Windows offers numerous features and settings. So many, in fact, that you may have overlooked some of them. Here we present you a series of useful and somewhat more advanced options. These are all accessible via the settings, in both Windows Home and Pro.
There are countless settings in Windows. We have divided them into ten categories:
- System
- Devices
- Network and internet
- Personalize
- Apps and features
- Accounts
- To search
- Update
- Restore
In previous Windows versions, you primarily configured the system through the Control Panel or, for complex adjustments, through the Windows Registry ( Windows key+R and run regedit ). You can still access the Control Panel through the Start menu , but with each new Windows version, more settings move to the Settings section . You can open this by right-clicking the Windows Start button or by pressing Windows key+I .
This article focuses entirely on the Settings section, mainly within Windows 11 (Home and Pro), although many functions are also available in Windows 10, possibly via other menu options. Here we make our own selection of the most interesting and at the same time more advanced settings. We have grouped these into ten themes that largely reflect the settings structure. Such a division seems useful to us but, admittedly, is at the same time somewhat artificial, because some functions can belong in multiple themes.
System
Most monitors offer a range of refresh rates, which indicate how many times the image is refreshed per second. A higher rate makes the image smoother, which is nice when watching videos or gaming. For computer activities such as browsing, viewing photos or word processing, a higher rate is less beneficial. Keep in mind that a higher rate uses slightly more power and puts a bit more strain on your graphics hardware.
You can view your frequency options by going to System / Display , selecting Advanced display , and selecting Choose a refresh rate. Here you may also find the Dynamic option , where Windows will determine the frequency itself based on what you’re doing.
In terms of energy, you can set an optimal power plan via System / Power , where you can choose between Best performance, Balanced or Best energy efficiency for Power mode . To set your own power plan, you still have to go to the Control Panel , where you select Hardware and Sound / Power Options and click on Change plan settings for your preferred plan . We will not discuss this option further here.
Devices
To control your mobile phone from your PC, for example for WhatsApp messages or taking screenshots, navigate to Bluetooth and Devices / Mobile devices . Enable Allow this PC to access your mobile devices and Phone link , click on Manage devices and Add device and follow the instructions. Once your phone is linked, make sure it is enabled in the Manage mobile devices window . Enable Use as connected camera to use your phone as a PC webcam. Open Phone link in the Mobile devices window to control your phone from Windows and click on the thumbnail at the top left for a live view of your phone screen.
To optimize your webcam image, go to Bluetooth & Devices / Cameras . Select your webcam and you should be able to adjust settings like Brightness , Contrast , Sharpness , Saturation and Video Rotation here . Your phone, if paired and set up correctly, will also appear here.
Network and internet
When you type a web address in an application in Windows, your internet provider’s DNS (Domain Name System) server normally looks up the corresponding IP address. This process is not encrypted, so the administrator of that server can see which websites you visit. You can choose to have this encrypted via a DNS server that supports DNS over HTTPS (DoH).
To do this, go to Network & Internet and choose Ethernet or Wi-Fi / Hardware properties . Click Edit under DNS server assignment , select Manual and enable IPv4 . Under Preferred DNS , enter the address of a DoH server, such as 1.1.1.1 from Cloudflare or 9.9.9.9 from Quad9. Set DNS over HTTPS to On (manual template) and enter https://cloudflare-dns.com/dns-query or https://dns.quad9.net/dns-query as a template for DNS over HTTPS . Under Alternate DNS , do the same, only use 1.1.0.1 from Cloudflare or 149.112.112.112 from Quad9. Test if you are connected to a DoH server from Cloudflare via https://one.one.one.one/help (Figure 4) . Your settings will affect all network activity on your PC unless a different DNS or DoH server is configured in your web browser.
Personalization
Themes are a quick way to customize Windows with a combination of backgrounds, sounds, and colors. Select a theme from Personalization / Themes and click Browse Themes for more options online. You can also customize a theme by selecting Use Custom Theme and changing Background, Color , Sounds , and/or Mouse Cursor. When everything is to your liking, click Save in the Themes window and give your theme a name. To apply it, click the thumbnail. To share the theme, right-click the thumbnail and choose Save Theme for Sharing. Double-click the deskthemepack file to install the theme on another PC.
In addition, you can add fonts to your system yourself, so that you can also find them automatically in applications such as Word. For example, www.dafont.com has an impressive, searchable collection of fonts. Download a zip file, unpack it, go to Personal Settings / Fonts and drag the font file (otf or ttf) into the pane.
Apps and features
If a file type such as jpg or pdf no longer opens in your trusted application because another application has hijacked the file extension, here’s how to fix it. Go to Apps and select Default apps . Type in the file extension in question; the currently associated application will appear below. Click on it to choose an alternative in a pop-up window and confirm with Set default location . If the desired alternative is not there, scroll down, select Choose an app on your PC and point to a suitable application.
To set a different default browser, type the name of the browser, such as Brave , into the Apps search and click it. Confirm with Set Default . This browser will then adopt the necessary file extensions, such as html(l), shtml, and pdf, unless you change them separately.
Windows includes optional features, only some of which are enabled by default. You can find these under System / Optional Features. Click Show Features to see a list of features that are not yet installed. You’ll find several additional fonts for foreign languages and various software such as OpenSSH Server, XPS Viewer, and Windows Fax and Scan (a handy interface for your scanner or AIO printer).
Accounts
Microsoft encourages the use of a Microsoft account when installing Windows. If you want to switch to a local account later, for example for privacy reasons, there are actually two options.
Already signed in with your Microsoft account and want to keep your personal files and settings, but without the integration of Microsoft cloud services like OneDrive or automatic device syncing? Go to Accounts / Your info . From there, click Sign in with a local account instead and follow the instructions.
Would you rather have a completely new user profile? Then go to Accounts and select Other users. Click Add account. In the new window, click I don’t have this person’s sign-in information and then Add a user without a Microsoft account. Enter an account name, a password twice, and answer three security questions. Confirm with Next. Click on the newly added account and choose Change account type. For security reasons, it is advisable to set the account you usually log in with as a Standard user and not as an administrator.
Search function
Windows has a search function that works by using indexing, a method of creating a database of information about folders and files, which makes searching faster. By default, Windows only searches your Documents, Pictures, Music folders, and your Desktop. You can expand the search area to your entire PC by going to Privacy and Security / Search in Windows, where you select Advanced under Search My Files. Below are the folders that are excluded from searches by default.
Click Add an Excluded folder for additional exceptions. At the top, enable Respect power settings when indexing to save battery power. Scroll to Advanced indexing options, where you can see how many items have already been indexed. Click Change and check the (sub)folders you want to be indexed and confirm with OK. Then click Advanced and specify on the File types tab which file extensions should be indexed and whether this should only apply to file properties or also to the file content, as far as readable. At the bottom, you can also add your own file extensions, such as PHP or py, useful if you often work with scripts.
Updates
Windows SettingsThanks to a built-in update function, Windows always stays up to date. You can customize the update process via Windows Update. You can temporarily pause updates by choosing Pause for a week, for example, which is useful if you don’t want to be disturbed by updates during important work.
You can also specify in Advanced options / Usage times that your device should not restart for updates for a set number of hours (up to a maximum of eighteen hours). Here you can also set whether you want to receive updates for other Microsoft products. In Additional Options you can click on Optional updates for (driver) updates that Windows does not install by default, but that you may need. In Update history, you will find the option Uninstall updates at the bottom, where you will get a list of updates that you can remove if they cause problems.
Recovery
If your Windows system is seriously messed up, System / System Restore offers several recovery options. Under Fix problems, without resetting your PC / Other troubleshooters you can start troubleshooting for issues with audio, printers, and network connections, among others.
For more serious problems, go to Recovery Options / Advanced Startup Options. Close all applications and click Restart Now twice. After a reboot, select Troubleshoot / Advanced Options, for a WinRE screen with several options. For example, you can choose Startup Repair, where Windows will attempt to automatically repair the boot process. Or you can go for Startup Settings, to start Windows in Safe Mode to do things like remove problematic drivers. Other options include Command Prompt, Uninstall updates, System Restore (to go back to an earlier restore point), and UEFI Firmware Settings (for your UEFI/BIOS setup window).
Recovery options also include the Reset this PC option, which lets you reinstall Windows with or without keeping your personal files, apps, and settings.
Security
In recent years, Microsoft has significantly strengthened the security of Windows. This is reflected in the many advanced security options. We will explain a few of them.
Go to Privacy and Security and open Windows Security. Select Virus & Threat Protection and click Manage Ransomware Protection. If you enable Controlled folder access, Windows will protect important data from unauthorized changes. With Protected folders, you can choose which data you want to protect and with Allow an app with Controlled Folder Access / Add an allowed app you can still give specific apps access to this data.
If you often visit unknown sites and download software, open the App & browser control section and enable Reputational protection (especially if you also use the Edge browser). You can make adjustments via Reputational protection settings. Feel free to also check out the Smart App Control and Exploit Protection options, but in general, the default settings are fine. Under Device security / Core isolation, you can enable Memory integrity for extra protection, but we have already found that this can cause problems with some apps, such as with virtualization.
Finally, under System / For developers you can enable Developer Mode. This will allow you to install and use apps outside of the Microsoft Store (sideloading). Be aware that this may be slightly less secure.
