Here are some tips and tricks for making better use of the Windows 11 operating system. Discover how search the web without a browser, quickly find recent files using the Start screen, see filename extensions in File Explorer, and take a screenshot.

Search the web without a browser

Windows 11 wants to make your life easier. With that strategy in mind, there are often several different ways to accomplish a task. For example, in the past, if you wanted to search the web, you had to open a web browser, navigate to a search engine (such as google.com) and then search for what you want. You don’t have to do that now; instead, you can search the web directly from the Search icon on the Windows 11 taskbar. Follow these steps and see the figure below:

  1. Select the Search icon on the taskbar to open the search window.
  2. Select Web in the row of options directly below the search box.
  3. Type your search and press Enter. Your search results appear on the right side of the Search window. For example, if you search strawberry cake recipe, you see some recipe options on the Start menu.
  4. Just select which search result you want, and Microsoft Edge automatically opens and shows you that web page.
Windows 11 web search without browser

Quickly find recent files using the Start screen

Sometimes you use a file, close it, and then can’t remember where on your computer the file is located. You can search for it using the Search icon on taskbar, but what if you can’t remember the name of the file?

Here’s a quick solution: You can find a list of the recent files you interacted with using the Start Screen using these steps: Here’s how:

  1. Click the Start icon on the taskbar.
  2. On the Start menu that appears, select the More button in the Recommended category.
    Windows 11 find file
  3. A list of files you recently interacted with appears by date and time (with the most recent being first).
  4. Just double-click the file you want in the list to open it.

View filename extensions in File Explorer

File Explorer is the Windows 11 application for handling and managing files. To move, copy, delete or rename files, start by opening File Explorer.

When managing files, it helps to know what type of files you’re dealing with. No matter how descriptive a filename is, it doesn’t tell you whether the file is a DOC file (a word processing file created in Microsoft Word) or a JPG file (a type of graphics file).

To help identify files, you can tell File Explorer to show filename extensions after filenames. A filename extension is a period followed by a three-letter designation that identifies a file by type. For example, Weekend.doc is a Microsoft Word file; Vacation.jpg is a JPG graphics file.

Follow these steps to attach filename extensions to filenames:

  1. Open File Explorer.
  2. Select View on the toolbar. A drop-down menu appears.
  3. Select Show@@–>File Name Extensions.
    Windows 11 see file extensions

After you select it, three-letter file name extensions appear after file names. Now you can identify files more easily. You can turn off filename extensions by repeating these steps.

[“source=dummies”]