(Credit: René Ramos/Shutterstock/Garder Elena)
Windows 10 is probably the best edition of Microsoft's venerable operating system to date. And Windows 11 improves on a lot of it. Until it doesn’t. No company has ever truly made an entirely perfect OS, and that goes double for Redmond in the last 40+ years.
Thankfully, many problems in both versions of Windows are easily corrected. Here are the steps you can take, so neither 10 nor 11 will drive you up the Windows wallpaper.
PCMag-Recommended Windows Accessoriesver: tap the Windows
Stop Auto Reboots
Windows updates are regular and seemingly never-ending, and pretty much out of the user's control (unless you turn off updates altogether, which is a bad idea). What's worse: If you don't reboot your PC after an update, Windows eventually takes it upon itself to reboot for you. That's a good way to lose data in open apps.
Take advantage of the feature called Active Hours, which lets you schedule a time for updates and reboots. In Windows 10, Navigate to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update > Change active hours. To select your own timeframe, click Change and choose a start and end time. Or toggle on the option for Automatically adjust active hours for this device based on activity.
In Windows 11, go to Settings > Windows Update > Advanced Options > Active Hours, then set them manually, or go with the Automatic option that tracks your usage.
Prevent Sticky Keys
If you hit the Shift key five times in a row in Windows, you activate Sticky Keys, a Windows feature that allows for keyboard shortcuts where you hit one key at a time instead of simultaneously (so it works with any combo that includes the Shift, Ctrl, Alt, or Windows keys).
If you activate it without knowing—by hitting "yes" in a dialog box without thinking, for example—it can be seriously annoying. Prevent it from ever happening by hitting the Shift five times rapidly to bring up that very dialog box (or in Windows 10 go to Settings >Ease of Access > Keyboard) and either uncheck the box next to Allow the Shortcut key to start Sticky Keys, or toggle off Use Sticky Keys. In Windows 11, you’ll find it under Settings > Accessibility > Keyboard.
Calm the UAC Down
Ever since Windows Vista, User Account Control (UAC) has been there to protect users so the OS can quickly grant administrative rights to software programs that need it—specifically when installing or uninstalling software. In the old days, when you went to do an install, the screen would suddenly dim and everything seemed to come to a halt, causing several (anecdotal, probably fictional) heart attacks amid the populace. UAC lives on and will still dim the desktop, but you have the option to turn it off, or at least prevent the screen dimming as you get a different notification.
Type UAC into the Windows 10 or 11 search box to get Change User Account Control Settings. The screen presents a slider with four levels of security, from never notify (bad) to always notify (annoying—it'll warn you when you make your own changes). Pick one of the middle options. The second from the bottom notifies you without the dimming scare tactic, however, you'll still get a dialog box confirmation with a yes/no option when you install things.
Use a Local/Offline Account
Microsoft prefers if you sign in to Windows with your Microsoft account—the one attached to all things Microsoft, be it your Xbox, Office 365, or OneDrive account, buying apps or music or video in the Windows Store, even talking on Skype, to name just a few. When you set up Windows 10 or 11, Microsoft specifically asks you to sign in using that account.
In Windows 10, you don't have to. During setup, click Skip this step. If you already signed in with a Microsoft account, go to Settings > Accounts > Your info. Click Sign in with a local account instead. Enter a local account name and new password (and a hint for when you forget it).
In Windows 11 Home, you are forced to use a Microsoft Account, which means you must have an internet connection (or jump through some serious hoops to get around it). It's one of our top 10 reasons not to upgrade to Windows 11.
Windows 11 Pro can use a local account, but the steps are a little different. When you get to the initial sign-in options, select Offline Account. Microsoft then throws some tricky language at you to try to get you to go with the Microsoft account, but click Skip for Now. Enter a username and create a password (ignore that “Even better, use an online account” link). Set up some security questions and click Next each time. Enable your privacy settings and you’re done.
Also, FYI, after setup on either OS, you can always switch to a local account. In Windows 10 access Settings > Accounts > Sign in with a local account instead. In Windows 11, use Settings > Accounts > Your Info > Sign in with a local account instead.
The downside of a local account is that when you end up on a service or site that requires Microsoft credentials, you'll have to enter your Microsoft login each time; it won't automatically sign you in as it does if you log into Windows with a Microsoft account.
Use a PIN or a Face, Not a Password
If you're okay using your Microsoft account, but hate how long it takes to type in your super secure password, reset it to a short personal identification number (PIN) used only on that PC. The PIN, which is only numerals—no mixed case letters or special characters—might not sound secure. But it's PC-only, hopefully you're the only user, and it doesn't compromise the security of your Microsoft account anywhere else. Plus, the PIN can be as many digits as you desire.
Go to Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options > Windows Hello PIN. (In Windows 11 it says “PIN (Windows Hello)”.) Enter the PIN you want and restart to try it. If you've already got a PIN, you'll see options to change it, remove it, or click "I forgot my PIN" to recover it.
You’ll also see the option for Windows Hello Face. It's a facial-recognition option, if your systems webcam supports it. Not all cameras do, but it's an even quicker way to get signed in. If you set up Windows Hello for your face, PIN, or even fingerprint if you have the right hardware, you can also then require the sign in for your Microsoft account on the web.
Skip the Password Login
Are you the only person who ever—and I mean ever—uses your PC? Then you can probably skip the password login screen that appears after every reboot or sometimes even when you come back from the screensaver.
In Windows 10 or 11, visit the User Accounts control panel by typing "netplwiz" in the search bar (yes, that’s not the same as Settings > Accounts.) Select the account, uncheck the box next to Users must enter a username and password to use this computer. You'll get a confirmation box that asks you to enter that very password—twice. Click okay. Reboot the PC. It should roll smoothly into the desktop without requesting a password.
Don't do this if it's shared PC. Remember, you'll still need to know the Microsoft account password if you're logging into the PC remotely.
The other option is to switch to a local/offline account (see above) and when asked for a password, leave it blank in both slots. If you already have a local account with a password, go back to the options to set it up and select Change, enter the password, and on the screen where it asks for a new password and to confirm it, leave them blank, then click Next.
Refresh Instead of Reset
Windows 10 has a fantastic feature that lets you essentially reinstall Windows on your computer from the ground up, like new—with the option to not delete any of your data (though you will have to reinstall software and drivers).
When your Windows 10 PC is beyond repair, access it at Settings > Update & Security > Recovery. In Windows 11, it's under Settings > System > Recovery. Click Get Started under Reset this PC, pick settings like "Keep My Files" or "Remove Everything," and let it rip. You don't need any separate media, like a copy of Windows on USB flash drive.
However, that can be overkill. Sometimes, Windows just needs a reset that does not eradicate your software and drivers. This is also easy to do, but it does require a copy of Windows on separate media (a USB flash drive). Don't have that? Go ahead and download the “installation media” for Windows 10 or Windows 11 from Microsoft—it's free because the downloads are useless if you don’t already have a licensed version installed. Run the media and place the included ISO file onto a 4GB or larger USB drive to utilize in the reset, now and in the future.
Double-click the setup on that media/drive's Setup option, ask to download updates and check Keep personal files and apps when it appears. After a few more prompts and waiting, your Windows system will get the refresh it needs.
Hide or Revive Cortana
Master Chief would never let this happen. Windows 10 took out the switch to turn off Cortana, Microsoft's answer to Siri and Alexa. But Cortana searches more than your computer; it searches the entire internet and pins that search history to your Microsoft account. There are ways to lessen the impact of Cortana, though.
First, there is the option to hide Cortana: Simply right-click the Windows 10 Taskbar and select Show Cortana Button. The Cortana halo ring disappears. She's still active and easily accessible, however. Tap the Windows key on your keyboard and start typing.
If you want to really take her out, so all searches are local, you need to edit the registry. Don't do this if you're not feeling like a Windows expert. Make a system restore point before you do it, just in case. This only applies to Windows 10 Home version.
Open the Registry Editor: Use the Windows Key+R hotkey, then type regedit and hit Enter. In Windows 10 Home, navigate here:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search.
If it's not there, create it. Right-click it to create a DWORD value and call it AllowCortana. Set that value to 0 (zero). Once you sign out and come back, the search box will now read "Search Windows." You can put Cortana back by doing all this again and setting the value to 1 (one).
If you have Windows 10 Pro or Enterprise, you can use the Group Policy Editor to turn Cortana off, but for that, you should first check with your IT admin. Type Windows Key+R, type in gpedit.msc to bring up the Group Policy Editor, then navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Search. Double-click on Allow Cortana, and check the button next to Disabled. Close the window and restart Windows 10.
If you're killing Cortana for privacy reasons, don't forget to visit your Microsoft account online and delete everything Cortana collected about you. Under Cortana's Notebook, click the Clear Cortana Data button.
Windows 11 users have almost the opposite problem: Cortana isn’t turned on by default. But you can activate the app (type “Cortana” on the Start menu search bar) and pin the halo button to the Windows 11 taskbar to put her back to regular use. You will, of course, need to sign on with your Microsoft account to get the most out of the ol’ assistant.
Send OneDrive Packing
Like Cortana, OneDrive—Microsoft's answer to Dropbox or Google Drive—is integrated into Windows 10 and 11. Tightly. Maybe too tightly. You can try to ignore it, but it comes up a lot.
Your first option: Unlink it. Right-click the OneDrive cloud icon in the taskbar and select Settings. Under the Account tab, click Unlink this PC. If that's not enough, under the Settings tab, uncheck all the boxes. Then go back to Account > Choose Folders, and uncheck all the folders it was syncing. Go to Windows Explorer, right-click OneDrive and select Properties; in the General tab, by Attributes, check the box next to Hidden. Then on the Taskbar, right-click OneDrive again and select Close OneDrive.
Really want to uninstall OneDrive? Do it via the usual App & features uninstall in Settings. You'll find it under "Microsoft OneDrive."
Access Special Symbols Quick
Using 26 letters and 10 numerals and a few pieces of punctuation—that's so old-school. We live in the emoji world now. So how do you put those fun little icons into your text when typing in Windows? The pop-up keyboard. It's typically meant for use when in tablet mode, but it's easy to access even when you're using Windows 10 or 11 with a regular keyboard.
In Windows 10, right-click the Taskbar in a blank area, and select Show touch keyboard button. An icon of a little keyboard will appear next to the clock in the taskbar. Tap it anytime with the mouse cursor to bring up the on-screen keyboard; tap any key on your IRL keyboard to dismiss it from the screen. Click the extra keyboard icon at the top left to access various layout options, including a split keyboard and a stylus pad.
For Windows 11 users, right-click the taskbar to access Taskbar Settings. Toggle on the Touch Keyboard to get a permanent keyboard icon in the system tray.
You now have access to emoji and special characters like the em dash or degrees symbol (°). If you can't find them, that's because you first have to hit the &123 key to switch to symbols. Then, like on a smartphone, hold down your cursor on the main key to get some special symbols—hold down the hyphen to get em dash and en dash; hold down on equals (=) to get non-equals (≠), etc. Same goes for the letters to get variations, such as accent symbols over the letters. Voilà!
Click the smiley key to access the full suite of standard smartphone-style emoji, rendered in Microsoft's extra-colorful design. You can scroll left/right to see even more in each category. Windows 11 users get access to even more, including animated GIFs.
This on-screen keyboard also offers quick access to the enhanced clipboard, which holds multiple items you've cut or copied, and speech-to-text typing (or you can just type Windows Key+V to access the scrollable list).
No More Notifications
You either love notifications or hate the distraction. The noises, the popups, it's too much when your phone is likely displaying most of the same info. In Windows 10, go to Settings > System > Notifications & sctions. In Windows 11, it's just Notifications. Turn off all the toggle switches for individual apps, especially the ones you find most annoying. Or click on the app name in the list for even more granular control—get notifications from one app on the lock screen, for example, but nowhere else. Or turn off sounds for all but one notifier. Play with the settings to get it just right.
Cool Your Diagnostics
Like many other big-name companies, Microsoft likes to get OS feedback about things like crashes. Set up Windows 10 or 11, and it asks to Send full error and diagnostic information to Microsoft. Say yes and Redmond's getting more than you think.
In Settings > Privacy > Diagnostics & Feedback, you can set things to protect some privacy. Only allow Required diagnostic data, not Optional data; turn off the "Improve inking and typing" option; and delete all the diagnostic data currently on your PC. That doesn't prevent previous or future data from going to Microsoft, but it helps.
Get Off the Edge
Don't like Microsoft's latest browser? No matter what browser you choose, you need to tell Windows to make it the default, so anytime you open a link, it utilizes the browser you want.
In Windows 10, go to Settings > Apps > Default Apps, scroll down and click Web browser. A list will display all your installed browsers—pick your favorite. To switch to whatever Redmond thinks is best, click the Reset button under Reset to Microsoft Recommended defaults.
If you get problems with certain links, ensure the file type (like .htm versus .html) or even protocols (like http:// versus https://) are all set to your browser of choice as well. Click Choose default apps by file type or Choose default apps by protocol on the same screen.
Here’s the kicker—in Windows 11, Microsoft took out the list of default apps. (It really wants you to use Edge). You can still pick a default browser, though, but going to Settings > Apps > Default Apps. Click a browser listed and you’ll see the option at the top to Set Default. It's needlessly complicated and another of our Windows 11 gripes. That said, most new browsers will try to take back the default position when you launch them for the first time.
However, you will not be so lucky with other programs for email, video editing, image editing, text editing, etc. Setting those defaults requires a lot more work now.
Get Back All the Context
Right-clicking on a file of any type in Windows 10 provides you the full context menu—almost ever single possible option you can imagine. Windows 11 decided we couldn’t handle that and truncates the context menu. Maybe you’ll appreciate that elegant simplicity, but if you want the full menu back, you’ll need to do a small registry hack.
Hit Windows Key+R and type regedit to get the editor. Find HKEYCURRENTUSER\SOFTWARE\CLASSES\CLSID\ and create an entry named {86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}. Under that, create InprocServer32. Open the default key for InprocServer32 and set the value to blank (originally it says “value not set.”) Close the editor and reboot the system. If you did it right, you’ll have full context. To get rid of the full context, go back into RegEdit and delete InprocServer32.
Return the Explorer Ribbon
The Windows File Explorer has never been great but it was vastly improved by adding the Ribbon interface to the tool bars/menus at the top. Why Microsoft took it out of Windows 11 is a mystery, other than another failed attempt at cleaning up an interface that was probably as good as it gets without hiring Apple engineers.
To put the Ribbon back in File Explorer, head over to regedit again. Look for HKEYLOCALMACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Shell Extensions and create a key under it called Blocked. Right-click on the right window and go to New > String Value. Rename the value to {e2bf9676-5f8f-435c-97eb-11607a5bedf7} exactly. Close it and restart. You’ll soon have the ribbon back, with some Windows 11 color flourishes. Delete that {e2bf9676-5f8f-435c-97eb-11607a5bedf7} value to go back.
Move Your Taskbar Up
Another unfathomable interface decision for Windows 11 is forcing the taskbar to the bottom of the screen only. This hack lets you move the taskbar to the top—with the major caveat that if you access any menus using the taskbar at the top, the menus appear at the bottom of the screen, as if the taskbar never moved. So only use this one if the need is extreme. (Forget moving it to the side.)
In regedit navigate to HKEYCURRENTUSER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StuckRects3. Double-click on Settings on the right. There are multiple rows of data – in the second row, change the fifth number (03) to a 01. Click OK. (If you have multiple monitors, do this as well for HKEYCURRENTUSER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MMStuckRects3 (note the MM for multi-monitor). Restart.
You may also have to kill the File Explorer (explorer.exe) process to get this to work, but once it comes back, the taskbar should be at the top.
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