5 Windows Tricks You Didn’t Know About

Think you knew everything there was to know about your Windows PC? Think again! Even if you’re a seasoned user, Windows is still full of features and tricks that may surprise you. Behind the familiar interface are tools and shortcuts that can really change the way you work or play.

In this article, we’ll shed light on some of these little-known features. Not only could they make your life easier, but they could also open you up to new ways to use and enjoy your computer. Here we go!

Quickly turn your ideas into digital art with Cocreator in Paint:

This is one of the Windows tricks that might just improve your creativity. If you have a head full of ideas but zero talent in drawing, don’t worry! Microsoft has added a new feature to Paint, called Co-Creator, that allows you to turn your thoughts into digital masterpieces without lifting a brush. It’s a tool that uses the power of DALL-E, the famous artificial intelligence (AI) image generator designed by OpenAI. With this tool, you can create realistic images and artwork from a simple text description. Here’s how to use it:

1. Open the Paint app on your computer.
2. On the toolbar, click the Co-Creator button.
3. A side panel will then appear on the right side of the window.
4. Sign in to your Microsoft account if you haven’t already.
5. Describe the image you want the tool to draw for you.
6. Choose an image style: Charcoal, Handwritten Sketch, Watercolor, Oil Painting, Digital Art, Photorealistic, Animation, or Pixel Art.
7. Once you’ve chosen your vision and style, hit the “Create” button.
8. And magic! Cocreator presents you with three image proposals that match your description.
9. Among the three creations, choose your favorite. You can then retouch it, modify it, in short, make it unique.

Note that Paint gives you 50 free credits/day to test Cocreator, so take advantage of it!

Speak, your PC writes for you!

No more long hours typing on your keyboard. Just use the keyboard shortcut WinH, and presto, the voice dictation starts! Whether it’s writing an email, an article, or just taking notes, let your voice do the work. It’s the perfect key combination for those times when your fingers are a little lazy. Of course, for the magic to happen, you need to have a microphone connected to your computer. Once equipped, simply speak and see your words turn into text on the screen.

And to make voice typing even smoother, don’t forget to take a look in the settings. There you will find an option to enable automatic punctuation, which will make your dictation even more accurate and natural.

Extract and copy text from an image:
Do you have an image with text and would like to be able to copy it without retyping everything? Well, you can! The Screen Capture Tool in Windows 11 is now equipped with Optical Character Recognition (OCR) that allows you to extract and copy text from an image in just two clicks! Here’s how to do it:

1. Open the Snipping Tool.
2. Once opened, click on the three horizontal dots in the upper right corner, then click Open File.
3. Select the image that contains the text you want to copy.
4. Then, in the toolbar, find and click on the “Text Actions” button.
5. The text in your image will then be detected and displayed, ready to be copied and pasted wherever you want.

Remove the background from an image:

Do you have a great photo, but the background ruins everything? Don’t worry, Paint has a pro tip for you! With its new AI-powered feature, saying goodbye to an unwanted background becomes a breeze. Paint can now make the background of any image transparent with just a few clicks. Here’s how to do it:

1. Start by opening Paint on your computer.
2. Open the photo whose background you want to remove. To do this, click on the “File” menu and then on “Open”.
3. Once your photo is open, take a look at the toolbar. There you will find a button named “Remove Background”. Click on it and… Tada! Paint’s AI activates and removes the background from your image, making it transparent.

And that’s it! The background of your photo is automatically removed. Now you can use your image as you see fit.

Never lose your copy and paste with clipboard history again:

Have you copied something important and then overshadowed it with another copy and paste? Don’t panic! Windows 11 has a trick for that: clipboard history. It’s like a time machine for your copy and paste. No more slapping your forehead and saying “I should have kept it!” Here’s how it works:

1.Just press the WinV keys on your keyboard. This is the magic shortcut to accessing clipboard history.

2. A small window opens. Click “Activate” to enable clipboard history.

3. Now, every time you copy something, whether it’s text, an image, or a link, Windows remembers it. You can copy multiple items without worrying about losing the previous one.

4. Every time you tap WinV, you’ll see everything you’ve copied recently. Just click on the element you want to reuse, and it’s ready to paste wherever you want.

With this feature, no more moments of frustration where a copy and paste disappear into oblivion. It’s a little trick that can really save the day in many situations 😎.

✅ And there you have it, we have come to the end of our journey through these little-known Windows tricks. We hope you’ve discovered something new and useful to enrich your experience with your PC.

Now it’s your turn to participate: let us know in the comments how many of these tips you already knew. And if you have any other lesser-known Windows tips to share, don’t hesitate to share them!”