5 Home windows 11 settings I instantly change on a...

Every time I carry out a clear set up of

Windows 11
on my desktop or arrange a brand new laptop computer, the very first thing I sort out is adjusting the Home windows settings that hinder my productiveness, privateness, and total enjoyment of the OS.

Do not get me incorrect, Home windows 11 has some

excellent features
proper out of the field. Nevertheless, sure default settings and options will be exceptionally annoying and detract from the person expertise,

with Copilot
and the usual notification settings being key examples. All these settings will be simply adjusted — you needn’t obtain a third-party app or modify any registry settings — and are accessible to any Home windows person.

5

Change your default browser

You possibly can change different app defaults as nicely

Pocket-lint / Microsoft

By default, while you boot up Home windows 11 for the primary time, Microsoft units Edge as your default browser. Whereas I respect Microsoft’s adjustments over time to Edge, it is nonetheless not so good as Chrome or different common browsers like Firefox. One of many first issues I do on any new PC after setting it up is immediately obtain Chrome to exchange Edge.

To vary your default browser, head to Apps > Default Apps > Google Chrome (or no matter your browser of alternative is) and click on Set default. With this enabled, you will be redirected to your new default browser as a substitute of Edge everytime you click on on a hyperlink. In the identical default apps menu, you too can change different default apps for Home windows 11, resembling your media participant for video recordsdata, which I all the time swap to VLC media player as a substitute of the default Home windows Media Participant.

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4

Scale back the quantity of notifications you obtain

I do not want notifications for suggestions Microsoft

Pocket-lint / Microsoft

Home windows 11 can ship numerous notifications that rapidly grow to be overwhelming or distracting while you first begin utilizing it. If you end up receiving too many notifications, whether or not from apps or what Microsoft refers to as “Ideas,” you possibly can scale back them to remain extra centered and declutter your notification heart.

To do that, go to Settings > Notifications. You possibly can then regulate which apps ship you notifications. You possibly can kind them by just lately used, supplying you with an concept of which apps you employ probably the most and would possibly need to hold notifications enabled for. The primary apps I hold enabled are Outlook, Slack, and Discord, basically something communications-related.

Close to the underside of the notifications web page, you will discover Further settings. While you click on that, you will see three choices for Home windows that I like to recommend turning off, one among which supplies “suggestions and strategies when utilizing Home windows” that I discover irritating. My philosophy for Home windows is, if I want to search out one thing out, I will look it up, in any other case I do not want Home windows continually recommending me issues to do.

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3

Say goodbye to Copilot

Sorry Microsoft, I do not want it

Pocket-lint / Microsoft

Microsoft is enjoying an enormous half within the AI revolution with Copilot, its AI chatbot. With Home windows 11, Microsoft has positioned Copilot entrance and heart within the taskbar for customers to expertise. In the event you’re not concerned with AI or don’t need it getting in the way in which, you possibly can eliminate it.

If you wish to take away your Copilot out of your taskbar, merely right-click the icon and unpin it. If you wish to go a step additional and say goodbye to Copilot completely, you possibly can uninstall the app by going to Settings > Apps > Copilot. Then click on the three dots subsequent to Copilot and choose Uninstall. There’s a separate Copilot for Microsoft 365 apps, so this may not have an effect on your potential to make use of it in applications like Phrase or Excel if you wish to use it there.

In case you have a PC with a devoted Copilot key on the keyboard, you too can rebind it to one thing else. To take action, obtain the Microsoft PowerToys app from the Home windows Retailer. While you open PowerToys, go to the Keyboard Supervisor submenu, then choose Remap a key to alter the Copilot key to one thing else.

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Disabling these background companies may assist velocity up your Home windows 11 PC.

You can even reposition the Begin button again to the left

Pocket-lint / Microsoft

Copilot is not the one factor glued to your taskbar while you first boot up Home windows; the Information Widget can also be there. While you hover over the widget or click on on it, it brings up a panel with information, climate, and commercials from MSN. I’ve by no means as soon as opened this widget on objective, nor do I ever plan to, and it feels extra like bloatware than something helpful. If I need to see the information or the climate, I will verify my telephone or look it up.

Fortunately, should you’d want to see the Information Widget gone too, it is simple to eliminate. To take action, head to Settings > Personalization > Taskbar and switch off Widgets to disable it. It’s going to then disappear out of your taskbar for good. In the event you’d want to maintain the Information Widget round simply to see the climate in your taskbar, however not have it open while you merely hover over it, you possibly can change that by opening the Information Widget and going to Settings > Open Widgets board on hover and toggling it off.

Moreover, should you’d want to maneuver your begin button again to the left nook, prefer it was on Home windows 10 and lots of previous variations of Home windows, you are able to do that beneath Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > Taskbar alignment and select Left.

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1

Modify privateness settings

Management how Microsoft makes use of your information

Pocket-lint / Microsoft

Every time I arrange a brand new laptop computer or carry out a recent set up of Home windows 11, my first intuition is to regulate my privateness settings. This offers me management over how and when Microsoft accesses my private information. I’m notably against focused promoting, particularly in Home windows, which is why I concentrate on adjusting the settings to cease apps from utilizing my promoting ID. You are able to do this too by going to Settings > Privateness & Safety > Basic and disabling the choice that enables apps to point out customized advertisements utilizing your promoting ID.

The following privateness setting I modify is diagnostic data. Whereas sending restricted diagnostic information to Microsoft is required to maintain your gadget up to date and safe, you possibly can select to ship elective diagnostic information, which incorporates “information about web sites you browse, how you employ apps and options, and enhanced error reporting,” as per Microsoft. I want to not ship any elective diagnostic information to Microsoft in any respect. To do that your self, head to Settings > Privateness & safety > Diagnostics and suggestions > Ship elective Diagnostic Knowledge, and switch it off.

Moreover, beneath Diagnostics & suggestions, I disable Tailor experiences, which lets Microsoft use your diagnostic information to “improve your product experiences with customized suggestions, advertisements, and proposals.” That is an enormous no thanks for me, so I additionally turned that off. In the event you’re seeking to enhance the efficiency of your PC, then there are additionally settings you can disable to just do that.

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