It’s official: I’ve been warning you about this, and now we have a date. Support for Windows 10 ends Oct. 14, 2025. Your PC will still work, but no more updates — security or otherwise. Let me know if you need recs for a new laptop or PC.
Use Windows 11? Later this year, Microsoft will introduce “checkpoint cumulative updates.” Versions with significant changes will be checkpoint updates; security fixes and new features will be patches. The goal? To save hard drive space and time.
📁 Free up space: Try clearing your temporary files on your Windows PC. Go to Settings > System > Storage > Temporary files, select what you don’t need and click Remove files. You might get a few GBs back. Then, check your Downloads folder: There might be something in there you want to keep.
💻 Speed up an old PC: Windows 11’s animations and 3D effects can slow down your graphics card. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Visual effects and turn off Transparency effects and Animation effects. Your desktop won’t look as fancy, but your computer will run faster. Not a bad trade-off.
⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Use Ctrl + L on PC or Cmd + L on Mac in your browser to jump straight to the address bar, ready to type or paste.
🔒 Auto-lock your PC: Don’t want anyone snooping? Set Windows to lock after a minute or two of inactivity. Go to Settings > Personalization > Lock screen > Screen saver settings. In the pop-up, choose a screen saver, check On resume, display logon screen, set a Wait time, then hit Apply and OK.
🕒 Working across time zones? Add extra clocks on Windows 11. Just right-click the date and time on your task bar > Adjust date and time > Additional clocks. Click Show this clock, choose a time zone, name it, then hit Apply and OK. When you hover over the time, your extra clocks will show up.
🔋 Make your laptop battery last longer: Windows 11’s Dynamic Refresh Rate adjusts how often your screen updates for simple tasks. Go to Settings > System > Display > Advanced Display > Choose a refresh rate > Dynamic.
Recover copied items: Ever copied a link or some text and wished you could get it back later? On Windows, turn on Clipboard History to save your most recently copied items. Go to Settings > System > Clipboard and toggle it On. Next time you need something, just press Windows key + V to view and paste.
💻 Speed up startup: Is your PC booting up slowly? Too many apps may be launching when you turn it on.
⚡️ 3-second tech genius: PC lagging? Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to skip the Ctrl + Alt + Del screen and open Task Manager immediately. Or just scream internally like the rest of us.
Pro Windows user? Use “God Mode” to access all your Control Panel settings in one place. Just create a new folder anywhere, like on your desktop, and rename it to this exact string: GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C} Hit “Enter,” and the folder icon will change to a Control Panel icon. Opening this new folder will give you a powerful, centralized view of virtually all settings and configuration options in Windows.
💻 Such a turnoff: Try Windows’ “shade” shortcut to shut down your PC. Right-click on your desktop and go to New > Shortcut. In the location field, type: %windir%System32SlideToShutDown.exe. Click Next, name the shortcut and hit Finish. Double-click this shortcut to open a pull-down shade at the top of your screen. Drag it to the bottom to power off.
Task, be done! Windows Task Scheduler automates tasks like weekly disk cleanups or sending an email. Type Task Scheduler into your Windows search bar to open the app. Click Create Basic Task and follow the prompts to name your task and define its trigger (like a time, day of the week or when your computer starts). Choose what the task should do and that’s it. Sweetness!
🔄 Want to see which apps need updating on Windows? Open the Search bar, go to Command Prompt, then right-click and select Run as administrator. Next, type “winget upgrade” and hit Enter. You’ll get a list of apps with available updates. It’s also great for finding and deleting apps you haven’t used in a while. Whoa.
🖥️ Keep your Windows desktop private: Whether you want a cleaner look or a little more privacy, you can hide your desktop icons in seconds. Right-click on the desktop > go to View > uncheck Show desktop icons. Want to resize them instead? Just go to View and pick Small, Medium or Large.
⚡ Power users like you: Microsoft PowerToys adds free, new features to your Windows PC. Peek gives you a quick preview of a file without opening it. If you’ve used a Mac, you can preview a file just by hitting the space bar. With Peek, select a file, press Ctrl + Space. Install PowerToys here.
You’re my favorite: Pin the apps you use most to your Windows Start menu. Open your app list, right click one, then pick Pin the Start. Drag them around to any order you want.
Spring clean your PC: Microsoft just updated its free Windows optimizer, PC Manager. Its biggest new feature? Files Cleanup, which helps you manage your storage and free up space by deleting unnecessary or bulky files. Download it here in the Microsoft Store.
Windows 10 death date: Microsoft has announced you won’t get any updates or support for Windows 10 after Oct. 14, 2025. That’s plenty of time to save up for a new Mac … just sayin’.