Using the Desktop Environment in Windows

Here is a guide on using the desktop environment in Windows

Getting Started with the Windows Desktop

In order to start using the Windows desktop, it is important to see how the desktop, the essential part of any operating system, is organized. You will see how to find the Taskbar, Start Menu, and Notification Center. I am currently viewing the Windows desktop, which is the screen you will be brought to by default when you turn on or restart your computer. Along the bottom of the screen is the taskbar, and in the empty space along the bottom are any pinned applications. So, starting from the left, I have the Task View option, the Microsoft Edge browser, the file Explorer, the Windows Store, and the Mail app.

Applications that are pinned to the taskbar remain there even when you close the application, so you can quickly and easily re-access them at any time. In the bottom left corner of the taskbar, if I click in the search bar, from here I can find files, applications, and anything else I may be looking for on my computer.

When you search for something, you will get results for different types of content that correspond to your search like application, documents, or apps from the windows store. You can even search the web using your search term. I am going to erase what I just searched for. Now when you click in the search bar, the virtual assistant opens automatically, and is represented by a blue circle. In Windows, the old control panel is still accessible, which you can open by searching for it, but a new settings app has been redesigned to be more user-friendly. So I am going to type in settings in the search bar, I am going to select the Settings app at the top.

So from this window that opens I can find a specific setting by using the search bar at the top, and I can scroll through a list of different setting categories to access and configure a particular setting. I am going to select the x on the top right to close. In the bottom left hand corner is the Windows logo, this opens the start menu. On the left hand side at the top, I can see recently added apps, as well as the full app list below. In the bottom left, I can turn off or restart the computer, I can access my settings, as well as my account settings, and on the right hand side I can see different apps that have been pinned to the Start menu either by default or that I have chosen to pin, and I can get quick access to certain information as well like the weather, date, or news. So I can see that many apps are still in the process of downloading, so once they have downloaded I will have access to certain information as well like the weather, date, or news. So I can see here that many apps are still in the process of downloading, so once they have downloaded I will have access to those specific applications. I am going to click outside to close.

Now on the bottom right corner is the notification center. If I select the conversation bubble icon, this opens the action center, which includes a list of all my recent notifications. From here I will be notified about new updates, new security, and maintenance, as well as any issues with my device, and along the bottom of the Action Center panel, I have quick access to several different features like tablet mode, or the rotation lock, which are useful if you are using a tablet device. I am going to click outside to close.

Using the Start menu in Windows

The Start menu in windows makes it easy to quickly access different applications directly from your desktop. From the Start menu, there are a number of different areas that will help you locate and open the application that you want to use.

To open your Start menu, click on the Start button in your taskbar, bottom left of your desktop.

When the menu opens, in the top left corner you have a sandwich menu button which you can click to expand that part of your menu. Below that, you will see the different icons which will allow you to open your account options, your Documents folder, Pictures folder, Settings, and Power options. I am just going to click to close that.

Next to that, you have the list of applications arranged in alphabetical order. You can use your mouse scroll wheel to scroll down the list or use the scrollbar on the right. Click, hold, and drag that downwards to go down the list of applications. Of course, scroll back up to go to the top of the list. In this list of applications, you may also see suggested applications and applications that you have recently opened in a category at the top of the list. Clicking on one of the applications will open it. On the right, you then have the different tiles for different applications organized into three categories: Create, Play, and Explore. Again, by clicking on one of those tiles that would open the application. To close your start menu, simply click away and it will close automatically.

You have the option of configuring the menu setting. To do this, open your menu again. This time, I am going to open the menu by using the Windows logo key on my keyboard. Now I am going to click on the Settings button, bottom left of the menu.

When the Windows Settings open, select personalization. From the menu on the left, then select Start. The Start menu settings will then appear and you can choose the settings that you want to apply by clicking on the toggle, to turn them on or turn them off. For example, you can show more tiles by selecting that toggle which is at the moment off. I could click that to turn it on.

If you did not want to see the app list, you could turn that off again by clicking on the toggle. You can go through and choose the settings that you want. For example, I am going to turn the start full screen option on. Si I am going to click on that toggle. When you have finished configuring your settings, you can close the Settings window by clicking on the X in the top right corner.

Now if I open the Start menu again, I am going to use the Windows logo key again. I can see that the Start menu has now opened in the full screen mode. If I go over to the left hand side of my menu, I have a sandwich menu button to expand that part of the menu. Below, I can see that I have the pinned tiles section of the menu open. If I wanted to see the list of applications, I would click on the all apps icon just below that.

I am going to go back to the settings. So I am going to click on the Settings, go back to Personalization, the Start option. I am going to turn the start full screen option off by clicking on the toggle again.

Finding and Opening an Application in Windows

In Windows your applications can be accessed in different ways. The key access point is the Start menu, where you can access an alphabetical list of all of your applications, and any system tools that you may want to open. The search function can also be used to quickly locate a particular application or program. So you can access the complete list of applications via the Start menu. So if I select the windows logo in the bottom left hand corner that will open my Start menu, so I have my full list of applications on the left hand side here. So this list includes all the applications that come with the device, as well as the ones that I have downloaded via the Microsoft Store.

Now if I scroll through all the way down to W, from here I can access several Windows tools and settings like the Windows Admin tools, as well as the Windows Ease of Access settings and the Windows system Settings, and if I scroll all the way back to the top, I can see apps that have been recently added to my computer in the Recently added section, and I can see more by selecting Expand. On the right hand side, I have tiles that have been pinned by default as well as any tiles that I have pinned, and I have three default groups that group together different applications, the Create, Play, and Explore groups. Note that the File Explorer in my taskbar, as well as the Edge browser and the Microsoft Store, are pinned to this taskbar by default. If you have pinned any apps to the taskbar, you can always access them from this taskbar at any time. Now if you are having trouble finding a particular application, you can use the search bar to find it. So I am going to click in the search bar, and from here I can type in a part of the app name and will get results that correspond to my search. So if I know I want to search for an email application for example, but I am not sure of its name, I can just type in the keyword email.

So I can see that I get results for 2 applications, the Mail application and the Outlook application. I also get other results that correspond to my search like settings, web searches, documents, and folders. Now once you find the application that you are looking for you can click on it from this results list, or you can perform different actions directly via the context menu. So if I go up to Outlook, for example, and right click on it, that will open the context menu, and from here I can open the app, open the file location of the application, pin it to the start menu or to the taskbar or uninstall it. I can even perform actions that are specific to the application like sending an email, scheduling an appointment or meeting, or adding a new contact or task.

So I am going to select To Pin this application to the taskbar and I can now see the Outlook application icon on my taskbar. I am going to click outside to close, so now that Outlook has been pinned to my taskbar I do not have to search for it every time I want to open the app, I can just click on it in the taskbar to open it and I can see that the application opens right away. I am going to right click on the Outlook icon and select Close Window to close the app.

Moving From One Application to Another

The Windows Start menu allows you to access all the applications installed on your computer. You will see how to open, organize, and close different applications.

To find an application, from the Start menu, you can either open the menu by clicking on the Start menu icon on the bottom left of your desktop in your taskbar or using the Windows logo key on your keyboard. I am going to click and I can see the list of applications arranged in alphabetical order. You can either scroll through these with your mouse wheel, or using the scroll bar on the right, clicking and holding that to scroll through to see the different applications.

As the list is quite long, you can search for an application by selecting one of the letters. For example, I am going to select O. this will open a menu of the letters in the alphabet and you can click on any of them that are white. If they are not white, it means that there are no applications that start with that specific letter. I am going to select W. I can now see the list of applications starting with the letter W. I am going to open the Word application by clicking on it from that list. I am not going to use the wizard just now, so I am going to click on the Cancel button.

You can also open applications from the start menu. I am going to open that. I could click on another application from the list. For example, the Calculator. If I click on it again, you can open one of the applications by clicking on its tile. For example, I am going to click on the Microsoft Edge tile. This has opened Microsoft Edge. You can see which applications are open in your taskbar because there will be a blue line underneath the open application.

Having opened multiple applications, you can close them by moving your cursor to the right corner of the app window. For example, I am going to click on the X to close the app. Now I can see Edge has now closed. You can move your cursor over the application taskbar button. I am going to do that for my Calculator. When the miniature appears, move your cursor over it and select the x icon in the top right corner of the miniature. That has closed the application.

You can also close an application by right clicking on the taskbar button and selecting Close window. Now all the applications I had opened are closed.

Accessing the Desktop

In Windows you can access your desktop several different ways. You will see how to quickly show and hide all open windows to view the desktop, use the desktop peek option, add a desktop toolbar, and view your desktop from File Explorer. So on my Windows device here I have several windows open. I can change between each window by clicking on one of them, so I can click on this website here to make that the active window, and I can do the same thing for the word document that is open.

If I would like to hide any one of these windows I can minimize them one by one by selecting the minimize icon in the top right corner. However, if I want to hide all open windows at once instead of one by one, I can use a keyboard shortcut. I can select the Windows key located in the bottom left hand corner of my keyboard beside the spacebar, and then the letter D. So I am going to go ahead and perform the shortcut, so I can see that all windows are minimized immediately and at the same time. Note that this only minimizes all open windows and does not close them. So I can see in the taskbar below that there is a blue line underneath each open application. So Microsoft Word, Microsoft Edge, and File Explorer.

I can view a single window by hovering over the icon of the application, which will show a live preview. If I hover over the live preview, I will see a preview of the window, if I move my mouse away, then that will re-minimize. Now I can show all windows again by using the same keyboard shortcut, the Windows key and then the letter D.

So I can see that all windows are shown again on the desktop and are no longer minimized. Another way to hide all windows is to right click the Start menu button in the bottom left hand corner, and then by selecting Desktop, I can see that it minimizes all windows once again, I am going to show them on the desktop again.

Another way to quickly view the desktop when you have several windows open, is to use the Desktop peek feature, which shows you a preview of the desktop when you hover your mouse in the bottom right hand corner of the taskbar. So if I go ahead and move my mouse over to the bottom right corner, and hover my mouse in the small space beside the vertical line in the taskbar, I can view the desktop, and I can see an outline of each open window, and if I click now in the small space, that will show all windows once again. Now if the peek option is not working for you, you need to make sure it is enabled. To do this right click on the taskbar, select Taskbar settings, and make sure the Peek preview option is toggled on.

I am going to close this window. Now if I go back down to the taskbar, and right click, I can see the Show the desktop option here as well. If I go ahead and select this, then that will minimize all windows at the same time. If I go down to the taskbar once again and right click, I can select Show open windows, and all windows will be shown on the desktop once again. You can also add a desktop toolbar to the taskbar for quicker and easier access to files and folders stored on your desktop. To do this, right click on the taskbar, then select Toolbars, and from here select desktop.

Now I am going to hide these windows once again by using the shortcut, and I can see in the taskbar below that a desktop toolbar has been added, if I select these double arrows, I can see different files and photos that I can now easily access from here. So I have OneDrive, my Libraries, Control Panel, Recycle Bin, and I can see the different folders that I have created and I am storing on my desktop. I am going to click outside to close. You can also access your desktop files via File Explorer. So I am going to go over to my taskbar and open the File Explorer. I am going to go over to the navigation pane here. I am going to double click on Local Disk. I am going to select the User's folder. I am going to select my username, and from here I am going to select Desktop and here I can see any files or folders that I am storing on the desktop. Note that you can also access the desktop via the navigation panel on the left hand side. So if I select This PC to change locations, and then select Desktop, I can see those same desktop folders. I am going to close this window.

Using the Desktop in Windows

Different users use the desktop in different ways. For some, it is a launch pad for all the applications and programs that they may want to use. For others, it is an easy storage space for organizing folders and files. You will see how to store different items on the desktop and create and delete desktop shortcuts in Windows. You can store files and folders on your desktop for quick access to files that you open and use frequently, for example. So I can create a folder directly on the desktop. To do this, I am going to right click on the desktop. I am going to select new and from here I am going to select a folder.

So I can see a new folder has been added to the desktop with the default name new Folder. The default name is highlighted automatically, which allows me to rename it easily, so I am going to go ahead and start typing.

I am going to click outside to apply these changes. You can also create new documents and store them on your desktop. To create a new blank document on your desktop, right click on the desktop. Select New and here I can see a list of different documents that I can create.

So I can create Excel worksheets, Publisher documents, PowerPoint Presentations, Microsoft Word documents, contact sheets, and so on. I am going to choose to create a Word document. I can see that the default document name is selected automatically, so I can go ahead and select Backspace and then name this document. Then, I am going to click outside to save these changes.

You can also create shortcuts on the desktop for quicker access to documents stored elsewhere on your computer or to applications. For example, if I want to create a shortcut to an application, I need to first locate the application via the start menu. So I am going to select the Windows logo in the bottom left hand corner to open my start menu. On the right hand side, here I have all of my pinned applications. So I can create a shortcut to OneNote, for example. I am going to click and hold on the OneNote tile and I am going to drag it to the desktop. I am going to release my mouse and that will create the shortcut.

You can always tell if an icon is a shortcut because there will be an upward facing arrow in the bottom left corner of the icon, as I can see here. So now I do not have to open the Start menu to open OneNote, I can just double click on this OneNote shortcut. I can also create shortcuts via the file Explorer by using the same drag and drop method. So if I go down to my taskbar and open File Explorer and if I want to create a shortcut to the Pictures folder, for example, I can just click and drag it to my desktop, release my mouse and I can see that shortcut arrow once again.

So this creates a link directly to the pictures folder and that way, I do not have to open File Explorer to access this folder. I am going to close this window. It is also possible to create a personalized shortcut on the desktop. To do this, right click on the desktop, select New and then select Shortcut.

From here, in the text field, I can type in the location of the application or folder or I can select Browse on the right hand side. I am going to select this, I am going to expand this PC location. I am going to select Documents and I am going to choose to create a shortcut to the document here. I am going to select Ok, and I can see that the file path has been inserted into the text field. I am going to select Next.

Here I can rename the shortcut if I would like. I am going to leave this as it is and I am going to select Finish to close. So that I can see that the shortcut has been created to the document that I selected, which is stored in the Documents folder on my computer. Once I double click on the file name, the document will open in its designated application, Microsoft Word, and I do not have to locate it via the documents folder or by opening Microsoft Word. Now, to delete a shortcut from your desktop, you can just move it to the recycle bin. So if I select this shortcut I just created and then click and drag it to the recycle bin and then release my mouse, the shortcut will be deleted.

Now make sure that what you are deleting is a shortcut and not an original file. If you are sure it is a shortcut, when you delete it, you will just be deleting the quick link. All original files will still be in their original location. So if I go down to file Explorer and open it and then go over to the navigation panel and select the Documents folder, I can still see that the original file still exists.

I am going to close this window. Note that the new file I created is not a shortcut. So if I delete it, the original will be deleted and the same is true of the folder I created. I can also delete shortcuts to applications the same way without deleting the application from my computer.

Using the Taskbar in Windows

The taskbar is a key element of the Windows desktop. You can use it to store and access shortcuts to your favorite applications. The notification area displays useful information relating to your system including the time, date, and sound volume. You can also manage any application, open, or pin there directly from your taskbar.

In the bottom left corner of your taskbar, you have the Start menu, which you can click to open the Start menu and click again to close.

Next to that, you have the search field, which if you click, will also open Cortana. Cortana is represented by the blue circle and welcome message. If you want to type in your search, you can type that directly into the search field, and the different search results will appear. You can choose at the top to find results in applications, documents, or the web, and you can see the matches for your search in the window below. I am just going to click away to close that.

Next to that, you have the task view icon, which if you click, will open the Task View. You click again to close.

Next to that, you can see applications that have been pinned or opened.

On the right side of your taskbar, you have the people icon. The icon will let you see any hidden icons. You can click that to see those. You can then manage your internet connection and volume. If you click on the date and time, that will open the time and calendar.

Finally, you have the notifications icon to see any new notifications.

Any applications that have been pinned or opened will appear in your taskbar. You can see open applications have a blue line at the bottom of the application taskbar button, which is the case for Word and Edge in my taskbar. You can move your cursor over one of the applications to see a miniature of the window, which you could click to open. If I move my cursor over Edge and click on the miniature, that has opened the Edge window too. You can click on an application from the taskbar to open it. I am going to click on my file Explorer, which has opened automatically.

You can then manage the different applications directly from the taskbar by right clicking on the application. For example, I am going to right click on Edge. I can see that I have the option to open a new window in Edge, or a new private window. Then, below that, I have the option to open Microsoft Edge, unpin the application from my taskbar, or close the window.

If I right click on my File Explorer application, I can see it is pinned because I see Pinned at the top of the option window. I can then see the different folders included in my file Explorer, which I could click to open or unpin from the list by selecting that icon. I can see the frequently used folders and again I could pin those to the list if I wanted to.

Again, I can see the name of the application, and have the option to unpin it from the taskbar or close the window. I am going to select that to close the window.

Finally, if I right click on Word, I can see for this application my recently used documents, which I could choose again to pin to the list. Below, I have the name of the document, I could pin it to the taskbar to close the window. I am just going to click away to close that.

Pinning Applications in Windows

In Windows, you can pin applications and folders that you use regularly to the Start menu or to your taskbar, so you do not have to search for them each time you need to access them. To pin an application that you use on a regular basis to the taskbar or Start menu, you first need to find the application in the app list via the Start menu or by searching for it in the taskbar. So I am going to open my Start menu. So if I want to pin my Calendar app, for example, under the letter C here I can see the Calendar app. I am going to right click on it.

So the first option is to unpin it from the Start menu, and that is because it is already pinned to the Start menu. I can see it here. So I can choose to unpin it from the Start menu, or pin it to the taskbar as well by selecting More and then by selecting Pin to taskbar.

Once I select this, the Calendar icon appears in the taskbar below. You can tell when a pinned application is open, because there will be a blue line underneath the application's icon like for the File Explorer, for example. Now you can also pin any application to the Start menu. So first, via the app list, go to the application you want to pin. So, Microsoft Excel, for example. Then right click and select Pin to Start.

Once I select that, I can see a tile on the right hand side with the Excel logo, and I can just click on the Excel icon to open the application. You can also pin folders to the Start menu for quick and easy access. To do this, first open the folder you want to pin. So I am going to click outside to close the Start menu and I am going to open my File Explorer window.

From my documents folder here, I am going to select my Marketing subfolder. I am going to right click on it and I am going to scroll down and select Pin to Start. I am going to close the File Explorer and reopen my Start menu.

So I can see the Marketing folder tile that has been added to my Start menu on the right hand side. Now you can unpin an application or folder at any time. To unpin an application from the taskbar, right click on the icon, so the Calendar app that I pinned for example and then select unpin from Taskbar.

Now if the application is closed, the icon will be removed right away, like it was in this case. However, if the application is open, the icon will be removed from the taskbar once you close the application. Now you can do the same thing to unpin an application or folder from the Start menu. So via my Start menu, I can right click on the Marketing folder that I pinned, and then select Unpin from Start. Now, I can see that the Marketing folder tile has been removed from the Start menu. I am going to click outside to close. Note that you can pin applications to the Start menu and the taskbar, but you can only pin folders to the Start menu and not the taskbar.

Managing Your Pinned Application in Windows

Creating a shortcut to an application or website in your Windows taskbar is known as pinning. The taskbar is constantly visible, meaning that it is a good place to store your frequently used shortcuts. Once you have pinned some shortcuts to your taskbar, you can easily reorganize them. So in my taskbar below, I can see that Microsoft Edge, File Explorer, and Windows store applications have all been pinned to this taskbar, and these are pinned by default.

Now, you can easily pin any application that you want to use by clicking on the Windows logo in the bottom left corner. From here, I am going to select the mail app, so the application will open and I can see the application's icon that appears in the taskbar below. Now, if I close this app, the icon will disappear from the taskbar, and I would then have to reopen the Start menu and reselect the app to reopen it. So to pin this app so that it remains in the taskbar even when the app is closed, I am going to right click on the Mail app icon in the taskbar, and I am going to select Pin to taskbar. Now, if I close the application, I can see that the Mail app icon has remained in the taskbar.

I can tell it is no longer open because the blue line underneath the icon has disappeared. You can also pin an application via the Recently added list or the All apps list. So, I am just going to scroll to the application that I want to pin, so Excel for example. I am going to right click, so I can see an option to pin this application to the Start menu, which means that it will appear as a tile on the right hand side. I am going to select More, and from here I can see the Pin to taskbar option.

I am going to select this, and I can see that the Excel icon has appeared in the taskbar. Now any apps that are pinned to the Start menu on the right can also be pinned to the taskbar. So if I right click on the Photos app for example, and then select More, I can see the Pin to taskbar option, I am going to select this, and I can now see the Photos app icon in my taskbar. So the photos application is pinned to both the Start menu and taskbar. I am going to click outside to close the Start menu.

Now you can reorganize the order of these pinned apps by just clicking and dragging on them in the taskbar. So I can click and drag on the Photos app, for example, and move it to the far left and then I can select Microsoft Edge, for example, and move it all the way to the right. You can also unpin any apps at this time. To do this, right click on the icon you want to unpin. So I can unpin Excel, for example. Once I right click, I can just unpin from the taskbar and the application will be removed from the taskbar.

Managing Multiple Desktop Views in Windows

In Windows, you can open multiple virtual desktops to organize the different applications and windows you have open on your computer. This can be very useful for managing your workspace. You will see how to open new desktops, as well as how to manage open windows and applications on multiple desktops.

To create a new desktop, click on the Task view button in your taskbar. When the task view opens, in the top left corner, you will see the new desktop option. Click that and a new desktop will be created and you will see its miniature appear at the top of your desktop. Here I can now see I have desktop 1 and Desktop 2.

I still have the option to create another desktop by selecting that. I am going to create another one by clicking, and now I have three desktops.

When you have created multiple desktops, you can then start moving your different applications in windows between them. To do this, I am going to select Desktop 1, where I can see I have three applications open. To move Edge, for example, into Desktop 2, I am going to click on the miniature, hold my click, and drag it onto the desktop 2 tab. The Edge window is added to Desktop 2.

If I move my cursor over Desktop 2, I can see that the Edge window now appears in desktop 2. If I go back to Desktop 1, I can also click on the calculator which I opened. Click and hold, and either drag that into Desktop 3, or you can create a new desktop by dragging the window into the new desktop. I am going to do that, so now I have four desktops.

You can also move a window by right clicking on the window you want to move. For example, if I select Desktop 4 and then move my cursor over the calculator application, right click. I have the option to Move to and if I move my cursor over that, I can see the number of desktops I can use. Again, I could create a new desktop by selecting that.

I am going to move my calculator application into Desktop 3, so I am going to select that. I can see how it now appears in Desktop 3. I am going to select Desktop 3 to close the task view. Now I am back in the desktop view, I can see my calculator application.

If you have multiple desktops and want to be able to move between them from the desktop view, you can do so by using the keyboard shortcut Windows logo key+Ctrl+left or right arrow buttons. I am going to do that now. I can see that I have gone from Desktop 3 to desktop 2 by selecting the left facing arrow. If I do that again, I can go to my Desktop1. If I use the right facing arrow I can go back to Desktop2, Desktop 3, and Desktop 4.

To delete a desktop, open your task view from the taskbar, move your cursor over the desktop that you want to delete. I am going to delete Desktop 4. When you see the X appear top right of the desktop, click to delete it. I can now see desktop 4 has been deleted.

If I decide to delete Desktop 2 in the same way by clicking on the X, the number of remaining desktops will automatically be modified. For example, Desktop 3 has now become Desktop 2. I am going to close Desktop 2. I can see now that I only have one main desktop. I am going to exit the task view by clicking on the Escape key on my keyboard. I can see the three application windows that I have open on my desktop.

Using the Timeline in Windows

If you use a Microsoft account to log into windows, then you can enjoy the Timeline option or activity history. Thanks to this option, you can pick up activities in different applications that you have been using over the last 30 days and you can do this on any other device when you have logged in with your Microsoft account.

To open your timeline, click on the Task View button in your taskbar. The task view will then open. In the center, you will see your different activities. For example, today, I have two activities and I could click on either of those to go back to them. You can also use your mouse wheel to scroll down to see other activity from previous days or dates.

For example, I can see my activity for yesterday and if I keep scrolling down, I can see previous dates. On the right side of the timeline, you have this slider starting at the top with the most recent activity, and at the bottom with the oldest activity. Instead of using your mouse wheel, you could use the slider that looks like a circle on the white line, click, hold the click and drag your cursor downwards to see past activity, or back up towards the top to see more recent activity.

You could also click on one of the time periods to go directly to that time period. I could click on earlier today and automatically I am back, and I can see my activity for earlier today.

I am going to scroll back down to yesterday's activity. Here I can see six activities, but next to the Yesterday category, I can see all 9 activities. Therefore, if you have a lot of activity for a certain day, you can do all of it by clicking on the words see all, the number, and activities. Then I can see all the activities for Yesterday and at the particular time. Again, I could use the slider on the right to slide down to see all the activity. To go back to see only my top activities, I am going to click See only top activities, top left.

You also have the option of searching for a particular activity by clicking on the Search button top right that looks like a magnifying glass. A search field will then appear, and you can type in your search term. This is useful, for example, if you know that the activity was using a particular application. For example, I am going to search for my activity in Excel. I am going to type in Excel and I can see the results. To clear the search, click on the X on the right of the text field.

You can also manage the different activities in your timeline by right clicking on one of the activities. I am going to right click on my MSN activity in Microsoft Edge. When the menu opens, I can Open the application, Remove the activity from the timeline, or clear all the activities from earlier today. I am going to select Remove to remove that activity and I can see it has now disappeared from my timeline.

To open an activity, you can either right click and select Open or simply click on the activity. I am going to do that for my Excel document I was working on earlier and that has opened the application automatically. If I wanted to continue working on my document, I could sign in. I am not going to sign in just now, so I am going to close the Sign in window. I am going to close Excel by clicking on the X in the top right corner.

Finally, if you want to return to an activity you have been working on, you can do so by using Cortana. To do this, select the search field in your taskbar to open Cortana. When Cortana opens, you will see a section called Pick up where you left off, and you will be able to see the last two activities you were working on, and below that the option to see all activities, now I can see my timeline has opened again and again I can scroll down, click on an activity I want to pick up. I am just going to click in the blank space to close the Timeline.

Configuring Timeline in Windows

The timeline or activity history is associated with the use of a Microsoft account to log in to Windows. Therefore, there is no activity by default. In this section, you will discover how to access and modify the configuration of this option in Windows.

To be able to manage your activity history, first open your Timeline by clicking the Task View in your taskbar. When your Task View opens, you will see the different activities in your timeline and if you scroll down to the bottom, at the bottom you will see the option where you can turn on syncing for activities, which will allow you to see up to 30 days of activity in your Timeline and be able to resume activities from your PC on your other devices.

You can do this by clicking on the turn on button at the bottom of your timeline.  If you close your timeline by just clicking away, you can open your Windows settings by clicking on the Start button and then selecting the Settings icon. When the Windows Settings opens, select Privacy, and then select Activity history from the menu on the left.

At the top, you have your Activity history where you have options to be able to go back to the apps and docs you were using or other activities on your PC or phone. You can click on the checkbox button to let Windows collect your activities from this computer. I am going to do that, so the checkbox is now blue with a white checkmark, and also let Windows sync your activities from this PC to the cloud. Again, I am going to click on that to select it.

Below, you are told that you can always review the learn more and privacy statement for more information about the activity history, so you can know exactly what happens when you send your activity history to Microsoft.

I am just going to scroll to the next option more clearly, you can see which account is On, and so which activity is being collected. If you want to turn this off and to hide your activity from a particular account, click on the blue toggle where it says On.

The toggler will go white and it will say Off. Therefore, if I minimize the window and open the Task View to see my timeline, I can see that there is no longer any activity apart from the Settings application that I have currently open. I am going to click on the Settings at the taskbar button to open it up again, and I am going to turn my account On again, so the activity will appear in my timeline.

To be able to manage your Microsoft account activity data, select that link at the bottom of the settings. A new window will automatically open in Edge and you can select the Sign In With Microsoft button to sign in to be able to manage your activity.

I am going to enter my sign in details, and press the Enter key on my keyboard and now enter my password and press the Enter key on my keyboard.

Now my privacy dashboard has opened. I am going to click on the Activity history tab at the top. I am now going to scroll down. You could obviously read the information that appears below if you wish. Here I can see the list of my activities for today, again I could use the scrollbar to scroll down to see that in its entirety. I am going to scroll back up.

You can also filter your activity by selecting one of the filters on the left. For example, I am going to select Apps and services. Then I will scroll down again. I can see that my activity is now arranged by apps and services. For example, the Microsoft account, OneDrive. Below each activity, I could view the details by selecting that. Then I selected Hide Details if I wanted to hide them.

You can delete the activity by selecting delete activity. If I select that, that will automatically delete the history. You can also clear all your history by selecting the dropdown menu button next to Actions at the top and select Clear activity.

If you select that, a window will open explaining what it will mean if you delete your history. For example, you are reminded it may hinder Microsoft's ability to provide you support, and apps and services may be less relevant and useful to you. You can either select Clear if you are happy to clear your History or Don't Clear if you would rather not. I am going to select Don't Clear just now, and I am going to close the Edge window by clicking on the X in the top right corner.

As I still have my Settings window open, I can see the last option in the activity history settings is Clear. Again, you could select that if you want to clear all your history. A window will open with the option to select ok if you are happy to clear all your activity history from your account and all your devices. However, you are reminded that you will not be able to resume any cleared activities. I am just going to click Cancel because I am not going to do that just now. I am going to close the Settings window by clicking on the X top tight.

Locking, Signing out, and Shutting Down in Windows

When you start Windows, you are asked to open a user session. Once logged in, you can lock your session to allow another user to quickly use the device or sign out completely from your user session. If you have finished using your device or computer, you can restart Windows or switch it off completely. If you do not want to close the programs you have open in order to come back to your work later, you can lock your user session. I am going to select the Start menu in the bottom left corner. I am going to click on my avatar. So that will redirect me to the sign in screen.

This sign in screen has a default picture as the background. I can see the time and data on the left here, and below I can see any upcoming events on my calendar. Now you may also see information about the photo in the background, as well as some other facts that pop up in the picture. Now to sign in again, I am going to click on the sign in screen. I can see my name and avatar that appear, and then in the text field, I need to type in my user password. I can choose to open a different user session by selecting the user's name in the bottom left hand corner. In the bottom right hand corner, I have my network, ease of access, and power buttons. So I am going to go ahead and sign back in. I am going to select Enter on my keyboard, and I can see that everything is how I left it, so I have my browser window still open and the Start menu is even open as well. Now if you want to close out but leave your computer running, you can sign out of your session. So via the start menu, I am going to re-click on my avatar, and this time I am going to select sign out.

So that will bring me to the same sign-in menu, and once I am ready I can sign back in. So I am going to click once again and enter in my password. I am going to select Enter. So I did the same thing as I did before to sign in.

However, once you sign out and sign back in, all programs in windows that were open during your last session will be closed. So I can see that the Edge browser window I had open has now been closed. If you want to turn off your computer completely, you can shut it down. So, I am going to go back down to my start menu to open it. I am going to select the Power button on the left hand side.

From here, I have the Shutdown or Restart options. Now from time to time, you may see the option to Update and Restart or Update and Shutdown. So Update and Shutdown closes all applications and performs any updates, and then turns off, and the Update and Restart option closes all applications, performs any updates, and then restarts the computer automatically. I also have the option to put the computer in sleep mode. So, this will lock my session and will put the computer in standby mode, which uses very little battery power. So these options allow you to choose how you want to leave your computer depending on if you will be coming back soon if you will not be using your device for an extended amount of time. I am going to click on the Power button and I am going to click outside to close the Start menu.

Performing a Search in Windows

Windows has a search function embedded into the taskbar. This search bar can be used to search for your files, folders, apps, or for information from the web. These searches can be refined and you can even search for specific settings on your device. In this section, I will show you how to use the search function more efficiently.

To activate the search too, click the bar with the message Type here to Search. On this panel, you can see the different options for searching as well as information from the timeline and suggestions.

Type a keyword into the bar to view search results. Let us search for Word. Windows will display the best match at the top of the panel, which in this case is Microsoft Word. On the right, we can see the results preview, where we have extra options, like opening file location, pinning to the Start menu or taskbar, and uninstalling the app. To see the preview of other results, click the arrow icon beside the result.

You can refine your searches in Windows to narrow down results. Along the top of the panel, you can choose to search within specific categories. So if I select apps, I am only searching for apps with the keyword in the title, and if I click on Documents, I am only searching for documents with the keyword in the title. Click on the web to view results from the web. Here, you have options to download the apps, and view more information about the keyword from across the internet.

If you click on More, you can view even more options for search refinement, like finding folders, music, photos, or video, with the keyword in the title. Note that when you select the category, the contents of the search bar changes to. The keyword is now preceded by the category name.

We can refine searches directly in this way. Type the category name, then add a colon, then search for the keyword within this category. I am now searching for the keyword screen in the category settings. This will make searching in Windows more efficient. Do not forget, you can access the indexing options by clicking the three dots to the top right of the panel.

Getting to Know Your PC in Windows

In Windows, you can access a large amount of information regarding the device that you are using. This information includes the Windows version that you are running, the CPU that is installed on your device, and a full list of the different components that make up your computer. You will see how to access and understand this information which will help you manage your external devices and disk space.

The first thing you can do to start understanding your PC information is to open your System information window. To do this, select the file Explorer icon in the taskbar. From here, select This PC on the left hand side, then right click on it, and select Properties.

So this will open the System folder that is stored in the Control Panel. The System folder is part of the System and Security section of the Control Panel. Now in this window at the top, I can see which version of windows that I am using. I can also see information about the system that I am using like the type of processor that I have, the amount of RAM I have, the system type that is being used, and I can see the computer's name and description.

Now from here, I can change certain information by selecting Change settings on the right hand side. This will open the System properties window. At the top, I can add a description for my computer, so I can enter in Lisa's PC for example, and then select Apply in the bottom right corner to save these changes. Now from here, I can also change the network ID as well as the domain or workgroup associated with my device. There are additional options that can be configured via the other tabs at the top. So the Remote tab can enable remote assistance and allow remote connections on your device.

If I select System Protection, from this tab you can undo system changes and restore your computer to the previous version. If I select the Advanced tab, from here you can configure the performance, user profiles and Startup and Recovery settings. Via the Hardware tab, you can use the device manager to change the properties of your different devices, and you can configure your device installation settings. I am going to select the Device Manager button. From this window that appears, I can see a complete list of all the integrated devices on my computer, and anything that I have added like a mouse or keyboard for example.

I can access the properties of any item in this list by right clicking on the item, so I can right click on Print queues for example, and then from here, I am going to select the Settings tab, and I can access the Devices and printers folder button. Once I select that, it will open the Device and Printer folder via the Control Panel, and I can see all of the devices currently attached to my computer as well as any configured printers. I can then configure each device or printer via this window. I am going to close this window, as well as the Print queues property window. I am going to close the Device Manager now.

Now from the System Properties window, if you have made any changes, do not forget to select Apply in the bottom right corner to save. I have already saved my changes, so I am going to select Ok to close. I am going to close this window.

Now via this file Explorer window, via the Devices and drives section, I can see my local disk and I can see right underneath how much free space I have left on my computer. So I can see how much space I have total. I can also see any other devices or drives that have been configured with my device, so I can see that I have a DVD drive, and I can view the properties for each device by just right clicking on the device and selecting properties.

I can see the different tabs at the top that I can open to view information about the device and to configure certain settings. I am going to close this window.