Smart tips for Windows 10 to boost your productivity

Windows 10 was launched five years ago. Since then, it has seen a plethora of changes and additions. Microsoft's Windows operating system commands 86.69 percent share of the global desktop operating system market, according to a report from NetMarketShare. It accounted for 57.8 percent market share as of May, which points towards the fact that over 1 billion devices run the OS all over the world. Here is a quick list of features you might not have known about the operating system that would help boost your productivity at work.

Minimise all open windows with a single mouse click

This feature has been around for some time now, but even then, most users are not aware of it. Your operating system has an invisible button called the Show Desktop button, which, when clicked, instantly minimises all open app windows to show the desktop. The button is at the right bottom corner next to the clock and notification icons on the taskbar. Even if you don't see it, take your mouse pointer to the corner and click there – you will immediately see the desktop. You can even change the button to show the desktop when you hover the mouse pointer over it instead of clicking it. Go to Settings > Personalization and click on the taskbar. From here, enable the option of "Use peek to preview the desktop when you move your mouse to the Show desktop button at the end of the taskbar."

Use Virtual Desktops for multitasking

If you have never used virtual desktops, then you are in for a treat. A virtual desktop is like having a second monitor on which you can keep specific app windows open for quick access. With Windows 10, you get built-in virtual desktops that can be enabled quickly. You can switch between them by using the Task View button in the taskbar or by pressing Ctrl + Windows key + right/left arrow. To start, click on the task view button. On the top left, you will see the option to add a new desktop. You can click on a new desktop and then drag and drop any of your open app windows to that desktop. This way, you would have less clutter on your desktop window, and it makes it easier to switch between running apps, thereby helping you multitask more efficiently.

Use your voice for typing

Another feature that very few users know and use it the fantastic dictation capability of Windows 10. You can use your voice to type in the lengthy email or report with surprising accuracy. Click on any text field. It could be your email compose window, Microsoft word or even the notepad, followed by pressing the Windows key + H to bring up the dictation window on the top centre. Now, start talking, and you would notice the speech recognition converting your speech to text in real-time. Keep in mind that it won't be 100 percent accurate, and you would have to do punctuation correction, but it would take half the time than typing the entire thing.

Quickly take screenshots and edit them

Windows 10 still gives you the default option to take the screenshot of the entire screen by pressing the 'prt scr' button on your keyboard. As mentioned, it takes the screenshot of the whole screen, and then you have to open an image editor, paste the screenshot there and then then you can start editing. A simpler and faster solution is to use the Snip & Sketch tool. Press the Windows key + Shift + S on the keyboard to bring up the screenshot tool – select the area you want to take the screenshot of using the mouse/trackpad, and once you let go of the button, a screenshot is taken. It then shows a preview on the bottom right of the screenshot, and if you click on it, the screenshot is opened in the Snip & Sketch editor where you can crop the image, highlight it or add text for annotations before saving it to the folder of your choice.

Stay focused on work

While trying to concentrate on work, it is not uncommon to be distracted by the slew of notifications that keep coming up from your mail, messaging app, or third-party apps. Thankfully, Windows 10 has a feature aptly named Focus Assist that helps you stay focussed on work by deactivating these notifications with a single click. To enable it, click on the Action centre button at the bottom right (next to the clock/date) to show various quick action options. Look for Focus assist and click on that – it would give you the option to keep either ‘Priority notification’ or keep only ‘alarm notification’ enabled. So before starting work, just enable this setting, and you will not be bothered with any notifications. You can also edit the settings for Focus Assist by going to Settings > System > Focus Assist.