For a long time, Mac and Windows have had a clear divide between them. Mac tends to be thought of as more aesthetic and minimalist, with a greater focus on design and looks, while Windows is thought of as the more accessible but messier alternative. Here’s the good news: you can have your cake and eat it, too. By changing a few key settings on Windows, you can give it a more aesthetic, more minimalist experience that will put even Mac users to shame.
These won’t impact your user experience. In fact, tweaking these settings could enhance it. You won’t have to dig through tons of icons in order to find exactly what you’re looking for, and it can teach you better digital hygiene — something that is often overlooked, especially if you’re usually preoccupied while on your machine.
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Opt for a more transparent taskbar
See all of your wallpapers
If you’re trying to customize your desktop, then you probably spend a lot of time looking for the perfect wallpaper, right? There’s no point in putting in all that work only to lose out because your taskbar hides a portion of it (and it doesn’t matter where on the screen you have your taskbar positioned, either.) The good news is that you can adjust your taskbar through built-in functions or use a third-party app to change the way it looks.
The easiest option is to download an app called TranslucentTB. This is a free third-party application that barely uses any system resources at all, but makes your taskbar mostly transparent aside from on-screen icons. Another option to temporarily hide the taskbar is to right-click it and select Taskbar Settings -> Automatically hide the taskbar in desktop mode. You can also select Taskbar Settings -> Small taskbar buttons to shrink the size of the taskbar and have it take up less space on your screen if you’d rather keep it visible but less obtrusive.
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Clean up your taskbar
Less is more
While we’re on the subject of the taskbar, the next step you should take is to remove any unnecessary icons. Take a look at the bar. Are there icons you basically never click on, or worse, you frequently click by accident? (Looking at you, Xbox icon vs Xbox Cloud Gaming icon.) There’s an easy solution: remove those from your bar. Leave only the necessary icons in place for quick access. You can launch everything else through the search menu.
Removing an icon is simple. All you have to do is right-click the icon and then select Unpin from the taskbar. There’s no confirmation menu, so once you do this, it’ll be gone. Don’t worry, though — adding an icon back to the taskbar is easy, too. Just search for it in the Search bar, then right-click and select Pin to taskbar.
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Shrink your desktop icons
Smaller is actually better
While a desktop devoid of icons is a minimalist setup’s goal, it’s not always possible or convenient. In that case, shrink your desktop icons to a small size so they take up as little space as possible. It will reduce the appearance of clutter on your screen, making it easier to see everything at a glance.
Doing so is simple, too. You don’t even need to open up a settings menu. Just right-click any empty space on your desktop and select View -> Small icons. It’s as simple as that. They’ll shrink to a portion of their previous size. There’s another trick you should know, though — the ability to hide them altogether. You can do this from the same menu. Select View -> Show desktop icons and deselect it. Your icons will vanish, but they won’t be deleted. They’ll just be hidden, waiting for you to re-enable the view when needed.
Easy access means less clutter
We all have our digital routines. Some applications we use much more often than others, and some are so common that they probably should load on startup. Pin the applications you can’t live without to your Start Menu for easier, faster access. This will make them appear on the side of the Start Menu any time you open it. Of course, you might have a ton of applications already pinned, as many are set to auto-pin on installation. If that’s the case, you might have to do a bit of cleanup.
To do this, open the Start Menu, right-click any icon, and select Unpin from Start. Once you’ve done this, it will be out of the way (but again, you can re-pin it later if you need to). After this, you can pin frequently used applications to Start by right-clicking on them and selecting Pin to Start. You can also do this by right-clicking an icon and selecting Pin to Start.
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Customize your desktop without the hassle
A cleaner desktop means more productivity
While changing the appearance of your desktop might not seem like it makes a huge difference, it can help you stay focused. If your icons are scattered all over the screen, you’ll spend more time looking for exactly what you need, and your eyes can be drawn to unrelated things, causing your mind to drift. If you struggle with staying focused, opting for a more minimalist look can make a big difference.
