Windows10 tips
Active Hour Updates
Windows 10 has come up with this amazing feature which lets you choose the time when you don’t want updates to be installed. It’s referred to as Active Hours and that’s enabled with the proper timings. Get ready to bid goodbye to untimely updates. To set the active hours, head over to Settings > Update and security and click on Active hours.
Choose Printers
The latest version of Windows allows the system to set any last used printer as the default one. It can be both a boon or a bane for some users. If this setting is an over-kill, head over to the printer settings and turn it off. The system will no longer switch between different printers and will stick to the default one.
Filter Clipboard Contents in Command Prompt
Now that command prompt lets you copy-paste texts in a jiffy, chances are that you might end up copying stuff straight off from a browser. And there are equal chances that those texts might have some special characters or an added tab. So what do you do with the unwanted content? Remove them manually? Naah, that’s too old. Well, there’s a nice little feature in the command prompt properties which automatically removes tabs and unsupported special characters from the copied text (when enabled).
Find my Device
Ever faced the exasperation of tracking a lost device or a silent phone? Well, Windows offers the choice from where one can track the last known location of a device. It works similar to Google’s Device manager. Compared to the phone tracking, the device search has its limitations. It'll need your Microsoft Account to log you in, and once done, the last known location of a PC can be tracked. However, unlike Google's Device Manager, you won’t be able to wipe or lock your device.
Block Suggestions/ Ads
Of all the possible places that Windows can advertise its products on, it chose the start menu. And if you find these suggestions bothersome, there’s a straightforward solution to block them out — once and for all. Head over to personalization in the settings menu and turn off the Occasionally show suggestions in Start option (under start) and stay Ad-free.
Picture Passwords & PIN
Because conventional passwords are just so passé. On a serious note, we all know the vulnerabilities traditional passwords pose. So, the new sign-in options seem to be an added bonus since it gives you an alternative choice of having a picture or PIN as passwords. And not just a plain picture, you will need to annotate over three points in the picture — these can be a circle, a stroke or a dot on any random area. As pictures have far more characters, it’s much safer to use them as passwords, provided you don’t use obvious gestures in noticeable places (over the nose and ears).
Record your PC
Previously, capturing a screenshot or recording a screencast wasn’t possible without the use of third-party software. However, that’s not the case with Windows 10. All you have to do is press Win + G and you will be presented with the tiny Windows Game bar with all the necessary options, courtesy the Xbox app. Keyboard shortcuts:
- Win + G+ PrntScr – Screenshot
- Win + Alt + R – Screen Recordings
Select Audio Source from the TaskBar
On Windows 10, the audio source selection process (if one can call it a process), is neat. It can be done right from the comfort of your current window. Just click on the volume icon on the taskbar and select the appropriate source. And when you compare it to opening the Audio Properties window and then choosing the audio source, this seems like a cakewalk.
Annotating in Windows Edge & Calendar Sync.
We tend to mostly research online these days, ending up reading tons of articles. That also means getting lost in the sea of posts and not getting any meaningful work done. That’s when the annotation feature of the Edge browser can come into great use. It lets you annotate on a specific area of the webpage where you would like to add a note and save the same for later references.
Command Prompt Shortcuts
The previous versions of Command Prompt did a pro-level job of testing your patience. This new version of Windows is the first one from the Microsoft stable to include keyboard shortcuts for Command Prompt. Needless to say, using these shortcuts is easy and effortless.