What are the optional features of Windows 10 and how to activate them?

Windows 10 is equipped with many features and with each update, their number increases, some of which are optional features of Windows 10. In this article, we introduce them and teach how to activate them.

Windows 10 optional features are developed for professional users as well as IT administrators, although some casual users may also want to use them. In this article, we introduce these features and teach how to activate them, so stay tuned with Digiato.

What are the optional features of Windows 10?

Optional features are features that you can enable if you want, however they have their own uses and are more developed for businesses and educational institutions where the administrator has more control over the computer network. needs and activating them only on one computer is not a logical task.

A number of legacy Windows 10 tools are now known as optional features, including Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player, and WordPad, and you can enable them through optional features.

Microsoft provides you with the possibility to enable optional features in two ways, one of which is the settings section and the other is the “Control Panel”. While a number of features are the same in both locations, some are unique. In addition, the presence of these features also depends on the version of your operating system. We use Windows 10 Pro in this tutorial, because they are not available in the Home version.

How to activate Windows 10 optional features in settings

To open settings in Windows 10, press the Windows button together with the letter “I” key, and then go to Apps > Optional features.

The list in this section shows all installed features. If you haven’t removed them in the past, you’ll see some like Notepad and Microsoft Paint. You can sort these programs by name, volume, and also by date of installation.

If you are running out of space and want to gain more space by removing a feature, click on the feature you want and then remove it. At the top of the list, you can click on the “See optional feature history” option to see the history of installing and removing features.

To add an optional feature, click on the “Add a feature” option. This will open a new window where you can select the features you want and then select “Install” to start installing them.

Many of the features in this list are language packs, and through them you can see apps, sites, and menus in the same language. Your primary language is installed on the device with Windows 10, however you can add other languages ​​as well.

How to activate the optional features of Windows 10 in the control panel

To access the optional features of Windows 10, search for the phrase “Turn Windows features on or off” and click on its result, instead of doing this, you can press the Windows button along with the letter “R” and the phrase “optionalfeatures” type and finally click on the OK option.

To activate each function, click the tick box next to it. If this side box is black, it means that part of this feature is activated. Click on the plus icon to open different sections of this feature and you can activate or deactivate its special elements. If a box is empty, this feature is not active. After applying the desired changes, click the OK button to save them. After this, you need to restart your system.

A look at the use of Windows 10 optional features

Next, we have a look at the optional features in Windows 10 and their functions:

• NET Framework 3.5. and .NET Framework 4.8 Advanced Services.: Support for applications that use these versions of the .NET Framework. they use.
• Containers:provides the services and tools needed to create and manage Windows Server containers.
• Device Lockdown:Drive write protection that includes an unrestricted boot screen and is designed for devices in public locations.
• Guarded Host:Configures guarded hosts and runs the virtual machine shield on the server.
• Hyper-V:Relates to services and management tools for running a virtual machine.
• Internet Explorer 11:is Microsoft’s web browser.
• Math Recognizer: Math input panel which is actually a tool to convert handwritten math into digital text.
• Microsoft Paint:is a basic photo editing program in Windows 10.
• Microsoft Print to PDF:provides the possibility of outputting the file in PDF format.
• Microsoft WebDriver: Autotests Microsoft Edge and also hosts the EdgeHTML platform.
• Notepad: is a basic text editing and viewing tool.
• OpenSSH Client: is a secure key management client that enables remote access to computers.
• Print Management Console:management of printers, printer drivers and printer servers
• Steps Recorder:Records steps with screenshots to share for troubleshooting.
• Telnet Client:is a command line tool that can be used to remotely manage another system. This feature is not secure, so use it only when necessary.
• TFTP Client: is a command line tool that is used to transfer files using the “Trivial File Transfer” protocol. This protocol is old and insecure, so avoid using it as much as possible.
• Windows Fax and Scan:is an integrated Windows fax and scan program.
• Windows Hello Face:It is a biometric technology to log into the Windows 10 system.
• Windows Media Player:It is an old player from Microsoft.
• Windows PowerShell 2.0:Similar to Command Prompt but more advanced.
• Windows PowerShell Integrated Scripting Environment: is a graphical editor for PowerShell scripts.
• Windows TIFF IFilter:Index and search TIFF files using optical character reader (OCR)
• Wireless Display: Enables the display of other devices on your computer wirelessly.
• WordPad:A text editor that is a bit more advanced than Notepad.
• XPS Viewer:Reads, copies and prints XPS documents and sets permissions.