13 easy ways to tune your Windows 11 laptop for the new school year
Get your laptop ready for the next school year with these tips.
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The next school year is looming, and in addition to getting school supplies, it’s also important to prepare your computer for class. Whether you recently purchased a new laptop or have had one for a while, proper preparation will ensure it’s ready for any schoolwork.
Luckily,Windows 11has virtually every tool you need to prepare the device for schoolwork. For instance, you’ll find tools to delete unnecessary files to free up space, which not only helps to reclaim storage but it also helps with performance. The system offers different settings to optimize battery life and enhance security, features to protect your files and various options to customize the desktop appearance.
Furthermore, as part of the preparation is also important to install essential apps like the Office suite of apps (including OneNote) to have the tools to tackle any task.
This guide will walk you through over a dozen ways to tune up your laptop for the new school year.
1. How to free up space with Storage Sense on Windows 11
If you are gearing up to attend school, you want to ensure your computer has enough space for your files and maintain system performance.
On Windows 11, you can use Storage Sense to clear out junk files to free up space for more important files.
Clear junk files manually
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To delete temporary files to free up space on Windows 11, use these steps:
Once you complete the steps, the temporary files will be erased from your computer, making space for more important files.
Clear junk files automatically
To clear storage space automatically on Windows 11, use these steps:
After you complete the steps, whenever the laptop runs out of space, the Storage Sense feature will run automatically to clear unnecessary files automatically.
You can learn more tips to make room on the hard drivein this guide.
2. How to uninstall unnecessary apps on Windows 11
Another way to optimize the device storage is to remove apps and games you no longer need or rarely use to reclaim space to minimize points of problems and distractions and prevent services from running in the background to reduce resource utilization.
To uninstall apps and games on Windows 11, use these steps:
Once you complete the steps, the app will be removed from the system. You may need to repeat the steps to remove other apps and games.
3. How to disable apps at startup on Windows 11
Some applications can register with the system to launch automatically, and others can configure services to run in the background during startup, and doing so can impact boot times, battery life, and performance.
If you want to optimize the system startup performance, you want to disable as many apps as possible.
To disable apps from startup on Windows 11, use these steps:
After you complete the steps, the app will continue to be available on your laptop, but it’ll no longer start automatically during startup to improve performance.
4. How to protect your laptop from malware on Windows 11
Windows Security is the app that allows managing many of the security-related features of Windows 11, including the Microsoft Defender Antivirus and Microsoft Defender Firewall.
If you are preparing your laptop for the new school year, you want to make sure that there are no viruses or open ports in the firewall for hackers to exploit.
Run a full virus scan
Although the default Windows 11 antivirus runs automatically to monitor and remove viruses, spyware, ransomware, and many other types of malware, you may still need to run a full malware scan to ensure the device doesn’t have any malware.
To perform a full malware scan on Windows 11, use these steps:
Once you complete the steps, the Defender Antivirus will run a full scan to remove any malicious code.
Turn on the firewall
The Microsoft Defender Firewall is the default firewall that protects your device from unauthorized access. The feature is enabled by default, but you may still need to check to confirm.
To confirm or enable the Windows 11 firewall, use these steps:
After you complete the steps, the firewall will protect your laptop from hackers and other malicious individuals trying to gain unauthorized access.
5. How to optimize your laptop for battery life on Windows 11
Running out of battery during a school project can be frustrating. However, Windows 11 comes with several features to help conserve energy as much as possible.
Change power modes
To change power settings to extend the battery life of your laptop on Windows 11, use these steps:
Once you complete the steps, the system will optimize the energy consumption based on your mode selection.
Customize battery saver settings
To configure the battery saver feature on Windows 11, use these steps:
After you complete the steps, the new adjustments should help to expand the laptop’s battery life by reducing brightness, disabling features, and throttling resources.
Change video playback settings
If you must watch a video for homework, you can adjust the video playback settings to help expand that battery life.
To change the video playback settings, use these steps:
Once you complete the steps, the device’s battery life will adjust according to your configuration.
Change display settings
Something so simple as lowering the brightness, lowering the screen and sleep timers, and changing other settings can significantly impact battery life.
Adjusting brightness
To lower the display brightness to save battery on Windows 11, use these steps:
After you complete the steps, the new brightness setting should apply to the device.
Change screen and sleep timers
To change the display and sleep timers to conserve energy, use these steps:
Once you complete the steps, the computer will turn off the display after the selected time of inactivity, and then the system will sleep to save energy.
Switch to dark mode
Changing the color mode to dark can also save energy to expand your laptop’s battery life when working on a school project.
To change color mode on Windows 11, use these steps:
After you complete the steps, the desktop components and apps like File Explorer will switch to dark mode to optimize energy usage.
If you want to go one step further, you can also use a dark solid color in the “Background” settings page instead of an image to save a little bit more battery.
Enable airplane mode
If an internet connection is not required to complete the school work, you can turn on Airplane mode to disable all wireless communications (including Bluetooth) to preserve battery life.
To enable Airplane mode on Windows 11, use these steps:
Alternatively, you can also enable Airplane mode from the Quick Settings flyout using theWindows key + Akeyboard shortcut.
Disconnect non-essential peripherals
If the laptop has connected peripherals like external storage, cameras, and Bluetooth devices, they can also impact battery life. Disconnecting these devices can help to improve battery performance.
Enable hibernation
You can also enable hibernation to conserve battery on the laptop. On Windows 11, hibernation works by saving the current session to the hard drive, allowing the computer to turn off completely. You can continue working where you left off when you turn on the device.
To enable hibernation on Windows 11, use these steps:
Once you complete the steps, you will find the “Hibernation” option in the Power options menu in Start.
You can also usethese instructionsto learn more about hibernation on Windows 11.
6. How to customize the desktop appearance on Windows 11
On Windows 11, you can customize the appearance of the desktop and apps in many ways. However, these are the must-use settings if you are getting your computer ready for school.
Change the desktop theme
To set a new theme on Windows 11, use these steps:
After you complete the steps, the theme will apply, changing the desktop wallpaper and applying a new color accent for the Start menu, Taskbar, and other elements.
You can customize the desktop appearance even further withthese tips on Windows 11.
Pin apps to Start and Taskbar
If you want quicker access to your apps, you should pin them to the Start menu or Taskbar.
To pin apps to the Start’s Pinned section or Taskbar, use these steps:
Once you complete the steps, you may want to repeat the instructions to pin other apps.
Declutter the desktop
The best way to avoid cluttering the desktop is to save your files into the categorized profile folders (Documents, Pictures, Videos, etc.). However, if you keep everything on the desktop, Windows 11 includes an option to declutter the desktop quickly.
To hide files and icons from the desktop, use these steps:
Using File Explorer, you can always access your files and shortcuts from theDesktopfolder.
If you want to show the contents again, you can use the instructions outlined above, but onstep 3, recheck theShow desktop iconsoption.
Organize your work with virtual desktops
On Windows 11, “Desktops” is a feature that helps you organize your work on different virtual desktops. For example, you can create a virtual desktop with different applications for each class or keep the school work separate from your personal stuff.
To create a new desktop on Windows 11, use these steps:
Once you complete the steps, you can start creating spaces to separate your work. On Windows 11, you can create as many desktops as you need. They will remain active (even after restarting the computer) until you close them.
While in Task View, you can also right-click the virtual desktop to find the option to rename, close, or change the background.
The apps will only run on the desktop you open, but you can always move them by opening Task View, right-clicking the app, selecting the “Move to” menu, and choosing the virtual desktop.
You can learn more about virtual desktops onWindows 11 in this guide.
7. How to install a printer on Windows 11
If you must print out content on paper, you may also need to install the printer on your computer. The steps will be slightly different depending on whether you have a printer with a wireless or wired connection.
The instructions below outline the general steps to set up a printer. However, manufacturers usually provide custom tools to install a printing device that unlocks some additional features. As a result, if you need to use one or more specific features, it’s recommended to download and install the required software from the manufacturer support website.
Install Wi-Fi printer
To install a wireless printer on Windows 11, use these steps:
Once you complete the steps, the system will automatically detect and install the printer driver.
Install USB printer
To install a USB printer to a laptop running Windows 11, use these steps:
After you complete the steps, Windows 11 will try to install the device automatically.
8. How to install the Microsoft Office apps on Windows 11
When preparing your laptop for school, you cannot ignore Microsoft Office since it includes all the essential apps (such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook) you need to get the work done.
If you already have a Microsoft 365 subscription or you plan tosubscribe to one of the plans, these are the steps to install the suite of apps on your laptop:
Once you complete the steps, the setup will install the Office apps, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and others, on your Windows 11 computer.
In addition to installing the Office apps, you should alsoinstall OneNote, which makes it easy to take and organize your notes from classes and test preparation.
9. How to switch to Microsoft Edge on Windows 11
Yes, you can continue using Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, or any other browser. However, Microsoft Edge is still among the best browsers, especially for laptops running Windows 11.
The reasoning for this choice is that the browser has been custom designed to run on Windows, plus it comes with support for Chrome extensions. As a result, it provides better performance and power management than its competitors.
To switch your browsing experience to Microsoft Edge on Windows 11, use these steps:
After you complete the steps, you can start browsing the web with Microsoft Edge on Windows 11.
10. How to protect files with OneDrive on Windows 11
As you gear up to return to school, you must also consider protecting your files with a cloud storage service like OneDrive. These services can protect your school work and other important files and synchronize those files across the device, and they can protect your files in the event that your device gets damaged, lost, or stolen.
If you use OneDrive, you can proactively save your files into the main folder, allowing the application to sync them to the cloud automatically. However, it’s also possible to configure backup for local folders, and here’s how:
To enable OneDrive backup for the Desktop, Documents, and Pictures folders, use these steps:
Once you complete the steps, the files in the profile folders will sync to the cloud and across devices.
The free version of OneDrive includes 5GB of storage. If you have a lot of files, you should get aMicrosoft 365 subscription. For a monthly fee, you get 1TB of OneDrive storage and access to the suite of Office apps and many other benefits.
11. How to repair storage errors on Windows 11
After you complete the steps, the tool will try to repair the problem automatically.
If the computer has a more complex problem, you can refer tothese instructionsto use DISM and SFC to scan and fix the issues.
12. How to reset your laptop to improve performance on Windows 11
If the laptop has had the same installation for some time, it’s probably already running slow, showing errors, or draining the battery faster than usual. In this situation, you can use the reset option to wipe out and install Windows 11 while keeping your files.
Important:This process will delete the current installation, including apps and third-party software. However, you can always reinstall them at any time. Also, even though this feature shouldn’t delete your files, it’s a good idea to back up your files in case something goes wrong.
To reset the current installation of Windows 11, use these steps:
Once you complete the steps, the laptop will reset to the factory settings preserving your files and hopefully fixing performance and other issues.
13. How to back up your laptop on Windows 11
After spending the time to prepare your laptop for the new school year, it’s crucial to create a backup to protect the setup, settings, apps, and files from hardware failure, malware, and other problems.
Although you can pick from many third-party tools, it’s still possible to use the legacy system image backup to create a full backup of the computer, which Microsoft no longer maintains, but it still works.
To create a backup of your computer on Windows 11, use these steps:
Once you complete the steps, Windows 11 will create a backup of the primary drive and any other storage you may have selected.
More resources
For more helpful articles, coverage, and answers to common questions about Windows 10 and Windows 11, visit the following resources:
Mauro Huculak has been a Windows How-To Expert contributor for WindowsCentral.com for nearly a decade and has over 15 years of experience writing comprehensive guides. He also has an IT background and has achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft, Cisco, VMware, and CompTIA. He has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years.
