9 Cool Features to Use in Windows 10

Once computers and laptops are configured to our liking, we use to approach them routinely. After the login page, we do boring stuff, such as opening outlook to check our emails. We fire up the browser to check our bank account, we print pages, we use Word for writing and Excel to fill out spreadsheets.
A few days ago, a friend of mine in Westchester asked me if I would show him if Windows 10 has hidden features that would make the user experience more interesting and productive in some ways. After researching across several resources, I came up with some cool features that I will describe below: and everyone running Windows 10 should take advantage of them:

1- WINDOWS CLOCK

If you want to add more than one clock to the actual Windows 10 interface, you can do that by going into settings, time, and language. There you will see all the settings for your clock. You can add clock for different times zones if you are interested in other areas of the world and if you have to check the time zone before jumping into a Zoom meeting. Adding a new time zone is useful if, for example, you work as IT professional and you have to remote into computers. The second clock will be added as a secondary clock and will be visible under the primary clock. You can see the second clock after hovering on the primary clock at the bottom right or by clicking on it. In total, you can add two more clocks to the primary one.

2- STEPS RECORDER

Head down to the search box and type “steps recorder”. You can use this Windows 10 feature If you have a problem your computer and you want to try to show someone what is wrong with it. As computer troubleshooting errors can be clues for the help desk, users can show the error code that’s coming up. You can push “record” and every time you click the screen, it will record those instances. While you are recording, on the right there is a button where you can add comments. Don’t panic if the screen becomes blurry because that is a prompt to select an area where you can focus the recording on. After you stop recording, you are prompted with another window highlighting the recorded steps. You can also save the recording to a zip file. Once you extract the zip file, you can open the .MHT file with Internet Explorer. Don’t use Microsoft Edge to open the file because it will not work.

3- GOD MODE

God Mode is a cool feature that converts an empty folder in your desktop to the control panel and much more. After having enabled God Mode, users will be able to see connected devices, updates, programs, folder structure and everything will be gathered in a convenient list.
Right-click on a free space on the desktop. Click on “New” and “Folder”.
Enter the folder name GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}.
The God Mode folder will now appear on the desktop with all the control panel functions.

4- REPLACE COMMAND PROMPT WITH POWERSHELL

If you are an advanced user and prefer to use Power Shell, there is a simple way to replace the Command Prompt with PowerShell. In the search box of Windows 10 located at the bottom left, you can type “Taskbar Settings”. Once the taskbar interface shows up you can turn on the “Replace Command Prompt with Windows Power Shell in the Menu”. The slider button is very simple to toggle, and it does not require advanced knowledge.

5- EMOJI

With a simple stroke, it is possible to save same time when adding Emojis to our work. Let’s say we are working on a Word document or on a Power Point presentation and we need to add some Emoji, we can simply type the following:

Which is the Windows button + the period sign.

6- NEARBY SHARING

If you’re familiar with Apple’s airdrop, Microsoft now has a similar feature called nearby sharing
that will let you share content with other Windows 10 computers connected to your network. To enable Nearby Sharing, go to the search box and type “Share”. Click on “Shared Experience settings”. When you select share in Microsoft Word and many other programs including photos, you should see nearby computers.

7- BUILT-IN CALCULATOR

Many of us are already familiar with the built-in calculator, but the Windows10 calculator can do the extra mile for its users. When we open it up, we see it that it works in standard mode, but if we click on the three lines on the top left of it, a wide arrange of new features comes up. The calculator can become a scientific calculator that can calculate logarithms. It can be also used by a programmer as it has program functions and, at the bottom, it can also convert currency, temperature from Fahrenheit to Celsius and vice versa, time (hours, seconds, milliseconds etc.) and speed (km to miles and vice versa).

8- TIME DIFFERENCE

This Windows 10 feature is helpful when you want to see the time difference between different areas of the world. In the search tab at the bottom left, you can type “Alarm” and when the Alarms and Clock app shows up, click on it. Go to the clock tab. The tab will show primarily your location, but if you click at the bottom right on the + plus sign, you can add a location and it will calculate the time difference between your current location and the new location. If you have friends, family or business and you have to speak to them, that is a good reminder to you of the time zone that people live in.

9- STORAGE SENSE

Storage Sense is a nice feature to have especially if we have a computer or a laptop with a smaller hard drive. The feature can also automate the process of getting rid of worthless junk on your PC. Go back to the bottom left search box and type “Storage”. Click on “Storage Settings” and the Storage interface comes up. Make sure that Storage Sense is enabled and if you also click on the configuration, you can let that feature run when the disk space is low (which I do not recommend) or every month, which is what I suggests as a periodic cleanup of unnecessary files.

Your days can be more productive if you are looking for things to do with Windows 10. These features can help you save time and get most of your Windows experience. Windows 10 is packed with new features that give you more ways to express yourself and create than ever before.