15 Tips and Tricks For the Best Windows 10 Experience

Control Windows Updates

Updates are useful for keeping your PC secure and performing as it should be. However, they have a tendency to come at the worst times. If you head into your advanced WiFi settings you can trick your PC into not downloading updates whenever it pleases by stating you have a metered WiFi connection. This is particularly handy if you're doing something requiring a lot of bandwidth that you don't want updates hogging.You can also prevent your PC from downloading an update again if you happen to come across one that leaves it moving at a snail's pace.

God Mode

GodMode is a particularly hidden feature that puts all settings in one place within Windows 10. Create a folder on your desktop named: GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}.This is particularly handy for accessing all of the most hidden away settings within Windows 10.

Clear Out the Old Backups

Once you've updated to Windows 10, your PC will store all of your old OS settings and files away, taking up a good 9-10GB of storage space.Head into control panel, type Admin in the search box, and double-click Disk Clean-up. Select the 'Clean up system files' option and let it do its thing. It'll take a few minutes but your PC will be much better off for it.

Manage Your Notifications

You can customize what appears in your Action Center within the Notifications & Actions menu within System Settings. Sick of those tips about Windows? Hit the slider and turn 'em off. You can even select individual apps to enable or disable notifications from them, too.

Customize Your Start Menu

Those tiles on your Start menu can be incredibly useful, but also very distracting and annoying. If you're sick of seeing that Store logo on your Start menu, simply right click on it and unpin it from your Start menu.You can also resize tiles, turn them off altogether, or add your own choices in by dragging them into the live tile area.

Disable Cortana

While Cortana has her uses, maybe she just isn't for you. Fear not, you can always disable her by clicking in the search box, going down to the little notebook icon on the left-hand side, going to Settings and turning the top slider off.

Or Delete What Cortana Knows About You

Alternatively, you can erase everything that is stored in the Cloud Servers, by following these steps.

Offline Maps

Maps is a pretty handy app especially if you're using a laptop or tablet on the go. However, if you end up losing internet connection, Maps' usefulness begins to wane a little.Go to Settings and then System, click on Offline Maps and click the Download maps option. From here you can select the region you want the map of and download it so you'll never be lost again.

Faster App Launches on Startup

If you've got a powerful PC you can disable the artificial app startup delay. You'll need to launch rededit and get to the following path: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorer.Right-click on Explorer, go to New and then Key, and name it Serialize. Here, create a DWORD value called StartupDelayInMSec and set the value to 0. Be warned though, you do need a powerful computer to handle this and registry editing can be harmful to your PC if done wrong.

Stream Media to Devices

If you had music or video files on your PC on an older OS, it was a nuisance to have to move them onto a USB drive to be able to play them on your TV or another device.Windows 10 allows you to cast your media over your WiFi network to another device on the network such as a Smart TV. A small but handy trick for those media-addicts.

Virtual Desktops

Virtual desktops is a great way to keep your work separate from play. Using the shortcut of the Windows key, CTRL + D you can open a clone of your desktop, fresh from any programs or apps you may have open on the other one.You can switch between them by using Windows key, CTRL and either the left or right arrow keys.

Play Xbox One Games

The Xbox app on Windows 10 allows you to keep up to date with everything Xbox One related. An activity feed informs you of your friends' recently unlocked achievements, recorded clips, and more.The big feature, though, is the ability to stream from your Xbox One to Windows 10 allowing you to play games even when you're not in the same room as your system.

Bring Back the Old Battery Display

Windows 10's new look is great in some instances, and not so great in others. The new battery layout can make it difficult for switching between power plans for laptop users. To bring back the old battery display, open up the Registry Editor (regedit) and head to this key: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorer.Create a new DWORD named UseWin32BatteryFlyout and then set the value to 1.

Disable WiFi Sense

WiFi Sense automatically connects you to WiFi so that you can get online quickly. However, in order for it to work to its full potential it requires you to share your network with either or a combination of your Facebook friends, mutual Skype contacts, or mutual Outlook.com contacts.While some people may be fine with this, sharing your network can always pose a risk if the wrong person manages to access it. To disable it, go to Settings and then Network and Internet. Once here, go to Wi-Fi and under Manage Wi-Fi disable all of Wi-Fi Sense's features.

Get Rid of Quick Access

Whenever you open File Explorer in Windows 10 you'll be greeted with a Quick Access menu showing you your most visited files and folders. While this can be useful, some may find that it gets in the way too often.Head to the View tab and then go to Options and Change Folder and Search Options. At the very top you should see Open File Explorer to: and a dropdown. Simply select This PC to get rid of that pesky Quick Access.