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Windows 10 Secrets

Top tips you need to know to enable you to work smarter and more efficiently.

View disk usage

Is the disk drive becoming full, leaving very little room for files and apps? If you are not sure then check the amount of space that is used and free using File Explorer.

Recover lost space

If you have a very large disk drive with lots of free space for your photos, music, videos and apps, then you are lucky. Many people struggle for disk space and if you have an old computer that has been upgraded to Windows 10 you might find that there is little disk space left. A new PC with a solid state disk (SSD) also struggles for space because SSDs are often small. Both new and old PCs can struggle to find space for all your apps and media files. So what is the solution?

  • Right-click the disk in Explorer and select Properties to see the disk space used.
  • Click Disk Clean-up in the previous screenshot and click OK when it finishes scanning.

Cleaning up the disk drive can release several gigabytes of free space and it can make a significant difference to the computer. With an extra few gigabytes you can add more photos, music, documents and apps. Windows provides the means to scan the disk for unnecessary files, junk and temporary files as well as ones that are no longer needed. Right-click a drive in Explorer and select Properties, then use the Disk Clean-up button.

Configure Mouse Settings

The mouse may not be something that you have thought about, but like all components in the computer, it can be customized and the settings can be changed. Click Start and then Settings. Click Devices and then select 'Mouse & touchpad' on the left. On the right is an option to set the primary mouse button to left or right. Left handed people might find it more convenient to click with the right button because it is their index finger.

Advanced Mouse Settings

  1. Double-click speed: Open the Control Panel and click Mouse. Set the double-click speed.
  2. Pick a pointer: Select the Pointers tab and choose the style from the Scheme list.
  3. Set pointer options: Set the mouse speed on the Pointer options tab and set trails too.
  4. Spin the wheel: Set the number of lines to scroll when spinning or tilting the mouse wheel.

Customize the touchpad

If you use a laptop computer, it will have a touchpad or trackpad. There may be left and right buttons below it, or the touchpad itself may be used as a button for clicking. Sometimes the bottom right corner is use to right click. It is also possible to tap with one finger for a left click or two fingers for a right click. Pinch and spread, and swiping up/down or left/right with one, two or three fingers might be used to perform functions too. Go to Start → All apps and click Control Panel. Look for Trackpad, Touchpad, or something similar to access the settings. The options may vary, so choose what suits you.

Find the trackpad settings in the Control Panel for various tap, drag and swipe actions.

Configure File Explorer

Many of the features of Explorer were in Windows 8, but the Windows 10 version has some new features that were not in previous versions of the app and here we take a look at them. Explorer has a search box in the top right corner and it is useful for finding files on the disk. Click in the box, type a word to identify the file and hit Enter. Explorer scans the disk and displays the search results. Explorer is good at finding files when you know the name, but what if you are not sure what it is called? If you know what is in the file, such as a document, you can search within files for words and phrases.

Select the View tab in Explorer, click the Options button and then Change folder and search options. Select the Search tab in the window that is displayed. There is an option to Always search file names and contents. Tick the box. Searches take longer, but are more thorough. If you have zip files, which are compressed archives containing one or more files, there is an option to include them in the search. Tick the box if you need to search within zips.

Use File History

  1. Control Panel: Open the Control Panel on Start → All apps, and then click File History.
  2. Turn it on: File History saves backups of files to an external disk for security. Click Turn on.
  3. Back up files: Click 'Run now' to back up files and store a copy on the external disk.
  4. Set advanced settings: Click Advanced Settings and choose how often to back up files.

Configure OneDrive

OneDrive provides free online storage for your files and it is particularly useful for storing backups of files and photos, and for sharing files across two or more computers. There are some configuration options that can be used to change the way it works. Click the little up arrow at the right side of the taskbar to see a status report. It shows whether the OneDrive folder on the computer is synced with OneDrive online. Right-click the icon and a menu is displayed. Select Manage Storage to open a web browser window that shows how much space you have and how much is free. Select Settings on the menu and a small window opens with several tabs containing configuration settings. These enable you to set performance options, choose whether OneDrive starts with Windows and other options.

Manage OneDrive

  1. Check OneDrive space: Right-click OneDrive and select Manage storage to see your online space usage.
  2. Customize OneDrive settings: Right-click OneDrive and click Settings. Save files to the PC or OneDrive.
Check app sizes by going to Settings → System → Storage. Click the disk and then apps.

Recover from Faults

Problems are rare, but if you are really unlucky then a serious one might require the PC to be reset. This solves many problems and it gets the PC working again. Click Start → Settings → Update & Security → Recovery. Click 'Get started' under Reset this PC.

There are three ways to reset the PC and the first is 'Keep my files'. This removes apps and settings, and refreshes Windows with the default settings, but it keeps your files in the Documents, Pictures, Videos and Music folders. You will not lose any files, so this is a safe option to try.

The second option, 'Remove everything', completely erases everything - Windows, Settings, your files and so on. It installs a fresh copy of Windows, but you must copy your files to an external disk before starting. The third option, 'Restore factory settings', also erases everything and it puts the PC back as it was when you bought it. Back up your files first.

Increase your privacy

There are many privacy settings in Windows 10 and in fact, there are more than in previous versions of the operating system. This gives you greater control over what can be shared and who sees information about you and your computer. The amount of information shared looks scary at first, but there is nothing to be concerned about and if you really don't want to share anything, there are controls to block everything.

An example is the Privacy options when using Wi-Fi networks. Go to Start → Settings → Network & Internet → Wi-Fi → Advanced options. Use the switch to make your PC discoverable by others or to hide it. The idea is that you can share stuff at home, but hide a laptop when using a public Wi-Fi hotspot. Go to Start → Settings → Network & Internet → Wi-Fi → Manage Wi-Fi settings. There are options to share network login details with your friends and contacts. It is your choice. Clear the tick boxes if you don't.

Increase Wi-Fi privacy

  1. Hide your computer: Switch on 'Find devices and content' at home, and off in public.
  2. Shared Wi-Fi: Wi-fi Sense shares login details with others, but can be blocked.

Set privacy options

  1. Location, location: Some apps can work out your location. Use the switches to block them.
  2. Who’s watching?: Use these switches to prevent unwanted apps from accessing the webcam.
  3. Too familiar: Cortana gets to know your voice and writing. Stop it if you prefer.
  4. Friendly access: Do you want apps to access your contacts? Block them if you don't.