To use your microphone with apps on Windows 10, you'll need to turn on some permissions in Microphone settings. Then, you'll need to check your app permissions if you want to use your microphone with apps. Here's how: Select Start > Settings > Privacy > Microphone .

This article applies if you’ve recently made changes to your device hardware and are trying to upgrade to Windows 11. Hardware changes might affect your upgrade eligibility, though you’ll need to take a few steps to see your updated eligibility in Settings.

You can use installation media (a USB flash drive or DVD) to install a new copy of Windows, perform a clean installation, or reinstall Windows. To create installation media, go to the software download website, where you'll find step-by-step instructions.

PC Health Check app brings you up to date info on your Windows device health, helping you take action to improve your device performance and troubleshoot performance problems.

Manually update Surface drivers and firmware. Manual updates are useful if you need to update an offline device, update many devices that are all the same model, or if you’re creating system images for your organization.

For Windows 8.1, see Create a USB recovery drive. To download Windows 11 installation media, see Recovery options in Windows. Create a recovery drive so you can reinstall Windows 10 or Windows 11 in case you experience a major issue such as hardware failure.

Open Device Manager. In the search box on the taskbar, type device manager, then select Device Manager from the menu.

Add an app to run automatically at startup in Windows 10. Select the Start button and scroll to find the app you want to run at startup. Right-click the app, select More, and then select Open file location. This opens the location where the shortcut to the app is saved.

Windows Hello. Windows Hello lets you sign in to your devices, apps, online services, and networks using your face, iris, fingerprint, or a PIN. Even if your Windows device can use Windows Hello biometrics, you don’t have to. If it’s the right choice for you, you can rest assured that the info that identifies your face, iris, or fingerprint ...

Virtualization lets your PC emulate a different operating system, like Android™ or Linux. Enabling virtualization gives you access to a larger library of apps to use and install on your PC. If you upgraded from Windows 10 to Windows 11 on your PC, these steps will help you enable virtualization.