For most of us, we use our laptops throughout our day. It’s our most trusted partner for getting the job done. But admittedly, almost all of us, even while using computers 24/7, don’t know how to use them to their full potential.
For many, laptops are more than just tools—they're essential for work, study, and creativity. Yet, hidden within their systems are shortcuts, settings, and features that can make daily tasks faster and easier. Learning just a few of these can transform the way you use your device, saving time and effort.
Here at GigaHertz, our pride comes from our productivity. We do all our work here with our computers. If your computer runs on the Microsoft Windows OS, we’ll share a few tips and tricks to boost productivity and save time.
Asking for the Manager
Everyone should know about the CTRL + ALT + DEL shortcut, which brings you to a different screen where you’ll find the task manager. When an application crashes, we usually have to force close the program. But, we can make things easier when we just hit the CTRL + Shift + ESC, and it will directly open the task manager. You'll avoid slowing down the process of going to a different screen.
Start Now!
Press Windows + X to quickly open a menu with shortcuts to essential Windows 11 tools. You can access files like File Explorer, Settings, Control Panel, and other system tools here. This shortcut saves time by letting you access these features directly, rather than navigating through the Start menu. Pretty useful, right?
Directly to Desktop
Tired of minimizing various applications when all you want to do is just go to your desktop? Just press Windows + D, and your desktop will appear by minimizing all open applications. You’ll find yourself seeing your desktop by minimizing all your running applications.
Undo the Undo
Are you indecisive about your decision? Have you ever written something, undone it because you didn’t like it, then quickly realized you actually want it back? Rest easy, by clicking CTRL + Y, you can start undoing what you undid.
Lock off!
Navigating the start menu can really slow you down. What if you needed to use the bathroom right away but hesitated, afraid someone might access your file while you're gone? Don’t stress, all you need to do is click Windows + L to immediately lock your computer. You can now go to the bathroom faster because you don’t need to navigate the start button and find the lock button.
Check your Spell
Do you type on your keyboard rapidly? To the point that it looks like you're smashing? I'm also like this, I get on a roll when creating articles and become unstoppable. I finish my writing spree and then spot all the misspellings caused by my fast typing.
Don't worry, you can check your errors. To check for spelling errors, click on a word, then hit the F7 button. Use Fn + F7 if your keyboard has a dedicated shortcut for your F buttons. This works on both Windows and Mac.
Sliding Between Browser Tabs
If you're having a hard time managing different tabs on your browser. Then, a tip that I can give you is to click the CTRL + Number Button of the corresponding tab you want to go to.
If you want to go back to a previous tab, and if it’s the third one open on your browser, then click CTRL + 3 to switch between tabs. And if you have too many tabs open or you don’t know what number the tab you want to go to is, you can navigate through all your tabs by CTRL + Tab.
Search and Find
Picture this, you’re reading a long page article and you want to search for a specific word. A popular shortcut for students for this specific instance is using the CTRL + F. With this shortcut, you can chill and search for specific words in a document for related text. You can use the same shortcut in a browser window to search for words on a webpage.
Remove Distractions
Focus Assist can help prevent notifications from appearing on your screen when you need to limit distractions while working. To use this feature, open Settings and move to the System section, then click Focus Assist.
If you select Alarms only, alarms are the only notifications that will disturb you. Select which notifications to allow using the priority-only option. Set specific times for Focus Assistant to turn on automatically.
Custom Screenshot
You probably already know that you can take a screenshot by pressing Print Screen and then pasting the contents of the clipboard. But you probably don’t know that you can launch the Snipping Tool application when you press Windows + Shift + S. The Snipping Tool can help you take just a portion of your screen rather than screenshotting your whole screen, then cropping what you just need. This will save some time and space.
Did you learn a lot from this article? Utilizing your gadget to its full potential can really help with making tasks easier. You can use all these hacks to be faster and more productive at work or school. Heck, you can even use some of these while gaming.
If these tips aren’t enough for you and you really need a new laptop to stay consistent and handle multiple tasks. Then you can look for an upgrade here at GigaHertz and check for mainstream laptops that are good for office setups.