Microsoft has announced a wide range of features in Windows 11, but they have not yet revealed all of its features and capabilities. Instead, the company has focused on a set of features in all its promotional offerings. As a result, many features are unknown to users, and these features are extremely important. While we previously highlighted 6 simple additions that we liked in Windows 11, the new system is constantly receiving updates, and it is easy for new features to go unnoticed by users. Therefore, read on to discover 5 unknown features that you should use to get the most out of Windows 11.
1 Focus Sessions Feature to Enhance Productivity
The Clock app in Windows 11 received its biggest update since its launch in 2013, adding many improvements, additions, and new features, most notably Focus Sessions. This feature is very useful to increase productivity, especially if you tend to procrastinate a lot while working on the computer. Studies have shown that if you set time limits for yourself, you are less likely to procrastinate.
The Focus Sessions feature consists mainly of a timer to track your activity and take breaks at the right time (like the Pomodoro technique). It also includes a Daily Progress Panel to track your daily progress and sync your Spotify playlist so you can listen to music while working. It is also integrated with Microsoft To Do panel for task management. Overall, the feature provides you with the tools you need whether you need to maintain or enhance your productivity level, or you are someone who wants to study or work in a more organized manner.
To use the feature, all you have to do is search for the “Clock” app in the Start menu, then click on Focus Sessions from the side menu. A welcome screen will appear, click on Get started and then Sign-in to log in to your Microsoft account and start setting up the feature according to your requirements. You can create a task you want to do in the Tasks section by clicking on Add a Task and typing the task name or description.
Once you enter the task, you need to set the time in the Ready, set, focus section. You can set the time you want to allocate to this task. It can range from 15 minutes to 240 minutes. Use the arrow keys to change the times. Note that if you exceed 30 minutes, you will have breaks between them. If you want to complete the task without interruption, click on the Skip breaks option. Once you have set up the tasks you have assigned, click on Start Focus Session to start the “focus session” where you can continue your task. If you have selected the break option, you will hear a notification sound when it is time to take a break.
The feature also includes a Daily Progress Panel that allows you to track your productivity during these sessions and whether you are helping to maintain your productivity level and the efficiency of your tasks or not.
2 Adjusting Volume Level Using the Mouse Wheel
Microsoft has made it easier to adjust the volume in Windows 11 compared to Windows 10, where in the old version, the user needed to click on the sound icon in the taskbar and move the slider to select the desired level.
But in Windows 11, all you have to do is point the mouse pointer to the volume icon next to the clock and use the mouse wheel to scroll over it to change the volume level (two notches with each scroll), without the need to click on the icon, similar to what is found in some Linux distributions. This addition is easy to miss because most of us are used to the old way or using the keyboard keys to raise/lower the volume. It was introduced to Windows 11 in the experimental updates, starting from Windows 11 build 22478. If you are using this version or higher, you can try this new method of adjusting the volume.
3 Syncing Copy and Paste Between Computer and Phone
If you are using Windows 11 and have an Android phone, you can now copy links and text between your computer and phone synchronously. You no longer need to rely on external programs to do this task, thanks to a feature called Cloud Clipboard. The idea is to “sync the clipboard,” so after activating it, you can select text or a link and copy it from one device then paste it on the other device as long as both support the same feature, and to make your Android phone support it, you will need the SwiftKey app, which is owned by Microsoft.
To activate the feature on the computer, open the Settings app from the Start menu or by pressing Win+I together, then go to the “System” section and scroll down and click on “Clipboard.” In the Clipboard settings, you will notice that the “Sync across your devices” option is disabled by default, so enable it. Note that you will need to log in with your Microsoft account to activate the feature. Then follow the steps mentioned in our previous article about [Copying links and text between computer and phone] to learn how to use it with Android phones in detail.
4 Spotlight Collection Feature to Change Wallpaper
Some users use the same wallpaper on their Windows desktop for a long time, while others continue to change it from time to time to break the monotony and make the desktop look somewhat unique. If you are a Windows 11 user who constantly changes the desktop wallpaper, you may like the Spotlight Collection feature, which Microsoft added with the experimental updates for Windows 11 starting from Windows 11 build 22518. The idea is simply to set a new wallpaper from the Windows Spotlight collection every day, so every time you start your computer, you will see a new desktop wallpaper.
Previously, users could do this using the Bing Wallpaper tool from Microsoft, but if you are using an experimental version of Windows 11 (at least currently), you can activate the Spotlight collection feature by opening the Settings app and going to Personalization, then clicking on Background and selecting Spotlight collection from the Personalize your background menu. Once you do that, you will start seeing stunning new wallpapers. You will also notice the appearance of a new Learn about this picture icon on the desktop, where you can learn about the current wallpaper or replace it with another new wallpaper if you do not like it.
5 Photo Comparison Feature in Photos App
If you want to compare two photos side by side to find differences in quality or anything else, you can use the built-in Photos app in Windows 11 to do so. All you need to do is make sure the photos you want to compare are in the same folder, then double-click on the first photo to display it in the Photos app. Then place the cursor at the bottom of the screen. You will see thumbnails of the other photos in the same folder. Here, check the box (✔️) next to the photo you want to compare with the currently open photo in the app, and your photos will be displayed side by side for comparison.
