Operating systems are often vast, sprawling entities that make it near impossible to utilise (or indeed be aware of) every single feature and trick. What’s more, they’re updated iteratively, meaning it’s easy to miss a new feature if it comes in under the radar.

To that end, these five features may well have passed you by – and if so, why it’s worth giving them some consideration.

Notepad tabs

Notepad is far from being a new addition for Windows 11. Its tab functions, however, are new. With these you can quickly and easily navigate between many different tabs, files or documents without having to save or open each one individually.

Plus, a new Dark Mode gives more scope for personalisation than ever before.

Screen recording

Snipping Tool is understandably very popular, but what if you need to take more than just still imagery? This is where screen recording comes in. It works in a similar way to its predecessor, but takes video rather than stills – which could prove especially useful when trying to walk someone through a new system or provide tech support.

Clock info

Plan your day down to the second? Or need real precision on your desktop clock? You’re in luck, as Windows 11 allows you to set the clock on the taskbar to display hours, minutes and seconds. Select ‘Show seconds in system tray clock’ to turn it on – though this is to be found in the Taskbar settings, not Date and Time.

Widgets

This is quite probably something you’re already aware of, as Microsoft made no secret of its desire for widgets to play a big part in Windows 11’s operability. However, it’s still worth taking note of just what they’re able to offer.

With just a few clicks you can install a whole wealth of cards onto the widget menu, covering everything from news and weather to stock prices, games and photographs. Then, just press Win + W to open the widgets menu and take a look.

Virtual desktops

Finally, take some time to explore the world of virtual desktops – first introduced in Windows 10 but really refined and developed more recently. The tool allows you to create multiple desktops, which can then be used for work and home, for example, or different projects. As PC World notes, desktops that are split out in this way enables users to spread out their shortcuts and files, to make everything seem a little less overwhelming.