The 6 best Windows 11 features you probably didn’t know about

Almost everyone knows how to navigate Windows 11 and use the basic features of the operating system to get work done on Windows. But most of the best features are hidden away deep within your settings menu or control panel, and sometimes they can only be accessed by shortcuts that you’d never think of using. So, follow along as we unearth 6 Windows 11 features that you probably didn’t know about but could be using every day to work smarter and not harder.

6 Activate a window by hovering

Seamlessly jump between programs

The mouse ‘hover’ feature is something that you either love, hate, or have no idea it even exists. Nonetheless, this simple trick can let you seamlessly swap between different windows without needing to click, drag, or drop anything on your desktop. If you use a mouse for your PC or laptop, then this may not seem like a big deal; but if you’re using a trackpad, then this can be a great feature to enable on your PC.

The mouse hover feature lets you bring windows to the front of your screen by simply hovering over them. While this may not seem revolutionary, it really does make your work and movements on Windows much more streamlined and lets you jump between windows that you are using by simply pointing at it with your mouse. To turn on this feature, go to your Control Panel, click on Ease of Access, then Change how your mouse works. You’ll be able to activate this as well as any other mouse adjustments you may like while you’re there.

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5 Easy window layout shortcut

Change your window layout easily with this shortcut

If you’re like me and constantly have multiple tabs open, you’re probably used to using Alt + Tab to jump between tabs, or dragging windows to the sides of your screen to fit more windows on your desktop to use programs in split-screen mode.

Using this simple shortcut, you can organize the different windows you have open in multiple different positions on your desktop with a few clicks of the keyboard.

Simply press the Win + Arrow key and you can easily move your Windows to a different position on your PC, making it easy to organize and minimize tabs on your desktop.

If you use the up and down arrow commands while your window is snapped to the side of your screen, it will halve the window, letting you place four tabs on your desktop at once. While this may be a bit cluttered on a laptop screen, if you have a larger monitor it can be extremely helpful for multitasking with different tabs open.

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4 Taskbar shortcuts

Quick access to your most used programs

There’s no doubt that the Windows Taskbar is a massive time saver, letting you pin all your favorite or most used programs at the bottom of your screen for easy access. If you are the kind of person who loves organizing your taskbar and desktop to be more efficient, then you will love this easy-to-use shortcut. Because, by simply using the Win + number key on your keyboard, you will automatically open the related taskbar application.

For instance, if you have your internet browser as the first application on your taskbar, you can use Win + 1 to instantly open it. This works for all the pinned programs on your taskbar, but it only supports up to Win + 9. This may not seem like that much of a time saver, but if you have to use a lot of different applications for work or school, it really helps to be able to quickly use the shortcut to open one or many applications with just a few key clicks. This is especially helpful for users who have the “hide my taskbar” setting enabled.

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3 Dynamic Lock

Dynamic Lock is another hit-or-miss feature that is completely dependent on the person who is using it. Dynamic lock is a feature that will automatically lock your PC or laptop when you get up from your workstation. This security feature is great for anyone working in an office full of people or even in an academic setting. Unfortunately, this feature cannot be used on its own, and you will need to connect your phone (or other connected Bluetooth device) to your PC for it to work.

By connecting your phone to your PC using Bluetooth, your PC will be able to tell where you are based on the strength of the Bluetooth connection. This means if you get up to make a coffee or need to leave the room for something, your PC will detect that you are not in sight of your PC and will lock it so that no one else can use it while you’re gone. To turn on this feature, go to the Settings menu, open the Accounts tab, click on Sign-in options, and check the box under Dynamic Lock.

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2 Clipboard history

An easier way to copy and paste

The most commonly used shortcut for most users has to be Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V to copy and paste text from one area to another. While this is a massive time saver, anyone who has to do this a lot has probably had to copy the same text multiple times because Windows only lets you copy and paste one item at a time, right? Wrong, because by changing this one setting you can enable Clipboard History on your PC. Clipboard History can be unbelievably helpful by giving you access to the last 25 items that you copied. This means you do not have to copy the same thing multiple times. Or, if you copy something and it gets deleted by accident, you can still get it back in the clipboard history.

This feature, for some reason, is not activated by default on Windows. To enable it, you can go to your Settings menu and search for Clipboard history, or you can use the shortcut Win + V to access it quickly. This isn’t all it can do though. If you have other devices linked to your PC, you can even sync your clipboard history between your devices. On top of this, you also get access to a bunch of emojis and GIFs similar to the way you can on your smartphone.

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1 Shake to minimize

To help you focus on the task at hand

Another underappreciated feature that isn’t enabled by default on Windows 11 is the ability to shake to minimize, otherwise known as “Title bar window shake.” While this may sound like a fun gesture control, it is surprisingly useful for minimizing unneeded programs and applications so that you can focus on a specific window.

To use the shake to minimize feature, you will need to open your Settings menu, then go to the System tab, click on Multitasking, and enable the Title bar window shake. After you have turned on this feature, all you need to do is click and hold the title bar (header) of your window and shake it. Once you do this, Windows will minimize all other windows on your desktop, letting you solely focus on the task at hand.

Using this feature in tandem with the mouse hover feature and the window layout shortcut will let you organize, use, split, and swap between different applications much faster, saving you time from navigating through all your windows and tabs manually or struggling to find the window that you need to work on.

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Streamline the way you use Windows 11

For this list, we have tried to find the most useful features hidden in the Windows 11 settings. There are many more features scattered throughout the Control Panel, Settings menu, and hidden by shortcuts. Why Microsoft has buried these features so far back in its operating system is a mystery to us all, but one thing is for sure. Using these lesser-known Windows 11 features can exponentially speed up your workflow, better organize your desktop, and give you quicker and easier access to your most used programs.

If you are looking for more settings to improve your Windows 11 experience, make sure to check out our article on 5 Windows 11 settings you should change now.