3 Windows 10 tips for a better workday

We’re big fans of Windows 10 because it has a variety of innovative features that streamline workflows and improve the user experience. Often, we find that users aren’t aware of these features. Here are 3 Windows 10 tips to streamline and customize your workday.

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Let Cortana work smarter for you

Many Windows 10 users don’t utilize Cortana. Which is a shame, considering her versatile ability to automate and assist.

First things first, set her up. After that’s done, here are five tasks you should hand off to Cortana.

1. Set reminders for meetings, appointments, and wake up calls.
2. Get customized automatic updates on the news, weather (including multiple locations), and even new posts to blogs or other online content.
3. Receive recommendations on new spots for lunch meetings or afterwork cocktails according to your personal preferences.
4. Compose and send emails through Cortana’s voice commands (we love this one in particular).
5. Shutdown your PC and perform a host of other hardware-related activities (to do this you’ll need to set up the pre-defined commands).

Customize your Windows experience to your unique standards

One of the great Windows 10 features is the ability to customize your desktop experience. To do this, go to your “Settings” tab (type “Settings” in the taskbar). Here are five customization points you can use as needed.

1. “System Settings” lets you adjust apps, notifications, display and power settings.
2. “Device” lets you adjust the settings for connected devices such as printers, the mouse, your keyboard and even Bluetooth.
3. “Network and Internet” lets you set up VPNs and general network settings such as Wifi preferences.
4. “Personalization” lets you control privacy and customize display settings.
5. “Update and Security” lets you customize your Windows Defender settings and automate updates.

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Simplify and organize your work experience with Virtual Desktop

If you’re like many folks, your screen fills up fast when you work. It can get tiresome clicking between windows and programs all day. With Windows 10’s Virtual Desktop, you can expand your screen workspace beyond the confines of your physical display. In other words, you can create multiple “desktops” that can be opened separately from each other.

It’s a particularly handy feature for people in creative fields but also works well for all sorts of other workflows.

Here’s how to set it up:

1. Click on the “Task View” icon next to the search bar on your Taskbar. This will bring up a new window just above the Taskbar that displays several generic “desktops” labeled “Desktop 1,” “Desktop 2,” etc.
2. Click on one of these new desktops and open the programs or tasks you want to run inside of it. As an example, you could have your spreadsheets or client files open in one desktop and software and applications open in another.

This feature is super helpful because you can logically pair programs or files to operate together on individual desktops. Have all your creative tasks in one, all your accounting applications running in another, and your personal programs such as music or photos running in a third. Or any combination of programs and setups you choose.

Related: The 6 best tech tools to improve office communication

These three Windows 10 tips are merely the tip of the iceberg. For more tips, you can go here.