Some Windows 11 settings can definitely help in boosting your productivity if you know which ones to use.
Many people miss simple tweaks that make work faster and easier.
In this blog, you will learn the best Windows 11 settings to save time, stay organized, and work smarter every day—perfect for busy professionals who want to get more done without wasting energy on small tasks.
1. Start Menu Customization
The Start menu may seem less important than other elements, but it is the gateway to all your computer’s applications and settings. It is used constantly to launch applications, perform searches, and carry out other tasks. This means it has enormous potential to improve productivity.
These are some great ways you can customize your start menu to avoid wasting time and unnecessary clicks:
- Pin Apps That You Use Regularly: You can right-click on any app and select “Pin to Start. This is only a click away from your most-used applications.
- Folderize to Organize: Apps can be drag and dropped on top of one another to form folders. Use these labels to make it easier to identify them.
- Tailor Start Menu Layout: Settings > Personalization > Start. Here, you can select the folders that appear in Start and customize the layout to your preference.
2. Virtual Desktops
They are perfect for organizing your workspace, and the best part is that you can assign separate desktops for different tasks or uses, for example: one for work and another for personal use. That way, everything is where it belongs. Here’s how you can do it:
- Create a New Desktop: Click the Task View button on the taskbar or press Win + Tab. Click on “New Desktop” to add a new virtual space.
- Switch Between Desktops: Use Ctrl + Win + Left/Right Arrow to switch desks.
3. Snap Layouts and Snap Groups
Are you a multitasker? If you’re someone who works on several tasks at once, then these tools are for you. With them, you can adjust windows into positions so you can work with them side by side. To do this, simply:
- Use Snap Layouts: Hover over the maximize button on any window to see available snap layouts. Choose a layout to snap the window into place.
- Create Snap Groups: Snap windows into a layout. Windows 11 remembers the group. Hover over the taskbar icons to see and restore the snap group.
4. Focus Assist
This option is for you if you are easily distracted. It is designed to help you concentrate and avoid distractions. See how easy it is to activate:
- Turn on Focus Assist: Search “Focus” from the taskbar search and click Focus Settings. Select your options, and press a button to begin a session.
- Auto Rules: You can also set automatic rules, so Focus Assist chooses a time to auto-enable. Say, when you mirroring your display or playing a game.
5. Widgets
Widgets give you quick access to tailored content such as news, weather, calendar and more.
- Open Widgets: Select the Widgets icon in the taskbar or hit Win + W.
- Change Widgets: Add/remove widgets. Resize and reposition them how you want.
6. Taskbar Customization
Anything with “custom” in its name is great. You can organize your taskbar THE WAY YOU LIKE IT, for example: Hide icons you don’t use to avoid distractions and easily find what you’re looking for.
Below, see how you can pin something to the taskbar and how to access the general settings:
- Pin Apps To Taskbar: Right-click on any app and pick “Pin to taskbar” for easier access.
- Taskbar Settings: Take a right-click on the taskbar and select “Taskbar settings.” There, you can modify taskbar behaviors. Like, hiding it in desktop mode or showing badges on taskbar buttons.
7. Keyboard Shortcuts
Who doesn’t love shortcuts to get to what they want in life faster? Well, this works the same way, and once you get used to them, using them will become second nature. Here are a few you can try:
- Win + E: Open File Explorer.
- Win + I: Open Settings.
- Win + D: Display or hide the desktop.
- Win + L: Lock your PC.
- Alt + Tab: Open apps switcher.
8. Power and Battery Settings
These options will greatly help you preserve your device’s battery, speed up its performance, and even reduce errors. You can view these options by going to Settings > System > Power & battery.
Battery Saver: Turn on this option for longer battery life. Enable it when your device is running low or you’re away from power for a long period of time.
9. Storage Sense
Storage Sense assists you to free up some space on your own disk by automatically removing unneeded files. Here are some options you can try:
Turn on Storage Sense: In Settings, head to System > Storage. Enable Storage Sense and set it to automatic.
Clean Schedule Configuration: Schedule multiple tasks. For example delete temp files, empty recycle bin, remove unused files.
10. Accessibility Features
Windows 11 was designed for everyone! It includes several accessibility features to help users be much more productive:
Magnifier: Use this tool to zoom in on portions of your screen. Press Win + Plus to enable it.
Narrator: Get Narrator to read text from your screen aloud. Open Settings > Accessibility > Narrator.
High Contrast Mode: Increase visibility by watching in high contrast mode. Open Settings > Accessibility > High contrast.
Advanced Multitasking Features
A little more multitasking in case you were left wanting more! These options were designed for workers, people with personal projects, or anyone creative. Get ready to be more agile and have your tasks run more easily.
We have virtual desktops to create separate spaces and better organize work by tasks. In addition, with Alt + Tab and Task View, you can make your multitasking experience more adaptable to your needs.
Basically, with these tools, you can make transitions between spaces easier and stay focused, helping you reduce information overload and optimize your productivity.
Virtual Desktops for Better Workflow
Windows 11 allows you to create multiple desktops for particular projects or activities with Virtual Desktops. This function helps maintain uncluttered and organized workspaces.
For example, one desktop can host your work-related applications, while the second can handle your personal stuff, allowing for easy transitions between projects. It works to minimize distractions and helps you to focus more on what matters, which is particularly beneficial when working on big projects or multitasking throughout the day.
Alt + Tab & Task View Customization
Windows 11 gives you greater control over how you jump between open apps with Alt + Tab and Task View. You can then customize Alt + Tab to only show the apps or you can also include Edge browser tab for even quicker access.
In addition, the task view also displays the activity history, allowing users to quickly resume the task they were previously working on.
Performance Tweaks for Faster Windows 11
The better your PC performs, the more productive you are—it’s simple math. Windows 11 understands this, and with a few small changes, it can help you speed up your work, avoid lag, and make your team more efficient.
This can lead to slow boot times; by disabling unnecessary startup programs and adjusting performance settings to prioritize speed over appearance, you can follow through with this. Windows 11’s Efficiency Mode further ensures that apps do not consume unnecessary resources, helping to extend battery life and boost performance.
In addition, these simple tweaks will get your PC optimized to tackle more demanding tasks more efficiently, ultimately making your user experience MUCH BETTER and faster from work-related tasks to just your everyday use.
Disable Startup Programs
Sometimes it seems like it takes forever between turning on your PC and finishing launching applications, and that’s because you have too many set to start with your startup. You can avoid this by configuring unnecessary programs so that they do not activate at startup, thus freeing up a lot of space that will be more useful for really important tasks.
To try this, right click on the Task bar, click on Task Manager > startup, uncheck (disable) all other unnecessary applications. This one simple action can make your system run remarkably faster and smoother.
Optimize Windows for Best Performance
As you know Windows 11 has options for adjusting and high optimizing maximum performance. Minimize visual effects and animations by going to System Properties and selecting “Adjust for best performance.”
This adjustment reallocates resources towards core functions, increasing speed and efficiency — nice if you’re running on an older or less powerful machine.
Enable Efficiency Mode for Apps
Windows 11 Efficiency Mode helps to limit the resource usage of apps running the background. You can enable it in Task Manager by right-clicking a process and choosing “Efficiency Mode.”
Doing this leads to longer battery life for laptops and allows better multitasking, even with multiple resource-hungry apps.