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15 top Windows 11 tips everyone needs to know

Become a Windows 11 power user with these simple tips

Whether you’re a lifelong PC user or you just got your firstWindows 11 laptop, there are a few things you can do to make it a little more capable, comfortable and easy to use.

I know because I’ve been using the latest version of Windows since it was in beta, and when I wrote myWindows 11 reviewI was a little underwhelmed by how the finished product failed to live up to Microsoft’s hype.

But it was still a decent operating system when it launched in 2021, and in the years since the company has put in work to shore up its deficiencies and make it (generally) better and easier to use.

That said, there are still a lot of recommendations I make when helping a friend or family member get acquainted with Windows 11 for the first time. And withWindows 10 reaching its end of lifein 2025, I think there are going to be lot of people getting to grips with Windows 11 for the first time this year.

That’s why I collected my top 15 Windows 11 tips together in one place. These tips can help you be happier, more comfortable and more productive, making your time on even thebest Windows laptopsand desktops that much better.

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Get cozy with keyboard shortcuts

Windows 11 keyboard shortcut	Command
Windows key + A	Open Quick Settings
Windows key + Z	Open Snap Layouts
Windows key + Alt + B	Enable/disable HDR
Windows key + ,	Temporarily “peek” at desktop
Windows key + E	Open File Explorer
Windows key + M	Minimize all windows
Windows key + Shift + M	Restore all minimized windows
Windows key + L	Lock your PC
Windows key + X	Open Quick Menu (same as right-clicking Start)
Windows key + Left/Right arrow	Snap active window to left/right half of screen
Windows key + 1, 2, 3 etc	Launches whatever is pinned to your taskbar in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd…etc. position

Windows 11 has a massivelist of keyboard shortcutsyou can use to instantly launch apps, commit actions and generally get things done a lot faster than if you used the mouse.

You don’t need to learn all of them (and trust me, you don’t want to) but there are at least a few dozen that I find super useful for helping me get things done as efficiently as possible.

There are one or two very specific keyboard shortcuts farther down in this list, but I wanted to take a moment to list my favorite and most-used keyboard shortcuts in the chart above for easy reference.

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Become a power user with PowerToys

Back in the early days of Windows Microsoft used to sell add-on packs that had a bunch of new features and tools for power users.

Those days are behind us now, thankfully, as all Windows updates and upgrades are free—including PowerToys, a bundle of extras that you can use to do some frankly incredible things in Windows 11.

You can download PowerToys from the Microsoft Store app (check out our guide tohow to get PowerToys in Windows 11for step-by-step guidance) and there are loads of cool tools to play with inside. One of my favorites is PowerToys Run (pictured above), a supercharged version of the Windows Run command that works a lot more like the Spotlight Search in macOS by allowing you to type in natural language.

Windows will then try to find what you’re looking for, whether that’s an app you want to run on your PC, a file hidden in a folder somewhere or a key website somewhere on the web.

There are lots of other PowerToys that replicate or improve upon features in competing operating systems too, like Mouse Without Borders, which lets you use one mouse across multiple PCs the same way you can use a single mouse across multiple Macs and iPads with Universal Control.

Or try Shortcut Guide, which makes it easy to quickly summon a customizable guide to keyboard shortcuts so you don’t have to keep referring to Microsoft’s (or my) lists of shortcuts.

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Use Windows 11 Voice Access for extra productivity with no hand strain

Windows has had various forms of voice-to-text typing and voice controls for some time, but with Windows 11 Voice Access I think Microsoft has achieved a new level of utility that makes it worth using for everyone, not just folks who have a hard time typing.

Of course, Voice Access is even more valuable for those of us who have compromised hands and wrists or otherwise have a hard time using a traditional PC because it lets you do the lion’s share of your Windows work without using your hands.

Once you get comfortable using Voice Access you can not only talk to your PC to tell it what to type, you can tell it to launch or close programs, click buttons on websites, enter text and other data in website fields and generally get a lot done without touching the keyboard. It feels kind of futuristic, too, like you’re talking to one of the Esper supercomputers in Blade Runner.

Windows 11 Voice Access has been a game-changer for how I work, and it’s now built right into the latest versions of the operating system, so you should be able to find it by justhitting the Start button and typing “Voice Access”, then launching it from the search results.For more guidance and tips, check out our guide tohow to use Windows 11 Voice Access to tell your PC what to do.

Take advantage of Clipboard history

I don’t know about you, but I spend a lot of my workday copying and pasting text, images and files across various projects I’m working on within Windows 11.

That’s why I was so happy when I discovered the Clipboard history, which is exactly what it sounds like: a historical log of everything you’ve copied to the Windows clipboard recently.

You can access it by simply hitting theWindows key + Vkeyboard shortcut, at which point the little window will appear with a reverse chronological log of everything you’ve copied (you may have to hit the “Turn on” button first to turn it on).

Try it and you’ll see not only is the clipboard history in this little app, it also has tabs for pasting in emoji, GIFs, special characters and more.

Save power and money with Energy Saver

Windows laptops have had some sort of “battery saver” power mode that conserves power for at least a decade, but recently Microsoft built that feature up into a new “Energy Saver” power mode that you can use on both laptopsanddesktops.

The value is obvious if you’re on a laptop that’s running low on juice, because enabling Energy Saver mode lowers the rate at which your machine consumes battery power.

But the fact that you can now use it on Windows 11 desktop PCs means you can fine-tune your PC’s power draw to some extent, which can save you hundreds of dollars on your power bill in the course of a year. You can also dig into theSystem > Power > Energy recommendationssubsection of the Windows 11 Settings menu for more guidance on how to cut down on your power bill.

To enable or disable Energy Saver, just open your Quick Settings menu by clicking the system tray on your taskbar or hitting Windows key + A.

Get to grips with God Mode

If you don’t feel powerful enough in Windows 11 after downloading PowerToys, it’s time to try God Mode.

“God Mode” in Windows 11 is actually a semi-secret list of shortcuts that let you do a lot of things inside Windows without having to dig through menus. They’re very useful for creating shortcuts to do things like create a restore point for Windows, creating or deleting new user accounts, show hidden files and folders and more.

But it’s a little tricky to access God Mode, because you have to create a new folder on your Windows desktop and then rename it to a very specific weird string of characters:GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

Once you do that a little control panel icon will appear on your desktop, and you can open it to see a list of dozens and dozens of shortcuts to key Windows features. It’s a tricky process, so make sure to consult our guide tohow to enable God Mode in Windowsif you have any questions!

Save your most-used files as Favorites in File Manager

This feature wasn’t in Windows 11 at launch, but less than a year inMicrosoft gave File Explorer a makeoverand added some useful new features that made it a lot more versatile.

One my faves, pardon the pun, is the ability toright-click any file and select Add to Favoritesin the context menu.

That will ensure that file appears in a special “Favorites” section of the File Manager Home screen every time you open the app. I use this for key work documents and regularly-used templates, but you can use it however makes sense for your workflow.

Try the Xbox Game Bar

If you play games on your Windows PC you should check out the Xbox Game Bar, a built-in feature that you can summon by hitting theWindows key + Gkeyboard shortcut.

Doing so brings up an overlay that has key widgets for PC gaming, including an audio control widget for controlling key details like volume levels, which mic and speakers you’re using and more.

There’s also a performance monitor, a screenshot widget, and even a full Widget storefront where you can download additional tools like aSpotifywidget, aRazerCortex widget and even widgets designed to help you in specific games like Valorant.

Microsoft has done a lot to improve this feature since it debuted, so give it a try next time you’re gaming.

Take advantage of Focus assist

I love using Windows 11’s Focus feature when I’m working and when I’m gaming because it puts the kibosh on annoying pop-ups and notifications for as long as you need.

To try it yourself, simplyopen the Focus settings menu within the Windows 11 Settings menu(the fastest way is to hit theStart buttonand typeFocus,then hitEnter) and use the tools therein to customize how long you want a Focus session to last when you start the timer.

Once you do start a Focus session, a timer will appear on-screen (though you can choose to hide it) and Windows’ built-in Do Not Disturb mode will switch on. This will hide things like notification badges on apps and stop apps flashing in the taskbar when they want your attention, but only for the duration of the Focus session.

You can customize which notifications appear and how in the Focus settings menu, which can make it a great resource for managing your attention.

Try out Dark Mode

If you want to take things to the next level, you can even customize your perfect Windows 11 color palette.

Now that so many of us are using monitors with sky-high brightness settings and HDR support, I truly feel that every app and website should offer a dark mode option.

Sadly that’s not yet the case, and even when an app or ‘site does have a dark mode it’s often a hassle to fiddle with the settings on each and every one.

That’s why I’m so grateful Windows 11 has a “dark mode” you can enable which will switch the appearance of Windows to a cooler, darker palette. Even better, it will do its best to automatically switch all apps which support it to dark mode, saving you some time and hassle.

To enable Dark Mode in Windows 11, navigate to Settings > Personalization > Colors and select “Dark” from the “Choose your mode” dropdown menu. You can also set up custom color palettes if you prefer.

Try out Phone Link to get texts on your PC

If you’ve been jealous of the way Macs and iPhones are so deeply integrated that owners of both can get texts right on their PC, it’s time for you to try out Phone Link.

For the last year or so the Phone Link app has been included by default in Windows 11, so you should be able tosummon it by just hitting the Start button and typing Phone, then clicking the Phone Link iconin the search results.

Once you launch it you can sync your iPhone or Android device to your PC and start sending and receiving text messages right from within Windows. Unfortunately, it’s pretty limited with iPhones, so you can only take full advantage of this feature if you’re using an Android device that’s running Android 8 or later.

But I’m still using an iPhone and I find even the basic utilities of Phone Link pretty handy to have, so I recommend you give it a shot.

Clear out annoying taskbar clutter

Trim down your Windows 11 taskbar in the Settings menu.

When I first started using Windows 11 I was so annoyed by what Microsoft did to the taskbar. I’m not talking about the centered Start menu, either; I got used to that pretty quickly, and after all you can move it back to the lefthand corner if you really want (just right-click the taskbar and selectTaskbar settings > Taskbar behaviorsand changeTaskbar alignmenttoLeft).

I like my Windows taskbar to work for me, so one of the first things I do on every new Windows PC I review is to get rid of all the default taskbar icons for apps like Copilot, Edge, the Microsoft Store and Task View.

Some of these, like the Microsoft Store shortcut, can be removed by simply right-clicking the icon on the taskbar and selectingUnpin from taskbarfrom the context menu.

Others take more work to dislodge. You can hide them from the taskbar by navigating toSettings > Personalization > Taskbarand opening theTaskbar itemssub-menu, where you’ll have the choice to disable the Microsoft Teams, Widgets, and Task view buttons.

Note that if you disable the Widgets button it will disappear from the taskbar, meaning you will no longer get live weather updates via it (if you have it configured that way) and you won’t be able to access your Widget menu by mousing over it.

Shake things up to stay focused

Windows 11 has a handy little feature that allows you to quickly minimize all windowsexceptthe one you’re focusing on by simply shaking it around a bit. The window, that is, not your PC—try not to shake that around at all if possible.

This is a fun way to quickly get rid of (without actually closing) everything except what you want to focus on. I’ve found it comes in real handy when working across multiple monitors.

To enable it, simply navigate toSettings > System > Multitaskingandswitch Title bar window shaketoOn.

Fine-tune volume with a spin of your scroll wheel

Hover your mouse over this icon, roll your scroll wheel back and forth and watch the volume percentage go up and down.

Here’s a fun little secret not many Windows 11 users know: you can quickly adjust your PC volume by moving your mouse over the speaker icon in your taskbar and rolling the scroll wheel on your mouse or trackball up and down.

I really love doing this because it saves me at least two clicks every time, and that adds up in the course of a month. But more importantly, it makes me feel both cool and smart to know how to use this little feature.

You can put folders and key settings right on the Start menu

See the little white icons in the lower-right corner of the Start Menu? Those are how these commonly-used folders appear when you enable them.

If you need faster access to key aspects of your PC like the Settings menu, the Downloads folder or your Network settings you can add them right to your Start menu with a few simple clicks.

To do so, navigate toSettings > Personalization > Start > Folders. In this sub-menu you’ll see a list of nine folders (from Downloads to Pictures) you can choose to put back on the Start menu. Note that they appear not with their usual icons alongside everything else, but rather as small white glyphs in the lower-right corner of the Start Menu.

You can do even deeper customization of your Start Menu if you back out of the Folders sub-menu. In the generalSettings > Personalization > Startsettings you’ll find even more options to change the way icons are spaced in the menu, whether or not your most recently-used apps and files appear, and more.

How does glass bend?

Everything bends if it’s thin enough.

Frontside view of the Google Pixel Fold sitting on a table

Foldables are here to stay. You were wrong if you figured they would be a short-lived fad or relegated to some niche corner where nobody paid any attention to them, and many people did. While not yet mainstream, they’re not going away anytime soon.

They have their pros and cons, and some models do it better than others. One thing they all have in common is a big sheet of glass that can be bent across itself, then straightened back out (hopefully) hundreds of thousands of times.

It sounds a little bit crazy. I think most of us have broken glass and consider it fragile. It is. But with the right parts and the right techniques glass, like everything else, can be bent.

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Folding versus bending

While a foldable phone may fold, the glass doesn’t. Folding a sheet of glass would instantly break it, so instead it’s bending, and yes there is a difference.

Take a sheet of paper and lay it on a table. Now grab the top corners and bring them to the bottom corners. You’ve bent the paper. If you apply pressure along the bend and create a crease, it’s folded. Your foldable phone never allows the glass to fold, just bend. this sounds a bit like nitpicking, but it matters.

Everything will bend if you make it thin enough. A framing timber in your roof won’t bend, but a thin sheet of wood veneer or a branch on aBonsai treewill because it’s thinner. If you apply enough pressure to bend a thick hunk of wood, it’s going to break because of what’s called tensile strength.

When glass, or anything else, bends, you’re stretching the materialoutsidethe radius of the bend itself. A material’s tensile strength determines how far it can be stretched before it breaks, and dense, thick materials are both stronger and harder to bend than thin materials. The force required to bend a thick piece of wood will cause it to break as soon as or right after it begins to bend.

By using a very thin sheet of glass, you’re stretching less material and putting less tensile strain on it. This allows it to stretch and bend before it reaches its breaking point.

Don’t get too hung up on this because it works just like you think it does — thin things are easier to bend without breaking. But thin glass is only one of the things that lets your foldable fold … erm bend.

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An engineering marvel

Making a phone with a glass screen that folds in half is a pretty amazing accomplishment. But as mentioned, the glass is just one piece of the puzzle.

That thin glass — often calledUTGfor ultra-thin glass — isn’t the same as the glass used on other phones. It’s been treated in ways that allow it to stretch even more than it normally would.

The exact methods and materials used are company secrets, but different polymers are injected into the glass and used as a coating over the glass to allow for a lower tensile strain during the bending process. Making the glass as thin as human hair (thinner, actually) isn’t enough.

Next, you have to make sure the glass doesn’t touch itself while in the bent position, but you need to do it the right way. There are two reasons for this, but from a design standpoint, it is important that the least amount of bending be used to fold the body of the phone on itself. Ideally, there is a larger air gap at the bend point than the outside edges, and the outer case of the phone is built so that it’s doing the touching instead of the glass itself. It doesn’t matter if the phone is a flipper or a folder, the glass can’t touch, and the point nearest to the bend will have a larger gap the the edge.

That’s where the most important part of all this comes into play:the hinge. Hinges have improved dramatically since the failure that was the first Samsung Galaxy Fold, but even that was an engineering feat.

A hinge must be designed to allow for fluid motion only in the way it was designed to, well, to hinge. You can’t have unwanted linear force or any sort of warping during the process, and every time it moves, things must be very consistent. The hinge not only needs to be sturdy, stout, and precise; it needs to be durable as well. The 200,000th time the hinge folds needs to be the same as the first.

We see new hinge designs with every release cycle because it’s the most important component of a foldable, even if it’s not the most spectacular. There is no one correct way to accomplish this, and every company making foldable phones does things a little differently. They all have the same end goal, though: be strong enough to resist unwanted “twisting”, be precise enough to meet design specifications, and be durable enough to do it hundreds of thousands of times before it fails.

The last (and worst) piece: some plastic

If you were to grab a foldable phone and press really hard on the screen with your thumbnail, you would be able to put a tiny dent in it. This is because you’re not really touching the glass itself; there is a thin layer of plastic covering it all. If you were to grab a first-generation foldable you would put a bigger dent on the screen using a lot less force because this process has been refined a lot in a few years. The latest phonesalmostfeel like glass when you touch them.

This isn’t done because phone makers love the feel of plastic, it’s done for the same reason the glass can’t touch itself when bent in half. The glass on a foldable phone needs to stay as defect-free as possible.

If you look at the screen on your “regular” phone very closely you’ll find a bunch of very tiny scratches. These have almost no effect on the operation of your phone and most of the time you wouldn’t even know there were there. But they are, and they would spell the death of a foldable.

Any defect — a chip or a scratch — in a piece of bendable glass creates a weak point that will be prone to expanding as the glass is stretched (on one side) and compressed (on the other side) during the bending process. That means the glass is going to crack where the defect is.

A non-removable screen layer of a thin, flexible plastic material over the glass acts as a sacrificial layer that will absorb the abuse instead of the glass getting it.

A lot of different companies now make foldable phones in several different styles. Now you understand how it works a little bit and know how things will keep getting better each and every year.

PlayStation Plus price increases – are you affected?

The price of some subscription plans is to jump by about 36 per cent in some territories from next week

It has been about 19 months since the last PS Plus price hike

Sony is raising the price ofPlayStation Plusin 22 countries because of the impact of “global market conditions”.

Affected regions include South America, south-east Asia and Australia, where the price of certain subscription plans are jumping almost 36 per cent.

Here is what you need to know about the PS Plus price rise, including affected countries and how you can evade them.

When are PS Plus prices going up?

The new PS Plus prices will come into force onWednesday April 16for new subscribers andJune 24(or when subscriptions run out) for existing subscribers.

Sony said the hike is down to “global market conditions” – in plain terms, that means things like inflation and other economic changes, especially in regions like Latin America where costs have soared.

Sony’s PlayStation Plus service includes access to online multiplayer, free monthly games, and a huge library of titles depending on the subscription tier

Pexels

The company argued the changes are needed to keep delivering top-tier games and perks throughPlayStationPlus. It’s part of a wider trend: asXbox Game Passand Netflix (whichnow offers games) raise their prices, Sony is following suit to stay competitive.

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Where are PS Plus prices going up and by how much?

Below we have listed all the countries where Sony is upping the cost of PS Plus, along with the new and old prices for each region (and the percentage difference).

South Korea

Essential:

1 month: KRW 8,900 → KRW 10,800 (+21.3%)
3 months: KRW 23,800 → KRW 28,400 (+19.3%)
12 months: KRW 72,900 → KRW 86,400 (+18.5%)

Extra:

1 month: KRW 13,300 → KRW 16,200 (+21.8%)
3 months: KRW 36,000 → KRW 46,000 (+27.8%)
12 months: KRW 115,900 → KRW 145,800 (+25.8%)

Deluxe (Premium):

1 month: KRW 15,600 → KRW 19,000 (+21.8%)
3 months: KRW 43,200 → KRW 54,000 (+25%)
12 months: KRW 139,900 → KRW 171,000 (+22.2%)

Latin America (general pricing in USD)

Essential:

1 month: $6.99 → $7.99 (+14.31%)
3 months: $17.99 → $20.99 (+16.68%)
12 months: $59.99 → $64.99 (+8.34%)

Extra:

1 month: $9.99 → $11.99 (+20.02%)
3 months: $27.99 → $33.99 (+21.43%)
12 months: $89.99 → $107.99 (+20%)

Premium:

1 month: $11.99 → $13.99 (+16.68%)
3 months: $34.99 → $39.99 (+14.29%)
12 months: $109.99 → $124.99 (+13.64%)

Sony regularly adds new titles to the PlayStation Plus library, with recent additions including Lost Records: Bloom & Rage and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

Brazil

The following price increases are for current/new subscribers:

Essential:

1 month: R$34.90 → R$39.90 / R$43.90 (+14.3% / +25.8%)
3 months: R$89.90 → R$97.90 / R$114.90 (+8.9% / +27.8%)
12 months: R$278.90 → R$319.90 / R$359.90 (+14.7% / +29%)

Extra:

1 month: R$52.90 → R$59.90 / R$65.90 (+13.2% / +24.6%)
3 months: R$139.90 → R$159.90 / R$186.90 (+14.3% / +33.6%)
12 months: R$475.90 → R$546.90 / R$592.90 (+14.9% / +24.6%)

Deluxe (Premium):

1 month: R$60.90 → R$68.90 / R$76.90 (+13.1% / +26.3%)
3 months: R$161.90 → R$183.90 / R$219.90 (+13.6% / +35.8%)
12 months: R$549.90 → R$619.90 / R$691.90 (+12.7% / +25.8%)

Australia

Essential:

1 month: $11.95 AUD → $12.95 AUD (+8%)
3 months: $33.95 AUD → $35.95 AUD (+5%)
12 months: $95.95 AUD → $102.95 AUD (+7%)

Extra:

1 month: $18.95 AUD → $20.95 AUD (+10%)
3 months: $54.95 AUD → $59.95 AUD (+9%)
12 months: $169.95 AUD → $187.95 AUD (+10%)

Deluxe (Premium):

1 month: $21.95 AUD → $23.95 AUD (+9%)
3 months: $63.95 AUD → $70.95 AUD (+11%)
12 months: $196.95 AUD → $214.95 AUD (+9%)

Latin America

Argentina
Bolivia
Brazil
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Ecuador
El Salvador
Guatemala
Honduras
Mexico
Nicaragua
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Uruguay

Asia

Indonesia
Korea
Malaysia
Singapore
Thailand
China (Taiwan Hong Kong)

Oceania

Australia

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How to avoid the PS Plus price hike

As the increase doesn’t start until April 16, there is still time for users to get the lower price, even if they are current subscribers.

You canpurchase extra cards at a lower priceand add them to your account, andReddit users have reportedthat PlayStation lets them add additional years to their account this way.

Alternatively, Sony has cut the price of membership forBlack Fridayin the past so, if you can’t afford an annual membership now, the chances are you will get a second bite of the cherry come November. Stacking two three-month memberships should see you through till then.

Currently, the US and Europe are safe from these price hikes, but uncertainty prevails with the ongoing tariff situation.

Microsoft Recall is rolling out following major controversy — what you need to know

Recall redo

Microsoft’s Recallfeature has had a rocky start to its existence. Designed to capture screenshots of your actions onCopilot Plus PCto find later, it’s been delayed and pushed back since it was first announced.

However, Microsoft appears ready to try again, as the company is starting to preview the feature toWindows Insiders.

Microsoft described Recall in a recentblog post: “You work across so many apps, sites, and documents it can be hard to remember where you saw something you want to get back to. Recall saves you time by offering an entirely new way to search for things you’ve seen or done on your PC securely.”

Recall was initially meant to launch with the first batch of Copilot Plus PCslast June, but it was pushed back due to security concerns. In October, Microsoft planned to re-release it, but it pushed it back to give itself a chance to make “a secure and trusted experience.”

It seems the company is at least close to ready to create that secure experience, as rolling the feature out to those in the Windows Insider program is typically the last step before the company launches a feature to the masses.

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(Image credit: Microsoft)

Microsoft’s blog post also mentions that you must opt in if you want to have Windows save your screenshots and make them findable.

“You will need to opt-in to saving snapshots, which are images of your activity, and enrol in Windows Hello to confirm your presence so only you can access your snapshots,” reads the company’s blog.

Having Recall on PCs as an opt-in feature instead of on by default is a smart move from Microsoft, as it’ll allow those more security-conscious users to ignore the feature and keep using their Copilot Plus PC without any changes.

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Microsoft didn’t say how long the feature would be in testing before launching it to all Copilot Plus PC users. Based on the issues with the initial launch, I assume it’ll keep it in testing for a while to ensure everything is ready for prime time.

MicroSD Express vs microSD card: What’s the difference?

It comes down to speed, price, and compatibility

(Image credit: Petapixel)

For about two decades, traditionalmicroSD cardswere the storage solution of choice for portable devices like mobile phones andhandheld consoles.

However, the evolution of storage solutions has led to the development of microSD Express, an advancement over its predecessor.

While microSD cards and microSD Express appear the same, their specifications and applications differ. You may be wondering why you haven’t heard about microSD Express – that’s because the technology is not only relatively new, but its adoption has been quite slow.

microSD Express vs microSD card – the basics

microSD Express is an advanced version of microSD that uses PCIe and NVMe interfaces similar to high-end SSD storage solutions to achieve significantly faster transfer speeds of up to 985MB/s.

This storage format was first released by the SD Association in 2019, and since then, several brands have developed cards with guaranteed minimum speeds of 150MB/s, 300MB/s, 450MB/s, or 600MB/s, as indicated by the “E” symbol on the card label. These cards, however, have not seen wide usage until recently, when Nintendo announced plans to use them for expanded storage in the upcomingSwitch 2.

On the other hand, a microSD card is a small, removable storage device that has been widely used in smartphones, tablets, cameras, and gaming consoles. Originally launched in 2005, the format has evolved into SDHC, SDXC, and SDUC variants, with capacities up to 2TB.

These cards use the SD interface and are classified based on speed. Most consumer devices today support UHS-I cards, with read speeds up to 100MB/s. Less common UHS-II and UHS-III cards can reach speeds of up to 300MB/s and 600MB/s, respectively.

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Speed and performance

The obvious advantage of microSD Express over microSD is transfer speed. Its interfaces enable faster write speeds, allowing for seamless recording and quicker file transfers. Another key benefit is reduced latency, thanks to NVMe technology.

Unlike traditional microSD cards, which rely on older interfaces, microSD Express offers lower response times when accessing data. This leads to faster system responsiveness, especially when opening large files, running applications, or switching between stored media.

Backward compatibility concerns

One major drawback of microSD Express is its lack of full backward compatibility. If you use a microSD Express card in an older device with a traditional microSD slot, the transfer speed drops to UHS-I levels, which can be disappointing. In addition, devices made for microSD Express are exclusive, meaning regular microSD cards will not work in them.

This compatibility issue is clear with the Nintendo Switch 2, which only supports microSD Express cards. Users now need to purchase new storage solutions, even if they have plenty of data on older microSD cards from previous Switch models. This shift has caused frustration among users who expected backward compatibility to be preserved.

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Use cases and adoption

microSD Express cards are not designed for all use cases. If you mainly store regular photos and videos on mobile phones or cameras, a standard microSD card will do just fine.

microSD Express shines in scenarios where high-speed data transfer is critical, with one key example being gaming.

Games are data-intensive, and faster read/write speeds reduce load times, improve performance, and make gameplay smoother. This is likely a key reason why the Nintendo Switch 2 adopted microSD Express.

Standard microSD cards often struggle with large files, leading to dropped frames or slow transfers when dealing with high data rates, such as4Kor8Kvideo. This makes microSD Express especially valuable for filmmakers and content creators.

Cost and availability

That all said, getting a microSD Express card isn’t easy. Few brands currently produce them, and availability may be limited in some regions.

Also, because the technology is still developing and uses more advanced components, microSD Express cards tend to be more expensive. For example, a 1TB microSD Express card from Lexar costs around $200, while a standard 1TB microSD card from the same brand is priced under $70.

Should you upgrade to microSD Express?

Whether to switch to microSD Express depends on your needs and device compatibility. If your device requires it, like the Nintendo Switch 2, then upgrading is necessary. But if your device only supports standard microSD cards, there’s little benefit, as speeds will drop by almost 90%. That said, if low latency is a priority, it may still be worth considering.

For general users who want affordable storage for smartphones, cameras, or other devices, traditional microSD cards remain a practical choice. Professionals working with high-speed applications, may find microSD Express to be a worthwhile investment.

Future of microSD Express

Portable computing devices, including laptops, tablets, and handheld gaming PCs, now use high-grade hardware and often rely on expandable storage for larger apps and media. For example, some mobile phones and cameras can now record in 8K, which puts a lot of pressure on storage performance.

A one-minute 8K video can be as large as 20GB. Saving this to a regular microSD card could take around four minutes, while a microSD Express card could do it in about 30 seconds. That is a significant difference that could drive the adoption of microSD Express.

Still, the future of microSD Express really depends on how many device manufacturers choose to support it. If more consoles, cameras, and portable devices integrate the format, prices may come down and the market could expand.

Google Workspace is getting a bunch of new AI features, including a boost to Docs

It seems Google is pretty happy with the state of its Gemini model at the moment because it’s inserting AI features into every product it has lately. This time,Workspaceis getting the AI refresh, with new features coming to Docs, Sheets, Vids, Meet, and Chat — along with a new “agentic AI” feature called Workspace Flows.

First up, Docs is getting new audio and AI writing capabilities. The podcast feature first used inNotebookLMreceived a lot of praise, and now it’s starting to appear in more places. It came to Gemini a few weeks ago, and now it’s coming to Google Docs in a few weeks.

Google

If you haven’t heard about it,audio overviewsare basically AI-generated summaries of your document but presented in a new way — instead of text, you get a podcast hosted by two AI personas. It sounds quite out there, but Google says it’s had great feedback and there are plenty of people online talking about how great it is for multitasking.

As well as the podcast-style overviews, you can also get an audio version of your document as is. This is meant to help you spot any weird phrasing in your writing or check through a document without actually sitting down and reading it.

The second feature for Docs is Help me refine, and Google says it’s more than just a text-generating tool. Instead, the model has been trained to offer “thoughtful suggestions” to improve both your language and the content of your writing — encouraging you to engage in the process and develop your skills as a writer and communicator.

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Google

Tools that “force” you to do something properly like this can be a little unpopular with some users — since there are plenty of LLMs that will just fix everything for you, it can seem a little condescending for Google to decide you need to put some work in yourself.

However, if you can see past this, it likely really is a better way to utilize an AI writing tool. Offloading tasks to AI can quickly affect your own abilities, and while writing assistance can help speed tasks up, most people will still have to spend a lot of time writing documents. It would frankly suck to spend so much time on something just to find your skills degrading rather than improving.

Either way, if this feature works well,Grammarlymight not be so pleased — most people won’t want two different programs highlighting their typos at the same time, so one or the other will probably get the boot.

Moving on to the other features, we’ve got theHelp me analyzebot inGoogle Sheets, built to help you spot patterns and interesting trends in your data that you might have missed. If you’re not sure how to get the results you want, it can point you in the right direction — saving you time while making sure it doesn’t also waste time by taking control and generating charts that aren’t quite what you need.

Google

Vidsis also getting access to in-app video generation, andMeetis adding a personal in-meeting advisor to help you catch up on discussions you missed or draft a point you want to make before saying it. If you have a long discussion in Chat, Gemini will soon be available for you to @ and ask for a summary.

And lastly, Workspace is getting access to its own AI agents, allowing teams to build new automatic processes that help streamline work. These agents, known asGems, can look at the documents in your Drive for context and guidance to inform its decisions.

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The exampleGoogle shows offis a customer support Gem that can review request forms, understand the issue, research solutions, draft a reply, and flag it for a team member to review and send. Again, the design of the tool focuses on not going too far, always seeking out human input before it makes any mistakes that could drastically reduce its effectiveness as a time-saving tool.

It looks like there will be a staggered release for all of these features, with most coming in the next couple of weeks or months, and the Sheets feature coming later in the year.

Trump pauses most global tariffs for 90 days but increases China tariffs to 125%

The U.S. just called a 90-day truce on the global trade war, but it’s escalating the situation with China.

(Image credit: FOX 5 New York / YouTube)

Just as the second round of his announced tariffs began to take effect, President Trump said he would delay their full implementation for many countries for 90 days. However, because China retaliated against the 104% tariff on its goods by applying 84% import duties on American goods, the White House is firing back by pushing the China levy back to 125%. This pause will apply to the 75 countries that have reciprocal tariffs applied against them but have not announced any retaliation against the planned higher tariff rates. However, a 10% tariff applied to all imports remains for those countries during the pause.

This news has allowed the market to recover a bit, with a few tech companies rebounding fromhitting their record lows. The 90-day period will also hopefully be enough time for many countries to negotiate a deal with the White House so that global trade can return to normal. However, the U.S.’s actions against Chinese trade are the latest in a series of moves escalating the trade war between the two countries.

Trump first applied a 20% tariff on Chinese goods in February, alongside the 25% taxes on Canada and Mexico. This jumped to 54% when he announced additional import duties in early April. Because of this,Beijing put a 34% levy on American productsandrestricted the export of several rare earth metals.

Trump responded with an additional 50% tax on the already existing 54%, pushing tariffs to 104%. Because of this, China retaliated with its own 50% increase, pushingimport taxes on American goods to 84%. This did not end there, though, as the latest Truth Social post by Trump says that he will push taxes on Chinese imports to 125%.

He made this announcement in the early afternoon in the U.S., which is just beyond midnight in Beijing. So, we’ll have to wait a few hours to see how China will react to this news.

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from X

It seems that the tariffs that Trump announced are meant to bring the rest of the world to the negotiating table, with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick posting on X (formerly Twitter), “The world is ready to work with President Trump to fix global trade, and China has chosen the opposite direction.”

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Incidentally, the E.U. just applied its own retaliatory tariffs on the U.S. a few hours before the announcement. However, this will not take effect until next week, so we don’t know if it will retract these levies or if Trump will also punish Europe with more taxes if it does not change its direction.

Microsoft is giving the Windows 11’s start menu an upgrade that could fix one of its biggest flaws

Windows takes a step backward to move forward

You’d be hard-pressed to find someone whoisn’tdispleased withWindows11 in some shape or form, but Microsoft is developing a newWindows 11Start menu that’s bound to make a lot of people happy.

Bluesky userphantomofearth, who dives into Windows Insider builds, discovered the new Start menu in a recent build. The menu offers a larger, more streamlined look that finally displays all of your apps in one place. More importantly, you can finally axe the Recommended feed.

The new Windows 11 Start menu

PreviousWindows 10users have been asking for this back forever now, which makes sense why people are so excited. Going a step backward is obviously a step forward for Windows, which surprises (let me check) no one.

To be clear, I am still using Windows 10 for my gaming PC for these exact issues… and also Microsoft put aridiculous hardware requirementon Windows 11. (At least I get to experience the silliness on each laptop I review.)

Again, I love that I don’t need to go through two different menus just to see my appsandthat I don’t need to see the (generally) useless Recommended section anymore. However, a list of all the apps in alphabetical order isn’t exactly clean, either. It just makes it more accessible.

Getting the apps front and center is nice and all, but I’m more excited about the overall customization.

With the new UI, you can easily switch between seeing “All” apps alphabetically, all apps in a Name Grid, and then in Categories. This isn’t anything new, but the Category setting previously felt useless because I’d have to click into the Start menu, click All, then click on the category with the app I want, and finally click the app.

However, now with Categories, you’d get an instant, clean look at all my apps in the Start menu on one page with little-to-no scrolling. This isn’t revolutionary by any means, but Microsoft makes Windows hard to love. Heck, that’s why some folksditched Windows 11 for Linux.

But if the Categories aren’t your style, you can now pin more apps, up to 8 per row. And you’re not stuck with 3 rows anymore, you can technically customize all the apps you see on your Start menu by doing this. So, folks who are very particular will have a field day customizing their Start menu.

If all you care about is ditching the Recommended section, however, you can disable it in the Personalization section in the Settings. Or at least whenever this update becomes available.

Technically, this feature was found in both the 23H2 and 24H2 versions of Windows 11. All that means is that we’ll likely see these new features soon, ideally in the coming weeks.

Camera phone shootout: the iPhone 16 Pro Max Vs Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

Wondering how two of the top flagship AI phones compare in camera quality? The battle of the camera phones continues in this latest shootout.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra camera phone shootout vs iPhone 16 Pro Max

I’ve finally done it. I’ve tested out two of thebest camera phonesthat you can buy right now, and pittedApple’s iPhone 16 Pro Max, against Samsung’s newest flagship, theSamsung GalaxyS25 Ultra series. Both of these phones are infused with AI power and have some seriously impressive camera specs on paper, but there can only be one winner here, so which is it?

If you’re familiar with some of thebest iPhones for photography, then you’ll know that these smartphones are very capable of capturing a sharp shot. The iPhone 16 series is the first, however, to introduce the innovative new Camera Control Button, and I’m surprised by how much I really enjoyed using this feature. If you’re more of an Android fan (guilty), then Samsung smartphones are the best alternatives to Apple handsets for photographers and content creators, thanks to innovative features like personalised filters, super Nightography, and more detail with the AI ProVisual Engine.

Remember, it’s not all about owning the most expensive device to get great shots, and some of thebest budget camera phoneshave pleasantly surprised us too. Interested in more camera phone comparisons? Take a look at my shootout between theHonor Magic 7 Pro and my S24 Ultrato see how these models tackled stunning Slovenian landscapes. More recently, I also pitted theNothing Phone 3a Proagainst my Samsung, and the results were impressive.

Take a look at the spec table below to see what we’re working with, and then check out the results and image sliders (drag the slider to see the full image) and see for yourself how the iPhone 16 Pro Max faired against the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra.

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Camera Phone Specs

iPhone 16 Pro Max Vs Samsung S25 Ultra specs

	iPhone 16 Pro Max	Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra
Chipset:	Apple A18 Pro	Qualcomm SM8750-AB Snapdragon 8 Elite
Main Camera:	48 MP f/1.8, 24mm (wide)	200 MP (f/1.7) 24mm (wide)
Zoom Camera:	12 MP f/2.8, 120mm (periscope telephoto	10 MP (f/2.4) 67mm (telephoto) + 50 MP (f/3.4) 111mm (periscope telephoto) with 5x optical zoom
Ultrawide camera:	48 MP f/2.2, 13mm	50 MP, f/1.9, 120˚
Selfie Camera:	12 MP, f/1.9, 23mm	12 MP (f/2.2) 26mm
Video	4K@24/25/30/60/100/120fps	8K@24/30fps, 4K@30/60/120fps

Image comparisons

During today’s camera phone shootout, I took to the sunny streets of Bath armed with both of these flagship camera phones, with the intent to capture the exact same shot with each device. I’ve never shot with either of these phones before, as my current smartphone of choice is the S24 Ultra.

To keep things fair, I stood in the same spot, used the same aspect ratio (16 by 9), and shot using the highest possible quality setting (excluding RAW modes) that both camera phones could muster, which is 48MP for the iPhone 16 Pro Max, and 200MP for the S25 Ultra.

https://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/juxtapose/latest/embed/index.html?uid=7094c344-0f06-11f0-9397-d93975fe8866

I’m always interested in how AI assists with smartphone photography, as I think that sometimes it can be overused to increase saturation and vibrancy where it’s not needed. I think the image sliders above demonstrate that the images captured have accurate true-to-life colours, for a more natural-looking image rather than anInstagram-ready one.

The main focus of this camera phone shootout has been landscape imagery, but check outRankin’s 8 steps to Smartphone Photography Successif you’re seeking some excellent tips on shooting portraiture with a smartphone.

https://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/juxtapose/latest/embed/index.html?uid=cb568420-0f06-11f0-9397-d93975fe8866

The iPhone 16 Pro Max comes equipped with a 48 MP f/1.8, 24mm (wide) camera, as well as a 48 MP f/2.2, 13mm ultrawide camera which isn’t far off what the Samsung S25 is sporting. One area where the iPhone 16 Pro Max is lacking is with its zoom, with only a 12 MP f/2.8, 120mm (periscope telephoto) lens. With that said, I did not notice any issues or distortion with the iPhone 16 Pro Max’s zoom camera, and it performed well in testing.

In comparison, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra boasts a 200MP main camera (f/1.7), a 10MP telephoto (f/2.4), a 50MP periscope telephoto (f/3.4), and a new 50MP (previously 12MP) ultrawide (f/1.9) camera array. In terms of footage, my Samsung can shoot 8K at 30fps, compared with 4K at 120fps with the iPhone 16 Pro Max.

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Zoom test

https://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/juxtapose/latest/embed/index.html?uid=33605562-0f0e-11f0-9397-d93975fe8866

As you can see from the image sliders above, the difference in quality between these two camera phones is minimal and really splitting hairs. I have struggled to tell the difference between which phone captured which shot during the upload process and the only giveaway was the larger 20MB+ file sizes of the images shot with the 200MP S25 Ultra.

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Image galleries

Photos from the iPhone 16 Pro Max

Photos from the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

Verdict

I can’t believe that I’m saying this publicly on the internet as a Samsung fan, but I have to admit that the iPhone 16 Pro Max might be the winner here (though it’s very very close). During today’s shootout, having never used either camera phone before, I found it much easier to use the iPhone 16 Pro Max and adjust camera settings on the fly thanks to the new Camera Control Button. Being able to control the aperture so easily really is a game-changer.

However, I did find when using the camera control button that it would active and change quite easily without me meaning to adjust it, and I think this may have been down to the Apple silicone case that we had on the phone during testing. The Samsung S25 Ultra performed exquisitely, as I had no doubt that it would, but the reason I think the iPhone succeeds here is not only ease of use – but the fact that Samsung had the advantage in this shootout with a 200MP main camera compared with the iPhone 16 Pro Max’s 48MP lens, yet the outcomes captured were very similar.

Nintendo says Game-Key Cards are not tied to accounts and can be loaned or resold

Game-Key Cards for the Nintendo Switch 2 are like physical game cards but without the game on them, and will prompt owners to download the game digitally. Now, Nintendo clarifies that they can be loaned or resold like regular game cards.

The Game-Key Card is always required to play a game. (Image source: Nintendo)

Alongside a new type of Game Card, Nintendo also announced that the Switch 2 will support what is calledGame-Key Cardswhich look like Game Cards but don’t contain an actual game. Instead, they are described as a key todownloading the full gameto your Switch 2. Now, Nintendo has provided new information about the Game-Key Cards.

When a Game-Key Card is purchased, buyers will have to insert it into the console and then proceed to download the game. An internet connection will be required the first time you launch the game for the first time. Subsequently, players will only need to insert the Game-Key Card into the Switch 2 to play, just like they do with a Game Card.

While that might sound as if the Game-Key Card is tied to a console, that isn’t the case. According to Nintendo’s Testuya Sasaki, the Game-Key Card isn’t tied to a console or Nintendo account, as they can be loaned, rented, and resold just like a regular Game Card.

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An example of the packaging for a Nintendo Switch 2 Game-Key Card. (Image source: Nintendo)

Apparently, the reason for Game-Key Cards according to information provided by Nintendo America’s president, Doug Bowser, to The Verge, is so that publishers can sell physical copies of games that are larger than the 64GB capacity of the Nintendo Switch 2 Game Cards. However, it is impossible to rule out that some publishers will opt for Game-Key Cards even if their games don’t reach the 64GB max file size of a Switch 2 Game Card.

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Despite the clarification that Game-Key Cards are not tied to accounts as is the case with digital downloads, there are those who are concerned about the future of these type of games several years into the future if the servers are shut down.

Considering owners of theNintendo 3DSandWii Ucan still redownload previously purchased games and download updates for their games despite theclosure of the eShopfor these consoles, it is safe to assume that those who purchase Game-Key Cards will always have access to download their games years down the line.