Windows 10 Tips and Tricks

Last year Windows released its newest version- Windows 10. As users are shifting towards the new version, they are expecting some upgrades and better productivity. And they won’t be disappointed. Windows 10 combines the functionality of Windows 8 with the user-friendly interface of Windows 7 to create their newest version.

To make the most out of your Windows 10 experience, try out these cool tips and tricks:

Cortana- Your Intelligent Assistant

In a similar style as Apple Siri and Amazon Alexa, Microsoft launched its virtual assistant, Cortana for Windows 10 and other devices. Cortana helps answer your questions by searching through the Bing search engine. It will also play music for you. It will basically help you with your work.

Cortana can also sync with your smart home devices to control them. Go over to the Cortana Notebook by searching in the Cortana bar. Click on manage tabs on the top right of your window. In the drop-down menu, click on Connected Home. Enable Connected Home first. Then login into your smart home devices and connect them with Cortana. Once done, you can direct Cortana to turn on your music system with just a voice command.

Cortana is available in a number of languages- English, French, Spanish, Chinese, German Italian etc.

Phone Compatibility

Phones and computers are now increasingly interlinked, so it makes sense that Windows 10 offers better phone compatibility. If you are an Android user, download Your Phone Companion App for Android on your phone. On your PC, download Your Phone App. Link both these apps.

Linking both apps will allow you to open, view, share and copy photos from your phone to your PC. These apps also allow you to reply and send texts right through your PC.

The Fingerprint Feature

Windows 10 has introduced a new suite of features, Windows Hello. This is a biometric security feature that allows you to lock and unlock your PC using fingerprint detection or face recognition. To access this feature, go to Start Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options. Choose fingerprint detection or face recognition to set up this feature.

Fixing Page Fault

One annoying feature that you might come across when using Windows 10 is a blue screen showing page fault error in non-paged area. If that happens, a simple automated restart will fix the issue.

If even after you restart your computer, you still get the issue of page fault in nonpaged area – TechLoris has a solution.

Create Your Local Account

When you create an account in Windows 10 and previous versions, it automatically synchronizes your account with Google OneDrive. If you wish to avoid this, you can now create a standalone account that remains offline. To do this, go over to the start button. Click on Settings > Accounts. In the accounts tab, click on Sign in with a local account instead.

Disable Notifications

Would you like to focus on your work, and stop all those pestering notifications from showing up and distracting you? For that, Windows 10 has redesigned its Quiet Hours feature to Focus Assist.

You can access Focus Assist by going into Settings > System > Focus Assist. Play with the buttons in Focus Assist to customize your notifications. You can customize a number of features from alarms to contacts and apps.

Shut Down Through Slide

This is a new trick that works only on Windows 10. Go to your desktop. Right-click > New > Shortcut. When a pop window comes up, paste this line of code: %windir%\System32\SlideToShutDown.exe

With this, you will get an icon on your Desktop. To shut down your computer through slide down, double-click on this icon. You will see a pull-down shade. Using your mouse, drag down it down to the bottom end of your screen. Your computer will now shut down.

Rotate Screen

Windows 10, like Windows 7, allows users to rotate their screen. I don’t see how it can be helpful to everyone, but you can try it out for fun. Press Ctrl+ Alt+ Del at the same time with an arrow button. The screen will flip in the arrow direction.

You can also go to the Desktop Background. Click on Graphic Options and then Rotation to move the screen in the way you would like it to go.

Turn Your Command Prompt Window Transparent

If you use the Command prompt window frequently, this might appeal to you. You can view your desktop and view changes while working on the command prompt. This feature was also available in Windows 7. First, access your Command prompt Window by clicking on the Windows menu and typing and clicking on “command prompt”.

Once your command prompt window is open, right click on the top of the window to get a pop-up menu. Click on Properties > Colors. Colors will give you a range of options. At the bottom of the color menu, you will find the opacity slider. Move the opacity slider cursor to the other end to get a transparent command prompt window.