out of the 12 little known Windows functions I will cover in this video I bet you did not know at least 10 so let's see if I'm right and if you think those functions are as helpful as I believe they are by the way I'm also going to cover some bonus tips that you probably did not know on how you can improve and tailor your mouse settings let's start with the so-called Arrow shake that helps you regain focus and declutter your workplace imagine you're working on a report with multiple apps and browsers open instead of minimizing each one by one which is very tedious and takes time when working with many open Windows just grab the title bar off your report or main window and shake it instantly every other window minimizes shake it again and they all come back it's perfect for when you need to clear the Clutter and focus quickly but what if you have some important files or programs to which you need quick access there are several ways to do that for example by adding a shortcut to the desktop or adding the respective folder to your quick access list in your file explorer if you want the access even closer you can create a custom toolbar on your taskbar to do that right click on the taskbar go to toolbars and choose new toolbar then select the folder for which you want to create a toolbar the new mini toolbar will instantly show on your toolbar and will give you one click access to that folder making it super convenient to access its file files and subfolders this can be helpful if you're working on one project where you need quick access to its files and folders or regular access to a very nested folder in both cases there's no need to click through your file explorer but you have immediate access via the toolbar to delete the toolbar do another right click go to toolbars and uncheck the one you have just created the next feature helps you protect your data and stay safe even if you forgot to lock your screen you might know that this can manually be done by pressing Windows L for example when you walk away from your desk to grab a coffee or go for lunch that way no one else can access your computer and mess with your data and emails but what if you forgot to manually lock your computer then Dynamic lock comes in place it acts like a personal automated security guard for your PC when you step away with your Bluetooth paired phone Windows automatically locks itself and here's how to set it up go to settings accounts sign in options and link your phone under Dynamic log it's incredibly useful for maintaining Security in an office environment or public space the only drawback is that you need to have your phone always with you if you leave your phone on your desk together with your laptop or computer it won't help the next feature helps you deal with one of the most annoying problems when working on a computer it helps you to manage your storage better either if you're running low on storage or if you are struggling to manage your storage best let storage sense help you Windows function storage sense automatically clears temporary files empties the recycle bin or clears your cloud content on one drive it's like having an automatic M for your computer ensuring it stays speedy and efficient so to activate storage sense navigate to settings system storage and switch storage Sense on set it to run automatically to keep your PC clean of course storage sense does not do the full job and good storage and file management will certainly require a bit more time and dedication however it's a great tool to do an initial recurring cleaning but as I said proper storage and document management is so much brought about super important topic if you think so too then you should discover the digital architect a comprehensive guide I've personally written packing all my knowledge and experience into your ultimate toolkit for digital efficiency this isn't about just organizing files it's a complete overhaul of how you manage your Digital Life from streamlined file management to best practices for handling your emails calendar and your notes this guide provides actionable tips that can transform your approach to digital organization so if digital clutter has been holding you back this guide Is Your solution dive into the digital architect and start reclaiming your time energy and headspace today click the link in the description below to learn more and boost your productivity the next function is a real game changer and I beg you try it out because if not I feel you're missing out so I guess you know the struggle of working on different projects simultaneously with different tools or programs for different purposes or you have some random apps running in the back ground however keeping all of them on the same desktop can be overwhelming and distracting that's why you should use Virtual desktops you can imagine having one virtual desktop for each project or purpose for example if you're working on two different client projects with different documents and applications open you can have a virtual desktop for each of them while you could keep all your communication apps like your email program and chat or Communications apps on a different desktop to minimize this distractions so to create a new desktop press the Windows key pass control and D switch between them with the windows key again control left or right arrow in short using virtual desktops is an excellent way to stay organized and keep work and personal tasks for example separate if you know all the windows functions I will cover in this video you will be able to work more efficiently and be one step ahead of your colleagues or clients but the next feature elevates disadvantage even more so imagine you can write emails on the go or draft lengthy reports while going for a walk this can be done with the windows dictate function which transforms your voice into text simply press windows and H and start speaking to draft an email or document without typing if you haven't activated online speech recognition yet you will need to activate it in your settings by either just clicking on the popup that opens after pressing Windows h or by going to settings and speech chuggle the first button and once you have selected a document or email you can talk and your computer will transcribe what you say this feature is perfect for brainstorming sessions when you don't want to be tied to your keyboard or when you're going for a walk I guess you definitely know the next challenge I'm going to simplify forever it's about documenting individual process steps for a presentation how to guide or for troubleshooting in a specific program even though putting together a detailed stepbystep guide is often the most helpful way to show colleagues or clients how something can be done it's also the most tedious if you do it right you would need to take many screenshots maybe even edit them with arrows or text and finally compile everything to send it over so the great news is that there is a simple built-in Windows function to solve this problem use steps recorder search for by pressing the Windows button or by clicking on the window symbol and a small popup will open once you start the recording and perform your steps it will record everything you do you can even add comments to specify process steps and once you stop the recording you can review the individual steps and save the file as a zip document the document will open in your browser of choice however I've had the experience that when opening it with Google Chrome the screenshots won't show up alternatively you can use Microsoft Edge which works perfectly well so if you've set Google Chrome as your default browser but want to use Microsoft Edge to open the zp file you need to extract or unpack it first and then with a right click select the browser of your choice so whatever steps you need to record and share with others in the future with steps recorder this becomes effortless allowing you to share knoow with colleagues or friend seamlessly regardless of whether you're recording a tutorial with steps recorder or just working on a project or daily work most likely you will have several windows open sometimes there is so many that they will overlap and you need to move one or the other to the back or the foreground to focus on but even if a window is in the background and not actively focused you might still want to scroll through it to read something or extract some other information it's particularly handy when comparing data across documents or keeping an eye on live updates without interrupting your main task so this can be done by having Windows background scrolling enabled to do so go to settings devices and mouse and activate the button to scroll inactive Windows when I hover over them now since you have your mouse settings already open let's talk about this little bonus tip here I recommend reviewing your mouse settings once to see what great possibilities you have first you can choose your primary button most of the time it's left but maybe you are left-handed and use your mouse the other way around this might become handy for you in addition you can choose the cursor speed from slow to fast to adjust what you prefer if you like gaming most likely you would need a faster cursor but if you just work on text or visual documents you might stick to average or even slow you can also choose how many lines to scroll but what's even better you can find under related settings to adjust your mouse and Cur fer size there you can select the pointer size so if you have difficulties locating it on a big screen just increase its size and maybe even its color based on your personal preference now imagine that you wanted to share some of those tips with a friend or colleague or had a family member that required your help with troubleshooting a computer issue I mean that's easy if you sit next to each other but it's challenging if you are remote but not if you know the windows feature quick assist a feature that allows another person to take control of your computer with your permission of course to help troubleshoot issues or showcase something access it by searching for quick assist in the start menu and you can either give or receive help to receive help you need to enter a security code that the other person helping you shares if you're the one helping someone else you will get such a code once you have logged in and verified yourself once you are both connected the helping person can access the other person's computer click on it and do things as if they were their own another great feature that you might not know yet is Windows clipboard history it's a lifesaver for anyone juggling multiple copy paste actions and knows the struggle of always just being able to keep only one thing on the clipboard using the clipboard history you can access a history of items you've copied let's say you're compiling data from different sources clipart history lets you switch between copied items without losing anything in short it streamlines tasks that involve frequent copying and pasting to use Windows clipboard history press Windows key and V if you haven't turned it on yet you can do so by clicking on the button that pops up or by going to the clipboard settings via the start menu once turned on you can copy several items text or even pictures or take screenshots after another and they will all show up in your clipboard history they can easily access and insert them by clicking on the respective item by the way was I right in the beginning when I said that you did not know the majority of the functions that we've covered so far let me know in the comments down below and another function that enhances your productivity by allowing you to quickly organize your screen and clip Windows into place on your screen is snap assist it makes working with multiple applications easier and helps you keep an overview of your programs for example when researching and writing a paper you can have your research on one half of the screen and your document on the other it's perfect for multitasking and comparing information side by side snap assist can be used with your mouse or your keyboard with your mouse you just need to drag a window to the edge of your screen to snap it into place press and hold Windows key plus arrow with your keyboard to snap the app you are on to change the position of the snap use your keyboard Arrow left or right up or down and once you have found the snap location you want just release the Windows key to position the window finally there's a function that helps you stay focused by minimizing distractions it's very simple but also very effective because what you don't know and does not bother you such as notifications or emails cannot distract you so when you turn on this feature called Focus assist all notifications are silenced for instance during a a critical project or a deep work session enable Focus assist to blog social media notification and email alerts it ensures you stay focused on your work making you more productive and less prone to interruptions to turn on Focus assist in windows open the settings app by pressing windows and I then navigate to systems and focus assist here we have options like off priority only and alarms only choose priority only to receive only only notifications from your priority list that you can Define or alarms only to mute all except alarms you can further customize by setting automatic rules for specific times or activities this feature helps you minimize distractions by managing notifications based on your current activity or time of the day enhancing your focus and productivity what also increases your productivity even more is the use of simple shortcuts that perfectly complement the productiv ity features we have just covered so watch this video next where you will learn 12 amazing window shortcuts that you probably did not know