The “Resume” feature in Windows 11 allows you to seamlessly continue working on tasks you started on another device. Think smartphone. Whether you’re reading a document on your phone or editing a file, Windows 11 can help pick up right where you left off when you switch to your PC. Here’s how to enable and use Windows 11’s Resume feature.
Let’s say you’re working on a project in Microsoft Word on your laptop, and then you need to leave and head to a meeting. With Windows 11’s Resume feature, you can quickly pick up where you left off on your phone or tablet. When you return to your laptop, your document will still be open, right where you last edited it, without needing to search for the file again.
Pre-requisites to Use the Resume Feature
There are some minimum requirements to meet before you can use the Resume feature on your Windows PC:
- You need to be signed in to OneDrive with your personal Microsoft account. School or work accounts won’t work with this feature.
- You must sign in to your Windows 11 PC using the same Microsoft account that you use for OneDrive.
- Make sure you are logged into your OneDrive account in your default web browser.
- The feature works with Word documents, PDFs, PowerPoint presentations, Excel files, and OneNote notebooks or pages.
- Your PC must be locked when you open a supported OneDrive file on your phone.
- The feature will only work if you unlock your PC within 5 minutes of accessing the file on your phone. You will not receive any notifications if you don’t unlock it in time.
How to Enable/Disable the Resume Feature
You can easily enable or disable this feature based on your preference. Here’s how:
- Open the Settings app.
- Click on Apps on the left menu.
- Scroll down and click Resume.
- Toggle the switch to On or Off next to Resume and OneDrive depending on if you want to use Resume or not and if yes, which apps should use the Resume feature. In our case, that is the OneDrive app.
Here is how the feature will work in real life. Let’s say you are editing a Word file on your smartphone. You will see a notification on your Windows PC of the same file when you open the PC. Clicking on the notification pop-up will open the file from your OneDrive directly in your default browser. It will not open in the Word app or Office app installed on your PC. Changes made will be saved to the Word file saved on your OneDrive instead.
How to Use the Resume Feature
Once you’ve enabled the Resume feature, here’s how to use it:
- Start an Activity on Your Phone: Open a supported app like Word or Excel on your Android or iOS smartphone.
- Switch to Your PC: On your Windows 11 PC, lock the screen when you access the file on your phone.
- Unlock Your PC Within 5 Minutes: After unlocking your PC within five minutes, a notification will pop up asking if you want to resume the task you were working on.
- Pick Up Where You Left Off: Click on the notification to open the file and continue editing or viewing it.
By using this feature, you can boost productivity by easily switching between devices. Share what you think about this feature on our X.
