Many people don't know about these! Here are 10 Windows features you should use

Windows has many useful features, and new ones are added all the time. Of course, it must be acknowledged that Microsoft has introduced some not-so-useful features, some of which only appeared briefly before disappearing altogether. (Remember Paint 3D or when Cortana wasn’t Copilot yet?)

But don't let that fool you. Microsoft has added a lot of great features to Windows in recent months, many of which you're probably not aware of yet.

Here are 10 Windows features you should be using—and statistically most likely aren't using yet.

SECURITY CODE EASE

Many websites and online services send you a security code via SMS when you log in. But you don't have to reach for your phone to find it; there's a better way.

If you have installed the Phone Link app and given access to your text messages and notifications, you can do this in a few clicks. Just click on the code in the notification that appears on your screen and paste it into the website you need. It's incredibly convenient and fast.

It’s important to note that this feature only works if you have an Android phone. The feature doesn’t work on iPhones. Apple doesn’t offer Microsoft a way to integrate with iPhones this deeply. For iPhone users, this kind of convenience requires a Mac.

VOICE TYPING

You can easily type with your voice into any text field using Windows' Dictation feature. To start this feature, simply press Windows+H. You can also use Windows+H to turn Dictation on and off.

This feature is incredibly easy to use, requiring no complicated setup.

VIRTUAL DESKTOP SHORTCUTS

You're probably aware of the Task View option pinned to the taskbar of every Windows computer. This option can help you manage multiple desktops, but it can get confusing when you click on it multiple times.

To use virtual desktops effectively, you need keyboard shortcuts. Try using Windows+Ctrl+Left arrow and Windows+Ctrl+Right arrow to quickly switch between desktops. This is the key to seamlessly and quickly integrating multiple desktops into your workflow.

SMARTER SCREEN QUOTES

Windows 11’s Snipping Tool is quite powerful. It now has built-in optical character recognition (OCR), so you can use it to convert words from any app into copy-and-paste text. To do this:

Press Print Screen or Windows+Shift+S. Take a screenshot of your entire screen, a window, or just part of your screen. Click on the thumbnail of the image when it appears in the notification. Click on the "Text actions" option that appears at the top or bottom, depending on the size of your window.

Now you can select the text you want or click on "Copy All Text". It's very easy.

Windows 11's Snipping Tool also lets you record video of your screen.

PANEL HISTORY

Windows can keep a history of text and images you've copied to your clipboard. To try this out and enable it if it's not already enabled, simply press Windows+V. The system is pretty self-explanatory, but you can "pin" items you've copied to your clipboard history to make them easily accessible in the future.

Don't overlook the emoji picker either. It's somewhat integrated with the clipboard history, but you can also press the Windows key and a period (.) or semicolon (;) to open a drop-down emoji menu directly.

From there, just start typing to search for an emoji. Let's say you want to add a ghost emoji, press the Windows key and the period key, then start typing "ghost."

FILE EXPLORER TAB SHIFT

With the release of Windows 11, File Explorer got tabs, but many people don't use them very often.

The best way to make this easier is to middle-click a folder in File Explorer to open it in a new tab. You can then click on that tab or use Ctrl+Tab to switch between tabs.

CLOSE SHARING

Windows has a built-in "Nearby Sharing" feature that lets you transfer files wirelessly between Windows computers. It's similar to Apple's AirDrop, but it only works for Windows computers.

To find this feature, go to Settings > System > Nearby sharing. Then, when you select a file in File Explorer and enable "Share" in the toolbar or context menu, you'll have the option to send files to nearby computers.

The feature only works between Windows computers. If you want to transfer files wirelessly between Android phones, you can install Google's Quick Share app.

ADVANCED BONDING

Microsoft's free PowerToys suite is full of useful tools that you should use. One particularly underrated feature is PowerToys Advanced Paste.

After installing PowerToys, you can copy the text and then press Windows+Shift+V to open the PowerToys Advanced Paste window.

One option you'll find in this window is "Paste as Markdown." Markdown is a markup language that many modern applications use. You can copy formatted text in Microsoft Word and then paste it into an application that supports Markdown formatting, preserving all Word formatting, using PowerToys Advanced Paste.

FASTER WINDOWS PLACEMENT

Windows lets you snap windows to different areas of your screen by pressing the Windows key in combination with an arrow key. It's an old keyboard shortcut that many people know, but there's a new one you might have missed.

Things get a little more interesting with Snap Assist in Windows 11. You can now press Windows+Z to see a menu of various window positions where you can place the current window. You can then press one of the arrow keys displayed in the Snap Assist pop-up window to choose how you want to place the window.

AUTOMATIC CLEANING

Assuming you don't use the Recycle Bin for long-term file storage, you can have Windows automatically clean it out. Windows can get rid of old files for you; for example, you can have it automatically clean out 30 days after you send files to the Recycle Bin.