Try These ‘Secret’ Windows 10 Tricks
Now that I’m sure my not-so-old PC will never run Windows 11, I've been digging deeper into Windows 10. Here are some little-known features, tips and trick that are worth sharing. Some will improve security or privacy. Others will save you time or trouble. Check out these things you should know about if you're using Windows 10… |
Windows 10 - Bag of Tricks
The Recycle Bin has been part of Windows since Windows 95. You probably already know that when you delete a file or folder, it really doesn't go away. Windows stashes it in the Recycle Bin, just in case it was an "oops" or you later decide you want it back. Similarly, Windows has a cache of temporary files that accumulate while your browse the Web. This enables you to quickly return to a web page without having to re-fetch all the text and images. But both the Recycle Bin and the temp files can grow rather large over time. On a computer that's short on hard drive space, this can be a problem.
Storage Sense empties your Recycle Bin, deletes temporary files automatically, and can help you find space hogs. To learn more about Storage Sense and other hard drive cleaner-uppers, see my article Windows 10 Hard Drive Cleanup.
Dynamic Lock automatically locks your PC when a paired Bluetooth device moves out of range. To use this feature, you first need to pair your phone or another Bluetooth device that is usually on your person to the PC. Here’s how to do that:
- On your PC, go to Settings > Devices > Bluetooth & other devices.
- Turn on Bluetooth with the toggle switch. Enable Bluetooth on your phone, too.
- Click on the + sign, and in the pop-up “Add a device” window select “Bluetooth.”
- Choose your phone from the list that appears.
- Prompts will appear on both your PC and phone. Accept them to pair the two devices.
Now you’re ready to enable Dynamic Lock. Open Settings, select Accounts, then click on the Sign-in Options link in the left sidebar. Scroll down the next page to Dynamic Lock and check the box next to “Allow Windows to detect when you're away and automatically lock the device.” That’s it! Unfortunately, there is no “Dynamic Unlock” feature as yet. You’ll need to manually unlock your PC when you return to it.
More Windows 10 Tips
Speech recognition with speech-to-text dictation is built into Windows 10. To start dictating, click inside a text input area in any app, and press the Windows key + H. The dictation toolbar will open and you can start talking into your computer’s microphone. To stop dictating, say “Stop dictation.”
Even Windows novices know about the Start menu, which is accessed by pressing the Windows key on the keyboard, or clicking the Windows icon at the bottom left of the screen. The Start menu shows a list of installed programs, and tiles you can click to open an app. But Windows 10 also has a "secret Start menu" that makes it easier to find things like Task Manager, Power Options, Network Connections, Disk Mangement, and Powershell. You can access it by pressing the Windows key + X.
Taking a screenshot has been part of Windows since the ENIAC computer was invented in 1943. Just press the PrtScn button and you'll capture the entire screen in the Windows clipboard. But if you want to capture just a portion of the screen, press the Windows key + Shift + S to open Snip & Sketch. You can capture a rectangle, a freeform snip, just one Window, or the whole screen, and then edit your snip.
Microsoft has frequently taken good ideas from the shareware world and incorporated them into Windows, much to the dismay of shareware developers. An example of this poaching of ideas is the “Night Light” feature in Windows 10; it’s a rip-off of the popular f.lux app.
The light from a PC’s screen can be hard on the eyes after sunset. The Night Light feature adjusts the display’s brightness and color to more soothing settings after dark, and restores daylight settings at sunrise or at a time you specify. To enable Night Light, type “night” in the Windows search box and select “Night Light” from the results. On the Display settings page, move Night Light’s slider control to “on.” Click on the “Night Light Settings” link to change how this feature behaves.
A host of automated troubleshooting tools are built into Windows 10. Type “troubleshoot” in the search box and select that word in the results to open a long page of troubleshooters for common and uncommon problems. Some of the most popular troubleshooters fix problems with Internet connections, network adapters, printer setups, and Windows Update.
With the Creators Update released back in April, 2017, Windows 10 finally got a built-in “print to PDF” option, eliminating the need for third-party PDF drivers. You can select this virtual printer from within any app that supports printing, and save the current document in PDF format.
Battery Saver mode is enabled by default in Windows 10. When your laptop battery’s power level drops to 20%, the Battery Saver kicks in to stretch the remaining power as far as possible. It dims your display. It also prevents Universal Windows Apps from running in the background and receiving push notifications. You can tinker with Battery Saver settings by typing “battery” in the search box and selecting “Battery saver” from the results.
Do you have a Windows 10 tip to share? Your thoughts on this topic are welcome. Post your comment or question below…
This article was posted by Bob Rankin on 5 Jul 2021
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Most recent comments on "Try These ‘Secret’ Windows 10 Tricks"
(See all 23 comments for this article.)Posted by:
Bab Krinno
05 Jul 2021
Your:
'Microsoft has frequently taken good ideas from the shareware world and incorporated them into Windows,'
Is yet another reason why more and more people are slowly moving away from Windows and turning to Linux.
Posted by:
Warren Ngo
05 Jul 2021
Using OfficeLibre, the speech to text dictation is problematic. For example, the dictation mode times out after 7 seconds if no speech is heard, and the function has to be reloaded. Using the space bar, or the back key (and possibly other keys) disables functioning and again, the app has to be reloaded. Even one finger typing would be faster than using ditation mode.
Posted by:
Wolf
05 Jul 2021
Thank you, Bob, for your informative articles, along with your good intentions of saving us a lot of time and trouble! Yes! I will stick with my dual boot into Windows 10 and Linux. I will wait a long time before I am "forced" to switch to Windows 11. Also, I agree completely that Microsoft has frequently taken good ideas from the shareware world. Over time, I am using Linux more and more. There are great alternatives out there. Thank you!
Posted by:
Tim I
05 Jul 2021
Oddly, I have found that Windows print to PDF sometimes yields docs that are a bit blurry, like slightly out of focus. So, I have to retain a freeware alternate for creating some PDFs. Has anybody else noticed this? This was apparent early on in the Windows built-in PDF game, and may have been fixed by now. It is not something that I use every day.
Posted by:
Victor Sperber
05 Jul 2021
My keyboard has no PrtScn key. Any suggestions?
Posted by:
bb
05 Jul 2021
Jeri: an even better way to access the Windows clipboard is -V (as compared to Crtl-V.)
If Clipboard history is turned on (Settings, System, Clipboard, clipboard history) The you have access to most everything you copies, not just the most recent item. You can pick and choose what you want to paste.
As always, what you can paste is dependent on where you're trying to paste it. You can't paste pictures in text files, or text on the desktop.
Posted by:
BillP
05 Jul 2021
Victor Sperper: Try the key with two lines on it: "prt scr" at the top, and "sysrq" below that.
Posted by:
Sandy Jewell
06 Jul 2021
I use split screen a lot. Make sure your vursor is on your open doc/page then just hold the Window key on your keyboard and tap the right or left arrow to place your work in that space.
Posted by:
peterlonz
06 Jul 2021
I become furious when I am advised that a particular task is easy: "just do this" ........... typically a so called keyboard shortcuts which I can't even remember the next day.
Posted by:
BillP
06 Jul 2021
One one of my favorites is this one. Go to: Control Panel->Hardware and Sound->Mouse->Pointer Options,
and check the box "Show location when I press the CTRL key" Now, whenever i lose my pointer on the screen clutter, i tap the CTRL key, and an animated circle converges on the pointer.
Posted by:
Ducklady
06 Jul 2021
Thank you, BillP! Someone turned this cursor location feature on on a former laptop but didn't tell me how to do it. I'm forever losing my cursor so thanks a lot for helping me locate it easily.
Posted by:
Victor Sperber
06 Jul 2021
unfortunately Billip I don't have that key. The manufacturer has made a small keyboard at the expense of some keys.
Posted by:
JoelB
06 Jul 2021
I really love this!! I routinely get more and better
practical tips and information, easily understood and utilized, from Bob Rankin than I ever got from Microsoft! Bob Rankin should be endowed with a lifetime luxury income, and a bronze statue installed on the Mall in Washington, DC!!! Any takers? I'd contribute to that!!
Posted by:
JcB
06 Jul 2021
The path to the Mouse Properties dialog through Settings is:
Settings › Devices › Mouse › Additional mouse options which opens the Mouse Properties dialog choose the Pointer Options Tab and find the control in the Visibility section.
Posted by:
Dmitriy Goltseker
06 Jul 2021
I still use f.lux. Have been for years.
Posted by:
RandiO
07 Jul 2021
My melatonin level and circadian rhythm accepted life w/o "Night Light" feature! I just bought an OLED-TV and I am not sure if I am willing to distort its color accuracy; while feeding it 4K content. Try watching Avatar with reduction of blue color and you may understand.
Posted by:
misterfish
07 Jul 2021
More sage advice, thank you Bob.
Last time some of these secret key combinations came up, I wrote them all down on an easy-reference card stashed under my keyboard, and I frequently refer to them, my memory being already overloaded. Can I buy some memory chips to plug into my brain?
Posted by:
ardj
07 Jul 2021
Thanks Bob and contributors.
Win+X is really useful (e.g. saves opening my icon for Command Prompt with a right-click to get open as administrator).
But, with W10 ver.20H2, I get no result with
- night
- Wkey + Shift S
- Wkey + H
And @Jeri & @bb: no luck with CTRL+V or -V either, which is irritating. Thanks for trying to help.
Posted by:
RandiO
07 Jul 2021
Okay!
Like if you go to the Windows10 TaskBar and click on the Magnifier icon and then Search for (type) the word "clipboard" and (hopefully) one of the results 'should' lead you to "Windows Clipboard" Settings (upgraded in 2020/10 Win10 update): Where you can "Save multiple items to the clipboard for later use." and even "Sync" local clipboard content to your "other devices" (w/potential security implications). Now then, in order to be able "Paste (Ctrl+V)" something somewhere; You must FIRST "Copy (Ctrl+C)" that 'something' (after highlighting it) into the ClipBoard. Personally, I have been using ClipCache replacement for the built-in ClipBoard for too long to change my ways. My usage reserves keyboard shortcuts Ctrl+Alt+C and Ctrl+Alt+V for ClipCache Copy and Paste commands.
MicroSoft Support states the following: ”Depending on your hardware, you may use the Windows Logo Key + PrtScn button as a shortcut for print screen. If your device does not have the PrtScn button, you may use Fn + Windows logo key + Space Bar to take a screenshot, which can then be printed."
Posted by:
RandiO
07 Jul 2021
Okay!
When monitors were not as large as now, I was a lost soul with a lost mouse pointer. About 15 years ago, I was lucky enough to chance upon the “Rainbow Cursor Pack” which is an animated set of cursors (15+ used in Windows). With every new computer since those days, one of the first things I would do is to manually replace each default cursor with these color-changing (24 frame ANI) versions and haven’t been lost since… I just found out the “Rainbow Cursors” download has been available at the DevianArt.com website (“Rainbow-Cursors-32642224”) and now includes an installer as a part of the package (but requires site registration). There is even a youtube how-to tut for it.