9 things I always do after setting up Windows 11 – and why you should too

On a system you personal and handle personally, you have got two selections for organising your major person account: a Microsoft account, or a neighborhood account. (In case your PC is in a managed company setting, you may have both a site account otherwise you’ll check in with Entra ID, previously generally known as Azure Lively Listing. Both means, your administrator is the boss, not you, and this text would not apply to you.)

Outdated-timers will most likely desire a neighborhood account as a result of it is what they’ve used for many years. Nevertheless it’s the improper alternative today, at the very least if you happen to care about safety. 

Utilizing a Microsoft account offers you three benefits you possibly can’t get with a plain-vanilla native account:

• You possibly can activate two-factor authentication and Home windows Good day, which lets you check in utilizing fingerprint or face-recognition {hardware}.
• You possibly can shield the contents of your system drive with robust encryption, even if you happen to’re utilizing Home windows 11 House version (to ensure encryption is turned on, go to Settings > Privateness & safety > Gadget encryption).
• You should utilize Microsoft’s account restoration instruments to recuperate your encrypted knowledge if you happen to neglect your password.

And, in fact, you probably have a Microsoft 365 Household or Private subscription that makes use of your Microsoft account, you get fast entry to Workplace apps and a terabyte of cloud storage.

You are not required to make use of the Microsoft-supplied electronic mail tackle for something however this single goal. And if you happen to create a brand new Microsoft account as a part of the Home windows 11 setup, it isn’t linked to any present telephone quantity or electronic mail tackle, which suggests the tackle cannot be used to trace your on-line exercise.

The very last thing you need to do is make a bunch of customizations, solely to find that one thing went improper with the preliminary setup and it’s important to begin over. So, earlier than transferring on, undergo this guidelines:

• Verify that the proper Home windows version is put in and that it is correctly activated. You will discover these particulars in System > Activation.
• Proper-click Begin (or press Home windows key + X) after which click on Gadget Supervisor on the Fast Hyperlink menu. For those who see any entries with a pink X or a yellow exclamation level, it’s good to discover and set up the proper driver.
• Open Settings > Home windows Replace and get the newest updates. You would possibly must restart at the very least as soon as to complete putting in all obtainable updates.
• Verify with the PC producer’s assist web site for any up to date drivers that is perhaps obtainable for system parts. Pay particular consideration to BIOS updates and chipset drivers.

Your Begin menu might be cluttered with shortcuts to apps you do not want and can by no means use. PC makers, for instance, love to put in trial variations of antivirus applications, within the hopes that you will purchase a full subscription they usually’ll get a fee. 

Within the Home windows 10 period, Microsoft minimize offers with third-party app builders to sprinkle shortcuts throughout the Begin menu on each new set up. A few of these shortcuts represented third-party apps and video games, which had been presumably positioned on this high-value actual property in change for bounties paid by the homeowners of these third-party apps and companies. Usually, they included apps for streaming-media companies (Spotify, Disney+, Prime Video) and social media (TikTok, Instagram, and Fb).

Microsoft seems to have ended these offers, primarily based on my current expertise putting in Home windows 11. However they may come again anytime, they usually would possibly nonetheless be hanging round on PCs which might be just a few years outdated.

The excellent news is that these shortcuts are usually not put in by default. They take up minuscule quantities of disk house, and each could be eliminated rapidly.

In comparison with its predecessors, the Home windows 11 Begin menu is severely simplified. It has a piece for pinned icons on the high, and beneath that may be a Really helpful part, which reveals shortcuts to apps and paperwork you’ve got used just lately. On the backside of the menu are your profile image and an influence button — and that is it. A brand new Begin menu is within the works, however it’s rolling out very slowly.

To make the Begin menu a bit extra helpful, go to Settings > Personalization > Begin > and make just a few customizations. Use the choices on the high to vary the allotment of house between the Pinned and Really helpful sections. You possibly can’t disguise the Really helpful part, however you need to use the switches on that web page to cover shortcuts that might in any other case seem. 

Whenever you transfer to a brand new PC, probably the most painful a part of the method is reinstalling all your apps and their settings. That used to contain a tedious strategy of trying to find the installer recordsdata, downloading them from the developer’s web site, and hoping that you just weren’t tricked into putting in a malware-laden pretend app as a substitute.

For those who dread that prospect, I’ve excellent news. A lot of the apps you utilize often are actually obtainable in trusted repositories which might be managed and vetted by Microsoft. Prior to installing a brand new app, verify to see whether or not it is within the Microsoft Retailer, which now consists of conventional Home windows desktop apps. If it isn’t there, strive utilizing the Winget command-line device. 

For many who cringe on the considered utilizing a command immediate, set up the UniGetUI device, which wraps an easy-to-use shell across the Winget repository.

On a recent set up of Home windows 11, Microsoft assumes you need to use its Edge browser. Your different recordsdata are going to open in Microsoft apps as properly. PDF recordsdata will open in Edge, audio and video recordsdata within the Media Participant app, and so forth.

After you put in your most well-liked apps, be certain that they’re set because the default. Go to Settings > Default Apps, click on the menu itemizing for these third-party apps, and alter no matter must be modified. 

One significantly pesky setting is the mailto: affiliation, which I’ve discovered all the time needs to open within the Outlook (new) app as a substitute of Outlook (basic). 

Positive, Home windows is working nice proper now. However you realize the day will come when one thing goes sideways and it’s good to make just a few small repairs.

When that day comes, you may be very completely satisfied that you just had the foresight to create a bootable USB restoration drive. And if you happen to add the Home windows set up recordsdata to that drive, you possibly can simply reinstall Home windows and get again to work.

I’ve full directions right here: Learn how to create a Home windows restoration drive in 4 straightforward steps – earlier than it is too late.

For those who signed in with a Microsoft account, then your system drive is encrypted by default.  if you happen to’re working Home windows 11 Professional, Enterprise, or Training, you possibly can encrypt any drive and you do not want a Microsoft account. (Nevertheless it’s nonetheless a good suggestion — see Merchandise 1 on this checklist!)

That encryption is powerful and, for all sensible functions, unbreakable. If one thing occurs to your PC, you would possibly end up unable to learn these recordsdata with out supplying a 48-digit restoration key.

The entire directions are right here: “Learn how to discover your BitLocker restoration key – and save a safe backup copy earlier than it is too late.”

For those who signed in to Home windows with a Microsoft account whenever you arrange your PC, go to https://microsoft.com/recoverykey and check in with the identical account (private or enterprise). That opens a listing exhibiting the restoration keys for all units the place you’ve got used that account. 

It is a killer function you probably have Home windows 11 Professional, Enterprise, or Training. It means that you can immediately spin up a safe digital machine (VM) with none advanced setup. The VM is totally remoted out of your predominant system, so you possibly can go to a suspicious web site or take a look at an unknown app with out threat. Whenever you’re finished, shut the sandbox, and it vanishes utterly, eradicating all traces of your experiment.

Though it makes use of the identical virtualization options as Hyper-V, you needn’t activate Hyper-V, and it makes use of solely a tiny quantity of system sources.

To get began, click on Search and kind Home windows Options, then click on the shortcut to open the “Flip Home windows options on or off” dialog field. Scroll to the underside of the checklist and click on the field to the left of the Home windows Sandbox function. After you restart, you may discover a Home windows Sandbox shortcut on the Begin menu.