With Windows 11 and its numerous feature updates, Microsoft is taking extra care to ensure Windows computers are as energy-efficient as possible. The latest effort appears to be letting you know how much energy your computer is consuming.
Albacore, who goes by the @thebookisclosed handle on X and is famous for uncovering hidden features in Windows 11, discovered a new section of the Settings app that will complement the existing battery consumption graphs.
Windows 11 will be getting an energy usage graph to complement the existing battery level graph ⚡🔋📊
— Albacore ☁️ (@thebookisclosed) November 11, 2024
The feature is still in early development w/ battery level data being used for both graphs. The design is already a little different though 🖌️ pic.twitter.com/eahs7olua3
As is usually the case with early discoveries, very few details are known about the new Settings section at this point. There is no information on how Microsoft will calculate energy consumption or what systems will have access to the new feature. Also, there seems to be no way to turn on the "Energy usage" tab (at least now). We will have to wait for Microsoft to announce and detail this addition to Windows 11 in a future Windows 11 preview build.
Other useful changes coming soon to Windows 11"s Settings app include the ability to customize what widgets appear on the Lock Screen. As of right now, you can only have either all of Microsoft"s first-party widgets or none. Microsoft wants to change that; here is what the user interface for that feature may look like (courtesy of Albacore):
Finally, Microsoft is bringing a new shortcut to the Snipping Tool app. It will let you trigger optical character recognition and copy text from screenshots with a simple Win + Shift + T shortcut.