Navigating Windows 11 becomes a lot easier when you know some new tricks bundled with the latest operating system by Microsoft. Some debuted with the OS, while others have slowly appeared in the last four version updates.

We at Windows Latest use quite a few of them almost every time we need to perform an action on the PC and speed up our processes. Let’s have a look at some of the lesser-known tricks that can help you become a pro user.

1. Opening apps with admin rights

Windows 11’s Start Menu can find the apps without clicking the search bar and presents you with app related options in the right pane. But what if you wanted to open an app with admin rights without using the mouse at all?

The Ctrl+Shift+Enter keyboard shortcut can help you with it. After you find the relevant app in the Start menu search and it’s highlighted in the menu, you can press this keyboard shortcut combination to launch the app as admin.

You’ll encounter the UAC prompt window and can click on or use the arrow keys to highlight the OK button and press Enter to finalize the action. We use it to launch both CMD and Powershell all the time, and now you can use it, too.

2. OCR everywhere

Multiple Windows apps have gained OCR capabilities in the last couple of years. Snipping Tool is among the first of these apps to help you scan text from images and extract them without needing an internet connection or Google Lens. It’s very reliable and we use it for copying important details from invoice images all the time.

You can also scan QR codes in the Snipping Tool, which is a lesser-known feature but very useful in our opinion. You can easily go to the relevant URL without needing to use the phone camera to scan it and then send the link to the PC.

Even the Phone Link app can scan text from your images, and so can the Photos app. Microsoft is on a roll with OCR, and it’s something that most OS should include.

3. End tasks from the Taskbar

Stuck and glitched processes are a common sight for any Windows user. You have to use the Task Manager to deal with it and end it. The method works–we’ve been using it since Windows 7, but Windows 11 can help you avoid this long route.

Instead, you can enable the Developer mode on your PC and turn on the End Task option for the Taskbar. Now, you can simply right-click on the stuck app and end it from the Taskbar.

4. Taskbar Focus and App Launching

Microsoft introduced Taskbar Focus improvements with the August 2024 patch Tuesday update, and is a slick way to select pinned apps on Taskbar. All you need to do is press the Win + T shortcut to enable the mode.

Then, you can press the app’s first letter of its name to select it. If there are multiple apps beginning with the same letter, you can press the same letter key to select the next app. All the usual actions, like the left and right arrow keys for highlighting the next app icon and other keys, also work.

We also use the app launching with the keyboard feature. Just press the Win + any number key to launch, switch to, or maximize/minimize an open app. For example, I have the Premier Pro, VMware, and a few other apps pinned on the Taskbar.

If I press the Win + 1 key, the Premier Pro app will launch. If it’s already open, doing so will switch to it. Lastly, if I press the shortcut while using the app window, it’ll be minimized. Pressing it again will maximize it.

5. Window switching actions

Alt+Tab is a lifesaver, and you can press the Delete key on a highlighted app window to close it without visiting it.

Similarly, you can press the middle mouse key in the thumbnail preview of the Taskbar to close the window.

6. Snipping Tool actions

Microsoft’s feature-packed tool can launch in a jiffy whenever you need it. Press the Win+Shift+S to launch the app’s screenshot mode or the Win+Shift+R to open the screen recording mode.

Even if you forget to save the recording or snapshot, the app saves it to the library folder by default. These small quality-of-life improvements make it one of the few apps that we love on Windows 11.

7. Accessing the Windows Recovery Environment page

There are multiple ways to do this. We use it mostly for accessing the Safe mode option in the troubleshooting settings. The easiest method is to open the Start menu, click on the power icon, hold the Shift key and then select the restart option while doing so.

It’ll force the PC to boot to the WinRE page without needing any extra effort. You can also do the same action on the lock screen if you want to access the page without logging in to the PC.

So, these were some of the power user tricks that we use to move around Windows 11 and get the job done in a more convenient way. Tell us more tricks that you frequently use which deserve a mention.

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