Open the Snipping Tool

In order to use the Snipping Tool, you will need to open it first. There are two ways to open the Snipping Tool:

1. Click on the Start button and type “Snipping Tool” in the search bar. Click on the app that appears in search.
2. Use the keyboard shortcut Windows key + Shift + S to open the Snipping Tool. You can change the keyboard shortcut to initiate.

Once the Snipping Tool is open, you can start using it to capture, edit, and save screenshots on Windows 10 or Windows 11.

Use the Snipping Tool to take a screenshot

Once the Snipping Tool is open, you need to pick what mode, or area of the screen you want to capture. Here are your four options:

1. Rectangular mode: Click and drag your mouse to select a rectangular selection of the screen. Release the mouse button when you are finished to take the screenshot.
2. Free-form mode: Left-click and drag your mouse to draw a custom shape around the object you want to capture. Release the mouse button to take the screenshot and the Snipping Tool will automatically save it to your clipboard.
3. Windows mode: Click on the window you want to capture on your screen. The Snipping Tool will automatically capture the window and save it to your clipboard.
4. Full-screen mode: Click the icon to take a screenshot of the entire screen. The Snipping Tool will automatically capture the entire screen and save it to your clipboard.

Paste screenshots or add a delay

After you have captured the screenshot, the Snipping Tool will automatically save the selection to your clipboard and from there you can paste it into any document or image editing software you might use. If you want to paste the screenshot, just use Ctrl + V on your keyboard for the screenshot to paste.

Additionally, you can add a delay to of up to 10 seconds before the Snipping Tool takes a screenshot. Click the Delay button (the clock icon) and choose the number of seconds you want the Snipping Tool to take a screenshot.

Edit screenshots with the Snipping Tool

You can also edit screenshots you take using the Snipping Tool’s built-in editing tools. You can use the pen tool to draw on the screenshot, the highlighter tool to highlight important parts, or the eraser tool to remove any drawings or highlighted parts you don’t want.

Save screenshots as different file formats

When you use the Snipping Tool to take a screenshot, you can save the screenshot in different file formats, including JPEG, PNG, and GIF. In order to save a screenshot in a different format, click on the Save As(Hard Disk icon) button in the top right of the Snipping Tool. Once you choose the file location, file name, and file format you want, click Save again to save the file once you finish editing it.

The Snipping Tool is a simple yet powerful tool that can be used to capture screenshots instantly on Windows 10 or Windows 11. With just a few clicks, you can use the Snipping Tool to take a screenshot of anything on your screen, edit them using the app’s built-in editing tools, or paste and save them for later use.

Windows key alphabet

1. Windows key + A: Opens the Action Center, where you can access quick settings and notifications.
2. Windows key + B: Show hidden icons on the taskbar.
3. Windows key + C: Opens Microsoft Teams Chat (personal).
4. Windows key + D: Minimizes all your open windows and shows your desktop. This can help if you need to quickly access files or shortcuts that are on your desktop.
5. Windows key + E: Opens File Explorer, where you can navigate directly to the files or folders you need.
6. Windows key + I: Opens the Settings app, where you can customize your Windows settings.
7. Windows key + L: Locks your Windows PC and takes you to the login screen that you see when your PC turns on. This is a good way to secure your PC if you need to step away for a moment.
8. Windows key + R: Opens the Run dialog box, where you can quickly run a command.
9. Windows key + S: Opens Search, which you can use to find files, apps, and settings on your Windows PC.
10. Windows key + X: Opens the Quick Link menu, where you can quickly access various Windows system tools and settings.

Mastering the Windows key alphabet can be a game-changer for any Windows 10 or Windows 11 user.

By using these Windows key alphabet keyboard shortcuts, you can perform your daily tasks much more efficiently and save yourself a ton of time. The best part is these shortcuts are easy to remember and can quickly become a habit that you can incorporate into your daily workflow.

With apps like Microsoft’s Phone Link or Intel’s Unison, you can access your phone from your Windows PC, but they don’t work both ways, and you’ll need another way to access your PC from your phone.

Of course, the ability to access your PC remotely has been a thing for a while. But what most people are unaware of is how they can accomplish the same thing right from their Android device. In fact, all you’ve to do is make a few tweaks to the software, and you’ll be well on your way to access your Windows right through your Android.

Remote Desktop

Whether it’s running your Windows from Mac or accessing it from Android remotely, with the help of Remote Desktop you can do it all. It’s a free Microsoft program designed to help you connect with other computers remotely. The only caveat is that you must use either the Pro or Enterprise version of Windows, as Microsoft has made the Remote Desktop unavailable for Windows Home users.

To set up remote access for Windows through your Android, we’ll go about this in two steps. First, we’ll enable remote access on your Windows. Similarly, we’ll then turn to your Android and enable remote access in it. Finally, we can then connect the two apps.

So let’s jump right in.

How to turn on remote access on Windows 10

Before you can do anything with your Android, it’s better to enable remote access on your Windows 10 first. Here’s how you can do that:

• Head to the Start menu search bar, type in ‘settings,’ and select the best match.
• Select System > Remote Desktop.
• Toggle on the Enable Remote Desktop.

You can tweak the settings for the Keep your PC awake for connections when it is plugged in and Make my PC discoverable on private networks to enable automatic connection from a remote device options anytime.

Now, click on Advanced settings and select the Require devices to use Network Level Authentication to connect the radio box. Note down your PC’s name, so you can later connect it to your mobile device.

Turn on the remote access on Windows 11

Even though the basic approach to turning on remote access stays the same across all Windows operating systems, in Windows 11, the steps slightly differ. Here’s how:

1. Head to Settings > System > Remote Desktop.
2. Toggle on the switch for Remote Desktop.
3. Expand the arrow below Remote Desktop and select the Require devices to use Network Level Authentication to connect the checkbox.

Finally, click on Remote Desktop users if you want to give remote access to a different account than your Microsoft Account or company account. Click on Add and enter the username for the account you wish to use.

Turn on remote access on Android

This is the last part for setting up access to control your Windows with Android. Now that you’ve turned on your remote access on your Windows, all that’s left is your Android device.

Head to Google Play, type in ‘remote desktop’ in the search box, and download the app for remote access from there. Click on Open to launch the app. You’ll probably get asked to accept the Microsoft agreement—click on Accept to go ahead.

Your app will be launched. From the main screen of the app, follow the steps below:

• Select the + (plus)icon.
• Click on Add PC.

The app will start searching for any nearby computers. If you’re trying to access a PC that’s far away, however, then you’ll need to add it manually through. Click on Add Manually and type in the name or IP address on your computer.

Click on Ask when required, leave it as is, or click on the option for Add user account and enter the username. Add a short, handy name if you desire.

There are other settings that you can tweak. Microphone, Camera, etc.—change or leave them as you need to. Finally, type in the password. If a certificate asks you for your passwords, click on Connect. That’s it—you’ll be connected to your remote PC.

2. Use AnyDesk to remotely access your Windows from Android

While the above method is super handy, it doesn’t work for the majority of users who use the Home version of Windows. Luckily, we have different options for them.

Plenty of third-party apps, available both in paid and free versions, will help you connect your Windows to Android. For this example, we’ll use the AnyDesk, the free desktop access application designed to give you platform-independent remote access to your personal computers.

To access your Windows from Android remotely, follow the steps below:

1. Head to the official AnyDesk website and download the app from there.
2. Similarly, head to the Play Store on your Android, and download the AnyDesk APK from there.
3. Launch the app on your Windows and note down the assigned address of your app. It’s titled Your Address.
4. Now, go to your AnyDesk app on Android, enter the Remote Address of your Windows that you noted above in the Remote Address search bar, and hit the big arrow button to connect.

As soon as you do this, a dialog box for confirming the connection will appear on your Windows screen. Click on Accept and your connection will be established. That’s it.

You’ll get a slew of instructions about how to use/make the out of AnyDesk on your Android. If this is your first time using AnyDesk, we suggest you give them a brief look; don’t worry, it’ll only take somewhere around a minute or two.

Remotely access Windows with your Android

Accessing your Windows remotely through Android solves many problems. Whether you’re trying to access your PC that’s far away, perhaps an indoor office, or providing access to someone else from far away, using your Android will be helpful.

Prerequisites for installation

To run Linux GUI apps on WSL, you will need to install an X Server on your Windows machine. X Server is a program that allows Linux GUI apps to connect to a display on your Windows machine. Other than that, you just need to make sure you have the following:

1. Windows 10 build 19044 or higher or Windows 11 running on your PC.
2. An installed driver for the virtual graphics processing unit (vGPU) for Intel, AMD, or NVIDIA.

The first step is to enable the WSL feature on your Windows PC. You can click the Start menu to search for “Turn Windows features on or off,” and then check the box next to Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) and press Enter to enable virtualization. You will need to restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

Alternatively, you can open a Windows Terminal and type wsl --install to install WSL if you’ve never installed it before and If you already have WSL installed on your machine, you can open Windows Terminal and type wsl --update and then type wsl --shutdown to restart WSL for the changes to take effect.

Next, you will need to install a Linux distribution, such as Ubuntu, on your Windows machine. You can do this by searching for the Microsoft Store app in the Start menu and then searching for Ubuntu. Once installed, launch the Ubuntu app.

In the Ubuntu terminal, you will need to install the X Server software. You can do this by running the command sudo apt-get install xorg to install the Xorg X Server, or sudo apt-get install xserver-xorg-core to install the Xorg X Server core package.

Once the X Server is installed, you will need to configure it to allow connections from WSL. To do this, you will need to create a new file called .xinitrc in your home directory. This file will contain the command exec startx or exec gnome-session depending on your distro.

Run Linux GUI apps on Windows 10 or 11

To run a Linux GUI app, you will need to start the X Server by running the command startx in the Ubuntu terminal. Once the X Server is up and running, you can install, launch, and test Linux GUI apps on Windows 10 or 11 using your distro’s terminal.

You can install X11 apps to help you get started. Open your distro’s terminal and type sudo apt install x11-apps -y. X11 is the Linux windowing system and contains a collection of various Linux apps like xcalc, xclock, or xeyes.

It’s worth noting that while running Linux GUI apps on Windows 10 or 11 using WSL can be useful, but it’s not a perfect solution and the performance may not be as good as if the apps were running natively on Linux. However, it’s a good way to run Linux GUI apps on a Windows machine if you need to do so for compatibility or testing purposes.

This method should work on either Windows 10 or Windows 11, but you can still locate the folder using a simple search.

It can be buggy and doesn’t work reliably, and there are obviously better and more secure ways to protect a folder.

Create an invisible folder on Windows 10 or 11

Here’s how to create an invisible folder on Windows.

1. Right-click your mouse anywhere on your desktop, click New, then click Folder.
2. When you go to rename the folder: press and hold the Alt key and type the numbers 255, and then press Enter.
3. Right-click the folder and select Properties again.
4. Click the Customize tab and click Change Icon…
5. Find an empty icon from the list and click OK.
6. Click Apply and then click OK to save your change and close the folder properties window.
   

Poof! The folder should now completely disappear from your desktop but don’t worry, It’s not completely gone.

You can still find the folder on your desktop if you drag your mouse pointer to select multiple icons.

Otherwise, it will stay hidden as an invisible folder, and even its contents won’t be shown.

Troubleshooting

Type 255 using the numeric keypad. If you use the numbers at the top of your keyboard this trick may not work.

Check out how Microsoft allows you to use your mouse to copy and paste special characters using Character Map.

When you rename the folder to a non-breaking space character, it won’t appear like other folders in Windows Explorer.

To hide multiple folders on your desktop, use Alt + 255 more than once to use multiple invisible characters.

No two folders can have the same name, so the second folder will need two blank spaces, and so forth.

Not secure and can be buggy

Obviously, this is not secure to hide and protect files on your PC. This trick isn’t even an official Windows feature.

The folder icon might appear black or as a faint outline, and anyone can still find the folder again via search.

Make the folder visible again

To make your invisible folder visible again, follow these steps:

1. Right-click the invisible folder and select Properties.
2. Click the Customize tab, and then click Change Icon. Select a regular icon for the folder instead of the invisible one.
3. To change the name, right-click the folder and select Rename. Type what you want to name the folder, and then press Enter.

The folder name and icon should now reappear on your desktop.

If you don’t like Microsoft’s Character Map app, Character Map UWP is a more vibrant alternative.

Microsoft may be working on an updated Character Map app as it works out what’s next for Windows.

But there is no official timeline if and when Microsoft will actually get the app updated.

Check out our extensive How to Section and stay tuned to OnMSFT.com for the latest on Microsoft, Windows 11, and more!

Why turn on Core isolation’s Memory integrity?

Memory integrity or Hypervisor-protected Code Integrity (HVCI) is a feature under Core isolation that is available on Windows 11. The core isolation technology contains the core processes of Windows but uses memory in a virtualized environment instead.

If Core isolation’s Memory integrity is turned off, you should enable it right away to protect your machine. Here are the benefits:

• Protection against malicious code:
• Prevent hackers from taking control: Enabling Memory integrity prevents unauthorized access to your PC, by hijacking unsecured drivers on your machine.
• Enhances overall security: HVCI improves overall security and protects your privacy on a Windows 11 PC.

Turn on Memory Integrity on Windows 11

If you want to activate Core isolation’s Memory integrity feature on your Windows 11 PC, you have to make sure a couple of things are enabled first:

1. Enable virtualization on your PC. If it is disabled, you may need to enable it on your motherboard BIOS. Check your PC’s motherboard manufacturer for more information.
2. Update Windows to the latest version. Just to be on the safe side and ensure you have the latest updates, it’s important to keep your PC up-to-date.

After you have verified your machine has virtualization enabled and your Windows 11 version is updated, follow these methods to enable memory integrity on Windows 11.

1. Enable using Windows Security Defender

Here’s how to enable Core isolation’s Memory integrity using Windows Security Defender.

1. Click Windows 11 Start and type “Windows Security” and press Enter.
2. Go to Device security and click Core isolation details.
3. Under Core isolation, make sure the Memory integrity toggle is turned on.
4. You may need to restart your PC for the changes to take effect.

2. Enable using Registry Editor

Please note: Before using this method, make sure your PC and CPU are fully compatible with Windows 11. If you try to enable this feature on unsupported CPUs, you may run into trouble, so keep that in mind. Here’s what you need to do.

1. Click Windows 11 Start and type “regedit” and press Enter.
2. Navigate to the following location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\DeviceGuard\Scenarios\HypervisorEnforcedCodeIntegrity.
   
3. Double-click on Enabled.
4. Set the value to 1 and click OK.
5. Restart your PC for the changes to take effect.

Editing the Windows Registry should be used as a last resort to force-enable Windows 11 features. If you installed Windows 11 without TPM 2.0, you may not be able to enable Core isolation’s Memory integrity feature.

Core isolation’s Memory Integrity

Core isolation is a revolutionary technology tool for Windows 10 and Windows 11. By default, Core isolation’s memory integrity feature should already be active and ready to use on your PC.

Do you have a different method to enable Core isolation on Windows? Let us know in the comments.

In this article, we go into precisely that. So, let’s explore how you can easily disable the microphone settings on your Windows.

How to disable the microphone on Windows 10 or Windows 11

Whether you want to stay safe from the possibility of hackers snooping on your conversations unbeknownst to you or for some other personal reason, the easiest way to go about this is through the Settings app.

1. Settings

Here’s how you can disable the microphone on your Windows PC:

• Press the Windows key + I to launch the Settings menu.
• From there, select System > Sound.
• Scroll down and select Microphone.
• Click on Device Properties and select Disable.

Do this, and your microphone will be successfully disabled.

2. Use Device Manager

We’ve previously covered many tips and tricks for using Device Manager on your Windows. For instance, you can use Device Manager to update your device drivers and disable your in-built Windows camera.

A free applet from Microsoft, the Device Manager aims to give you a firm view and control of your computer’s hardware. You can also use it to disable microphone settings on your Windows PC.

Here’s how you can disable your Windows microphone with it:

• Head to the Start menu search bar, type in ‘device manager,’ and select the best match.
• Click on Audio inputs and outputs.
• Right-click on Microphone and select Disable.
• Click on OK.

That’s it; your microphone will get disabled. Of course, when you want to enable it again, all you’ve to do is enable it again from the Device Manager, and you’ll be good to go.

Disabling the microphone on your Windows PC

Follow the steps above, and you can easily tweak your microphone settings. While you might not have needed to stay on your toes back in the early days of the internet, things couldn’t be more different in the 21st century. Whether it’s AI-enabled deepfake photos or the ever-growing ransomware scams, make sure you’re using all the measures to keep your security defenses up.

While a rare, eccentric bunch of people might not care about these features, a varied sound effect system is essential to a fulfilling user experience for most of us. And that’s precisely why Microsoft comes packed with various sound effects; they make casual use way richer than it would’ve been otherwise.

However, if you’re the curious tinkerer like most people reading this, we’re confident you’d want to try out something new. In this article, we’ve rounded up some cool sites for you, so you don’t have to scroll through endless search results and Reddit posts; you can safely try out new sounds from these hand-picked sources.

1. Pixabay

Pixabay is one of the most popular sites I occasionally use for free stock images for my work. While the site has made a big name for its images, a relatively unknown feature is the quality of music and sound effects it gives for free.

Head to the sound effects section, and you’ll find many free sound effects for your Windows computer.

As you can see from the screenshot above, the website lets you try out the effects before you begin downloading. Just click on the drop-down menu next to the Download button, and click on the Play icon to get a quick preview.

2. freesound.org

As you might have inferred from the website’s name, freesound.org is an online source that hosts a wide variety of sounds, recordings, and beeps—all under a creative commons license—that you can download for free.

The website was founded in 2005 by the technology society in Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain, and has since been going strong.

You can grab all sorts of sound from the Sounds section at the top; from nature, metal, and random things—the site covers them all. Different from other websites, the website all hosts sound contests from different websites around the world. For example, as of writing this, I can see a blog post from Wikipedia for a logo contest held a few months back.

So, if you or anyone you know who’s into sound creation, freesound.org is an excellent place to look out for in keeping a check on your wishlist.

3. BBC Sound Effects

BBC Sound Effects are the sound hosting website from BBC, the national broadcasting service from Britain.

The sound effects’ website offers over 30,000 sound effects to choose from. While the sound effects are free to use, the only caveat is that you can only use them for non-commercial purposes.


 As you can see from the image, you have various categories to pick from: Animals, Birds, Bells, Aircraft, Military, etc. The list goes on to list up to 26 different types of sound effects.

And then you have the Mixer Mode—the feature lets you build your sound effects through mixing and editing. After you’re done, you can download the sound without any login or registration requirements.

4. SoundBible

SoundBible is another option you can try your hand at. The sound effects will be available in .wav and .mp3 formats, and you can grab them for free. However, in contrast to BBC Sound Effects, SoundBible will also let you use their sound effects for commercial purposes.

Click on the Sound effects tab from above, and you’ll get to see a host of sound effect options; from Muscle Car, Poker Chips, and so on, there’s a whole array of options to check out.

To download a specific file, click on the name of that file. Then, choose the type of download you’d like to have from the next page—.mp3 or .wav, and that’s it; your download will be completed almost instantly.

5. 99Sounds

99Sounds is an indie sound label that hosts a ton of sound effects and drum samples. The website is made available by Bedroom Producers Blog, a magazine catering to music producers of all types—all royalty-free for both non-commercial and commercial uses.

For example, head to the Browse section, and you’ll be surprised with several different categories of sound effects—Drum Samples, Underground Sounds, Garage Folley, and many other albums that pack a wide variety of sound effects.

Downloading Windows sound effects on your Windows PC

Although Windows comes with many default sound effects, the websites we’ve recommended above will give you a chance to try out new, alternative sound effects for free. So don’t wait now. Go ahead and try them all out!

Step #1: Prepare to enable virtualization

Before you begin, be sure you know your device’s model and manufacturer, you will need this information later on in the process. First, you will need to make some changes to the UEFI or BIOS, here’s how to do it.

1. Go to Settings (Windows key + i keyboard shortcut).
2. Go to System > Update & Security > Advanced startup.
3. Click Restart now.
4. Once your PC restarts, you should see an option that displays Choose an Option. From here, navigate to Troubleshoot > Advanced options > UEFI Settings
5. Your PC will restart again and then enter into the UEFI or BIOS interface.

Step #2: See manufacturer UEFI or BIOS instructions

It’s important to remember that you should only change what you need to in UEFI or BIOS. Be careful, making other changes may prevent you from accessing the Windows operating system!

Microsoft provides some helpful links for common PC manufacturers to walk you through the device-specific UEFI or BIOS instructions. The following instructions are for those upgraded from Windows 10 to Windows 11. Below is a list provided by Microsoft.

Step #3: Turn on and off Windows features

New Windows 11 devices already come with virtualization enabled, but these instructions may help if you upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11.

1. Click Start and type “Windows features,” select Open next to Turn Windows features on or off.
2. From the list of Windows Features, you want to ensure that Virtual Machine Platform and Hyper-V are enabled.
3. Click OK when you are finished. You may need to restart your PC for the changes to take effect.

If you are running into issues, Microsoft provides a number of virtual machine error codes you might experience.

The default setting is to allow Microsoft or Windows apps or processes absolute bandwidth, meaning your PC will prioritize any Microsoft or Windows app or process download over anything you are trying to run. If you are using a metered connection and have limited connectivity, this can spell disaster.

If you’re a Windows Pro or Enterprise administrator, there’s a quick tweak you can make via Group Policy Editor to limit how much bandwidth Windows can take.

gpedit.msc (Group Policy Editor)

Here’s a quick tweak you can use to eliminate the reserved bandwidth that is allowed for Microsoft and Windows apps and services.

1. Click Start or Search or Open Run (Windows key + R) and type gpedit.msc.
2. Navigate to the path: Computer configuration > Administrative Templates > Network > QoS Packet Scheduler.
3. Double-click Limit reserve bandwidth.

4. Click Enabled to turn this feature on. The default option gives Windows system access to 80% of your bandwidth for updates and its processes and apps take priority over your own. Feel free to change the value to 0 if you want.

5. Click Apply and OK to save your changes.

Windows 11 Update bandwidth limits

Here’s what you need to do to stop Microsoft from stealing any more of your bandwidth. Good news for Windows 10 users, these instructions work for you too.

1. Open Settings (Windows key + I keyboard shortcut).
2. Go to Windows Update > Advanced options > Delivery Optimization > Advanced options.
3. Under Download settings, click to select either “Absolute bandwidth” or “Percentage of measured bandwidth” which is noted to be measured against the update source.

4. Once you select an option, set the values to how much bandwidth you want Windows to use for downloading updates in the foreground and background on your PC.

No need to restart your PC for the changes to take effect, close Settings when you are finished. Windows Home users are out of luck unless they want to make a Registry edit.

Now, your apps and downloads will take priority over any incoming Windows 10 or Windows 11 Update.

What do you do to limit how much bandwidth Windows uses? Let us know in the comments!