Ciprian Adrian Rusen is cofounder of Digital Citizen ([...]), a tech blog that posts daily how-to articles on consumer technologies. Ciprian is also co-author of Windows 10 All-in-One For Dummies, 4th Edition, and author of Windows 10 At Work For Dummies.

Introduction 1

About This Book 1

Foolish Assumptions 2

Icons Used in This Book 2

Beyond the Book 3

Where to Go from Here 3

Book 1: Getting Started with Windows 11 5

Chapter 1: Introducing Windows 11. 7

Taking Your First Look at Windows 11 8

Hardware versus Software 9

Must You Run Windows? 10

Which Windows Version Is Best? 13

Understanding Important Terminology 14

Buying a Windows 11 Computer 18

Looking inside your PC 21

Secure boot, TPM, and Windows 11 24

Tablets and 2-in-1s 25

Laptops, Ultrabooks, Gaming laptops 27

Displays 29

Managing disks and drives 30

Connecting your PC to other devices 34

Video, sound, and multimedia 37

Is your old PC or laptop compatible with Windows 11? 38

What You Might Not Like about Windows 11 40

Chapter 2: Seeing What's New in Windows 11 43

Microsoft's Design Philosophy behind Windows 11 44

Understanding the Types of Windows 11 Apps 45

Seeing What's New for the Windows Crowd 47

A new Start menu and taskbar 48

Increased role for Settings 48

The Control Panel has shrunk 50

Improved performance 51

Better gaming 51

RGB lighting 54

Microsoft Edge 55

Copilot 56

Improved security 57

Fine-tuned virtual desktops 58

Table of Contents iii

Improved window snapping and grouping 59

Widgets are back 60

Other apps and improvements 61

Discovering What Was Removed from Windows 62

Chapter 3: Windows 11 Versions 63

Windows 11 Editions 65

Narrowing your choices 66

64-bit is the new normal 68

Which Version and Edition of Windows 11 Are You Running? 69

Upgrading from Windows 11 Home to Pro 70

Understanding Microsoft 365 and Office 72

Book 2: Personalizing Windows 75

Chapter 1: Getting Around in Windows 77

Navigating Around the Desktop 78

Using Windows 11 on Tablets and Touchscreens 82

Shut Down, Sleep, Restart, Sign Out, Lock, Sleep 84

Shut down versus sleep 86

Using the Keyboard and Keyboard Shortcuts 87

Using the Mouse and Touchpad 91

Chapter 2: Logging into Windows 11 93

Signing into Windows 11 94

Changing the Sign-In Password 95

Logging in Without a Password 97

Creating a PIN 97

Changing a PIN 99

Setting up facial recognition to sign in (Windows Hello) 100

Setting up fingerprint recognition to sign in (Windows Hello) 102

Bypassing passwords 103

Personalizing the Lock Screen 104

Changing the background of the lock screen 104

Adding or removing widgets on the lock screen 107

Chapter 3: Handling Notifications and Quick Settings 109

What Exactly Is a Notification? 109

Using the Notification Center 110

Mastering Notifications 113

Disabling notifications 113

Muting notifications with Do Not Disturb 115

Enhancing productivity with focus sessions 116

Using the Calendar 119

Using Quick Settings 120

Chapter 4: Understanding Microsoft Accounts 123

Realizing Which Accounts Are Microsoft Accounts 124

Deciding Whether You Want a Microsoft Account 125

Setting Up a Microsoft Account 127

Creating an [...] account 128

Making any email address a Microsoft account 130

Taking Care of Your Microsoft Account 132

Controlling What Is Synchronized with Your Microsoft Account 132

Closing Your Microsoft Account 134

Chapter 5: Managing User Accounts 135

Understanding Why You Need Separate User Accounts 136

Choosing Account Types 137

What's a standard account? 137

What's an administrator account? 138

Choosing between standard and administrator accounts 138

Adding Accounts in Windows 11 140

Adding a user with a Microsoft account 140

Adding a local (offline) account 142

Adding a child account 143

Changing Other Users' Settings 145

Setting a standard account as administrator 145

Modifying the settings of other accounts 146

Switching Users 148

Removing User Accounts from Windows 11 150

Chapter 6: Setting Up Your Family 153

Comparing Microsoft Family Safety with Microsoft 365 Family 154

Adding Child Accounts to Microsoft Family 154

Setting Time Limits for Children 158

Blocking Access to Inappropriate Sites 159

Blocking Inappropriate Apps and Games 161

Chapter 7: Protecting Your Privacy 163

Handling Your Privacy in Windows 11 164

Limiting diagnostics and feedback data collection 165

Viewing the diagnostic data sent to Microsoft 167

Knowing What Connections Windows Prefers 169

Seeing Fewer Ads in Windows 11 170

Getting fewer Welcome dialogs in Windows 11 172

Controlling Location Tracking 173

Blocking all location tracking in Windows 11 174

Blocking location tracking in an app 175

Minimizing Privacy Intrusion 176

Chapter 8: Making Windows 11 Accessible 177

Increasing Text Size 178

Making the Mouse Pointer More Visible 179

Improving Text Cursor Visibility 180

Using Magnifier 181

Controlling Windows 11 with Your Voice 182

Dealing with Color Blindness 184

Book 3: Working on the Desktop 187

Chapter 1: Running Your Desktop from Start to Finish 189

Working with the Desktop 190

Changing the background 191

Switching Windows 11 themes 193

Battling dark mode and light mode 194

Setting Up Your Display 195

Switching the night light on and off 195

Enabling HDR and auto HDR 197

Setting the screen resolution 198

Changing the size of text, apps, and other items 200

Adjusting the refresh rate 201

Adjusting the display orientation 202

Adjusting the brightness 203

Working with a Mouse and a Touchpad 204

Snapping app windows 204

Configuring the mouse 206

Setting up the touchpad 207

Using Virtual Desktops 209

Moving apps between virtual desktops 210

Managing Icons and Shortcuts 211

Creating shortcuts 212

Arranging icons on the desktop 214

The Recycle Bin 215

Setting Up the Sound 216

Muting your computer 216

Setting the volume and your sound devices with Volume Mixer 217

Chapter 2: Personalizing the Start Menu 219

Touring the Start Menu 220

Right-clicking Start for the WinX menu 221

Modifying the Start Menu 223

Adding, moving, and removing pinned apps 223

Creating folders with pinned apps 224

Adding and removing Start menu folders 226

Choosing the Start Menu layout 227

Personalizing the Start menu 228

Moving the Start menu and taskbar to the left 229

Chapter 3: Exploring Search and the Taskbar 231

Searching in Windows 11 232

Searching is the fastest way to start apps 234

Filtering search results to find what you need 236

Starting apps as admin from a Windows search 237

Setting Search to index your entire PC 238

Configuring how Search works 240

Touring the Windows 11 Taskbar 242

Using the taskbar 243

Using jump lists and other taskbar tricks 244

Pinning apps to the taskbar 246

Adding and removing taskbar items 247

Adding or removing system tray icons 249

Personalizing how the taskbar behaves 250

Chapter 4: Working with Files and Folders 253

Using File Explorer 254

Navigating File Explorer 254

Viewing and opening your files and folders 256

Creating and managing files and folders 259

Using Gallery 261

Deleting files and folders 263

Searching for files and folders 264

Sorting and grouping files and folders 266

Displaying file extensions 267

Viewing hidden files 268

Managing the Home section 269

Enabling and disabling check boxes for files and folders 271

Sharing files 271

Working with ZIP Files 273

Creating a ZIP file 273

Creating more advanced file archives 274

Extracting a ZIP file 276

Right-Clicking in Windows 11 277

Chapter 5: Connecting to Wi-Fi and the Internet 281

Connecting to the Internet 282

Connecting a desktop PC to the network 282

Connecting to Wi-Fi 283

Connecting to hidden Wi-Fi 284

Connecting to Wi-Fi through WPS 286

Setting the Network Location 287

Troubleshooting Network Connections 289

Forgetting a Wi-Fi network 289

Resetting network adapters 290

Book 4: Using Windows Apps 293

Chapter 1: Browsing the Web 295

Getting to Know Microsoft Edge 296

Grouping tabs in Microsoft Edge 298

Enabling vertical tabs in Microsoft Edge 299

Changing the default search engine 300

InPrivate browsing with Microsoft Edge 302

Adding extensions to Microsoft Edge 304

Using Other Web Browsers 306

Changing the Default Browser in Windows 11 307

Chapter 2: Enhancing Your Productivity with Copilot 309

Chatting with Copilot 310

Accessing previous chats 312

Ending a chat and starting a new one 314

Using Copilot while Browsing the Web 315

Adding Copilot to Your Phone 317

Copilot Pro and Copilot for Microsoft 365 319

Chapter 3: Using the Outlook App. 321

Understanding Email 322

Setting Up Outlook 323

Adding Other Email Accounts 324

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