Windows 11 has been out long enough that most users feel like they know their way around it. But Microsoft quietly packed in dozens of features that rarely get any attention. Whether you’re a power user or someone who just wants to work faster, these hidden gems can completely change how you interact with your PC.
Here are 10 Windows 11 features worth knowing about right now.
1. Focus Sessions in the Clock App
Most people open the Clock app to set an alarm and close it immediately. But buried inside is a full Focus Sessions tool that uses the Pomodoro technique to help you work in timed bursts. You can link it directly to your Microsoft To Do list, set a session length, and even connect Spotify to play focus music automatically.
Open the Clock app, click Focus Sessions, and set your first session.
2. Snap Layouts (And How to Actually Use Them)
You’ve probably seen the little grid icon when hovering over the maximize button. That’s Snap Layouts, and it lets you tile multiple windows into preset arrangements on your screen. What most people don’t know is that Windows 11 also remembers your snap groups, so if you’re working with three apps side by side and minimize them, you can restore the whole layout at once from the taskbar.
Press Win + Z to bring up Snap Layouts instantly.
3. God Mode
God Mode is a classic Windows trick that still works in Windows 11. It creates a single folder that surfaces every setting and control panel option in one place, organized by category. There are over 200 options in there, from device settings to accessibility tools to obscure administrative utilities.
To enable it, create a new folder anywhere and name it exactly:
GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}The folder icon will change and you’ll have access to everything.
4. Clipboard History
By default, Windows only remembers one thing you copy at a time. Clipboard History changes that by storing up to 25 recent items, so you can go back and paste something you copied earlier without having to find it again.
Press Win + V to open the clipboard history panel. If it’s your first time, Windows will prompt you to turn it on. Once enabled, everything you copy gets saved until you restart your machine or clear it manually.
5. Live Captions for Any Audio
This one is genuinely impressive and almost nobody knows it exists. Windows 11 can generate real-time captions for any audio playing on your computer, whether it’s a YouTube video, a podcast, a video call, or even your own microphone. It works completely offline, no internet connection required after the initial language download.
Go to Settings > Accessibility > Captions and turn on Live Captions. You can also trigger it with Win + Ctrl + L.
6. Virtual Desktops with Custom Wallpapers
Virtual desktops have been in Windows for a while, but Windows 11 lets you assign a different wallpaper to each one. This makes it much easier to know at a glance which desktop you’re on, especially if you use one for work, one for personal browsing, and one for media.
Open Task View (Win + Tab), hover over a desktop, right-click, and choose Choose background.
7. Energy Recommendations
If you’re on a laptop and care at all about battery life or power consumption, the Energy Recommendations page is worth a visit. It analyzes your current settings and gives you a prioritized list of changes that will reduce your energy use, with one-click fixes for most of them.
Go to Settings > System > Power & Battery > Energy Recommendations.
8. Nearby Sharing
Nearby Sharing is Windows 11’s answer to AirDrop. You can send files, links, and photos wirelessly to other Windows devices on the same network without needing USB cables, email, or cloud storage. The range is actually pretty decent and the transfer speeds are fast for typical file sizes.
Turn it on under Settings > System > Nearby Sharing. Once enabled, you can right-click any file and choose Share to send it to nearby devices.
9. End Task From the Taskbar
This one is a small quality-of-life feature that was added relatively recently. Instead of opening Task Manager to kill a frozen app, you can right-click the app in the taskbar and click End Task directly. It’s a much faster way to deal with unresponsive programs.
If you don’t see the option, go to Settings > System > For Developers and enable End Task.
10. File Explorer Tabs
File Explorer finally got tabs in Windows 11, and most people either don’t know about them or have forgotten they exist. Instead of opening five different File Explorer windows, you can keep everything in one window and switch between tabs the same way you would in a browser.
Press Ctrl + T inside File Explorer to open a new tab. You can also drag folders into the tab bar to open them directly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are these features available on all versions of Windows 11?
Most of these features are available on Windows 11 Home, Pro, and Enterprise. A few, like End Task from the taskbar and Energy Recommendations, were added in later updates, so make sure your system is fully up to date by checking Settings > Windows Update.
Does God Mode work on Windows 11 or is it only for older versions?
God Mode works on Windows 11. The trick has carried over from Windows 7 all the way through to the latest version of Windows 11. The folder name and GUID remain the same.
Will enabling Clipboard History affect my privacy?
Clipboard History stores copied text and images locally on your device. Nothing is uploaded to Microsoft’s servers unless you also enable the optional Cloud Clipboard sync feature, which requires you to sign in with a Microsoft account and manually turn it on separately.
Can Live Captions understand multiple languages?
As of recent Windows 11 updates, Live Captions supports several languages beyond English, including Spanish, French, German, and others. You can change the caption language under Settings > Accessibility > Captions > Spoken language.
How do I get rid of a virtual desktop I no longer need?
Open Task View with Win + Tab, hover over the desktop you want to remove, and click the X button that appears. Any open windows on that desktop will automatically move to the previous desktop rather than closing.
Wrap-Up
Windows 11 has more depth than most people ever explore. Features like Focus Sessions, Live Captions, and God Mode are sitting right there waiting to be used, and they cost nothing to enable. Spending 10 minutes turning these on can save you hours of friction down the road.
If you found one feature here that you hadn’t tried before, there’s a good chance Windows 11 has even more surprises waiting for you in Settings.
