Windows 11 was released in October 2021 and was the first numbered update to Microsoft's operating system in more than six years. You would expect huge changes between Windows 11 and Windows 10. but it is not the truth. To a large extent, Windows 11 looks and works very similar to its predecessor.

In other words, there are quite a few nuances between the two, and the new operating system may take some time to adapt. I'm here to help. Whether you are upgrading your Windows 10 machine to Windows 11 or installing it on a new PC, this cheat sheet will let you get started quickly. I also provide a quick reference chart that lists useful keyboard shortcuts, touchpad gestures, and touchscreen gestures.

Since Windows 10 has been used for so many years, I think most readers are familiar with its functions. For detailed instructions on using OneDrive, Edge browser, Windows clipboard, Windows applications, etc., please refer to our Windows 10 cheat sheet. In this story, I will focus on the new features of Windows 11 or the features changed from Windows 10.

Note: As with Windows 10, if you want to take full advantage of Windows 11, you must use a Microsoft ID as your user account. Without a Microsoft ID, you won’t be able to use a lot of apps or sync settings between multiple devices. Therefore, when you set up Windows 11 for the first time, please log in with your existing Microsoft ID or create a new ID.

Literally, the biggest change between Windows 11 and Windows 10 is the front and middle. This is the start menu. It is not anchored to the left side of the screen like in Windows 10, but hovering directly above the bottom center of the screen.

It is much smaller than the Windows 10 start menu, and you will not scroll through it like you would through the Windows 10 start menu. You will get multiple rows of small app icons instead of large tiles (some of which are "real-time" tiles showing constantly changing information). Just click on the application you want to run.

Compared with Windows 10, the Windows 11 start menu has been streamlined. (Click on the picture to enlarge it.)

Windows 11 allows you to control how application icons are organized on the Start menu—just drag and drop any icon to a new location. The applications you see are just some of the applications on your PC. To view all apps, click All apps in the upper right corner of the menu and they will be displayed in a scrollable vertical list.

When you right-click on a tile, a menu will pop up. This is where things get a little confusing, because not every Windows application and desktop application have the same pop-up menu. Most have some combination of these options:

These are some of the options that may pop up when you right-click the application icon on the Start menu. (Click on the picture to enlarge it.)

Move to the top: Make the application the leftmost application on the Start menu — the first in the list.

Unpin from start: Select this option and the icon will disappear from the start menu.

Run as administrator: This allows you to run the application or applications as an administrator.

Open file location: Open the file explorer to the folder where the application is located.

Pin to taskbar: As it says, this pins the application to the taskbar. If it is already pinned, you will get Unpinned from the taskbar selection.

Application settings: This opens a screen that allows you to change the application’s settings, such as whether to allow it to run in the background or access your microphone.

Uninstall: This will uninstall the application. Certain Windows applications created by Microsoft (such as the clock) cannot be uninstalled. However, over time, Windows 10 allows you to uninstall more built-in applications than before. Windows 10 and Windows 11 may continue this trend in the future.

Ratings and reviews: This option is only available for apps downloaded from the Microsoft Store. It will take you to a page where you can rate the app and write a review. Ratings and reviews are displayed in the app description in the Microsoft Store.

Sharing: This allows you to share the link to the application using multiple methods (e.g. email, Twitter, etc.).

Certain Windows applications have other options, depending on their purpose. For example, right-click on File Explorer and you will get options such as mapping or unmapping network drives.

When you click all application icons to display your application in a scrollable list, you can right-click any application icon to see some combinations of these options. On the menu, you will also see a list of files recently opened in the application; click any to run it.

There is a very useful section at the bottom of the start menu called recommendations. It includes a list of the applications you have recently installed and the files you have recently opened. Therefore, instead of opening an application such as Word, and then browsing the files you have recently processed, just click the file in "Recommended" and it will launch the application and open the file in it. To view other files you have recently opened, click More for a longer scrollable list.

You can right-click on any file on the Start menu or scrollable list, and you will find some combinations of these options:

Open in a web browser: Only available when you click an Office file stored in OneDrive. It will open the file in the web version of the corresponding Office application.

Open file location: Open the file explorer to the folder where the file is located.

Delete from the list: Delete files from the "Start" menu and scrollable list.

Windows Search is directly integrated into "Start" through the text box at the top of the screen. At first, it was a bit confusing to use, because clicking the box didn't place the cursor in the text box and let you start searching. Instead, a search screen will pop up-when you click the "search" icon on the taskbar, you will see the same screen. It takes some time to adapt. (You will find more information about searching in the next part of this article.)

You can also manage your user account from "Start" by clicking the account icon in the lower left corner of the screen. Click and select Change account settings. You will be able to change the photos associated with your account or take new photos, switch to a local account, etc. When you click on your account icon, you can also lock your PC and log out of Windows.

To put your PC to sleep, shut it down, or restart it, click the power button in the lower right corner of the Start menu.

Windows 11 search is very similar to search in Windows 10, with some minor adjustments here and there. To search, click the search button (magnifying glass) on the taskbar. A rectangular pane pops up with a search box at the top.

When you launch the search box for the first time, it displays three areas below the tabs; these are a bit confusing and only useful sometimes.

The "Popular Apps", "Recent" and "Quick Search" areas are displayed in the Windows 11 search pane by default. (Click on the picture to enlarge it.)

Just enter your search term in the search box at the top of the pane, it will be more useful. Windows Search uses the Bing search engine to view your files, Microsoft OneDrive cloud storage, videos and music, applications on your PC, settings, email, web, etc. The "Popular Apps", "Recent" and "Quick Search" sections disappeared, replaced by search results and related searches.

Windows 11 search is working. (Click on the picture to enlarge it.)

You can locate your search by clicking on any tab directly below the search box:

One final note about search: By default, Windows Search only sees a limited selection of default libraries and folders, including OneDrive, Documents, Downloads, Music, Pictures, Videos, and Desktop. It will not find files saved in other locations on your PC. However, you can change it. Go to "Settings"> "Privacy and Security"> "Search Windows", and in the "Find My Files" section, select "Enhanced." This will tell Windows to search the entire PC. If there are folders you want to exclude from the search, go to the "Excluded Folders" section, then click Add Excluded Folders and browse to the folders you don't want to search.

Windows 10 has always provided widgets, such as news feeds, weather, etc. You can run them alone, but they never have their own home.

In Windows 11, the situation has changed. Click the widget icon on the taskbar (it's a square vertically divided into two parts, one white and one blue), a large panel will appear on the left side of the screen, displaying a set of pre-selected widgets, including weather and news , Sports, and others.

In Windows 11, widgets have gained their place. (Click on the picture to enlarge it.)

Each widget displays constantly changing information, such as stock prices or weather. Click one and you will usually be sent to the network for more detailed information. You can change the size of each widget, delete it, and customize it by clicking the three-dot menu icon in its upper right corner. The menu usually offers some combination of these options:

To add a widget, click the "Add widget" button, then browse the widget categories and click the + button next to the widget you want to add.

Windows 11 was completed during the COVID pandemic. It changed our work and lifestyle. With the decrease of face-to-face meetings, there are more and more video conferences and chats. In Windows 11, Microsoft has doubled its bet that chat and video conferencing will still be an important part of people's work and private lives, even if life becomes more normal.

Therefore, it provides the "Chat with Microsoft Teams" function, you should not miss it. You will see icons for Teams, Microsoft chat and video conferencing software in the blind corner of the taskbar. Click the icon and the team screen will open with your contacts. (Please note that before you click, the icon looks like a camera. At this point, it will become a speech bubble icon.) Scroll and search for your contacts, click on the person you want to contact, and then go to Teams The chat and video conference window opens, requesting a connection. (You can also use the Windows key + C keyboard shortcut.)

At this point, you can use Teams as usual. If your contact does not use Teams, they will receive an SMS message and you can chat in this way. (For help learning to use Teams, see "Microsoft Teams: How to use it, and how it stacks up to Slack and Zoom.")

Teams in Windows 11 can easily chat and hold video conferences, but it omits advanced business functions. (Click on the picture to enlarge it.)

However, you should know that Teams in Windows 11 is for personal use only and cannot be used for commercial purposes. This means that the complete corporate Teams feature suite (such as using channels, being able to search message archives, etc.) is not available. This may change over time, but for now, it is only used for limited purposes.

For businesses and people who do not like the twice-a-year feature update of Windows 10, Windows 11 is a boon, because every new version may introduce errors. Windows 11 only gets a feature update once a year. Even better, you can control whether and when each new feature update is installed.

When Microsoft releases its annual Windows 11 feature update to the public, it will not be installed automatically. Instead, Windows will notify you that it is available via a message and the "Download and Install" link in the "Windows Update Settings" pane. If you do not want to install it, please ignore the message and your PC will remain as it is. Whenever you want to install an update, just click the link and follow the instructions.

A feature update to be installed in Windows 10. When the feature update is available for Windows 11 in the fall of 2022, you will see something similar. (Click on the picture to enlarge it.)

There is a warning. When your current version of Windows 11 reaches what Microsoft calls "termination of service" (that is, the point at which Microsoft no longer supports it), Windows 11 will automatically install updated feature updates. For Windows 11 Home Edition and Professional Edition users, this is usually 24 months after the current Windows version is released. For Windows 11 Enterprise and Education edition users, it is usually 36 months.

Even so, in theory, some feature updates can be skipped altogether. Since they are released every year, you can install one version, refuse to install the next version that has been released, and then install the later version.

Not only can you control the annual Windows 11 feature updates, but you can also control the minor updates that Microsoft releases between them. You can pause these smaller updates for up to 35 days.

To do this, go to "Settings"> "Windows Update" and click "Pause for 1 week" next to "Pause updates." You can continue to do this every 7 days for a total of 5 times to delay it by 35 days.

You can delay Windows 11 minor updates for up to 35 days per week.

To do this, go to "Settings"> "Windows Update"> "Update History"> "Uninstall Updates". This will take you to the control panel and update list. Select the update you want to uninstall, and click Uninstall.

When you need to restart your PC to complete the update, you can also let Windows remind you through the system tray icon. Go to "Settings"> "Windows Update"> "Advanced Options" and next to "Notify me when I need to restart to complete the update", move the slider to "On."

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