TIPS AND TRICKS TO MASTER WINDOWS 10

CREATE A FULL WINDOWS 10 BACKUP

To begin with, it’s always a good idea to keep your system backed up,

and Windows 10 makes it really easy to do so using the built-in

“System Image” utility. Go to the Start button (windows logo), then select

Settings, Update & security, Backup, add a drive and choose an external

drive or network location for your backups. All set. Every hour,

Microsoft will back up everything in your user folder (C:Usersusername).

USE THE HIDDEN SCREEN RECORDER APP

Windows 10 has a secret screen recording tool that can be used to

capture on-screen activity as a video file. One of the new features

of the Xbox app is the Game bar, which allows you to record

footage of your gameplay. But as it turns out, this functionality allows

you to not only record video games, but capture footage inside

most of your apps as well. Accessing the Game bar is straightforward.

Simply press and hold the Windows and G keys. The Game bar,

which is essentially a toolbar, will then pop up on the screen.

If it’s your first time launching the Game bar for that app, you will get

a message asking, “Do you want to open Game bar?”—simply

click on “Yes, this is a game.” Once launched, it’s pretty

straightforward to use.

SYNC FILES TO ONEDRIVE

In Windows 10, placeholders are replaced by selective sync. To

change OneDrive settings, right-click the icon in the notification

area, select Settings, switch to the Choose folders tab, and click the

Choose folders button. You can either sync All files and folders on

Your OneDrive, or Choose folders to sync, meaning they will be

available locally and you will be ready to go.

SWITCH BETWEEN DESKTOPS

Just click the Task View button, then click any of the thumbnails

at the bottom of the screen to switch to an open desktop. Closing your

desktops out is equally simple—just click the Task View button, then

hover your mouse pointer over one of the desktop thumbnails and

click the X.

SEARCH FROM THE START MENU

Another great way to quickly get to an app or file is to open the Start

menu, either by clicking on it or using the Windows key, then simply

type in the name of the app, file, or folder you’re looking for.

RESIZE THE START MENU

The Start Menu itself has many features, the ability to resize it being

a very new one. Thanks to the Windows 10 interface this is done

in a very simple way and it can make using the operating system a

much friendlier experience. To resize the Start Menu horizontally,

move your mouse to its right edge until the cursor becomes a

double-headed arrow. Now click or tap and drag it to the left to shrink

the Start Menu. To increase the horizontal size of the Start Menu,

click or tap on the edge and drag it to the right.

REMOVE LIVE TILES FROM THE START MENU

If you used Windows 7 and never got around to 8, then not only are

Live Tiles new for you, but they also may not be that useful. Luckily,

it’s a simple process; the bad news is that you’ll have to right-click

on each tile in your Start Menu and select unpin. Once that’s done,

you’ll be left with an empty space where the tiles used to be. Just click

and hold on the top-right corner of the Start Menu, and drag it all

the way to the left so that only the “Places” and “Most used”

section is showing. Voila…You just got rid of them!

PIN FOLDERS IN FILE EXPLORER

If there are any folders or libraries that you’d like to pin to your

Quick Access menu, simply right-click them in File Explorer,

then select “Pin to Quick Access” and they’ll be easily

available in the left pane.

NEW SEARCH FEATURE IN FILE EXPLORER

The search box isn’t new, but now it’ll only look for files and folders

within the folder or drive you’ve currently selected, helping to narrow

things down quite a bit. Once search results have populated, click

the Search tab near the top of the screen to expose more

options in a ribbon menu.