5+ best Windows 11 tips and tricks to streamline your OS

Windows 11 is now upon us. Millions of users have embraced Microsoft’s latest desktop OS since October 2021. Now we’re better acquainted with Windows 11, it’s time to discover all the latest features this new platform has to offer.

Whether Windows 11 is a truly new desktop operating system under the hood is debatable. It is more of a subtle upgrade to its predecessor than the great leap forward Windows 10 was to 8.

Some users might say it’s a rebranded Windows 10, but that’s not a bad thing even so.

Windows 10 was, after all, a most welcome addition to its OS series after the flop of its predecessor. If Microsoft’s previous desktop platform wasn’t broken, why fix it?

The latest platform delivers much the same performance as its predecessor, albeit with a revamped UI design and some cool new features.

What’s new in Windows 11?

Discovering a recently released platform’s new features is always the most exciting thing when you first unwrap it.

Windows 11 is no exception in that respect. The first different thing most users probably notice is Windows 11’s centralized taskbar icons, which is a notable departure from its predecessors.

The second thing users won’t fail to notice is the redesigned Start menu. Gone are the tile shortcuts from Windows 10. It’s certainly a very different Start menu with the pinned app and recommended file sections on it.

That menu also includes a search box, like it used to in Windows 7.

Added to that, the widgets panel is probably the biggest new thing in Windows 11. That panel provides eight different widgets which users can add to and customize. It’s a bit like the gadget sidebar in Vista, albeit in a more limited form.

Most users will probably notice File Explorer is different in Windows 11 as well. It’s very much a new style file manager utility with a command bar that replaces the former ribbon tab interface. File Explorer also has a new icon set and redesigned context menu in the latest platform.

The Action Center has also undergone significant changes in Windows 11. The new Action Center has separate settings and notifications panels. Users can access its options by clicking a new Quick Settings button on the system tray.

Those are perhaps the most notable new features in Windows 11. Yet, there’s plenty more to discover in the big M’s latest desktop OS.

Here are some handy Windows 11 tips and tricks you can try out in the new platform.

What are the best tips and tricks for Windows 11?

1. Resize the taskbar

1. First, press the Windows key + S hotkey for the search box.
2. Type Registry Editor in the search text box.
3. Next, click Registry Editor in the search utility to open it.
   
4. Browse to this registry key location: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerAdvanced
5. Right-click the Advanced key and select New.
   
6. Then select the DWORD (32-bit) Value option.
   
7. Enter TaskbarSi for the new DWORD’s name.
8. Double-click TaskbarSi to open the window in the screenshot directly below.
   
9. Then enter 0 or 2 within the Value data box. Enter 2 to expand the taskbar or 0 to reduce its size.
10. Click OK on the Edit DWORD window to exit.
    
11. Thereafter, close the Registry Editor.
12. Press the Start button, and select its Power option.
    
13. Then click Restart. Thereafter, Windows 11 will have a larger or smaller taskbar depending on the value you entered.

NOTE

You can restore the original medium taskbar by entering 1 in TaskbarSi’s Edit DWORD window. Alternatively, right-click TaskbarSi and select Delete.

2. Try out the new keyboard shortcuts

Windows 11 has a new set of keyboard shortcuts for some of its features. You can press those hotkeys to bring up the widgets panel, Notification Center, Quick Settings, Teams Chats, and Snap Layouts. Press these hotkeys to open their features:

• Windows key + W: Widgets panel
• Windows key + N: Notifications Center
• Windows key + A: Quick Settings
• Windows key + C: Teams Chat
• Windows key + Z: Snap Layouts
• Shift + F10: Legacy context menus (items need to be selected)

3. Restore the classic File Explorer

1. Open the Registry Editor as outlined in steps one to three of the first tip.
2. Then open the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionShell Extensions
3. Right-click the Shell Extensions key on the left of the Registry Editor to select New.
   
4. Select the Key option.
   
5. Input Blocked for the new registry key’s name.
6. Right-click the Blocked key you just added and select the New > String Value options for it.
   
7. Enter {e2bf9676-5f8f-435c-97eb-11607a5bedf7} for the string value’s name.
   
8. Then exit the Registry Editor.
9. Reboot your PC by selecting the Power > Restart Start menu options.

NOTE

This registry editing restores the tabbed File Explorer from Windows 10 in the new platform. You can also temporarily remove the command bar from File Explorer by pressing its F11 hotkey.

4. Organize the open app windows

Windows 11 has a new Snap Layouts feature that helps users organize windows better. To activate Snap Layouts, simply hover your cursor over the Maximize button at the top right of a window.

Then you’ll see the Snap Layout options shown directly below.

Then you can choose one of the four window layout options. With those options, you can neatly arrange multiple software windows on the desktop side-by-side without them overlapping.

Snap Layouts also groups the windows on the taskbar. When you’ve arranged a few windows with that feature, you’ll see a Group thumbnail preview for the layout on the taskbar.

Selecting that thumbnail preview will open all the grouped windows as you’ve arranged them.

5. Check out the Command Terminal

1. The Command Terminal is a new command-line app you can utilize in Windows 11. The quick way to open it is to right-click the desktop and select Open in Windows Terminal.
   
2. When you’ve opened Command Terminal, you can open multiple tabs. To do so, click the + Open a new tab button shown directly below.
   
3. To select a different command-line shell for a tab, press the small arrow button and choose one on the menu.
   
4. You can further configure the Command Terminal by selecting the Settings menu option.
5. In the Settings tab that opens, you can click the Default profile drop-down menu to choose an alternative default command shell.
   
6. You can also customize the app’s colors by clicking Color schemes on the left of the Settings tab. Choose a different color scheme on the drop-down menu, and select the Save option.
   

6. Add different backgrounds to virtual desktops

1. You can select a new Choose background option to change wallpapers for alternative virtual desktops in Windows 11. To add different wallpapers to them, hover your cursor over the taskbar button shown directly below.
   
2. Click + New desktop option to add one.
3. Right-click the new desktop and select its Choose background option.
   
4. Select a new background for the desktop in the Personalization tab that opens.
5. Then you’ll have two virtual desktops with different wallpapers as shown in the snapshot directly below.
   

7. Move the taskbar’s icons to the left

1. Click Start on the taskbar, and select Settings on its menu.
   
2. Select the Taskbar navigation option on the Personalization tab.
   
3. Double-click Taskbar behaviors to expand its settings.
   
4. Select Left on the Taskbar alignment drop-down menu. Your taskbar’s icons will now be left-aligned.
   

8. Select a touch keyboard theme with new customization settings

1. Press the Windows key to I hotkey to launch Settings.
2. Select the Personalization tab.
3. Double-click Touch keyboard on the Personalization tab.
   
4. Select a new touch keyboard color theme.
   
5. Alternatively, click the Customized theme radio button and Edit. Then you can set up a touch keyboard theme with your own color choices.
   
6. Press the Save button when you’ve set up your custom touch keyboard theme.

NOTE

To enable the touch keyboard, right-click the taskbar and select Taskbar settings. Click the Touch keyboard option there to turn it on. Then you can click the Touch keyboard system tray icon. Note that you’ll also need a touchscreen PC to utilize the touch keyboard.

Can I find more tips within Windows 11?

Windows 11 includes a Tips app, which you can access via the widgets panel. Press the Widgets taskbar button. Click the Add widgets button on the panel, and select Tips from there.

Then you can read more Windows 11 hints within the Tips widget. Or you can click the Tips link at the top of the widget to open its app. That app includes 18 Windows 11 tip topics for you to look through.

Windows 11 might not be radically different from its predecessor, but there are still a lot of new things to discover in the new desktop OS. So, it’s worth upgrading to Windows 11; and all the more so given the fact it’s currently a freely available upgrade.

Microsoft is currently rolling out the new platform to Windows 10 PCs that meet its system requirements. Users who haven’t installed Windows 11 can do so via the Settings’ Windows Update tab. That tab will include a Windows 11 Download and Install option for users who can upgrade to it.

You can explore the platform’s new features and customize it with the Windows 11 tips and tricks above. Our Windows 11 vs. Windows 10 guide also provides further details about the new features in Microsoft’s latest desktop OS and how you can upgrade to it.