Introduction 1 About This Book 1 Foolish Assumptions 2 Icons Used in This Book 2 Beyond the Book 3 Where to Go from Here 4 Book 1: Getting Started with Windows 11 5 Chapter 1: Introducing Windows 11 7 Taking Your First Look at Windows 11 8 Hardware and Software 9 Must You Run Windows? 10 Understanding Important Terminology 13 Buying a Windows 11 Computer 17 Looking inside your PC 20 Secure boot, TPM, and Windows 11 23 Tablets 24 Displays 28 Managing disks and drives 29 Connecting your PC to other devices 32 Video, sound, and multimedia 35 Ultrabooks and convertibles 37 What You Might Not Like about Windows 11 38 Chapter 2: Seeing What''s New in Windows 11 39 Rolling Back to Windows 10 40 Microsoft''s Design Philosophy behind Windows 11 42 Understanding the Types of Windows 11 Apps 43 Seeing What''s New for the Windows Crowd 45 A new Start menu and taskbar 46 Increased role for Settings 46 Improved performance 47 Better gaming 48 Improved Microsoft Edge 50 Less Cortana 51 Improved security 52 Fine-tuned virtual desktops 53 Improved window snapping and grouping 54 Widgets are back 54 Other apps and improvements 55 Chapter 3: Windows 11 Versions 57 Windows 11 Editions 58 Buying the right edition, the first time 60 Narrowing the choices 61 64-bit is the new normal 62 Which Version of Windows Are You Running? 63 Book 2: Personalizing Windows 67 Chapter 1: Getting Around in Windows 69 Navigating around the Desktop 70 Using Windows 11 on Tablets and Touchscreens 74 Shut Down, Sleep, Restart, Sign Out, Lock, Sleep 75 Taking Screen Shots 78 Keyboard Shortcuts 79 Chapter 2: Logging into Windows 11 83 Working with the Lock Screen 84 Signing in 85 Changing the picture for the lock screen 85 Adding and removing apps on the lock screen 89 Logging in without a Password 90 Creating a PIN 90 Windows Hello 92 Bypassing Passwords 94 Chapter 3: Handling Notifications and Quick Actions 97 What, Exactly, Is a Notification? 98 Using the Notification Center 99 Disabling Notifications 101 Enabling Focus Assist 102 Using Quick Actions 104 Chapter 4: Managing User Accounts 107 Understanding Why You Need Separate User Accounts 108 Choosing Account Types 109 What''s a standard account? 109 What''s an administrator account? 110 Choosing between standard and administrator accounts 110 Knowing What''s Good and Bad about Microsoft Accounts 112 Adding Accounts in Windows 11 113 Adding a user with a Microsoft account 114 Adding a local (offline) account 115 Adding a Child Account 118 Changing Other Users'' Settings 119 Setting a standard account as administrator 119 Modifying the settings of other accounts 120 Switching Users 124 Chapter 5: Understanding Microsoft Accounts 127 Realizing Which Accounts Are Microsoft Accounts 128 Deciding Whether You Want a Microsoft Account 129 Setting Up a Microsoft Account 131 Creating an Outlook.com account 132 Making any email address a Microsoft account 133 Discontinuing Your Microsoft Account 136 Taking Care of Your Microsoft Account 137 Controlling Which Windows 11 Settings Get Synchronized 137 Chapter 6: Protecting Your Privacy 139 Realizing Why You Should Care about Privacy 140 Handling Your Privacy in Windows 11 142 Limiting diagnostics and feedback data collection 143 Viewing the diagnostic data sent to Microsoft 145 Knowing What Connections Windows Prefers 146 Seeing Fewer Ads in Windows 11 147 Controlling Location Tracking 149 Blocking all location tracking in Windows 11 152 Blocking location tracking in an app 153 Minimizing Privacy Intrusion 154 Book 3: Working on the Desktop 155 Chapter 1: Running Your Desktop from Start to Finish 157 Working with the Desktop 158 Changing the background 159 Switching Windows 11 themes 161 Battling dark mode and light mode 162 Setting Up Your Display 163 Switching the night light on and off 163 Enabling HDR and auto HDR 164 Setting the screen resolution 166 Changing the size of text, apps, and other items 167 Adjusting the refresh rate 168 Using magnification 170 Working with a Mouse and a Touchpad 170 Snapping app windows 171 Configuring the mouse 173 Setting up the trackpad 174 Using Virtual Desktops 175 Moving apps between virtual desktops 176 Managing Icons and Shortcuts 177 Creating shortcuts 178 Arranging icons on the desktop 180 The Recycle Bin 181 Chapter 2: Personalizing the Start Menu 183 Touring the Start Menu 184 Modifying the Start Menu 185 Adding, moving and removing pinned apps 186 Changing your picture 188 Personalizing the Recommended section 189 Adding and removing Start menu folders 190 Moving the Start menu and taskbar to the left 191 Chapter 3: Exploring Search and the Taskbar 193 Searching in Windows 11 194 Searching is the fastest way to start apps 196 Filtering search results to find what you need 198 Starting apps as admin from a Windows search 199 Searching your entire PC 200 Touring the Windows 11 Taskbar 202 Using the taskbar 203 Using jump lists and other taskbar tricks 203 Pinning apps to the taskbar 205 Adding and removing taskbar items 207 Chapter 4: Working with Files and Folders 209 Using File Explorer 210 Navigating File Explorer 210 Viewing and opening your file and folders 212 Creating and managing files and folders 215 Searching for files 217 Sorting and grouping files and folders 218 Displaying file extensions 219 Viewing hidden files 221 Pinning items to and removing items from Quick Access 222 Enabling and disabling check boxes for files and folders 222 Sharing files 224 Working with ZIP Files 225 Creating a ZIP file 226 Extracting a ZIP file 227 Right-Clicking in Windows 11 228 Chapter 5: Connecting to the Internet and Browsing the Web 231 Connecting to the Internet 232 Connecting a desktop PC to the network 232 Connecting your laptop or tablet to Wi-Fi 233 Connecting to hidden Wi-Fi 234 Using Microsoft Edge 236 Familiarizing yourself with Microsoft Edge 237 Enabling vertical tabs in Microsoft Edge 238 InPrivate browsing with Microsoft Edge 239 Adding extensions to Microsoft Edge 241 Using Other Web Browsers 243 Changing the Default Browser in Windows 11 243 Chapter 6: Calling on Cortana 247 The Cortana Backstory 247 Setting up Cortana 248 Turning on Voice Activation for Cortana 250 Using Cortana 251 Exploring Cortana''s Settings 253 Useful or Fun Commands for Cortana 255 Chapter 7: Maintaining Your Drives 257 Using Maintenance Tools for Your Computer Drives 258 Formatting drives 258 Freeing up storage space with Storage Sense 260 Running an error check on a drive 261 Defragmenting a drive 263 Maintaining solid-state drives 264 Accessing the Health Report 265 Book 4: Using Windows Apps 267 Chapter 1: Using the Mail and Calendar Apps 269 Choosing Mail and Calendar Apps 271 Comparing email apps 272 Comparing calendar apps 275 Choosing the right package 277 Using the Mail App 277 Creating an email message 281 Searching for email in the Mail app 284 Mail Settings 284 Adding a new email account 284 Setting extra options 286 Avoiding Calendar App Collisions 287 Adding calendar items 290 Struggling with the Calendar app''s shortcomings 291 Chapter 2: Keeping Track of People 293 Alternatives to the People App 294 The Contact List in Windows 11 294 Adding Contacts in the People App 295 Adding accounts to People 295 Editing a contact 299 Adding a contact 301 Chapter 3: Working with Photos 303 Viewing Pictures with the Photos App 304 Adding Photos 306 Importing pictures from a camera or an external drive 307 Adding folders to the Photos app 308 Editing Photos 309 Switching to Light Mode in the Photos App 312 Working with Albums 313 Chapter 4: Note-Taking with OneNote 315 Getting Started in OneNote with or without a Pen 316 Adding Notebooks, Sections, and Pages 318 Adding Content to a OneNote Page 322 Sending Sites from Microsoft Edge to OneNote 325 Configuring OneNote''s Settings 326 Chapter 5: Storing in OneDrive 329 What Is OneDrive? 330 Setting Up a OneDrive Account 331 The Four States of OneDrive Data 334 Adding File.