5 New Year’s resolutions for Windows users

The new year is a great opportunity to reflect on your habits and goals, and to make some changes that can improve your productivity, security and satisfaction with your Windows device. Whether you’re a casual user or a power user, here are five resolutions you can adopt for 2024.

1. Update your Windows regularly. One of the most important things you can do to keep your Windows device running smoothly and securely is to install the latest updates from Microsoft. Updates can fix bugs, improve performance, enhance features, and protect against malware and hackers. To check for updates, go to Settings > Update & security > Windows Update and click Check for updates. You can also enable automatic updates to install them smoothly.

2. Back up your data. You never know when something could go wrong with your device, such as a hardware failure, virus infection or ransomware attack. That’s why it’s critical to have a backup of your important files, photos, videos and documents. You can use an external hard drive, a cloud service or both to store your backup. Windows 10 has a built-in tool called File History that can automatically back up your files to an external drive. To set it up, go to Settings > Update & Security > Backup and click Add a drive.

3. Limpia tu espacio en disco. Con el tiempo, su dispositivo Windows puede acumular una gran cantidad de archivos innecesarios que ocupan un valioso espacio en el disco y ralentizan su sistema. Estos archivos pueden incluir archivos temporales, descargas, elementos de la papelera de reciclaje, versiones antiguas de Windows y más. Para liberar algo de espacio, puede utilizar la herramienta Liberador de espacio en disco que viene con Windows 10. Para acceder a ella, vaya a Inicio > Sistema Windows > Liberador de espacio en disco y seleccione la unidad que desea limpiar. También puede utilizar la función Storage Sense para eliminar automáticamente los archivos que ya no necesita. Para habilitarlo, vaya a Configuración > Sistema > Almacenamiento y active Storage Sense.

4. Organize your desktop and start menu. A cluttered desktop and start menu can make it difficult to find what you need and make you feel overwhelmed. To avoid this, you can organize your icons and shortcuts into folders, delete the ones you don’t use, and pin the ones you use frequently to the taskbar or start menu. You can also customize the appearance of your desktop and start menu by changing the background, colors, themes and fonts. To do this, go to Settings > Personalization and explore the options.

5. Learn some new tricks. Windows 10 is packed with features and shortcuts that can make your life easier and more fun. For example, you can use the Snap Assist feature to arrange multiple windows on your screen by dragging them to the edges or corners. You can also use the Task View feature to switch between multiple desktops by pressing the Windows + Tab keys. You can also use Cortana, the virtual assistant that comes with Windows 10, to search the web, set reminders, play music, tell jokes and more by saying «Hi Cortana» or clicking the microphone icon on the taskbar.