7 Hidden Windows Tools You’re Not Using — But Should Be

Windows 11 is packed with powerful features lurking just beneath its polished surface. Today, we’re pulling back the curtain on seven little-known Windows tools that can make your life easier (plus a couple of bonus goodies). These aren’t the obvious picks like Task Manager or Control Panel – we’re talking about genuinely helpful gems that average users and power users alike often overlook. Buckle up for a fun tour of secret Windows superpowers that can boost productivity, troubleshoot problems, and even impress your friends. Let’s dive in!

 

1. God Mode – The Ultimate Settings Cheat Sheet

God Mode puts hundreds of Windows settings in one place, using a special folder that reveals a hidden Control Panel on steroids. Instead of digging through menus, imagine opening a single window and seeing every advanced setting and tool listed right in front of you. That’s exactly what God Mode does. It’s a secret feature in Windows 10 and 11 that gives you direct access to over 200 system settings in one convenient screen. From changing your display scaling to managing user accounts, God Mode has you covered without the usual scavenger hunt through Settings or Control Panel.

Why it’s useful: Windows’ modern Settings app is pretty, but it often buries the nitty-gritty options. God Mode surfaces all those advanced tools (many still living in Control Panel) into an alphabetical list. It’s like a “cheat sheet” for Windows configuration – super handy when you need to tweak something obscure or if you just prefer old-school control panels. For example, instead of clicking through five menus to edit environment variables or find the Device Manager, you can pop open God Mode and get there in one click. It’s a time-saver and a power user’s dream, especially if you frequently adjust settings.

How to enable it: Don’t worry, you don’t need actual god-like powers – just a quick folder trick:

1. create a new folder on your desktop (Right-click an empty spot New Folder).
2. Rename that folder to exactly: GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C} and press Enter.

Once renamed, the folder’s icon will transform into a Control Panel icon labeled “GodMode.” Double-click it, and voilà – you’ll see an extensive list of control panel actions organized by category. You can browse or use the search box in that window to find any setting instantly. Pro tip: This works only for users with administrative privileges, so make sure you’re an admin on the PC.

 

2. Clipboard History – Your Copy/Paste Time Machine

We all use copy and paste every day, but did you know Windows 11 has a hidden clipboard history? If you’ve ever hit Ctrl+V only to realize you overwrote something important you copied earlier, this tool is about to be your new best friend. Clipboard History extends the basic clipboard by remembering the last several items you copied – text, images, and more. Instead of being limited to pasting just your most recent copy, you can summon a list of recent clipboard entries and pick anything from it. It’s like a time machine for your copy/paste buffer.

Why it’s useful: Clipboard History lets you copy multiple pieces of information in a row and paste them independently, without constantly flipping back and forth between windows. For instance, imagine you’re filling out a form and need to paste your email, address, and order number – normally you’d copy each one, paste, go back, copy the next, and so on. With Clipboard History, you can copy all three items (one at a time) then press Win + V and choose from a list of all three to paste each in the right spot. It can hold up to 25 entries in memory, and even pin items you use often so they stay available. This is a huge productivity booster for research, data entry, or anytime you’re juggling lots of snippets. Once you start using it, you’ll wonder how you lived without it.

How to use it: Press Windows Key + V to open your clipboard history at any time. The first time you do this, Windows will ask to enable the feature (since it’s off by default – of course it is!). Go ahead and click “Turn on.” Now, whenever you copy something new, it will appear in this history panel. Hitting Win+V shows a small popup with your recent clipboard items (most recent at the top). Simply click an item in the list to paste it. You’ll also see a little pushpin icon 📌 next to each entry – click that to pin an item (like an oft-used emoji or address) so it stays in your list. And don’t worry about things piling up forever; Windows will automatically drop the oldest entries once it reaches 25 items and will clear the whole history on reboot (aside from pinned items). It’s secure and easy.

 

3. Focus Sessions – Your Built-In Productivity Coach

We live in a world of distractions – constant pings, notifications, and pop-ups can derail your work. Windows 11’s Focus Sessions feature is a hidden gem designed to help you hunker down and get stuff done, right from the built-in Clock app. Think of it as a personal productivity coach that uses the Pomodoro technique (focused work intervals with breaks) and tools like Microsoft To Do and Spotify integration to keep you in the zone.

What it does: Focus Sessions lets you set a timer for a work session (say 30 or 45 minutes), during which Windows can automatically enable Do Not Disturb (quieting notifications) and even show a Spotify playlist widget for background music, if you like. It also ties into your Microsoft To Do tasks – you can pick a task to work on during the session, and mark it off when you’re done. The Clock app will display your progress, including a daily streak count to gamify your focus habits. Basically, it’s a centralized hub to minimize distractions and build a routine of focused work and short breaks.

Why it’s useful: If you struggle with staying focused or want a simple way to manage work/break cycles, Focus Sessions is incredibly handy. The moment you start a focus session, Windows helps shield you from interruptions so you can concentrate on what’s important. It’s like telling your PC “leave me alone for an hour, I’m busy.” You can also leverage it to tackle your to-do list one item at a time – pick a task, set a session, and go. The integration with Spotify is a fun bonus for those who find music helpful while working (e.g. play a calming playlist or instrumental beats). In short, Focus Sessions can boost your productivity by enforcing a bit of structure and quiet time in your digital life. Plus, seeing your “Daily progress” and streaks might motivate you to keep the focus habit going.

How to launch it: Open the Clock app in Windows 11 (you can find “Clock” via the Start menu or search bar). By default, the app opens straight into the Focus sessions tab – you’ll see a welcome screen if you haven’t used it before. Set your focus duration (the default options range from 30 minutes upward) and hit Start focus session. The Clock app will start the timer and you’ll notice Do Not Disturb (Focus Assist) kicks on automatically. During the session, a circle will count down your time remaining, and if you’ve connected Spotify or have tasks in Microsoft To Do, those will show up in the panel as well. Feel free to work in other apps; the Clock can be minimized while the session runs (you’ll see a small timer in the notification area). Once time’s up, you’ll get an alert that your focus period is over – time for a break! You can customize break lengths and other settings via the gear icon in the focus panel. Tip: For quick access, Windows 11 also added a Focus feature in the Notification Center – clicking the notification panel and selecting a Focus session there will similarly start one, integrating with the Clock app’s settings.

 

4. Power Automate Desktop – Windows Automation on Autopilot

Have you ever found yourself performing a boring, repetitive series of clicks or keystrokes and thought, “there must be a way to automate this”? Good news: there is, and it’s already on your PC! Power Automate Desktop is Microsoft’s built-in tool for creating custom workflows and automation scripts – essentially, an easy way to make Windows do the boring work for you. It’s like having a personal robot for your PC tasks, and you don’t need to be a coding genius to use it.

What it does: Power Automate Desktop (PAD) brings low-code RPA (Robotic Process Automation) to Windows 11. In plain terms, it lets you record actions or drag-and-drop steps to create “flows” that can click buttons, enter text, move files, or interact with virtually any application on your behalf. For example, you could automate renaming a batch of files every morning, extracting data from a website and pasting it into Excel, or sending an email report after performing some tasks. PAD provides hundreds of prebuilt actions (over 400!) that cover common operations and app integrations, so you can mix and match steps like Lego blocks to build a workflow. And if a particular sequence is not available as a prebuilt action, you can use the built-in recorder to watch you perform a task once and turn that into a repeatable script. It’s impressively powerful – from simple things like opening a program at login, to complex multi-step processes involving different software, Power Automate can handle it.

Why it’s useful: This tool can save you hours of time on tedious tasks. Think about data entry, form filling, file conversions, or any multi-step process you do regularly – automating those frees you up for more important work (or more coffee breaks!). Microsoft designed Power Automate Desktop for both home and business users, meaning it’s approachable even if you’re not a programmer. You can create automation routines with a friendly GUI, using if/then logic, loops, and actions, all without writing code. And since it’s included with Windows 11, there’s no extra cost or software to download – it’s already sitting there, waiting to be unleashed. Even running a few simple flows (say, to clean up your Downloads folder or backup certain files every week) can significantly streamline your PC usage. For moderately advanced users, it’s a playground for creativity – you’ll find yourself saying “Hey, I can automate that!” all over the place.

How to find it: Hit Start and type “Power Automate” – you should see the Power Automate app (the one with the blue infinity-loop icon) since it comes preinstalled on Windows 11. Launch it, and sign in with your Microsoft account (a free personal Outlook/Live account works). You’ll land on the console where you can create a New Flow (you might see templates and tutorials which are worth exploring). Creating a flow involves adding actions from the left-hand library into the main workspace in the order you want. For instance, you could add an action to “Open Excel,” then an action to “Type into cell A1,” then “Send email” and so on. To get started, try the Recorder feature: click “Recorder,” perform a simple task like opening Notepad and typing a phrase, then stop recording – Power Automate will convert those steps into a flow you can run anytime. Tip: Microsoft’s documentation and the in-app tutorial are great for learning the ropes, and there’s even a community of shared flow examples. Once you build a few workflows, you can set them to run with a click or even schedule them. Congratulations, you’re officially automating Windows!

 

5. Windows Sandbox – A Safe Space for Testing (Windows 11 Pro+)

Ever wanted to try out a sketchy program or open a suspicious file, but were worried it might mess up your PC? Windows Sandbox has your back. It’s essentially a throwaway PC within your PC – a lightweight, isolated desktop environment where you can run unknown apps or experiments safely, without affecting your actual system. When you close the sandbox, everything inside it disappears as if it never happened. This hidden tool is perfect for testing software, visiting dubious websites, or just tinkering in a safe container.

What it does: Windows Sandbox creates a temporary virtual machine on the fly, running a clean install of Windows 10/11 inside a window. It’s like launching a brand-new computer that’s isolated from your real OS. Any apps you install or changes you make in the sandbox stay within that environment and do not impact your main Windows. The sandbox uses hardware virtualization under the hood, but you don’t need to configure anything – it’s one-click and super fast, taking just a few seconds to launch a pristine Windows session. It’s also efficient, using minimal resources and releasing everything when closed. Use cases include: running an unknown .exe to see what it does, opening a document you’re unsure about (to check if it’s malware), or testing settings and apps freely. If something bad happens in the sandbox (like malware tries to infect the system), your real PC stays safe; just close the sandbox and the threat is gone with it.

Why it’s useful: Think of Sandbox as your safety net. It provides peace of mind for those “Hmm, not sure if I should run this” moments. Instead of risking your main environment, you execute it in the sandbox where it can’t do any harm. For power users, it’s also a convenient way to test configurations or software in a clean state without spinning up a full virtual machine in Hyper-V or VirtualBox. It’s much quicker than a traditional VM and doesn’t require a separate license or OS image – it uses the Windows you have. Web developers can use it to test how something runs on a fresh Windows install; IT pros can simulate user scenarios; average users can safely practice something like editing the registry before doing it for real. The best part: when you’re done, just close the Sandbox window and poof – everything inside is wiped automatically. Every time you open it, it’s as clean as new, so there’s zero lasting clutter or risk.

How to use it: Windows Sandbox is available on Windows 10/11 Pro and above (not Home edition). If you have a compatible edition, you’ll need to enable it first because it’s an optional feature. To turn it on:

1. Go to Start > Search, type “Windows Features” and open Turn Windows features on or off.
2. In the list that appears, find Windows Sandbox, check the box next to it, and click OK. Restart your PC when prompted.

After the reboot, you can launch Windows Sandbox from the Start menu (just search “Sandbox”). The first launch may take a few moments to set up, but after that you’ll get a window with a fresh Windows desktop. It might look just like your regular desktop (perhaps a bit plainer), but remember, it’s a separate instance. Now you can drag and drop a file from your real desktop into the sandbox window to test it, or use the browser inside sandbox for risky sites. Treat it as a disposable PC – for example, install a program inside sandbox and play around. When you’re finished, simply close the Sandbox window (hit the X). You’ll get a reminder that everything will be discarded – exactly what we want. Confirm to close, and it’s all cleaned up. Next time you open Sandbox, it’s a brand-new environment again. Note: The sandbox has internet access by default, but it shares your network connection. Also, files you create or save in sandbox stay only there unless you deliberately copy them out. This ensures nothing sneaks out without you knowing.

 

6. Quick Assist – Remote Help at Your Fingertips

We’ve all been there: “Mom, how do I fix this thing on your PC?” or “Hey buddy, can you help me troubleshoot my computer over the phone?” – Tech support for friends and family can be a challenge, especially at a distance. Quick Assist is an often-overlooked Windows tool that makes remote help a breeze. It allows you to share your screen or take control of someone else’s screen over the internet (with permission, of course) so that you or the other person can fix issues together. Think of it as built-in TeamViewer or Zoom screen share, but native to Windows 10 and 11 and super simple.

What it does: Quick Assist creates a secure remote connection between two Windows computers. One person acts as the helper and the other as the sharer. The sharer’s screen is transmitted to the helper, and (if granted) the helper can even click and type on the sharer’s PC remotely. This way, Aunt Jane can literally watch you navigate her screen to set up an email account, or you can watch your friend’s screen to diagnose a problem and highlight things. It’s all interactive: Quick Assist includes a few handy tools like a virtual laser pointer for pointing out UI elements and an annotation pen to draw on the screen. There’s also a basic chat window for sending messages during the session. The best part is it’s easy – no installing third-party software or configuring complicated settings. As long as both people have Windows 10/11, Quick Assist is just there, ready to connect with a code exchange.

Why it’s useful: This is a lifesaver for remote tech support or collaboration. Instead of trying to guide someone blindly over the phone (“click the thingy in the top-right corner… no, the other right…”), you can see exactly what’s on their screen and even take the reins to fix the issue directly. For the person receiving help, it’s like having an expert right beside them, even if they’re miles away. And unlike the old Windows Remote Assistance or Remote Desktop, Quick Assist is streamlined for ad-hoc help sessions – it’s easier to use and doesn’t require both PCs to be on the same network or any firewall fiddling. The connection is encrypted for safety, and it only works when a user explicitly seeks or gives permission, so it’s secure and user-controlled. Whether you’re the family IT guru or occasionally need help from a friend, Quick Assist can save a ton of time and frustration. It’s particularly useful in work-from-home scenarios too, for IT to assist employees with software issues.

How to use it: Both parties should start Quick Assist. On Windows 11, you’ll find Quick Assist in the Start menu (or just press Ctrl + Windows + Q to launch it instantly). The person who will provide assistance (the helper) clicks “Assist another person” and will be prompted to sign in with a Microsoft account (if not already signed in). Once signed in, Quick Assist generates a security code – this is a 6-digit code that expires in 10 minutes. The helper shares this code with the person who needs help (e.g. read it over the phone or via text).

Meanwhile, the person who needs help chooses “Get Assistance” in Quick Assist and is prompted to enter the code. They pop in the 6-digit code and hit Submit. Now the magic happens: the helper will see a message when the sharer has connected, and then an option to Request control of the remote screen. The person receiving help will get a prompt asking if they want to allow the helper to either view or take full control – they should accept and confirm they trust the person. Once they agree, their screen will appear in a window on the helper’s PC. The helper can now move the mouse, click, or type on the other PC (or use the drawing tools) as if they were sitting at it, depending on the permissions given. Both users will see a small toolbar with options like Pause, Annotate, etc., and either can end the session when done. That’s it! Now you can fix that setting or demonstrate that process remotely with far less back-and-forth. When you close the Quick Assist session, the connection is terminated. Remember to only use Quick Assist with people you trust – treat the permissions like you would handing someone the keys to your PC. But with those precautions in mind, it’s an incredibly useful built-in tool for giving or receiving a helping hand on Windows.

 

7. Reliability Monitor – Your PC’s Health Report Card

Is your Windows 11 PC acting odd or crashing occasionally? Wish you had a crystal ball to see what’s been going wrong under the hood? The Reliability Monitor is exactly that – a built-in diagnostics tool that visualizes your system’s stability over time. Tucked away in the Control Panel, this feature generates a daily Stability Index score (on a scale from 1 to 10) and logs any software crashes, driver failures, or other issues in a handy chart. It’s essentially a health report card for your PC, showing you at a glance if things have been running smoothly or if problems have spiked.

The Reliability Monitor’s graph plots stability over days/weeks (10 is perfect stability) and marks errors (red X), warnings (yellow !), and informational events (blue i). Each time Windows or an app crashes, or an update fails, it gets recorded here along with the date and time. By clicking any day on the chart, you can see details of what occurred (for example, Chrome.exe stopped responding or Windows Update failed to install). This beats combing through the Event Viewer, as Reliability Monitor presents the info in a reader-friendly way with a timeline and summary of events. It maintains about a year’s worth of history, so you can scroll back to see when a problem started and correlate it with changes to your system.

Why it’s useful: Reliability Monitor is a goldmine for troubleshooting intermittent issues. Let’s say your PC has been unstable this week – open the monitor, and you might notice your stability score plummeted two days ago, with a red X indicating a specific application crash or driver error. This gives you a clue about what might have caused the instability (perhaps a new app or update installed that day). It provides an alternative to digging through Event Viewer logs, distilling the important events that affect stability in one spot. Even if you aren’t tech-savvy, the interface is straightforward: green line trending up = good, lots of red X’s = something’s wrong. By periodically reviewing it, you might catch issues you weren’t even aware of – maybe a backup program has been failing nightly or there are frequent errors with a hardware driver. Addressing those can prevent bigger problems. For power users, it’s an easy way to keep an eye on system health and quickly pinpoint the cause when Windows misbehaves. In short, it helps you identify patterns and root causes of crashes or errors so you can take action (like uninstalling a bad update, updating a driver, or reinstalling a troublesome app) to improve your system’s reliability.

How to open it: Microsoft didn’t put this one front and center, but it’s not hard to find. The quickest way: press Start and type “Reliability”, then click “View reliability history.” This will launch Reliability Monitor. Alternatively, you can navigate via Control Panel (Control Panel > Security and Maintenance > Maintenance > View Reliability History). Once open, give it a moment to generate the report. You’ll see the graph with days along the X-axis and the stability index on the Y-axis (10 is the highest stability). Blue info icons indicate successful events (like updates or software installs), warnings might be things like low disk space, and red circles with an X are critical events (application crashes, etc.). Click on any day or on a specific event in the list below the graph to get more details about it. For example, clicking a red X might show Windows was not properly shut down or Application XYZ crashed. The interface also has links at the bottom to “View all problem reports” (which lists issues in a table format) and options to Save reliability history as an XML file if you want to export it. There’s no direct way to fix issues from here, but the info is actionable – if you see a particular app crashing repeatedly, you might choose to update or reinstall it. If Windows itself has many errors, maybe running a system file check or updating drivers is warranted. Think of Reliability Monitor as the first place to check when something goes awry – it often points you straight to the culprit, or at least the timeframe, so you can resolve it and watch your stability score climb back up toward that perfect 10.

 

Bonus: “Everything” – Lightning-Fast File Search for Windows

While technically not built into Windows, Everything by Voidtools is such a lightweight and life-changing utility that it’s worth a shout-out (and maybe one day we’ll see a Sparkbyte flavor!). Windows’ default file search has improved over the years, but it’s still nowhere near the speed of Everything. This free tool lives in your taskbar and indexes all the file names on your drives. The result? You can find any file instantly by name, as you type – no waiting, no wildcards needed. It feels like magic.

Why “Everything” is awesome: It’s incredibly fast and efficient, using minimal resources to index your files. In fact, after a quick initial indexing (which usually takes just a few seconds for an average PC), Everything updates the index in real-time. Create, delete, or rename a file and it reflects immediately in search results. The interface is dead simple: a search box and a results list. Start typing and you typically get results by the time you’ve entered a few letters. For example, type “report.pdf” and before you finish typing, you’ll see every file named “report.pdf” on your system – across all folders and drives – instantly. It’s a game-changer when you have thousands of files and can’t remember where something is. Many users (especially power users) install Everything as one of the first things on a new PC because it outclasses the built-in search for file names. Need to find a file you saved somewhere but only recall part of the name? Everything will find it in a blink.

Use cases: Aside from obvious file hunting, you can use advanced filters if needed (like *.doc to list all Word documents, or path:Music .mp3` to search MP3s in your Music folder). But even without fancy queries, it dramatically cuts down the time spent looking for stuff. No more manually digging through folders or waiting on that slow green progress bar in Explorer. It’s also useful for cleaning up – search for “*_backup.zip” or “copy (1)” to quickly find duplicates or temp files to delete. And because it integrates with the context menu, you can right-click any result to jump to its folder or perform actions.

How to get it: Download Everything from the Voidtools website (it’s a tiny download, under 2 MB). It’s safe, free, and frequently updated. Once installed, it will start indexing your NTFS drives. You can have it start with Windows and live in the system tray for on-demand access. To use it, just open the Everything search window (click the tray icon or press a global hotkey if you set one) and start typing. There’s virtually no learning curve – what you type is what it searches for in file and folder names. Because it only searches names by default (not file content), it’s blazing fast. If you do need content search, Windows Search or other tools might be better, but for 99% of everyday “where did that file go?” questions, Everything is unbeatable. It’s the kind of tool that once you have, you’ll wonder how you lived without, and it can save you countless minutes (or hours) by making file retrieval instantaneous.

 

Bonus: QuickLook – Peek at Files Without Opening Them

If you’ve ever envied macOS’s ability to preview files with a tap of the spacebar, QuickLook is a must-have on Windows. This nifty third-party utility brings macOS-style quick file previews to Windows 10/11. Highlight a file in Explorer and press Space – a preview window pops up instantly, showing you the contents of that file (be it a document, image, PDF, video, you name it). Press space again, and the preview closes. It’s simple, elegant, and saves you from opening full applications just to check what’s inside a file.

Why you’ll love it: QuickLook supports tons of file types through plugins – you can preview images, text files, Office documents, PDFs, even media files (it’ll play audio/video in the preview). This makes browsing through a folder much more efficient. For example, let’s say you’re looking for a specific PDF report but the filenames aren’t clear. Instead of opening each PDF in Adobe Reader (and waiting each time), you can arrow-key through the files, hitting space on each one – a large preview will appear almost instantly, allowing you to peek at the content and identify the one you need. It works for pictures (quickly view photos without fully launching the Photos app), for music (hit space to play a song preview), and more. Essentially, QuickLook lets you verify a file’s contents at a glance, which is a huge convenience and a time-saver when dealing with many files.

The tool runs quietly in the background (with an icon in the system tray) and responds to the spacebar in File Explorer or on your desktop. It feels like a natural extension of the OS once you start using it – you might even forget it’s a third-party add-on because of how seamlessly it integrates. And don’t worry, it doesn’t replace anything or interfere with normal double-click behaviors; it only triggers on the spacebar press.

How to get it: QuickLook is available for free. You can download it from the Microsoft Store or from its GitHub page. Once installed, just launch it (it will go to the tray) and it will set itself to run at startup for convenience. Now navigate to any file in Explorer and press Space. If it’s a supported format, you’ll see the preview immediately. You can zoom in/out or scroll within the preview for documents and some media. If the file type isn’t natively supported, there are additional plugins (for example, to preview Photoshop PSD files or other formats) that you can add. By default, common formats are covered. QuickLook really shines when sorting through downloads, photos, or documents – anywhere you’d benefit from a quick peek without the overhead of opening an app. It’s lightweight and won’t bog down your system. In summary, it adds a layer of efficiency to Windows file management that once you experience, you’ll wonder how you managed without pressing Space to preview!