10 overlooked Windows 11 features you should start using

Incorporating these into your routine significantly improves the Windows experience.

- ALAINA YEE

No operating system is without its positives, and that includes Windows 11, as much as I complain about Microsoft's latest operating system. Its handful of useful features continues to grow as time goes on, with more and more teased for future release (like native RGB lighting controls, fave.co/43nYRGf).

But with helpful utilities and settings having trickled out from Microsoft slowly, it's easy to miss a few here and there, especially when flashier tricks hog the news headlines. We've pulled out 10 features that we don't think get enough love-if you've heard of them and you haven't tried them yet, now's the time.

1. NOTEPAD TABS

Notepad actually predates Windows, but it's still fully relevant (and useful!) today. The streamlined app lets you open a window to make quick notes. And in Windows 11, you can now manage and navigate between open files in a single window, thanks to the addition of tabs. It's far tidier than opening a new instance of Notepad for each file-and, combined with the new dark mode, it makes the app look and feel modern.

2. WIDGETS

Windows 11 makes a wealth of info available with just one mouse click (or a quick tap of Win + W). Right now you can get weather, stock prices, sports updates, and entertainment news, and those cards are slowly being joined by new additions, like one for Xbox Game Pass. It's a much easier way to stay up to date than fully shifting to a browser and poking around in your tabs. And if we're lucky, cards available in preview builds of Windows 11-like Messenger (fave.co/44Ck8wl), Phone Link, and PC performance monitoring (fave.co/3rlKZih)-will make it to general release.

3. SCREEN RECORDING