PAPERmaking! g FROM THE PUBLISHERS OF PAPER TECHNOLOGY ® Volume 9, Number 3 2023
Adjust your startup programs Let’s start where it all begins: When your computer boots up. Seemingly every program you install worms its way into activating alongside your PC. Some software, such as your keyboard’s management app or your antivirus, deserves that lofty status. Others d on’t. (I’m looking at you, game launchers.) And every program that leaps to life when Windows does delays your ability to use your system, especially if you haven’t upgraded to an SSD yet. Fortunately, it’s easy to seize control over which programs launch with Windows. Simply press Ctrl + Shift + Esc or search for “Task Manager” to open the Windows 10 Task Manager, then click on the Startup tab at the top. There, you’ll see all the programs clamoring for a spot in the startup limelight, complete with an estimated impact rating from Low to High. If you want to turn any off, simply click its listing and select Disable. Obviously, doing so means you’ll need to open the program manually to activate it from now on. Customize your task bar Now let’s start organizing things a bit better. Launching a program that’s pinned to your Windows 10 taskbar is always faster than hunting it down in the Start menu or on your desktop. So you’ll want to populate yours with the software and files you use the most. To pin a program to your taskbar, simply right-click it and select the Pin to taskbar option in the context menu that appears. You can also do this to a program’s icon when it appears in your taskbar after opening it. You can pin frequently visited webpages to your tas kbar by saving it as a shortcut via your browser’s setting menu, then right-clicking that shortcut on your desktop and selecting Pin to taskbar. Folders can only be pinned to the Start menu, alas. You can pin specific files to your taskbar, kinda-sorta, b ut the process is slightly different, and brings us to our next tip… Embrace jump lists Now that you’ve pinned your most - used programs to the taskbar, you’re ready to take advantage of the awesomeness known as jump lists. When you right-click a program icon in your taskbar, most will reveal a pop- up list of your most recent open files for that program, or shortcuts to common tasks. It’s a great way to jump right back into a project without needing to slog through folder after subfolder in the Windows File Explorer. Better yet, if you know you’ll constantly return to a particular file or shortcut, you can pin it to the top of the jump list by mousing over its entry, then clicking the pin icon that appears all the way on the right. Any files you do it for wi ll appear under a new “Pinned items” section at the top of the jump list. Simply click the pin icon for an entry again to remove it. Launch taskbar shortcuts with keyboard shortcuts But we’re looking for speed. Unless you’re summoning a jump list to leap back quickly into a specific file, even clicking those icons in your taskbar can be sped up — by not clicking on them. Power users swear by the speed of keyboard shortcuts, and you can open a program on your taskbar without having to lift your hand to your mouse. You used to be able to open specific programs pinned to your taskbar by pressing the Windows key simultaneously with a number associated with where the program is located to the right of the Start Menu — pressing Win + 1 to open your first pinned option, Win + 2 to open the second option, and so on. That seems to have disappeared in Windows 10, though it still works in older versions of the operating system. If you want to use your keyboard to open programs pinned to your taskbar in Windows 10, press Win + T. You’ll see a box appear around the first pinned item to the right of the Start Menu. Press Enter to open it, or keep pressing T to cycle through all your pinned programs from left to right.
Article 11 – Windows Hacks
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