Windows provides many options for customizing the experience to suit your needs. We have included several references below to assist you in your journey. Not sure how to do something, contact us or stop by the IT Solutions Center and we will be happy to help.
Desktop:
Start Menu and Taskbar:
Lock Screen:
Notifications:
Dynamic Lighting:
- Productivity: Set up lighting profiles that help reduce eye strain during work hours or highlight important notifications.
- For more information on Dynamic Lighting, click here.
Fonts:
Prefer the Windows 10 Experience?
If you tried Windows 11 and would prefer a more familiar interface, please try these quick and easy changes.
- Taskbar Changes: Open the Windows Start menu and then the Settings app. In Settings, navigate to Personalization, then Taskbar.
- Align the Start Menu to the Left: Open Taskbar behaviors and you will see a field labeled Taskbar alignment with a drop-down menu. Change the drop-dox menu from Center to Left.
- Remove New Taskbar Icons: Open Taskbar items. You will see four options: Search, Task View, Widgets, and Chat. Use the toggles to turn off the ones you don't want. An important note about Search: there’s currently no way to restore the full Search field from the Windows 10 taskbar.
- Turn off CoPilot: Toggle the option to turn off CoPilot. For AI resources for UTC, visit https://www.utc.edu/chancellor/strategies-and-initiatives/chai-chattanoogas-artificial-intelligence.
- Theme Changes: Open the Windows Start menu and then the Settings app. In Settings, navigate to Personalization, then Colors.
- Dark Taskbar: For the most Windows 10-like feel, set the default Windows mode" to "Dark" and the default app mode to "Light."
- Solid Taskbar and Start Menu: You can also turn off transparency effects from the same Settings page, which will give you a solid taskbar and Start menu with no translucency. It also turns off the effect for application windows.