What are the features of Microsoft Windows?

Microsoft Windows includes a wide array of features, tools, and applications to help get the most out of Windows and your computer.

To learn more about the features included in Microsoft Windows, click a link below.

Control Panel

The Control Panel is a collection of tools to help you configure and manage the resources on your computer. You can change settings for printers, video, audio, mouse, keyboard, date and time, user accounts, installed applications, network connections, power saving options, and more.

In Windows 10, the Control Panel is located in the Start menu, under Windows System.

You can also start the Control Panel from the Run box. Press Windows key + R , type control, and press Enter . Or, you may press the Windows key , type Control Panel, and then press Enter .

Many of the Control Panel settings are also accessible in the Windows 10 Settings menu.

Cortana

Cortana is a virtual assistant introduced in Windows 10 that accepts voice commands. Cortana can answer questions, search your computer or Internet, set appointments and reminders, perform online purchases, and more. Cortana has similarities to other voice-activated services, such as Siri, Alexa, or Google Assistant, with the added benefit that it can search the information on your computer.

To access Cortana in Windows 10, press Windows key + S .

Desktop

The desktop is a fundamental part of the default GUI (graphical user interface) in Windows. It is a space where you can organize applications, folders, and documents, which appear as icons. Your desktop is always in the background, behind any other applications you’re running.

When you power on your computer and log in to Windows, the first thing you see is your desktop background, icons, and the taskbar. From here, you can access the installed programs on your computer from the Start menu, or by double-clicking any application shortcuts you may have on your desktop.

You can access your desktop at any time by pressing Windows key + D to minimize any running applications.

With the release of Windows 8 in 2012, the desktop was no longer the default GUI, replaced by the Start Screen. This change was short-lived, and the desktop returned as the default GUI in Windows 10.

Device Manager

The Device Manager lists the hardware devices installed in a computer. It allows users to see what hardware is installed, view and update hardware drivers, and uninstall hardware through the Device Manager.

You can open the Device Manager from the Power User Tasks Menu ( Windows key + X , then press M ).

Disk Cleanup

The Disk Cleanup utility helps increase free disk space on your computer by removing temporary or unnecessary files. Running Disk Cleanup helps improve your computer’s performance, and create additional space to store your downloads, documents, and programs.

You can access Disk Cleanup from the File Explorer.

1. Press Windows key + E to open an Explorer window.
2. On the left side of the window, find This PC or My Computer, and select it by clicking once.
3. Then, on the right side, right-click any disk drive on your computer (C:, for example).
4. Select Properties.
5. Under the General tab, click Disk Cleanup.

• What is Disk Cleanup?
• My computer is running slow, what steps can I do to fix it?
• How to regain computer hard drive space.

Event Viewer

The Event Viewer is an administrator tool displays errors and important events that happen on your computer. It helps troubleshoot advanced problems in your Windows system.

Event Viewer can be accessed from the Power User Tasks Menu (press Windows key + X , then press V ).

File Explorer

The File Explorer, also called Windows Explorer, provides you with a view of the files and folders on the computer. You can browse the contents of your SSD, hard drive, and attached removable disks. You can search for files and folders, and open, rename, or delete them from the File Explorer.

To open a new File Explorer window, press Windows key + E . You can open more than one Explorer window at the same time, which helps with viewing multiple folders at once, or copying/moving files from one to the other.

Internet browser

Your Internet browser is one of the most important applications on your computer. You can use it to find information on the Internet, view web pages, shop and buy merchandise, watch movies, play games, and more. Microsoft Edge is the default browser in Windows 10. Internet Explorer is included as the default browser in previous versions of Windows, from Windows 95 to Windows 8.1.

To open a new Edge browser window in Windows 10, open the Start menu and scroll down to Microsoft Edge.

Microsoft Paint

Included in Windows since November 1985, Microsoft Paint is a simple image editor that you can use to create, view, and edit digital images. It provides basic functionality to draw and paint pictures, resize and rotate photographs, and save pictures as different file types.

To open Microsoft Paint in all versions of Windows, press the Windows key , type mspaint, and press Enter . It’s also available in your Start menu: in Windows 10, it’s listed under Windows Accessories, Paint.

Notepad

Notepad is a simple text editor. You can use it to create, view, and edit text files. For instance, you can use Notepad to write a batch file, or a web page written in HTML.

In Windows 10, Notepad is located in your Start menu under Windows accessories. In all versions of Windows, you can start Notepad from the Run box: press Windows key + R , type notepad, and press Enter .

Notification area

The notification area, also known as the system tray, displays the date and time, and shows icons of programs that are started with Windows. It also provides your Internet connection’s status and a speaker icon for adjusting sound volume.

Power User Tasks Menu

Available in Windows 8 and Windows 10, the Power User Tasks Menu provides quick access to helpful and important Windows utilities. From this menu, you can open the Control Panel, Device Manager, File Explorer, Task Manager, and more.

To open the Power User Tasks Menu, press Windows key + X , or right-click the Start menu icon.

Registry Editor

The Registry Editor allows you to view the Windows system registry, and edit registry keys. Computer technicians may use the Registry Editor to fix problems with the Windows operating system or installed software.

In Windows 10, the Registry Editor is located in the Start menu under Windows Administrative Tools. You can also start it by pressing the Windows key , typing regedit, and then pressing Enter .

Making changes to the registry can cause your applications or system to stop functioning correctly. Don’t edit the registry if you’re not sure what your changing and always back up your registry by exporting it to a file before making changes.

Settings

Available in Windows 8 and Windows 10, Settings allows you to change many aspects of Windows. You can change the desktop background, adjust power settings, review options for external devices, and more.

To open Settings in Windows 10, press Windows key + I . Or, open the Start menu, and click the gear icon ().

Start and Start menu

The Start menu is a list of applications and utilities installed on your computer. You can open it by clicking Start on the left side of your taskbar.

Using the keyboard, you can open the Start menu by pressing the Windows key .

System Information

The System Information utility provides information about the computer, including hardware and Windows details. You can find out details about your computer’s hardware, including processor, memory, video card, and sound card. You can also view and configure environment variables, device drivers, services, and more.

In Windows 10, System Information is located in the Start menu, under Windows Administrative Tools. You can also open it from the Run box: press Windows key + R , type msinfo32, and press Enter .

Taskbar

The Windows taskbar shows programs that are currently open, and a Quick Launch area that allows quick access to launch specific programs. The notification area is on the right side of the taskbar, showing the date and time, and programs running in the background.

Task Manager

The Task Manager gives you an overview of what’s running on your computer. You can see how much of your system resources is used by each application (task), sorting by CPU, RAM, and disk I/O usage. If a program is frozen or not responding, you can right-click it in Task Manager and end the task, forcing it to quit.

To open the Task Manager at any time, press Ctrl + Shift + Esc .

Windows search box

The Windows search box is a convenient way to search for documents, pictures, videos, applications, and more. In Windows 10, the search box is also integrated with Cortana. The feature first appeared in Windows Vista.

The search box is on your taskbar by default. In Windows 10, if you don’t see the search box, right-click the taskbar and select Taskbar settings. Make sure Use small taskbar buttons is Off. Then, right-click the taskbar again, and select Cortana, Show search box.

7 Ways To Generate a List of Installed Programs in Windows

Handy if you want to know what to reinstall

If you own a Windows PC, you’ll likely have a list of go-to software that you use all the time, whether it’s Chrome, Outlook, or Steam. Outside of these favorites, there’ll be other programs you’ve forgotten about or have never even used. That can be problematic—forgotten software takes up disk space and can be a security risk.

We absolutely recommend you properly uninstall programs on Windows that you don’t use, but that doesn’t help you if you don’t know what software you have installed, especially if you’re managing multiple PCs at once. Here are several ways to generate a list of installed programs in Windows 10.

Using The Windows PowerShell (Get-RemoteProgram)

If you want a list of installed programs in Windows 10 that you can export, the best solution is to use a built-in tool to create it. Few tools exist to do this, but one option is to use the Windows PowerShell (or command prompt, if you’re feeling old school).

For those who don’t know, the PowerShell has largely replaced the command prompt as the default terminal on Windows PCs. A script exists for PowerShell users to automatically list all installed programs called Get-RemoteProgram. This queries the Windows registry for a full and complete list of installed software on your PC.

1. You’ll need to download the Get-RemoteProgram script for the PowerShell from the Microsoft TechNet website first. Download this, then place the file in your C:\Windows\System32 folder.

1. Next, you’ll need to open a PowerShell window. You can do that by right-clicking the Windows Start menu and pressing Windows PowerShell (Admin) to open a new PowerShell window.

1. You’ll need to make sure that Windows can run scripts like this—type Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted to ensure that you can, hit enter, then press A to confirm.
2. If that is successful, type Get-RemoteProgram to run the script, then hit enter. If you want to export the list to a file, type Get-RemoteProgram > list.txt instead.

Using The Windows PowerShell (WMIC)

You can use either the PowerShell or cmd to run the Windows Management Instrumentation Command-Line Utility (WMIC) to generate a list of installed programs in Windows 10. As the PowerShell is the default command-line tool for Windows 10 users, we’ll be using that here.

Using the WMIC tool to view or export a list of your installed Windows software will create a similar list to the Get-RemoteProgram script.

1. In an open PowerShell window or command line terminal with administrative privileges, type wmic. Once the WMIC prompt opens, type /output:C:\list.txt product get name, version then hit enter. You can replace C:\list.txt with another file name or output directory.

1. Type exit to close the WMIC tool once you’re done. A list of your installed software should be available in the text file at the location you provided for the output file.

Using Print Screen (Apps & Features)

If you want a visual list of your installed software, you could use the print screen key to take a screenshot in Windows of the Apps & Features menu in Windows Settings, where Windows displays a list of your installed software for you to modify or remove.

1. To access this menu, right-click the Windows Start menu and press Settings. From here, press Apps > Apps & features. A list of your installed software will be visible in a scrollable list.

It’s unlikely that your installed PC software will fit in just one screenshot. You’ll need to press the PrtScrn button on your keyboard (or use third-party screenshot tools like Snagit), then paste your screenshots into a third-party image editor to save (or into a Word document).

You’ll need to scroll through the list and repeat this step to make sure you save the full and complete list of installed software on your PC.

Using NirSoft UninstallView

NirSoft UninstallView is a quick, third-party alternative that can help you generate a list of installed programs in Windows 10. Like the Get-RemoteProgram script, it will query the Windows registry for a complete list of installed software.

1. To start, download NirSoft UninstallView and extract the ZIP file (the 64-bit version is recommended). Once that’s done, run the extracted UninstallView.exe file.

1. UninstallView will scan your PC for installed software. Once that process has completed, the full list of software will be available in the UninstallView window. To export the list, press View > HTML Report – All Items.

1. A file called report.html will be created in the same folder as the UninstallView.exe file, showing a formatted list of your installed software. Pressing HTML Report – All Items will open this file in your default web browser.

Using Belarc Advisor

Belarc Advisor has been a must-have tool in the arsenal of local PC repair shops for years, and it remains a useful tool for Windows 10 users. It generates a breakdown of your PC software, hardware, settings, installed updates, and more to allow you to fully audit your Windows installation.

Like UninstallView, this will be visible in a formatted HTML file that you can export elsewhere.

1. To start, download Belarc Advisor and install it. Once it’s installed, Belarc Advisor will begin an immediate audit of your PC—this will take a few moments to complete.

1. Your default web browser will open once Belarc has finished its audit of your PC. To view a list of your installed software, press the Software Versions and Usage link in the side menu, or scroll to that section manually. This file will be available in the C:\Program Files (x86)\Belarc\BelarcAdvisor\System\tmp folder, should you wish to export it.

Using Geek Uninstaller

Geek Uninstaller is a third-party tool for uninstalling software. Like UninstallView, however, it also allows you to view and export a list of your installed programs in Windows 10.

1. Download Geek Uninstaller to begin—you can choose the free version or the paid, Pro version. It comes as a ZIP file, so unzip the contents, then run the geek.exe file to launch the tool.

1. The Geek Uninstaller window will show your installed software in an alphabetical list. To export the list, press File > Export to HTML or press Ctrl + S on your keyboard.

1. Geek Uninstaller will ask you where to save the file—choose a location and a filename, then press Save to save the file.

1. The generated list of your installed software will be saved, with the file automatically opened in your default web browser for you to view.

CCleaner (Last Resort Option)

There are plenty of reasons why you shouldn’t download CCleaner anymore. Once a go-to and essential piece of maintenance software for Windows users, many of its core features have been rendered useless or ineffective due to Windows changes, or have been incorporated into Windows itself (or into other, better third-party apps).

CCleaner also suffered a rather unfortunate incident back in 2017, when a malware-injected version of the CCleaner installer was uploaded and installed by millions of users. For most users, the trust is gone and the message is clear—avoid CCleaner.

However, CCleaner can export a list of installed programs, but we’re not going to recommend downloading it to do so. This is a last resort option, but if you already have CCleaner installed, you could use it to generate and export a list of your installed programs. That is, of course, before you rush to remove it.

1. To do that, open CCleaner and press the Tools tab on the left, then click Uninstall. At the bottom of the window, press the Save to text file button. This will allow you to export a list of your installed software.

1. Choose a location and filename for your exported list, then press Save to save it.

This will export your installed files as a file formatted using tab delimiters. Opening the file using Microsoft Excel will allow you to view the list in a more manageable way.

Removing Or Updating Windows Software

If you prefer to stay organized, or if you have too many PCs to maintain, generating a list of installed programs in Windows 10 can help you find the software you need to remove or update to give you more disk space and improve your security.

If you don’t need to remove it, make sure you find ways to keep your software updated automatically to get the latest security patches and bug fixes. You may end up with software that you just don’t want on your PC, however. If that’s the case, be sure to remove unwanted software from your PC as soon as you find it.

Ben Stockton is a freelance technology writer based in the United Kingdom. In a past life, Ben was a college lecturer in the UK, training teens and adults. Since leaving the classroom, Ben has taken his teaching experience and applied it to writing tech how-to guides and tutorials, specialising in Linux, Windows, and Android. He has a degree in History and a postgraduate qualification in Computing. Read Ben’s Full Bio