Today in this post I will cover my list of favorite tips for windows 10 that can really make a difference for you some of these are new some have been there for a while but they're a bit hidden.
# Multitasking in Edge - Switch Tabs with Alt + Tab
Let’s take a look number one multitasking in edge most of us have multiple applications open at the same time when we're working. Now the fastest way in windows to switch between these apps is to use the shortcut alt + tab.
But this handy shortcut only worked for apps now for the many tabs we usually have open in our internet browser that's changed now when you press alt tab with edge open you'll see your browser tabs right alongside your other apps in the task switcher so these three tabs are tabs i have open in edge and these two are other apps that's so convenient because this way i can quickly jump to a specific tab in edge.
There are
also some settings to customize your experience. Click on windows start button-settings then click on System and select
multitasking with this setting right here you can choose whether to show
all or to only show your last three or five browser tabs so that you don't
overload the task switcher with the last option open windows only you can turn
off this feature in case you can't get used to it but i'm pretty sure you'll
love it.
# Turn on Windows Ultimate Performance Mode
Usually you'll see these power plans balanced power saver and high performance the one we're looking for is not here so let's activate it click on the windows start button and type in command prompt then type in this command : “powercfg -duplicatescheme e9a42b02-d5df-448d-aa00-03f14749eb61”, then hit enter and that's it let's close the window and go back to the power and sleep and to the additional power settings and now we can enable the ultimate performance plan this mode will essentially disable all power savings features in exchange for best possible performance.
Now i don't recommend using this all the time because it will prioritize performance over energy efficiency but for projects when you want to use the additional juice it may come in handy and you can always change back to the balance plan afterwards.
# How to Free Up Space With Windows Storage Sense
One can clean up the clutter with next tip and that is about freeing space on your hard drive now with a windows feature called storage sense you can automatically get rid of temporary or unnecessary files now what i especially like about it is that it also works with one drive so it looks through your locally available files in one drive and moves them to online only. If you haven't opened them for a certain time frame this way you can release a lot of space locally while your files are safe in the cloud let me show you click the windows button and type in storage settings up here.
you can turn on storage sense then you can configure it to your needs per default storage sense only runs if you're low on disk space i recommend changing this to run at least every month then you decide how to handle temporary files i usually have this option checked and i also delete files in the recycle bin after 30 days the downloads folder is not turned on by default it's up to you and you can change it but i'm sometimes slow to move stuff around from there so i generally have it on never down here under locally available cloud content. You can free up space by moving your files to just online and not local on your device you'll see the list of your sharepoint and onedrive folders that your pc is linked to.
When you click on the drop down you can select a time interval
for example with 14 days it would move files that you didn't open for the last
14 days to online only this means they're still available to you you can see
them on your drive. You can double click any time and open these but they don't
take up any space when you're done click clean now and let windows clean up the
clutter for you.
# The Your Phone App in Windows 10
The phone app this app has been around for a while but not many know of it lets you use your phone without touching it. For example you can read and send text messages from the comfort of your pc or send messages with whatsapp or any other messaging app which is a productivity boost for me because i'm much faster typing on the keyboard than with my thumbs with the app. You also get instant access to your photos. You can just drag and drop them into other office apps and start using them in.
For example
powerpoint ward or onenote you essentially get access to all of your apps on
your phone plus you can make and receive calls on your pc at the moment it's
exclusive to samsung devices. But, hopefully microsoft is going to make this
available to other android devices.
# Stop Apps from Running in the Background on Windows 10
Turn off background apps each app that's running in the background is draining your battery and making your computer slower the background apps can continue to perform actions even when you don't have them open it may make sense for some apps to update in the background like your email and your calendar or the weather app.
But for most of them it's not necessary and just to be clear preventing an app from running in the background doesn't mean you can't use it it just means it won't be running in the background when you're not using it to change the settings. Click on the start button go to settings select privacy and then scroll down to background apps you can either turn off background apps completely up here or you can scroll down the list of apps and disable each depending on what you want and while we're in here also check out all the other privacy settings you have under apps and windows permissions.
For example which apps can access your camera your
microphone and so on or in activity history double check your options about
what's being recorded and shared with microsoft regarding your usage of apps
and services. Just go through and think about which data you want to share and
which permissions you want to give to apps. Because most of it is going to be
turned on by default which may not be in your interest
I hope these tips will be helpful to get the
most out of windows 10. In case you're interested in additional tips check out my
upcoming post, only in Wonderland.