IT Service Desk

Windows 11 is the latest major release of Microsoft's Windows operating system, released on October 5, 2021:

It succeeded Windows 10. The following are some of the most significant new features of Windows 11.

The new Start menu:

One of the main changes in Windows 11 is the Start menu which is now located just above the bottom centre of the screen. 

From the Start menu you will see multiple rows of small application icons. Windows 11 allows you to control how these app icons are organised on the Start menu - just drag and drop any icon to a new location. When you right-select a tile, a menu pops up. Most have some combination of these options: 

Move to top, Unpin from Start, Run as administrator, Open file location, Pin to taskbar, Uninstall.

You can also manage your user account from Start by selecting your account icon at the bottom left of the start menu. From here you can, lock your PC or sign out of Windows.

To put your PC to sleep, shut it down, or restart it, select the power button at the bottom right of the Start menu.

Using search:

 

Only minor changes have been made to Windows 11 search. To do a search, select the search button (a magnifying glass) on the taskbar and start typing for what you are searching. A rectangular pane pops up with a search box at the top.

When you first launch the Search box, it shows three areas:

1. Recommended for you is a row of icons of your commonly used applications and apps, such as Word, Files, Settings, and others. Select any icon and you’ll be sent to the Search box or section of the app’s icon you selected. You’ll then have to perform a search in that app in the usual way.
2. Below this are the most recent files you have been working on.
3. Recent on the left is a list of apps you’ve recently used. 

Widgets:

Windows 10 has always offered widgets such as a news feed, weather, and more and with Windows 11 they have a home of their own.

Select the Widgets icon on the taskbar (it’s a square divided vertically into two sections, one white and one blue at the bottom left of the screen), and a large panel appears showing a reselected set of widgets, including weather, news, sports, and others.

Each widget shows changing information, such as stock prices or the weather. Select one and you are sent to the web page for more details. You can change the size of each widget, remove it, and customise it by selecting the three-dot menu icon at its upper right. 

To add a widget, select the “Add widgets” button, then browse through the widget categories and select the + button next to the widget(s) you want to add.

To turn off Widgets, right-click on the taskbar, selecting Taskbar settings and select off next to the Widgets icon.

Task View and multiple desktops 

The Task View feature for creating multiple desktops has been redesigned.

To activate Task View, select its icon (two overlapping squares) in the taskbar just to the right of the Search button, or press the Windows key + Tab.

(Note that Task View no longer includes Windows 10’s Timeline feature that displayed snapshots of the files you worked on recently.)

 

 

Task View is divided into two sections. At the top of the screen you see your currently running apps and applications arrayed against a fuzzy version of the desktop so you can quickly see what you’ve got running. Select any thumbnail to switch to that app. If you hover your mouse over any thumbnail, 

an X appears in its upper-right corner. Select the X to close that app. For those used to using the old Alt + Tab key combination to cycle through open apps and applications, you can still do that as well. 

Press the Esc key to leave Task View and return to where you were.

At the bottom of the screen, you’ll see thumbnails of any multiple desktops you’ve created, along with a “New desktop” button.

To switch between desktops, click the Task View icon and click the desktop to which you want to switch. You can keep creating new desktops this way and switch among them. To close a multiple desktop, hover your mouse over it in Task View and click the X on its upper right.

There’s also a quicker way to switch to a multiple desktop (or create or close one) without activating Task View. Hover your mouse over the Task View icon in the taskbar and you’ll see thumbnails of all of your multiple desktops. Click the one you want to switch to. 

To close one, hover your mouse over its icon. To create a new one, click the New desktop button.

Snap Layouts:

Snap Layouts allows you to arrange your apps on the desktop as you want to see them. With it, you group your open windows into one of a half-dozen pre-built screen layouts, such as having two apps side by side, each taking up half the screen. Or you might have one app on the left and two stacked vertically on the right, 

or four apps in a grid. 

To use Snap Layouts, open the applications you want to see in it, then hover your mouse over an application’s maximise icon on the upper right of the screen, located between the minimise and close icons. Choose the layout you want and which position you want the application to be in, 

and the app window snaps into that position. Then you can choose from your other open apps to fill in the rest of the spots in the layout.

Once all the places in a Snap Layout are filled, that app grouping is saved as a Snap Group that you can quickly return to later if you’ve opened other apps or minimised any of the app windows in the group. Hover your mouse over the taskbar icon of any of the applications in a Snap Group, 

and you’ll see two small pop-ups — one that’s a thumbnail of what’s open in the application itself, and another that shows the Snap Group. Choose the Snap Group icon, and you’ll switch to the whole group in the layout you set up previously, rather than to the individual application.

Quick Settings and notifications:

Windows 11 does away with the Windows 10 Action Center and instead gives you two separate taskbar panels, one for your notifications, and the other to make changes to your system via Quick Settings.

Notifications have their own taskbar panel and appear along with a calendar. 

To check your notifications, click the date and time on the taskbar or press the Windows key + N. A taskbar panel pops up with a calendar of the current month and with any notifications above it, for things such as your news feed, new emails, and security and maintenance messages. 

You’ll know when you have new notifications, because a small blue icon with the number of new notifications appears in the date and time area on the taskbar.

You can change which notifications show up or turn them off completely. Go to Settings > Notifications and turn the slider to Off in the Notifications section at the top of the screen.

You can also customise each type of notification you see. Click the right-facing arrow next to any notification, and you’ll be able to change options such as what priority it should be given when displayed along with other notifications (higher priority notifications show up at the top of the list),

or whether to play a notification sound when it appears.

The quick settings pane gives you instant access to some of your most commonly used settings. 

To get to Quick Settings, click the network, volume, and battery set of icons on the taskbar or press Windows key + A. Six icons appear in two stacked rows, the top three for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Airplane mode, and the bottom three for Night light (which changes your PC’s lighting to a warm yellowish), 

Focus assist (which stops notifications), and Accessibility (controls things such as the Magnifier and Narrator). Depending on your computer and setup, these icons might be different — for example, you might see a battery icon on a laptop.

You can use Quick Settings not just to turn settings on or off, but to customise how you use some of them. Those that allow for customization have a right arrow next to them. So, for example, click the Wi-Fi icon to show all available Wi-Fi networks and select which you want to use.

Below the icons is a volume control for your speakers. To the volume control’s right you’ll find a link to Settings, as well as an edit icon that when clicked lets you change which settings appear in Quick Settings. 

Focus: 

Focus is a new feature in Windows 11 that helps you minimise distractions. To help you stay on track, it integrates with the Clock app with features like a focus timer and music integration.

When you're in a focus session, the following will happen:

• A focus timer will appear on your screen
• Do not disturb will turn on
• Apps in the taskbar won’t flash to alert you
• Badge notifications on apps in the taskbar will turn off

You'll receive a notification when your focus session has ended. If you need to, you can also end a focus session early.

Snip tool (Screen Grab / Screenshots) 

To take a screenshot (snip) in Windows 11, follow these steps:

Keyboard shortcut method:

1. Press Windows logo key + Shift + S.
2. The screen will darken, and a small bar will appear at the top.
3. Choose a shape (e.g., rectangular) from the bar and use the selection tool to capture a snip of the screen

Print Screen Key method

1. Press the Print Screen key on your keyboard for a static image snip. 
   • This key might be labelled PrtScn, PrtSc or similar on your keyboard.
2. Paste (CTRL+V) the snip into an Office program or any app of your choice.

Save as an image file

1. Press Windows logo key + Print Screen.
2. Find your screenshot in PNG format by navigating to Pictures > Screenshots in your directory.

Related article:

Windows 11 supports a variety of keyboard shortcuts and you can find out about them on the Microsoft webpage.

 

RGU IT and Digital 

Service Catalog Portal: Support : IT Service Desk (freshservice.com)

https://itservicedesk.rgu.ac.uk

Tel: 01224 262777