Improve your Windows 11 experience by changing these settings

Windows 11 is usable out of the box, but you’ll have a much better time after customizing some settings. Spending time in menus to disable annoying behaviors, automate tedious aspects of PC management, and enable convenient features is well worth the investment.

Some important Windows 11 toggles are buried under layers of menus, while others are in places you might not think to check otherwise. The operating system changes frequently, so even if you’ve already organized your PC, you should still check them if it’s been a while.

Windows keeps track of the default applications for each file type. If you have other browsers, image viewers, text editors, PDF readers or similar installed, you should set them as default. Otherwise, you will have to right-click and choose your preferred application from the list Open with menu every time.

Press Win + I to open Settings, then go to Applications > Default applications. Choose a program and you’ll see a list of all file types it can open. To change one, click on it and select your preferred tool in the window that appears. Browsers are a special case, with a Make (app) your default browser button at the top.

If you prefer to choose defaults by file extension, scroll to the bottom of the apps list and click Choose defaults by file type. This makes it easier to change the application in which TXT files open, for example.

Normally, the Windows clipboard can only hold one piece of information. When you cut or copy something, whatever you last cut is deleted. A clipboard manager is an essential productivity tool and the solution to this problem: it keeps track of multiple entries so you don’t have to do a circle of copy and paste. It’s off by default, so go to Settings > System > Clipboard and activate Clipboard history to start using it. If you have several PCs, also consider Clipboard history on your devices option so that what you copy to your laptop is available on your desktop.

Now when you press Win + Va window will appear with several of your recently copied items (text and images), allowing you to paste them as you wish. The manager only stores your last 25 cut or copied items, which isn’t a lot, but still a big upgrade over just one item. For anything you’ll need often, like your address or canned responses, use the Pin icon to keep them in the tool permanently. Under the three points menu, the Paste as text The option removes formatting, which you’ll appreciate for Word documents and others.

If you like this feature, ClipClip is a great third-party upgrade. It stores many more clips and has folders to organize your pinned clips.

During a fresh installation, Windows pesters you with all kinds of “suggestions”, which are mostly advertisements for other Microsoft products. You will have to visit several locations to deactivate them all. First, navigate to Settings > Personalization > Start and deactivate View recommendations for tips, shortcuts, new apps, and more to prevent apps the company wants you to use from appearing in your Start menu. To declutter the search panel and focus it on what’s on your computer, go to Privacy & Security > Search and deactivate Show research highlights.

Then go back to Personalization > Lock screen disable Get fun facts, tips, tricks and more on your lock screen. Also change the Personalize your lock screen drop-down list far from Spotlight on Windowsdelete everything Widgets you do not use and deactivate Suggest widgets for your lock screen to eliminate clutter. Disable all toggles in Personalization > Using the device to avoid “recommendations” about different ways you could use your PC.

Offers and recommendations

Continuing, go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Recommendations & Offers. In this panel, turn off Personalized offers And Recommendations and offers in Settings to stop “offers” for other subscriptions. Finally, at System > Notificationswait a moment for the list to fill up below Notifications from apps and other senders. Change sort by has Name for convenience, then scroll down to find Suggested and turn it off. Then scroll down, click Additional settingsand uncheck both boxes here.

This should fix the most annoying behavior of Windows 11. During this pass, it’s also worth opening Settings > Applications > Installed applications and look for any manufacturer-added bloatware that you don’t need. Some pre-installed apps may be useful, such as those for updating drivers. But those that duplicate Windows features or are just free trials of cloud tools or security suites may disappear.

If you often need to force quit programs, go to Settings > System > Advanced and activate the End of task option to add a shortcut to end processes to the context menu of applications in the taskbar.

Choose when to install updates

Windows updates are much less invasive when you know they’re going to happen. You can control this by going to Settings > Windows Update > Advanced options and clicking Hours of activity. Choose Manuallythen choose a start and end time. Windows will not automatically restart your device to install updates during this time.

Reduce eye fatigue

If you often use your computer at night, you will appreciate Night light function located at Settings > System > Display. This makes your screen warmer to prevent blue light from glaring on you when it’s dark. It is more convenient to activate Program the night light and configure it to run from From sunset to sunrise; If your schedule is different, you can choose the times manually. Adjust it Strength to your taste.

Free up disk space

Your PC can automatically clean itself when you run out of space; take a look at this below Settings > System > Storage > Storage Storage. You can choose what is deleted automatically and how often, saving time compared to manually creating space.

Boost performance

To ensure you’re getting the best performance from your system (if you don’t mind extra power consumption), go to Settings > System > Power. Click Power mode and choose Better performance. If you can’t select one here, search for it Control panel in the Start menu and click Power Options there to adjust it.

Set a PIN

Protecting your connection with a PIN is a great option. This saves you having to enter your (hopefully secure) Microsoft account to sign in, and it’s unique to your device, so it’s less damaging if compromised. Additionally, you can use Windows Hello (via a PIN) to unlock supported apps, such as 1Password. Configure this to Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options > PIN (Windows Hello).

Go back to Windows Update settings (Settings > Windows Update > Advanced options) and select Delivery Optimization in the bottom menu. When Allow downloads from other devices is enabled, Windows will share part of the update data with other devices using a peer-to-peer connection. It’s good to set this to Devices on my local networkbut there is no reason to select Devices on the Internet and waste your bandwidth.

Another little feature worth disabling is under Settings > System > Multitasking. Disable Title bar window shaking and you will no longer minimize all other apps when you click and shake one. In theory, this is a nice shortcut, but it’s too easy to activate by accident by swiping, and having to reopen all the other apps is a pain.

Finally, follow our guide to trimming your startup applications so that only what you need runs at startup. Many apps run at startup without notice, leading to background apps and wasting resources for your entire session.