. (There are a number of other ways to get here too, but that one seems fastest.)
2. In the window that pops up, click the View tab. 
3. Uncheck the box that says Hide extensions for known file types. Click Apply, and OK. You should now see file extensions for all files in the File Explorer. 

Cut-down the distractions with Focus-assist

For the tasks you want to have your complete focus on and avoid getting distracted by even the mere notification from certain apps, make use of the focus-assist feature by going to Settings then System then focus-assist. 

You can choose this feature from one of the following three options:

1. a) Off (makes all the app-notifications sent to the action-centre)
2. b) Priority (makes notifications visible only from the apps which you choose, and sends the rest to the action center)
3. c) Alarms only (makes all notifications to hide, but the alarms)