Introduction 1 About This Book 1 Foolish Assumptions 2 Icons Used in This Book 2 Beyond the Book 3 Where to Go from Here 3 Book 1: Getting Started with Windows 11 5 Chapter 1: Introducing Windows 11. 7 Taking Your First Look at Windows 11 8 Hardware versus Software 9 Must You Run Windows? 10 Which Windows Version Is Best? 13 Understanding Important Terminology 14 Buying a Windows 11 Computer 18 Looking inside your PC 21 Secure boot, TPM, and Windows 11 24 Tablets and 2-in-1s 25 Laptops, Ultrabooks, Gaming laptops 27 Displays 29 Managing disks and drives 30 Connecting your PC to other devices 34 Video, sound, and multimedia 37 Is your old PC or laptop compatible with Windows 11? 38 What You Might Not Like about Windows 11 40 Chapter 2: Seeing What''s New in Windows 11 43 Microsoft''s Design Philosophy behind Windows 11 44 Understanding the Types of Windows 11 Apps 45 Seeing What''s New for the Windows Crowd 47 A new Start menu and taskbar 48 Increased role for Settings 48 The Control Panel has shrunk 50 Improved performance 51 Better gaming 51 RGB lighting 54 Microsoft Edge 55 Copilot 56 Improved security 57 Fine-tuned virtual desktops 58 Table of Contents iii Improved window snapping and grouping 59 Widgets are back 60 Other apps and improvements 61 Discovering What Was Removed from Windows 62 Chapter 3: Windows 11 Versions 63 Windows 11 Editions 65 Narrowing your choices 66 64-bit is the new normal 68 Which Version and Edition of Windows 11 Are You Running? 69 Upgrading from Windows 11 Home to Pro 70 Understanding Microsoft 365 and Office 72 Book 2: Personalizing Windows 75 Chapter 1: Getting Around in Windows 77 Navigating Around the Desktop 78 Using Windows 11 on Tablets and Touchscreens 82 Shut Down, Sleep, Restart, Sign Out, Lock, Sleep 84 Shut down versus sleep 86 Using the Keyboard and Keyboard Shortcuts 87 Using the Mouse and Touchpad 91 Chapter 2: Logging into Windows 11 93 Signing into Windows 11 94 Changing the Sign-In Password 95 Logging in Without a Password 97 Creating a PIN 97 Changing a PIN 99 Setting up facial recognition to sign in (Windows Hello) 100 Setting up fingerprint recognition to sign in (Windows Hello) 102 Bypassing passwords 103 Personalizing the Lock Screen 104 Changing the background of the lock screen 104 Adding or removing widgets on the lock screen 107 Chapter 3: Handling Notifications and Quick Settings 109 What Exactly Is a Notification? 109 Using the Notification Center 110 Mastering Notifications 113 Disabling notifications 113 Muting notifications with Do Not Disturb 115 Enhancing productivity with focus sessions 116 Using the Calendar 119 Using Quick Settings 120 Chapter 4: Understanding Microsoft Accounts 123 Realizing Which Accounts Are Microsoft Accounts 124 Deciding Whether You Want a Microsoft Account 125 Setting Up a Microsoft Account 127 Creating an Outlook.com account 128 Making any email address a Microsoft account 130 Taking Care of Your Microsoft Account 132 Controlling What Is Synchronized with Your Microsoft Account 132 Closing Your Microsoft Account 134 Chapter 5: Managing User Accounts 135 Understanding Why You Need Separate User Accounts 136 Choosing Account Types 137 What''s a standard account? 137 What''s an administrator account? 138 Choosing between standard and administrator accounts 138 Adding Accounts in Windows 11 140 Adding a user with a Microsoft account 140 Adding a local (offline) account 142 Adding a child account 143 Changing Other Users'' Settings 145 Setting a standard account as administrator 145 Modifying the settings of other accounts 146 Switching Users 148 Removing User Accounts from Windows 11 150 Chapter 6: Setting Up Your Family 153 Comparing Microsoft Family Safety with Microsoft 365 Family 154 Adding Child Accounts to Microsoft Family 154 Setting Time Limits for Children 158 Blocking Access to Inappropriate Sites 159 Blocking Inappropriate Apps and Games 161 Chapter 7: Protecting Your Privacy 163 Handling Your Privacy in Windows 11 164 Limiting diagnostics and feedback data collection 165 Viewing the diagnostic data sent to Microsoft 167 Knowing What Connections Windows Prefers 169 Seeing Fewer Ads in Windows 11 170 Getting fewer Welcome dialogs in Windows 11 172 Controlling Location Tracking 173 Blocking all location tracking in Windows 11 174 Blocking location tracking in an app 175 Minimizing Privacy Intrusion 176 Chapter 8: Making Windows 11 Accessible 177 Increasing Text Size 178 Making the Mouse Pointer More Visible 179 Improving Text Cursor Visibility 180 Using Magnifier 181 Controlling Windows 11 with Your Voice 182 Dealing with Color Blindness 184 Book 3: Working on the Desktop 187 Chapter 1: Running Your Desktop from Start to Finish 189 Working with the Desktop 190 Changing the background 191 Switching Windows 11 themes 193 Battling dark mode and light mode 194 Setting Up Your Display 195 Switching the night light on and off 195 Enabling HDR and auto HDR 197 Setting the screen resolution 198 Changing the size of text, apps, and other items 200 Adjusting the refresh rate 201 Adjusting the display orientation 202 Adjusting the brightness 203 Working with a Mouse and a Touchpad 204 Snapping app windows 204 Configuring the mouse 206 Setting up the touchpad 207 Using Virtual Desktops 209 Moving apps between virtual desktops 210 Managing Icons and Shortcuts 211 Creating shortcuts 212 Arranging icons on the desktop 214 The Recycle Bin 215 Setting Up the Sound 216 Muting your computer 216 Setting the volume and your sound devices with Volume Mixer 217 Chapter 2: Personalizing the Start Menu 219 Touring the Start Menu 220 Right-clicking Start for the WinX menu 221 Modifying the Start Menu 223 Adding, moving, and removing pinned apps 223 Creating folders with pinned apps 224 Adding and removing Start menu folders 226 Choosing the Start Menu layout 227 Personalizing the Start menu 228 Moving the Start menu and taskbar to the left 229 Chapter 3: Exploring Search and the Taskbar 231 Searching in Windows 11 232 Searching is the fastest way to start apps 234 Filtering search results to find what you need 236 Starting apps as admin from a Windows search 237 Setting Search to index your entire PC 238 Configuring how Search works 240 Touring the Windows 11 Taskbar 242 Using the taskbar 243 Using jump lists and other taskbar tricks 244 Pinning apps to the taskbar 246 Adding and removing taskbar items 247 Adding or removing system tray icons 249 Personalizing how the taskbar behaves 250 Chapter 4: Working with Files and Folders 253 Using File Explorer 254 Navigating File Explorer 254 Viewing and opening your files and folders 256 Creating and managing files and folders 259 Using Gallery 261 Deleting files and folders 263 Searching for files and folders 264 Sorting and grouping files and folders 266 Displaying file extensions 267 Viewing hidden files 268 Managing the Home section 269 Enabling and disabling check boxes for files and folders 271 Sharing files 271 Working with ZIP Files 273 Creating a ZIP file 273 Creating more advanced file archives 274 Extracting a ZIP file 276 Right-Clicking in Windows 11 277 Chapter 5: Connecting to Wi-Fi and the Internet 281 Connecting to the Internet 282 Connecting a desktop PC to the network 282 Connecting to Wi-Fi 283 Connecting to hidden Wi-Fi 284 Connecting to Wi-Fi through WPS 286 Setting the Network Location 287 Troubleshooting Network Connections 289 Forgetting a Wi-Fi network 289 Resetting network adapters 290 Book 4: Using Windows Apps 293 Chapter 1: Browsing the Web 295 Getting to Know Microsoft Edge 296 Grouping tabs in Microsoft Edge 298 Enabling vertical tabs in Microsoft Edge 299 Changing the default search engine 300 InPrivate browsing with Microsoft Edge 302 Adding extensions to Microsoft Edge 304 Using Other Web Browsers 306 Changing the Default Browser in Windows 11 307 Chapter 2: Enhancing Your Productivity with Copilot 309 Chatting with Copilot 310 Accessing previous chats 312 Ending a chat and starting a new one 314 Using Copilot while Browsing the Web 315 Adding Copilot to Your Phone 317 Copilot Pro and Copilot for Microsoft 365 319 Chapter 3: Using the Outlook App. 321 Understanding Email 322 Setting Up Outlook 323 Adding Other Email Accounts 324.