Ways to enhance learning on Windows

Windows computers are currently one of the indispensable learning tools for many students. If you are also spending most of your study time on a Windows PC, the tips below may be useful to you.

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Organize your folder structure well

Like any workstation, keeping files neat helps you improve your work and study productivity. However, things quickly become cluttered with Downloads, Documents, Pictures and other folders. Your notes may be scattered across multiple folders, making it difficult to remember their location.

Let's set up a neat folder structure to better organize all related files:

1. Open File Explorer by pressing Win + E keys .
2. You must choose a primary location where the entire folder will be saved. You should save your main folder on a separate drive for easy access. Go to this location, create a new folder and name it.
3. Go deeper into the folder you just created. Now create 4 different folders to organize the folder structure. We will use the PARA approach to naming the folder. PARA is an acronym for Projects, Areas, Resources, and Archives. Archives of completed or old folders for future reference.

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Set up Google Drive to sync to the cloud

Whether you're a student or a student, you can use Google Drive on your smartphone to store study notes, PDFs, or other documents. If you use your PC constantly, setting up Google Drive will help you take full advantage of its cross-platform functionality.

Follow these steps if you need help:

1. Go to the Google Drive website and click the Download Drive for Desktop button .
2. Run the Google Drive installation file and click Install.
3. Click Launch and log in with your main Google account.
4. Once logged in, right-click on the Google Drive icon on the taskbar. Click the settings icon, then go to Preferences .
5. Click the Add folder button and select the location of the main folder created earlier.
6. Click Done > Save to complete the backup process.

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The previous section of the article recommended that you create a home directory for a reason. Now your home folder is directly synced, any files/folders saved there, you can access them all right on your smartphone.

Use Focus Sessions

If you regularly use a Windows PC, repetitive notifications can make it difficult to concentrate on your studies. Luckily, Windows 11 offers a Focus session feature to help you block all distractions for a specific period of time.

Depending on your needs, you can customize sessions as short as 5 minutes or longer. You can access this feature from Windows Settings > System > Focus . Click the Start focus session button to start a session for the set duration. If you want to change the default time, click the Plus or Minus button to adjust it.

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Install useful browser extensions

Web browsers are some of the most useful applications that most of us visit every day. But do you know of additional add-ons or extensions to improve functionality and optimize the note-taking process?

Here are some extensions you should install to increase learning efficiency while browsing the web:

1. Checks grammar and spelling as you type on every website you visit.
2. OCR Image Reader helps copy content on images.
3. Dark Reader converts light web pages to dark to read content more comfortably at night.
4. helps you manage passwords easily.
5. Picture-in-Picture helps you watch YouTube while performing necessary tasks.

Take PDF notes using Drawboard PDF

This application helps you take notes directly on PDF. In other words, Drawboard turns a PDF into an interactive canvas. It provides built-in tools for highlighting, commenting, drawing, filling out forms, signing and more on PDF files.

To start using Drawboard PDF:

1. Install Drawboard PDF from the Microsoft Store.
2. Before opening this application, you will set it as the default app to open all PDF files. To do that, right-click on any PDF file, then select Open with Drawboard.
3. Click Always to set Drawboard as the default app to read PDF files.
4. This application will ask you to create a new Drawboard account or log in with an existing account.
5. Now you can open PDF files in Drawboard.

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Above are some ways to enhance learning efficiency on Windows PC. Please share your other useful tips with TipsMake readers!

Jessica Tanner

Update 20 October 2023