Windows 10 Tips and Tricks

For those of you who have taken the plunge and upgraded your windows computer to Windows 10 operating system, here are a few tips and tricks to help you navigate your new screens. 

1. As with Window 8 you can customise your Start menu – right click with your mouse on any tile and customise, whether you want to resize, uninstall or unpin from the start. 

2. If you choose to use the ‘MAIL’ app you can now customise this with a picture of your liking and you can also configure how you want the app to work for you.  Just click on the cog icon in the lower left corner of the app and select options.  This will then show you all the different options available. 

3. You would have noticed that now when you go to access your files Windows 10 has a new Quick Access feature where it will show your most frequently accessed files. This is great as you don’t need to go searching all the time for that one file you always use.  Some of you will love this some will hate it, don’t worry you can turn this feature off within the view>options>click open file explorer>select “This PC”>click OK 

4. Now you can have more than one virtual desktop running on your computer (multiple logins). To switch between the two windows you click on the Task View tab in your start bar.  You are able to drag and drop apps to other windows or create a whole new one just for that one.  So instead of having everything open on the one screen you can create a new one to keep your screen uncluttered.  

5. You can now schedule restarts on your computer so you can run necessary updates at a time the suits you 

6. If you have multiple devices in your home you can schedule to download updates once and share with other devices in your home. Go to Settings>Update & Recovery>Windows Updates>Advanced Options>Choose how you download updates. 

7. If you can’t find your favourite solitaire games, just search ‘solitaire’ to locate on the computer and click on the one you want.  You won’t find it under games as this file doesn’t exist anymore. 

8. If your device has touch capabilities it will automatically switch between tablet mode and desktop mode depending on your keyboard connection.  Those with a desktop, you can activate tablet mode so you have tiles on your screen by searching for “Tablet Mode” and selecting Tablet mode settings.  From here you can choose the settings that best suit you. 

9. You can now manage notifications on your device through the new “Action Centre”. Go to Start menu>Settings>Systems>Notifications and actions.  

10. There are also some new keyboard shortcuts available to make it easier for the user within Windows 10: 

• To open the Action Centre - Windows key + A 

• Create new desktop - Windows key + Ctrl + D 

• Close new desktop - Windows key + Ctrl + F4 

• Switch virtual desktop - Windows key + Ctrl + Left or Right 

• To open Settings app (control panel) – Windows key + l 

• To open Windows Mobility Centre – Windows key + X 

You can get more great tips and tricks from the Windows 10 for Dummies books.   

If you want to update your computer to Windows 10 but not sure about doing it yourself, then we recommend you contact your local computer specialist and book it in with them to safely carry out the upgrade for you. 

As always, if you need more advice, don’t hesitate to contact your local IT professional.