Windows 10: Many don’t even know these nifty tricks

Night mode, “flip window” and extended copy / paste: Windows 10 offers ingenious features that many have no idea about. They are very easy to activate.

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Do you work with Windows 10 and think you know how to get around? Then let’s take a look. Some features are unknown even to longtime Windows users.

Either because they are disabled by default or because the potential of many features has not yet been opened. Seven unknown but extremely useful functions at first sight:

Virtual desktops

They are especially useful for anyone who works with many open applications, windows or in different areas of activity: “So you can, for example Set up a work desktop and a private desktop“, explains Sebastian Klöss of the Bitkom IT industry association the principle of virtual desktops.

The Service, structure another desktop is very simple:

• You just have to click on the “Active Applications” button at the bottom left of the taskbar and then on “New Desktop” at the top left. In “Active Applications”, however, all open program windows can also be viewed in thumbnails at a glance.

If you haven’t turned it off, you can also scroll through the view and see the activities of the last few days. “Windows 10 remembers what we did in the past”says Klöss. If you specify the date, you will find for example the last edited Word document there.

“Shake window”

This exciting feature it helps when many windows are open at the same time they are, says Klöss. If you “hold” a window on the top bar with the left mouse button and shake it gradually reduces all other windows.

Extended notes

Extended clipboard was introduced with Windows 10 version 1809. “The function is not activated by default and therefore it remains hidden from many users “, says Jörg Hähnle, author of Windows non-fiction and manager of the help portal” Paules-PC-Forum.de “. Before the update it was possible to put exactly one element in the clipboard, now there I’m up to 25 elements.

However, the notes must be activated once:

• In Windows settings you can find in “System” the setting “Clipboard”. “Clipboard history can now be activated on the right hand side in the section of the same name,” explains Hähnle.

Items can be added to the shelf as usual with the key combination “Ctrl + C” or with the right mouse button and “Copy”. The clipboard history can be viewed using the “Windows + V” key combination. “A list shows all previously stored items”, explains Hähnle.

This allows users to select and insert the desired item. “You can also save entries permanently in the list so they are available again when the computer restarts.”

Night mode

“Night mode in Windows 10 reduces the blue component of the light emitted from the screen and thus ensures a warmer color tone,” explains Hähnle. It must be to sleep better cure. The night mode can also be used during the day without any problems.

• Night mode can activateby right-clicking on the desktop and then selecting “Display Settings”. There it can be found under “Color”.

Here you can not only set the start and end time for night mode, but also Measure the strength of the filter. “The first time you use night mode, you have to get used to it,” says Hähnle. But after a few minutes the eye got used to the photo.

Dictation function

If you want to write something under Windows 10, you don’t have to type. “On Windows 10 it’s very easy Speak texts and save yourself a lot of typingn “, says Hähnle.

• The dictation function can be used in programs such as Notebook and can be started with the key combination “Windows + H”.
• Spoken languages “End dictation” off, the transcription ends.

A prerequisite is of course a connected microphone, usually with laptops one is integrated. However, Hähnle points out, you have to do it Check the lyrics again later. Windows does not always recognize all spoken words correctly. Background noise worsens the result.

Digital post-its

Small notes can easily be created in Windows 10 using the “Short Notes” feature.

• The “Notes “can be found in the start menu and are created with a single mouse click. They can then be freely placed on the desktop and their size and color can be adjusted.

“Instead of sticky notes on the edge of the monitor, the sticky notes are on the desktop,” explains Jörg Hähnle. However, virtual notes can be browsed differently than paper post-its.

Enlarge the pages

Windows 10 not only has practical applications in its repertoire for writing and annotating, but also for reading. “The texts on many websites are very small and reading longer texts can be stressful for the eyes,” says Hähnle, describing the problem.

But having the Hold down the Ctrl key and turn the mouse wheel, Internet pages can be enlarged and reduced. This trick works in principle in all browsers. The font size set is then automatically saved for the next visit to the website. With the key combination “Ctrl + 0” the size is reset to the standard value.

Still unknown to many: Thesaurus

Not new, but unknown to many, although very useful: the “Thesaurus” function in Word. On command, spit out anything that might serve as an alternative wording for a particular term.

• To get suggestions for synonyms, simply highlight a word and then press the key combination “Shift + F7”.

Alternatively, you can use the “Check / Thesaurus” path in the top menu bar.

The thesaurus opens on the right of the screen and usually presents many alternatives to any term. If you have found a word that should replace the one marked in the text, you can click on it with the right mouse button and then replace it with a click on “Insert”. (Philipp Schulte / dpa / af)