- Hide the task view button
If you don't use virtual desktops or use the keyboard to switch between them, you can hide the Task View icon by right-clicking on the taskbar and deselecting the 'Show Task View button' option.
- Remove Cortana's search box
Similarly, you can reduce the space taken by Cortana in the taskbar. Right-click on an empty part of the taskbar, select Cortana and choose 'Hidden' to change it to a popup.
You can keep Cortana on the taskbar as a standard icon by choosing the 'Show Cortana icon' option.
For more tips check out our how to use Cortana in Windows 10 guide.
- Find the original Control Panel
The new Settings panel is easy to find and is easier to navigate than the old Control Panel. But the latter is still available and comes in handy for accessing advanced options. You can find it by pressing Win + X on your keyboard and bringing up the power user menu.
If you are running
Windows 10 on a resource strapped machine, you can squeeze more performance by turning down the bling. Head to Control Panel > System and Security > System and click 'Advanced system settings'.
Now click Settings under the Performance section and customise the effects.
- Streamline the Navigation Pane
To remove the OneDrive link in Windows Explorer launch the registry editor and head over to the key:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{018D5C66-4533-4307-9B53-224DE2ED1FE6}.
Then in the right-side pane, change the value of the System.IsPinnedToNameSpaceTree variable to 0.
- Restore the previous Volume Control UI
To bring back the vertical volume lever in the system tray, simply bring up the Registry Editor and head over to the
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\key.
Then create a new key named MTCUVC and under it create a new DWORD named EnableMtcUvc and set its value to 0. The volume control UI will be restored.
Quick Access allows you to immediately jump into your favourite folder and most recently used files. To customise its contents, switch to the View tab in Explorer and hit Options.
Note that at the bottom of the General tab are further options to show or hide certain bits of information.
- Customise the Power User menu
To reorganise and or remove entries go to
C:\Users\\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\WinX.
Here you'll notice three folders that house entries for the Power User menu. You can move them around or remove them to suit your workflow.
- Disable new battery flyout
To bring back the old battery display in the taskbar, head to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ImmersiveShell key in the Registry Editor.
Here create a new DWORD named UseWin32BatteryFlyout and set its value to 1.
You can also pin folders in the Quick Access list on the navigation panel to make sure they don't disappear regardless of their frequent or recent use.
To change their listing order, simply select a folder and drag it above or below the other listed folders.
- Change the default view in File Explorer
File Explorer now defaults to the Quick Access view, but if you want it to go straight to This PC on launch, click on the View tab, select Options and change the 'Open File Explorer to' setting to 'This PC'.
- Selectively Sync folders with OneDrive
OneDrive is now more flexible and user-friendly. To customise the folders it syncs, right-click on the OneDrive icon in the notification area, select Settings, switch to the 'Choose folders' tab, and click the 'Choose folders' button to select the cloud folders that you want available locally.
Under the OneDrive Settings tab, if you toggle the 'Let me use OneDrive to fetch any of my files on this PC' option, you can access your files from another computer using the OneDrive website.
- Automatically back up libraries
To backup your libraries, plug in an external drive and head over to Start > Settings > Update & Security > Backup.
Click on the 'Add a drive' option and select the plugged in drive and then enable the option, found under File History.
- Access Previous versions of files
Once you've set up the File History preference, you can right-click on any file, select Properties, and open the Previous Versions tab to see past revisions to the file saved by either File History or Windows' system restore points.
To quickly apply changes that require restarting the computer, launch the Task manager by right-clicking on the taskbar.
Click the 'More Details' button and under the 'Processes' tab look for an entry named 'Windows Explorer'. Then right-click on it and select 'Restart'.
- Change the location of Edge's Downloads folder
To force the Edge browser to use a custom Downloads folder, head to the Registry Editor and navigate to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\Local Settings \Software \Microsoft \Windows\Current Version\ AppContainer \Storage \microsoft.microsoftedge_8wekyb3d8bbwe \MicrosoftEdge\Main key.
Create a new String named 'Default Download Directory' and set its value to the path of the new folder, such as D:\Downloads.
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