Microsoft's Windows OS isn't any one thing; it's an interwoven patchwork of features built atop other features that trace back to the
beginning of the time-tested operating system.

With such a complex piece of software, it makes sense that there are little tricks
and UI flourishes most people don't even know about. Maybe you haven't
poked around Windows 10 too much or perhaps you've remained on Windows 7 for all these years.
Well, it's time to make the jump, as Microsoft ends support for Windows 7
this week.

Whatever your situation, we've compiled a list of useful tips that will help you get more out of your Windows 10experience. Or, at least, teach you some things you may not have known about.

Some have been available in Windows for a number of generations, while
others are native to Windows 10. Microsoft's most recent update for the
OS arrived in November, but the May 2019 update added a bunch of new features and killed a handful of others. So there are plenty of new features and tricks to make the most of a constantly evolving Windows experience.


Secret Start Menu



If you're a fan of that old-school (i.e. non-tiled) Start menu experience, you can still (sort of) have it. If you right-click on the Windows icon in the bottom-left corner, it will prompt a textual jump menu with a number of familiar popular destinations (Apps and
Features, Search, Run). All these options are available through the
standard menu interface, but you'll be able to access them quicker
through this textual interface.


Show Desktop Button


This desktop button actually dates back to Windows 7, but is handy
nontheless. On the bottom-right corner of the desktop is a secret
button. Don't see it? Look all the way to the bottom and right, beyond
the date and time. There you'll find a small little sliver of an
invisible button. Click it to minimize all your open windows.

There's also the option to have windows minimize when you hover over this button versus clicking. Select your preference in Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > Use peek to preview the desktop.

Shake


This feature actually debuted in Windows 7, but I've found a lot of people
don't know about it or use it (but they should—it's cool!). If you have a
display full of windows, clear the clutter by grabbing the top of the
window you do like and "shaking" it to minimize all the other windows.

Suddenly having shaker's remorse? Shake again and the windows will come
back.

Rotate Your Screen


If you use multiple displays, this feature, available on Windows 7 and 10, allows you to orient a
particular monitor to fit your needs. The quickest way to do this is to
simultaneously press Ctrl + Alt + D and any of the arrow buttons. The
down arrow will flip it upside down, the left or right arrow buttons
will turn it 90 degrees on its side, and the up arrow will bring you
back to standard orientation.

Alternatively, you can right-click on the desktop background, click Display Settings, then choose an option
from the Display Orientation drop-down menu to turn your page around in
all sorts of ways.


Enable Slide to Shutdown


This trick is complicated and probably not worth the effort for what you get
out of it, but here you go: Right-click on the desktop and select New > Shortcut. In the ensuing pop-up window, paste the following line of code:
Code:
%windir%\System32\SlideToShutDown.exe
This creates a clickable icon on your desktop, which you can rename. Then
double-click on the new icon to prompt a pull-down shade and use your
mouse to drag it down to the bottom of the screen. Keep in mind, this
isn't sleep, this is a shutdown.


Enable 'God Mode'

Are you a power user who wants access to your PC's nitty gritty? "God mode" is for you. Right-click on the desktop and select New > Folder. Re-name the new folder with this bit of code:
Code:
GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}
To enter the "God Mode" window, double-click the folder and go nuts.



Right-Click on Tiles


Want to personalize those tiles quick? Just right-click on them to prompt a
pop-up menu. This menu will give you various options, like the ability
to un-pin from the Start menu, resize the windows, or turn that live
tile off.


Right-Click on the Taskbar


Here's a handy menu that will allow you to quickly access a number of presets
for the toolbars, Cortana, and window schemes. There's a lot there, and
it's just a click away.



Drag to Pin Windows


This feature was available as far back as Windows 7, but has some extras in Windows 10.
Grab any window and drag it to the side, where it will "fit" to half the
screen. In Windows 10, you have the option of dragging the window to any
corner to have the window take over a quarter of the screen instead of
half. If you're using multiple screens, drag to a border corner and wait
for a prompt signal to let you know if the window will open in that
corner.

You can prompt similar behavior by using the Windows key plus any of the directional arrow buttons.


Quickly Jump Between Virtual Desktops


Do you like to multitask on your PC? In Windows 10, Microsoft finally provided out-of-the-box access to virtual desktops. So now you can really multitask.
To try it out, click on Task View (the icon to the right of the Windows
menu). This will separate all your open windows and apps into icons. You
can then drag any of them over to where it says "New desktop," which
creates a new virtual desktop. This would allow you to, say, separate
your work apps, personal apps, and social media into different desktops.

Once you click out of Task View, you can toggle between virtual desktops by
pressing the Windows button+Ctrl+right/left arrows. This will allow you
to automatically switch between all the open windows which you've
separated into different desktops, while leaving all the icons on your
desktop unmoved.

To remove the virtual desktops, just go back into task view and delete the individual virtual desktops—this will not close out the apps contained within that desktop, but rather just send them to the next lower desktop.



Make Your Command Prompt Window Transparent


This feature will probably only be useful to a narrow niche of users, but if
you like to dig your virtual fingers into the innards of Windows via the Command Prompt, Windows 10 provides a ghostly way to interface with it.
To access the Command Prompt interface in Windows 10, click on the Windows
menu and type "Command Prompt" to bring up quick access to its desktop
app.

Click that. You can personalize the experience by right-clicking at
the top of the window to prompt a pop-up menu and choose "Properties."
Click over to the Colors tab to see a range of personalization options. At
the bottom of this tab, you'll find the Opacity slider, which allows you
to see through the Command Prompt window.This feature lets you code
away in the Command Prompt while simultaneously observing the desktop.



Silence Notifications With Focus Assist


Formerly known as Quiet Hours, Focus Assist is a redesigned April 2018 Update feature that gives you greater control over the notifications that pop up on your PC. Head to Settings > System > Focus Assist and then read our full how-to guide for customizing notifications for everything from contacts and apps to task-specific alarms.



Nearby Sharing


In an open document or photo, you can share the file directly with nearby devices the same way Apple's AirDrop works. Click the Share icon atop your doc or photo toolbar to open the
panel, and then click Turn On Nearby Sharing to see which nearby
recipients are in range.



Mixed Reality Viewer


The Windows 10 app 3D Viewer allows you to play with 3D models—either ones
you've created in Paint 3D or downloaded from Microsoft's library of
models. If you own one of Microsoft's Windows Mixed Reality partner headsets or want to start playing around with 3D and mixed reality development, this app is your way to start leveling up.



Stop Typing, Start Dictating

Speech recognition has always been a strong suit for Microsoft, but recent Windows 10
releases have made it almost second nature. At any time you can use the
Windows Key-H hotkey combination to pop up a box that records your voice
through your Windows machine's microphone and dictates the speech in
your current text field. You'll still need to type manual punctuation,
but save yourself some typing by dictating emails, messages, and more.


Control Your Smart Home


Cortana can now control all your smart home devices through Windows 10, too. The setting is a little tough to find,
because you can't just search the Cortana bar for smart home or
"connected home." Instead, you have to search for Cortana Notebook,
which brings up a list of to-do items, reminders, and suggested tasks
for Cortana. However, to find the connected home function you'll need to
click on the Manage Skills tab at the top right of the pop-up window.


From there, scroll down and click into Connected Home. First, toggle the
option at the top to Enable Connected Home, after which you can log into
all your smart home devices— including Nest, SmartThings, Ecobee, Honeywell, and Hue—and connect to
Cortana. Once enabled, all you have to do is say "Hey Cortana, set the thermostat to 70 degrees."



Dark Mode and Light Mode


Windows 10 gives you a significant amount of control over color themes. Open Settings > Personalization > Colors and you can set the operating system to either dark mode or light mode.

These themes change the color of the Start menu, taskbar, action
center, File Explorer, settings menus, and any other programs that are
compliant with these palette changes.

There is also a custom option that will let you set one theme for Windows menus and another for
apps. Want a little more color? There are swatches of color themes
available to choose from that can help your menus and taskbars really
pop.



Cloud Clipboard


The Windows clipboard had not changed much until the Windows 10 October 2018 Update, allowing you to save multiple items at once and paste across devices. Open Settings > System > Clipboard and turn on Clipboard History to start doing more. Check out our full guide for how to use it.



Revamped Screen Capture Tool


Screen capture is another feature where Microsoft is finally closing the functionality
gap with macOS in the October 2018 Update. Instead of the clunky
Snipping Tool, you can now pull up a new clipping utility called Snip
& Sketch (previously bundled in Windows Ink) with a simple Shift-Windows key-S command to take a full-screen or rectangular screen capture. It's like macOS Mojave's screen-capture tool, but with the added digital inking capability.



Hidden Game Bar


Using the Windows key-Gcommand, you can pull up the new-and-improved Game Bar. This lets you switch
your Windows PC into gaming mode (which pools system resources to the
game, turns off notifications, and lets you record and broadcast your
gaming), along with added panels for controlling your audio.

You can also search for the Game Bar in the Start menu to configure custom
keyboard shortcuts for turning your microphone, screen capture,
recording timer, and more on and off while gaming. And be sure to check
out our roundup of the Best PC Games.


Press Pause On Updates

We all know updates are important. They give your OS the latest features,
security patches, and more. But sometimes you just want Windows to leave
you alone without those incessant pop-ups. With the May 2019 Update, go
to Settings > Updates and Security > Windows Update and you can pause upcoming feature updates.

Options vary based on which version of Windows 10 you have (Home vs. Pro), but here's a rundown.



Unlock Kaimoji and Symbols


Hit Windows Key-Period(.) to pop up an expanded bottom-right menu of emojis, "Kaimoji" characters
built from unicode characters, and a wide array of miscellaneous
symbols.



Measure Everything with Built-in Apps
Windows has several built-in apps that may look useless but offer helpful
hidden features. For instance, the Calculator app does so much more than
solve mathematical equations. It can calculate the difference between
two dates and convert basically any unit of measures—time, energy,
temperature, mass, and even currency.

Ever try to calculate time differences in your head? It's not easy. The Alarms & Clock app can
help calculate the differences between two locations, even into the
future. Open the app, click the Clock tab, and select the + icon at the
bottom to add different locations.

You can then click the Compare icon to open a timeline. As you scroll across the timeline, the time
changes on the map points, allowing you to keep track of time
differences more easily.

Source
Code:
https://www.pcmag.com/news/23-hidden-tricks-inside-windows-10