Start Menu
Adjust the start button position
Don’t like the fact that the Start button has moved from the left corner to the center? Fortunately, this is an easy fix. In the Settings app, open the Personalization → Taskbar menu. Click on Taskbar behavior and change the Align taskbar to Center from Left.
Check the fixed list
The Start menu has also been redesigned. The biggest innovation is the pinning feature. It automatically places frequently used programs and apps, but users can manage them themselves. Open the Start menu and find the app you want to pin in ‘All apps’ in the upper right corner. Right-click the app and click ‘Pin to Start’. You can also pin folders you searched for in Explorer. To remove a pinned app, right-click the app and select ‘Unpin from Start’. Apps can be moved freely or grouped into folders.
Control recommendations
Below the pinned apps, you’ll see a few icons under the heading ‘Custom’. Click ‘More’ to see a longer list. It will automatically show you the latest documents and other items that Microsoft thinks are important. You can also take control of the list yourself. Right-click on an icon and choose ‘Remove from list’.
Manage Start Menu
You decide what appears on the Start menu. For example, you can add shortcuts to the Settings, Explorer, or Pictures folders to find them quickly. Open the Settings app and select Personalization → Start. Select the layout at the top and turn on or off the components you want to display in the list below.
Widget
Using widgets
Windows 11 has a feature called Widgets. Widgets are small programs that display weather forecasts, stock prices, news, etc. Click on the icon next to the Start menu icon to open the Widgets window. It usually has a weather symbol. You can hover your mouse cursor over the icon or use the keyboard shortcut Windows+W. Clicking on a widget will maximize the Widgets window.
Setting up widgets
You can choose which widgets to display in the widget window. There is a three-dot icon in the upper right corner of each widget, and you can change the settings there. Selecting ‘Hide this widget’ will remove the widget, and selecting ‘Pin widget’ will always show the widget. To change what is displayed in the widget, select ‘Customize widget’ from the menu. For the weather widget, you can select the location, for the stock widget, you can select the stock, and for the news widget, you can select the interest.
Add a widget
It is also possible to add more new widgets, and more and more third-party companies are expected to develop widgets. Click the gear icon in the top right of the widget window and select ‘Search for new widgets’. Find them in the list on the left, or click ‘Find more widgets’ in the bottom left.
Remove widget button from taskbar
If you don’t use widgets, you can remove the widget icon from the taskbar. Right-click on the taskbar and select ‘Taskbar settings’. This will take you directly to the Settings app. Here, disable the widget toggle.
Microsoft Store
Manage programs
Just like your phone or tablet, Windows 11 has a tool called the Microsoft Store that lets you download and manage programs (or apps). You can download all the Microsoft programs introduced here. When the Microsoft Store first launched, you could only download the so-called latest Windows apps, but now you can also find existing Windows programs.
Open the Microsoft Store from the ‘Shopping Bag’ icon on the Start page or the taskbar. If there is no icon on the Start page or the taskbar, search in the search box. Browse for the program you want in the Microsoft Store app or search in the search box at the top. You can use filters to narrow your search to only show free programs.
Update the program
You can also update programs in the Microsoft Store, but not all installed programs support it. Open the Microsoft Store app and click on ‘Library’ in the left menu to see all your applications. Click the Update button to update individual apps. You can also choose to update all at once.
Delete the app
There are several ways to completely remove an app from Windows 11. Go to Start → All apps, right-click the icon of the program you want to remove, select Uninstall, and follow the instructions. If this doesn’t work, go to Settings app → Apps → Installed apps. Click the three-dot icon to the right of the app you want to remove from the list, and then select Uninstall.
Taskbar
Setting up the taskbar
The bar that appears at the bottom of the Windows screen is the taskbar. Windows 11 has fewer options for customizing the taskbar than previous versions, but there are a few things you can do. Right-click on an empty area of the taskbar and click ‘Taskbar settings’. There are four options here:
- Taskbar items : Hide or show the task view and widget icons. You can also choose the size of the search box.
- System Tray Icon : Hide or show the pen input, pointing keyboard, and virtual touchpad icons.
- Other system tray icons : Hide or show icons of other programs and apps.
- Taskbar behavior : You can configure other detailed settings. For example, you can automatically hide the taskbar, control the blinking of apps, and set the alignment of icons on the taskbar.
Show hidden icons in the system tray
There are some hidden icons in the system tray on the right side of the taskbar. It is easy to show them again. Click the up arrow to see all the hidden icons. You can show or hide the system tray icons in the Settings app, and you can also set it by dragging and dropping with the mouse.
Add a program
The taskbar contains shortcuts to frequently used programs. It is up to you to decide which programs to add. To add a program, press the Start button, select All apps, find the program you want, right-click it, and select More → Pin to taskbar from the drop-down menu. If the program is already open, right-click it on the taskbar and select Pin to taskbar. You can remove apps from the taskbar in the same way.
alarm
View notifications
Both Windows and individual programs can send notifications, or messages, to the user. All notifications are gathered in one place. Clicking the bell icon in the lower right corner opens the notification menu with a calendar. Click on a notification to open it, or click the cross on the right to delete it. You can also select ‘Clear All’ in the upper right corner.
Control notifications
You can control the types of notifications you receive from Windows and various apps. Open ‘Settings app → System → Notifications’. You can enable/disable notifications using the toggle on the right side of the ‘Notifications’ entry. Click the down arrow to set the notification method. For example, you can choose to turn on notification sounds or show notifications on the lock screen. At the bottom of the Settings page, ‘Notifications from apps and other senders’ allows you to control notifications by app.
Use Do Not Disturb Mode
Like your phone, Windows 11 offers a Do Not Disturb mode that temporarily turns off all notifications. Click the clock icon at the bottom right, then click the icon at the top right of the notification window to activate it. You can also turn on Do Not Disturb mode in ‘Settings app → System → Notifications’.
Turn on Do Not Disturb mode automatically
You can automatically turn on Do Not Disturb mode at certain times, such as when you sleep with your computer on or when you play a game. On the ‘Settings → System → Notifications’ screen, click the arrow next to ‘Turn on Do Not Disturb automatically’ and set the time. In addition to time settings, it also supports situational settings such as ‘For the first hour after a Windows feature update’ and ‘When using the app in full screen mode’.
Set up notifications that can interrupt you
Even if you are in Do Not Disturb mode, there may be important notifications that you absolutely must see. In this case, you can add an exception to Do Not Disturb mode. In Windows, this is called ‘Priority notifications’. In ‘Settings app → System → Notifications’, click on ‘Priority notification settings’ and select the services you want to allow. You can freely add and remove apps.
“Just remember this and your productivity will increase by 100%” Key keyboard shortcuts in Windows 11
Keyboard shortcuts can help you work more efficiently. Here are some key keyboard shortcuts that you can use in any situation.
- window : Open the start menu
- Windows+A : Open the quick settings tray
- Windows+D : Desktop view (minimize and maximize all open programs)
- Windows+E : Open File Explorer
- Windows+H : Open voice command service
- Windows+I : Open the Settings app
- Windows+N : Open calendar and notification window
- Windows+L : Lock PC
- Windows+S : Open search box
- Windows+T : Select a taskbar icon
- Windows+V : Open clipboard
- Windows+W : Open widget
editor@itworld.co.kr
Source: www.itworld.co.kr
