100 Useful Windows Keyboard Shortcuts You Might Not Know

Updated on August 1st, 2018 by Quertime Writer in Software

There are a lot of businesses that focus on the technical side of things. And as many of you believe, there are companies who rely on application and software that tracks the activity rate of its employees. This helps them monitor the activity levels and the projects that employees are currently working on. For one thing, keyboard shortcuts are one of the most effective ways to increase your productivity rate.

Let’s assume that you are the type of person who easily does things without distractions and prefer to do it in one go. So, let’s say you are editing a draft of a book and it needs to go under an ePub conversion services first, and you’ve considered it as ready for publish you just need to add a few images to the document. Well, what if I said that you do not have to move your mouse around to find the right window containing the photos? You can shortcut you way to various actions in your computer with all but a press away.

Keyboard shortcuts are useful in doing things faster without having to constantly use your mouse to get to a screen. You can easily do them with a press of a few combined buttons without having to leave your attention off the keyboard.

File Explorer Shortcuts

1. ALT + D
Select the address bar

2. CTRL + E
Select the search box

3. CTRL + F
Select the search box

4. CTRL + N
Opens new window

5. ALTt + P
Display the preview pane

6. ALT + ENTER
Open the Properties of the selected item

7. ALT + RIGHT ARROW
View the next folder

8. ALT + LEFT ARROW
View the previous folder

9. BACKSPACE
View the previous folder

10. CTRL + W
Closes the current window

11. CTRL + scrolling mouse wheel
Preview function of file and folder size & list modes

12. F2
Rename an item

13. F3
Search for a folder or a file

14. F4
Display Address Bar list

15. F5
Refresh

16. F6
Cycle through all the elements in the open window or desktop

17. F10
Opens the menu bar of the File Explorer

18. F11
Maximize or Minimize active window

19. ALT + F4
Close the active window or active application

20. CTRL + F4
Close the active document (when you have multiple docs opened)

21. SHIFT + F10
Display the shortcut key of the selected item

22. CTRL + SHIFT + E
Display subfolders of a folder

23. CTRL + SHIFT + N
Create New Folder

24. SHIFT + DEL
Permanently deletes an item selected

Window Key Shortcuts

25. WIN + F1
Open Widows Help & Support

26. WIN + B
Notification Area

27. WIN + C
Open Charms

28. WIN + D
Desktop

29. WIN + E
Open File Explorer

30. WIN + F
Search tool

31. WIN + L
Locks your PC

32. WIN + M
Minimizes all active windows

33. WIN + SHIFT + M
Restores minimized windows

34. WIN + O
Lock device orientation

35. WIN + BREAK
Open System Properties

36. WIN + R
Open Run Dialog Box

37. WIN + U
Open Utility Manager

38. END
Display the bottom section of active window

39. HOME
Display the top section of active window

40. NUM LOCK + *
Display all subfolders under selected folder

41. WIN + T
Show apps on the taskbar

42. WIN + V
See through notifications

43. WIN + SHIFT + V
See through notifications (in reverse)

44. WIN + W
Search for settings

45. WIN + ALT + ENTER
Open Windows Media Center

46. WIN + .
Cycle through open applications

47. WIN + -/+
Zoom properties of Magnifier

48. WIN + ESC
Exit Magnifier

49. WIN + SPACEBAR
Input Language & Keyboard Layout

50. WIN + CTRL + SPACEBAR
Change to a previously selected input

51. WIN + K
Opens the connection for a wireless display

52. WIN + P
Presentation Display Mode of the Screen

53. WIN + ,
Gives you a peek of your desktop, until you RELEASE WIN key

54. WIN + CTRL + F
Search for PCs (for other network connections)

55. WIN + Tab
Opens Task view

56. WIN + CTRL + B
Switches to application that displayed a notification

57. WIN + UP ARROW
Maximizes window

58. WIN + RIGHT ARROW
Maximizes window to the right side of your screen

59. WIN + LEFT ARROW
Maximizes window to the left side of your screen

60. WIN + DOWN ARROW
Minimizes the window

61. WIN + HOME
Minimizes all except your desktop window screen

62. WIN + SHIFT + UP ARROW
Stretches the window from top to bottom of your screen

63. WIN + SHIFT + DOWN ARROW
Restores active windows vertically

64. WIN+ SHIFT + LEFT/RIGHT ARROW
Moves a window in your desktop to another monitor

65. WIN + /
Activates IME reconversion

Keyboard Shortcuts while browsing the net

66. CTRL + D
Add the current page to your bookmarks bar

67. CTRL + I
Open Favorites window

68. CTRL + H
Open History tab

69. CTRL + J
Open Donwloads tab

70. CTRL + P
Prints the current page

71. CTRL + F
Opens the search function of your browser

72. CTRL + SHIFT + R
Activates Reading view and remove distractions like ads and other unnecessary content on the page

73. CTRL + SHIFT + DEL
Clears all browser chache and browsing history

74. CTRL + T
Opens a new tab

75. CTRL + SHIFT + T
Reopens closed tabs

76. CTRL + W
Close current tab

77. CTRL + F4
Close current tab

78. CTRL + K
Copies and reopen current tab to a new one

79. CTRL + N
Open new window

80. CTRL + SHIFT + P
Opens the InPrivate Browing Window

81. CTRL + Tab
Switches to the next tab

82. CTRL + SHIFT + Tab
Switches to previous tab

83. F12
Opens Developer Tools

84. CTRL + # of tab
If you have multiple tabs open in a window, use the number of the tab you want to jump to.

85. CTRL + 9
Jumps to the last tab of your window regardlesss of the number of tabs open

86. CTRL + -/+
Zooms in and out of your webpage browser

87. BACKSPACE
Goes back to previous page

88. ALT + LEFT ARROW
Goes back to previous page

89. ALT + RIGHT ARROW
Goes to current page

90. CTRL + R
Refresh and Reloads page

91. ESC
Stops loading page

92. CTRL + L
Jumps to address bar

93. CTRL + SHIFT + L
Opens address bar in new tab

94. CTRL + ENTER
Automatically puts www. in address bar

Basic Shortcuts

95. CTRL + A
Selects all items in a current window or page

96. CTRL + C
Copy the item selected

97. CTRL + P
Pastes the item selected

98. CTRL + X
Cut the item selected

99. CTRL + Y
Redo an action

100. CTRL + Z
Undo an action

Give these few Windows shortcuts a try and see the improvement on your productivity and how it can also aid in your efficiency with your work, it just might encourage you to type away until you realize you’ve done enough and its time for lunch break or clocking out.

Author: Randolph Hoover

Randolph Hoover and his family were originally from San Diego California but he is currently studying Business Administration in Umea University in Sweden. Aside from being a student, He also helps his parents with their home maintenance business in their home in Umea. He is also one of the marketing guy for SPi Global.