With messages and video chats popping up throughout the work day, it’s easy to get distracted as the work piles up.

Focus Sessions in Windows 11 encourages you to set aside time for work that requires uninterrupted, deep focus. It’s currently available in the new Alarms & Clock app, and offers a quick way to get at least 30 minutes of distraction-free work time. If you go beyond 45 minutes, the app automatically schedules a five-minute break about midway through your session.

Microsoft also replaces the old Task View button with a redesigned icon on the taskbar, which makes it easier to create and manage multiple desktops. Just hover over the icon to see any open virtual desktops or create a new desktop. These desktops can then be rearranged as needed, and apps that are in one desktop can be dragged into another.

Quick Settings in Windows 11 resembles what you might get on an Android or iOS device. There are now sliders for both the brightness and the volume of your PC. The volume slider even has a pop-out menu to let you pick your output source.

To access these settings just type ‘settings’ in the search box.

Also if you’re listening to music, you’ll see a little player up on top of the Quick Settings, so you don’t have to go into the app itself.

It’s a massive difference from Windows 10, where you had to use tiny icons in the taskbar for common tasks. Even the WI-Fi setting option has a pop-out menu, letting you pick networks directly from quick settings.

Although Microsoft moved the Start button in Windows 11 to the middle of the task bar you can move it back to the left with just a few simple clicks.

To move it, you’ll need to open the Settings app on your Windows 11 computer. You can find this by clicking the Start button and looking in the pinned apps section. If it’s not there, click on All Apps and scroll down until you find it. Alternatively, you can press the Windows button on your keyboard and type Settings to quickly launch it.

In the Settings app, select Personalization from the list of options on the left side of the screen. Next, click Taskbar and then scroll to the bottom of the list where you’ll find and select Taskbar Behaviors. The very first option is Taskbar Alignment — click the dropdown menu and change it from Center to Left. Now that’s a very easy change to make isn’t it!

Windows 10 indexes your hard disk in the background so it can search your PC more quickly. But slower PC’s that use indexing will often see a slow down in their performance and by turning indexing off can give a useful speed boost. Even if you have a fast SSD drive turning off indexing can improve your PC’s overall speed.

So, to get the maximum benefit of using Windows 10 you should consider turning off indexing completely.

To do this type services into the search box and press enter and select the Services app. Scroll down the list of services and select either Indexing Service or Windows Search. Double click the appropriate service and from the resulting screen click Stop. Now restart your computer to apply this new setting. As a result of stopping indexing your searches may be slightly slower, or though its unlikely you will notice any difference. But you should get an overall performance boost.

If you are slightly worried about this change you can turn of indexing for specific files. To do this type index in the search box and click on the indexing options that appears at the top of the list. The Indexing Options page of Control Panel appears. Click the modify button and you will see a list of the locations that are currently being indexed. In the locations list you will probably see Microsoft Outlook and your personal files. Uncheck the box next to any location and it will no longer be indexed.

When you start up your brand new Windows PC you will notice that Windows keeps an eye on what you are doing and offers suitable tips and tricks depending on what task you are doing. These tips can be an annoyance and may even affect the performance of your PC.

To turn these off type Notifications into the search box. Now select Notifications and Settings at the top of the resulting list. Once there un-tick the box ‘Get Tips, tricks and suggestions as you use Windows’. Turning off Windows Tips may give you a slight performance boost and let you gain back a bit of privacy.

Can Windows Update be completely turned off. Unfortunately the answer is no. Microsoft now has already changed the way updates are delivered in Windows 10 and the result is that they are now downloaded automatically, whether you want them or not. You can, at least, delay the Windows restart that might be needed to a time that suits you. Type Windows Update in the search box and select the first result Check for updates. Now you can choose whitch option to use:

1. Pause updates for 7 days
or
2. Change active hours (at what time an update can be done)

If you click on Advanced options you can actually pause updates for up to 35 days.

Unfortunately, this will not solve the problem of buggy Windows Updates (and there have been a few), but there is a way around this. Type System Protection in the search box and choose the first result Create a restore point. Just make sure that your C Drive is selected. Now Windows 10 will create a Restore Point before each update. That means you can undo any problematic ones, which might be the difference between a usable and unusable Windows PC.