Windows 11 Simplified. Paul McFedries

area displays small icons that notify you about things that are happening on your computer. For example, you see a notification if an update to Windows is available.

       Time and Date

      This is the current time and date on your computer. To change the date or time, click the time.

       Notifications

      This icon tells you the number of notifications that you have yet to view. Notifications give you information about what your computer and its apps are doing.

Explore the Start Menu

      To get the most out of Windows, you need to know the layout of the Start menu. As its name implies, the Start menu is your main Windows starting point. Most of the tasks you perform with Windows — such as running apps, searching your PC, working with your Microsoft account, and restarting or shutting down your PC — are launched via the Start menu.

      This section gives you an overview of the Start menu. The tasks you can run via the Start menu are covered in the rest of this chapter and throughout this book.

       Start Menu

      Click Start () or press to open the Start menu on the Windows desktop.

       User Account

      This icon represents your Windows user account. Clicking this icon displays a menu of user account-related tasks.

       Power Icon

      Click Power () to restart, shut down, or sleep your computer.

       Recommended

      This area displays recently added apps as well as documents you have worked with recently. Click an item to launch the app or open the document. You can also click More to see a longer list of recent apps and documents.

       Pinned

      This area displays apps that have been given a fixed position on the Start menu. Click an app’s icon to launch the app. You learn how to pin apps to the Start menu in Chapter 2.

       All Apps

      Click All apps to see the full list of apps on your computer.

       Search Box

      You use this text box to search for items such as documents, settings, or apps on your PC or on the Internet.

Start and Close an App

      To perform tasks of any kind in Windows, you can use one of the apps installed on your computer. The application you use depends on the task you want to perform. For example, to surf the World Wide Web, you use a web browser application, such as the Microsoft Edge app that comes with Windows. To use an app, you select the one you want to run from the Start menu.

      When you are done with an app, you should close it to reduce resources and keep the desktop uncluttered.

      Start and Close an App

      Start an App

      

Click Start ().

      The Start menu appears.

       If you see the app you want on the main Start menu, you can click the app icon and then skip the rest of these steps.

Click All apps.

      The All Apps list appears.

      

Click the app you want.

       To quickly navigate apps alphabetically, you can click any letter and then click the letter that contains the app you want.

       If the app is in a submenu, you can click the submenu and then click the app icon.

      The app runs.

      Close an App

      

Click Close () or press + .

      Note: If the app asks if you want to save changes, click Yes to ensure you do not lose any work.

      Windows closes the app.

      simplify it

      Is there an easier way to locate an app?

      Yes, you can perform a search to locate it. Click Search () on the taskbar and then begin typing the name of the app. As you type, Windows displays a list of apps and other items that match the characters. When you see the app you want, click it to run the program.

      How do I navigate the pinned apps?

      The default Start menu has two pages of pinned apps. To navigate the pages, click Next Page () () and Previous Page () (not shown), which appear to the right of the pinned apps. See Chapter 2 to learn how to add your own pinned apps to the Start menu.

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