Happy New Year! We are starting with some brand-new Windows updates and reminders!
Snipping Tool Update
The snipping tool or screenshot tool is a relatively important feature often used. But in 2025 it got a bit of a facelift. When you open the snipping tool (either by searching it or selecting the Windows key + Shift + S) it allows you to select any part of your screen to take a screenshot. But you can now take it a step further. If you take a screenshot of an image with text the snipping tool can now extrapulate that text out and copy it to your clipboard for you. Check out the steps below to find out how:
Open the snipping tool and take a screenshot of the image.
Open the image.
At the top of your ribbon click the button called "Text Action" next to the crop button.
You can now highlight whatever needs to be copied
Notepad Update
A bit of a hidden feature on Windows is the Notepad app. It has actually been around for quite a while, but recently got an update. First, you can increase the font size by holding down the Ctrl key and scrolling on your mouse. Next, You can also close Notepad at any time and it will automatically save whatever is being worked on. Finally, Notepad, like many other platforms, has embedded AI into its app. You can now write a paragraph, for example, and have AI rewrite or phrase it differently. Just highlight the text and select the pen icon in the top right corner.
Editing PDFs in Edge
Did you know you can edit PDFs in Microsoft Edge? Open your PDF into Microsoft Edge (it should be a suggestion when you click it if not right right-click and select the "Open With" option in your drop-down menu). Once in the document, you have a few different options in the top left corner of your ribbon. You can select the highlight tool and highlight specific parts of the text. You can also click the draw option allowing you to draw on the text like a signature. Lastly, you can add text. If you need to fill out a form but it is not an editable PDF this feature is great. All you need to do is select the text box feature and select where you want that text to go!
Clipboard Tool
Our final Windows tool is the clipboard. This one is one of the most useful tools in Windows and one we often forget to use. When copying text or an image, either by right-clicking or pressing the Ctrl + C keys, you can only copy and paste things one at a time. This is where Windows Clipboard comes in handy. For example, if you copied an image, title, and paragraph all in a row you can paste them all at the same time instead of toggling back and forth. Using the keys Window + Shift + S you will open your clipboard. The clipboard contains a history of what you've copied. Simply click what's been copied and it will be pasted into the document.
Faster Startup Time
As a quick helpful tip, if you find your computer takes a while to start up recently you should take a look at the startup apps. In your search bar on taskbar search "Startup Apps". When you click into those settings you will see every app that launches when you merely turn your computer on. Turning some of those unnecessary apps off with allow your computer to start up quicker.
For more information on these topics or to learn about the new AI features on the paint app watch the video below:
I hope you have found these tech tips helpful! Please feel free to share these tips out or contact us with questions or comments.
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