KEEPING TABS ON THE VARIOUS COMPONENTS and peripherals that make up your PC’s hardware can be a time-consuming task, but Windows 11 has you covered. The operating system has long offered a myriad of tools for managing and tweaking your hardware but has traditionally struggled to make them easily accessible and sensibly organized.

Microsoft has pulled more options into the Settings app, so most of what you need is under a single section (Bluetooth & Devices), with shortcuts to other key areas (such as your display and network settings) clearly labeled. It’s not all good news—some key settings remain in their previous locations, but Microsoft has removed easy shortcuts. In this tutorial, we’ll take you on a tour of the Windows 11 Settings app, revealing how to access those hidden tools, and where to turn when you need functionality and help not offered in Windows 11 itself.

–NICK PEERS

1 EXPLORE WINDOWS SETTINGS

There are three main areas to explore when tweaking hardware using Windows 11’s Settings tool: System, Bluetooth & Devices, and Network & Internet.

>> Bluetooth & Devices covers all wireless and wired external devices except your display. There are eight sections—the annotation provides a quick summary of what to expect from some of the more self-explanatory ones. At the top, you’ll find Devices, complete with an ‘Add device’ button.

>> Click this to pair Bluetooth devices or other wireless tech to your PC, such as Miracast-streaming TVs and displays [Image A]. To set up an Android phone, use the ‘Open Phone Link’ button instead.

>> Click Devices to get a broad overview of your PC’s key components and peripherals. Individual devices can be removed here, but there’s little else of interest until you scroll down to discover shortcuts to Sound, Display, and somewhat surprisingly, the classic Devices and Printers Control Panel (see step five).

2 CONFIGURE AUDIO DEVICES

One welcome improvement in Windows 11 is the incorporation of the old Sound Control Panel and related tools such as Volume Mixer into the main Settings tool. It can be accessed directly via System > Sound. Here you’ll find options to configure both output (speakers and headphones) and input (microphones) devices.

>> Thanks to the breadcrumbs navigation system at the top of the Settings window, it’s a lot harder to get lost than with previous versions of Windows. Select a device to tweak its properties, from simple volume control to enabling advanced features.