Category: Windows 11

Game captures background recording settings Windows 11

The game captures background recording settings in Windows 11 are on one page in Settings. There you control how long a recording can be, how its audio is handled and how its video looks. The steps below cover each option, so you can match recordings to your PC and your habits.

Open Settings → Gaming → Captures and adjust the recording options.
If recordings affect game performance, lower Game Captures video frame rate and Game Captures video quality first.
On a work or school PC, an organization policy can manage this page.

Tags Xbox Game Bar

Keyboard shortcuts for Xbox Game Bar Windows 11

Here are the keyboard shortcuts for Xbox Game Bar Windows 11 users need most: Windows + G opens the overlay, Windows + Alt + R starts and stops a recording, Windows + Alt + M toggles the microphone, and Windows + Alt + Print Screen takes a screenshot. They only work after Game Bar is turned on in Settings.

In Settings → Gaming → Xbox Game Bar, make sure Game Bar is switched on, then press Windows + G.
Press Windows + Alt + R to start a recording and again to stop it; clips are saved as MP4 files in the Captures folder under Videos.
Press Windows + Alt + M during a recording to turn the microphone on or off.

Tags Xbox Game Bar

Open the on-screen touchpad Windows 11

To open the on-screen touchpad in Windows 11, first make its icon available in the system tray, then select that icon. The on-screen touchpad (also called the virtual touchpad) is a touchpad drawn on your screen that you can use to move the mouse pointer. It is handy on touch screens and on devices without a working physical touchpad.

Right-click the taskbar, open its settings, switch on the virtual touchpad icon in the system tray icons area, then select that icon next to the clock.
To hide it again, close the touchpad window, then switch the same virtual touchpad option off in the taskbar’s settings.
The physical touchpad has its own page under Settings → Bluetooth & devices → Touchpad.

Tags Taskbar, Touchpad

Windows 11 change desktop background color

You can change the desktop background color in Windows 11 by replacing your wallpaper picture with a single solid color. The setting lives in the personalization options of Settings. It takes only a few clicks and you can switch back to a picture at any time.

Open Settings → Personalization, open the desktop background page, choose the single-color option and pick a color.
To undo it, return to the same page and choose the picture option again, then select an image.
The Colors page changes accent colors and light or dark mode, not the desktop background color.

Tags Background, Colors

Change taskbar color Windows 11

You can change the taskbar color in Windows 11 by choosing an accent color and then telling Windows to apply it to the taskbar. Everything happens on one page of Settings, and the change is visible right away. The same steps apply whether you spell it color or colour, as in change taskbar colour Windows 11.

Open Settings → Personalization → Colors, pick an accent color, then turn on Apply color to Start, taskbar, and Notification Center.
The taskbar can only be tinted when Windows uses dark or custom mode, not light mode.
To go back to the neutral look, turn the same switch off again.

Tags Colors

Change the battery in Surface pen

To change the battery in Surface Pen, you open the pen, swap the old AAAA battery for a new one, and close it again. The way the pen opens, and which way the battery faces, depends on the pen model, and some models also have small coin cells in the cap. Once the pen is back together, you can confirm in Windows 11 that it still works.

Open the pen, replace the AAAA battery with the + end facing the direction your pen type requires, then close it; Slim Pen and Slim Pen 2 have no replaceable battery.
Pens with two side buttons also have two size 319 coin cells in the cap, and you may need to pair the pen with your Surface again afterwards.
Check the pen afterwards in Settings → Bluetooth & devices → Pen & Windows Ink.

Tags Pen & Windows Ink

Switch users in Windows 11

You can switch users in Windows 11 without restarting the PC. Open the account menu, choose another account, and sign in with that person’s credentials. The account you leave stays signed in, so you can return to it later.

Press the Windows key, select your account name or picture in the menu that opens, choose the other account, and sign in.
To see which accounts exist on the PC, go to Settings → Accounts → Other users.
You can also press Windows + L or Ctrl + Alt + Del and pick another account from there.

Tags Other users

Create an image of a serene coastal village at golden hour, whitewashed buildings, ocean breeze, warm sunlight, cinematic landscape.

To create an image of a serene coastal village at golden hour, whitewashed buildings, ocean breeze, warm sunlight, cinematic landscape, you generate the picture in an image-creation tool and then apply it in Windows 11. The Windows settings page for this topic does not generate pictures. It controls how a saved image appears as your desktop background. This article covers both parts: writing the description and turning the result into your wallpaper.

Save the image to your PC, open Settings → Personalization → Background, and under Choose your desktop background pick the single-picture option and browse to the file.
Use Choose a picture fit to control whether the picture fills, fits or stretches across the screen.
Windows only displays the image. The picture itself comes from a separate image-creation tool.

Tags Background

Turn on spatial sound in Windows

To turn on spatial sound in Windows 11, open the properties of your playback device in Settings and choose Windows Sonic as the spatial sound option. Windows Sonic is a built-in spatial sound solution that can make movies and games sound more immersive. The change takes only a few clicks, and you can reverse it at any time.

Open Settings → System → Sound, select your playback device, open its properties and choose Windows Sonic under spatial sound.
If the page shows an apply button after you choose the option, select it to confirm the change.
Dolby Access and DTS Sound Unbound add other spatial sound options if you want an alternative to Windows Sonic.

Tags Sound

Get themes Windows 11

To get themes in Windows 11, you open the themes page in the personalization settings, pick one of the themes that ship with Windows, or download new ones from Microsoft’s app store. A theme bundles a desktop background, window colors, sounds, and mouse pointer style, so one click changes the whole look of your PC.

Open Settings → Personalization, select the themes page, then pick a theme or use the browse option to download more.
Downloaded themes appear in the same theme list, where you select one to apply it.
To change only the wallpaper and keep everything else, use the Background page instead.

Tags Background, Themes