Windows 11 has acquired dozens of features that the average user doesn’t even know exist. Many of them are truly useful: they speed up work, simplify multitasking, and help improve system control. The problem is, they’re hidden deep within the settings and disabled by default. In this article, we’ll explore four tools that dramatically change the PC experience. You’ll learn how to direct audio from different programs to different speakers or headphones, access the history of everything copied in the last hour, automatically clean your storage, and perfectly arrange windows on the screen.
Assign a separate audio output for each application.
The volume mixer in Windows 11 allows you to route audio from different programs to different playback devices. For example, tracks from Yandex Music can be played on a Bluetooth speaker, while browser audio remains on your laptop’s built-in speakers. To do this, connect your audio devices to your PC, then right-click the volume icon on the taskbar and select “Volume Mixer.” In the window that opens, click the arrow next to each application and select which speakers or headphones you want to play the sound through.
Enable clipboard history.
The built-in clipboard manager in Windows 11 remembers up to 25 of the last copied items, including text and images. To enable history, press Win + V and click “Enable” in the window that appears. Now, every time you press Win + V, a list of your recent copies will open. To prevent an item from disappearing after a reboot, pin it using the pin icon. Unnecessary entries can be deleted using the three-dot menu.
Set up automatic disk cleanup using Storage Sense.
Storage Sense is disabled by default, although it can free up gigabytes of space on its own. To enable it, go to Settings ā System ā Storage ā Storage Sense and toggle the switch to On. Here you can also set the frequency for deleting files from the Downloads folder (for example, every 14 or 30 days) and specify the number of days after which the Recycle Bin is emptied. You can also manually clear temporary files by clicking Run Storage Sense now.
Use Window Snapping for the perfect app placement.
Snap Assist lets you quickly and evenly divide your screen between multiple windows to make efficient use of your workspace. Drag any window up and select one of the templates, and it will automatically fill the selected area. Windows will offer to fill the remaining empty areas with other running applications. This feature is especially useful on large monitors or when working with multiple documents simultaneously.
