10 Time Saving Windows 10 Tips

Windows is a vast operating system. While novices often end up stumbling on new features and options they didn’t even know existed, even advanced users are in for some pleasant surprises.

With such a complex piece of software, it is easy to forget just how many productivity enhancing features Microsoft has packed in Windows 10.

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But these little tricks and flourishes remain hidden from most people — they don’t even know about them. And that is because the Windows engineers have built features atop other features in order to create the best possible experience for users.

10 Time saving Windows 10 Tips

No big wonder that productivity has been a hallmark of the Windows platform since day one. Even the simplest of tasks can be sped up using the little bells and whistles that Microsoft has been adding to the operating system.

And while learning these is important for the casual users, they are vital for those of you who spend all day on your computers. They are real life savers when it comes to shaving off seconds for each task. Put them to work, and combined, you could end up saving minutes and hours!

We have collected what we feel are 10 of the best time savers in the Windows 10 OS.

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Some of these features have been available in Windows for generations, while others are native to the Windows 10 OS. But at the end of the day, they are all part of a constantly evolving Windows experience that puts the focus first and foremost on productivity.

Do note that all of these tips have been tested to work on the latest version of the OS, which at the time of this writing is Windows 10 Version 1903, also known as the May 2019 Update. That said, many of these tricks work perfectly fine on older versions of the operating system, primarily Windows 7 and up.

But enough talk, let’s get down to business.

Work faster and smarter with or selection of these 10 time saving Windows 10 tips:

Shake

This feature actually debuted with Windows 7, but surprisingly not many folks are aware of its usefulness. If you have a display that is full of windows, you can use a little shake to clear the clutter by minimizing all but the main open window.

 

Just grab the top of the window that you like and want to keep working in, shake it with your mouse, and all the other windows in the background will be quickly minimized.

Have shaker’s remorse?

Shake again, and the windows will come back.

Deploy Snap

Keyboard warriors have been saving time and snapping windows in Windows for an age now. And if you are not, then you are missing out. There are two ways to go about this — using keyboard shortcuts or your good old mouse.

For the former, you simply need to press the Win key with the arrow keys on your keyboard. This will snap your active window to one of the four corners of your screen. Experiment with the keys to check out the different positions. You can even minimize and maximize your windows this way.

Alternatively, grab and drag the windows using you right mouse button and snap them to the corners.

Secret Start Menu

The Windows 10 Start Menu continues to get old school with each new update to the operating system. But if you prefer a completely simple experience with no frills, then this secret menu is the real deal. Also known as the Power Menu, this one lists several key Windows features and shortcuts to apps and applets in one convenient location.

Secret Start Menu

All you have to do is right-click the Windows icon on the bottom-left corner of the screen to prompt this textual jump menu with a number of popular destinations like Event Viewer, Device Manager, Windows PowerShell, Search, Run, and a whole bunch more.

Or, you can press the Win + X key combination to launch it.

All the options listed here are available through the standard menu interface. But you will be able to get access to the quicker via this textual interface that also handily includes and highlights all the associated keyboard shortcuts to speed things along even further.

Use the power of Virtual Desktops

If you like multitasking on your PC, then you probably already are using the Virtual Desktops feature in Windows 10. These virtual desktops are handy for keeping programs organized — particularly when you have quite a few of them open at any time.

Begin by pressing Win + Tab and create a virtual desktop from up top.

virtual desktops

Since you can create an unlimited number of virtual desktops in Windows 10, this is useful for grouping your programs by task. You can create a virtual desktop for your office or school work, and another one that houses your entertainment windows like YouTube or Spotify.

You can easily delete the individual virtual desktops, and this will not close out your open applications contained within that desktop. These apps are just sent to the next lower desktop.

Excellent way to get rid of desktop clutter, this.

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Open Taskbar apps via Keyboard Shortcuts

Have a bunch of applications pinned in you Taskbar? Your favorite, most used ones? Good. You can quickly access them via keyboard shortcuts. And the best part is that you don’t even need to set these shortcuts up, they are automatically set up for you.

All you have to do is press the Win key along with the number of that pinned app.

For example, if you have Microsoft Edge as the first item in your Taskbar, press Win + 1 to fire it up, and so on and so forth for all the icons that you have there. Furthermore, pressing the key combination again minimizes that window, and you can even navigate multiple windows using this shortcut.

Pinning shortcut icons of commonly used apps in the Taskbar is a neat way to open them fast. But use these keyboard shortcuts, and you can launch them even faster.

Highlight and Focus on Taskbar items

taskbar highlight focus

Microsoft has also packed in a nice way to manage your Taskbar items using a key combination. You can highlight and focus on the icons and apps that are pinned there, and also navigate the multiple open windows using this trick.

Press Win + T here, and Windows 10 will let you handle your Taskbar items with ease.

Create Run command for any Program you want

You can create a Run command for any software or application of your choice. Simply create a shortcut of the program you wish to execute from the Run dialog box, and paste that shortcut in the System32 folder of your system.

System32 Folder

You can find that inside the main Windows folder.

Run Command Window

Now, just type the shortcut name in the Run box, and it will open instantly.

Create Keyboard Shortcut for opening any Application

This one is pretty basic, but so overlooked. Those of you that use a lot of programs on a regular basis will appreciate this the most. But it is also a time saver for regular users. You just have to set this up once for your favorite applications, and away you go.

To get started, right-click any application shortcut and click on Properties.

app_keyboard shortcut

Now, punch in your shortcut in the Shortcut key field.

Anytime you want to launch that particular application, simply press that key combination and Windows will launch it. Or several instances of it at once. Comes in really handy for opening multiple Paint, Notepad, File Explorer, or browser windows.

Change items in the Send To menu

This is so handy for power users, and people that have their head drowned in files day and night. The Send To menu is a familiar and highly useful feature, but you can get even more options in here to make your life a little easier.

Just open the Run dialog, enter the shell:sendto command, and hit Enter.

send to

In the window that opens up, paste the shortcut of the item you want to include in the Send To menu. It could be a link to another drive, your downloads folder, or a program, anything really. You can now quickly send any files you want to that location via just a few clicks.

Take Instant Screenshots

If you want to take a quick screenshot to paste in a document or email, or want to send your screen to someone, then you don’t need to waste time by going to Paint to paste and save your captured screenshot.

Windows can automatically take a screenshot and save it in a convenient location on your PC.

screenshots folder

For this, simply press the Win + PrntScr keys at the same time. This will instantly save a screenshot of your current open windows, everything that is visible on your screen, and save it in the Screenshots folder of your Pictures library. Not only is this very fast, but also the number files are saved in PNG format in the highest possible quality.

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Great way to quickly take note of what’s going on in your screen.

Addictive, even.

Conclusion

These are but ten of the best tips in Windows 10 to save time, there are several others that you will come across in your daily use. Use these in combination and you will be able to increase your productivity intuitively and manifold.

Spend a few minutes today to try these tips and tricks today. One thing is for sure that you will not be able to go back once you do!

4 thoughts on “10 Time Saving Windows 10 Tips”

  1. I have dual monitors. How do I take an INSTANT SNAPSHOT of only ONE screen at a time?? Using Win-PrtScrn will include both screens in the snapshot??

    Reply
    • Not sure if it will help, but if you use only the active window in front where the cursor is at will copy to clipboard. I also use freeware Irfanview to copy my images into, then use the default pointer box will just highlight and copy out the portion I want of that image … I cut it to memory (leaving) a blank box, click “D” to cancel the rest of the image copied in that session and then copy the cut portion back into the Irfanview session and it overwrites the last session with just my cut/copied portion. I use the boxes and arrows available in F12 pop-up image menu and I use that for screen print instructions to my customers all the time in my tech support job. I’m sure there are many other capabilities in Irfanview I am not using yet but those are my main ones. Hope that helps.

      Reply
      • comment above lost some of my notes … ALT – PRINTSCREEN .. will copy only the active window so I use that when I don’t want the entire screen but only the active Windows screen or browser in front of everything else.

        Reply

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