{"id":83224,"date":"2015-10-26T13:09:29","date_gmt":"2015-10-26T11:09:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onsoftware.en.softonic.com\/?p=83224"},"modified":"2025-07-02T00:08:39","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T07:08:39","slug":"windows-10-the-45-most-useful-keyboard-shortcuts-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/windows-10-the-45-most-useful-keyboard-shortcuts-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Windows 10: The 45 most useful keyboard shortcuts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Now that you have a good understanding of Windows 10<\/a>, how about learning the keyboard shortcuts <\/strong>to make using your computer much faster?<\/p>\n

The good thing about Windows 10<\/a> shortcuts is that they are very simple<\/strong>: most of them consist of the Windows key + one other key. Moreover, this second key is often easily related back to the action in question \u2013 making them really easy to remember.<\/p>\n

Don’t believe me? Read the following list and you will see how easy it is! To help, we have divided the shortcuts according to use or function<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Windows Snap<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Windows key + Arrow key <\/strong>(up, down, left, or right)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Virtual desktops<\/h3>\n

Windows key + CTRL + D<\/strong> creates a new virtual desktop<\/p>\n

Windows key + CTRL + F4<\/strong> closes a virtual desktop<\/p>\n

Windows key + CTRL + Arrow key<\/strong> switches between virtual desktops<\/p>\n

Windows key + SHIFT + Arrow key <\/strong>moves the current window from one screen to another<\/p>\n

Windows key + TAB<\/strong> scans through all your virtual desktops using the task view<\/p>\n

Cortana<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Windows key + C<\/strong> activates Cortana’s voice recognition<\/p>\n

Windows key + S<\/strong> activates Cortana for text searches<\/p>\n

\"Cortana<\/p>\n

View<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Windows key + P <\/strong>switches between view modes<\/p>\n

Windows key + “+”<\/strong> (plus) zooms in<\/p>\n

Windows key + “-“<\/strong> (minus) zooms out<\/p>\n

Images, video, and multimedia<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Windows key + “Print Screen” <\/strong>takes a screenshot and saves it in the Images folder<\/p>\n

Windows key + G <\/strong>activates Game DVR, the screen capture utility<\/p>\n

Windows key + Alt + G<\/strong> starts recording with Game DVR<\/p>\n

Windows key + Alt + R<\/strong> stops recording with Game DVR<\/p>\n

Settings and system<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Windows key + I<\/strong> opens the system settings<\/p>\n

Windows key + A<\/strong> opens the activity center<\/p>\n

Windows key + X <\/strong>opens the advanced options menu<\/p>\n

Ctrl + Shift + Esc<\/strong> opens the Task Manager<\/p>\n

Windows key + U <\/strong>opens the Ease of Access Center (Universal Access to help you remember)<\/p>\n

Windows key + R<\/strong> executes a command<\/p>\n

Windows key + Space bar<\/strong> changes the language and the keyboard<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Command prompt controls<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Shift + Right<\/strong> highlights the text to the right of the cursor<\/p>\n

Shift + Left<\/strong> highlights the text to the left of the cursor<\/p>\n

Ctrl + Shift + Right or Left arrow<\/strong> highlights blocks of text<\/p>\n

Ctrl + A<\/strong> selects all text in the command prompt (just like regular text Windows)<\/p>\n

Ctrl + C <\/strong>copies the selected text to the clipboard (just like regular text Windows)<\/p>\n

Ctrl + V<\/strong> pastes the text in the clipboard to the command prompt (just like regular text Windows)<\/p>\n

Advanced controls, only for more proficient users!<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Shift + Del<\/strong> deletes a file directly, without putting it in the Recycle Bin<\/p>\n

Windows key + Shift + Any Numeric Key <\/strong>opens a new instance of an app and docks it to the position you determine for it in the taskbar<\/p>\n

Windows key + Control + Shift + Any Numeric Key<\/strong> repeats the previous command but with Administrator permissions<\/p>\n

Up to here, all of the commands are new. But some survived the Window 10 upgrade<\/strong>. If by any chance you do not recall them, here is a quick refresh:<\/p>\n

\"Windows<\/p>\n

Various commands that are old acquaintances of ours<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Windows key + D<\/strong> shows the desktop<\/p>\n

Windows key + Home<\/strong> minimizes all windows except the active one<\/p>\n

Windows key + L<\/strong> locks your PC<\/p>\n

Ctrl + Shift + M<\/strong> maximizes all minimized windows (useful after Win + D)<\/p>\n

Windows key + E<\/strong> opens Windows Explorer<\/p>\n

Alt + Up arrow<\/strong> goes up one level in Windows Explorer<\/p>\n

Alt + Down arrow<\/strong> goes down one level in Windows Explorer<\/p>\n

Alt + Right arrow<\/strong> goes to the next folder in Windows Explorer<\/p>\n

Alt + Tab<\/strong> switches from one window to the next<\/p>\n

Alt + F4 <\/strong>closes the active window<\/p>\n

Windows key + Shift + Left or Right arrow<\/strong> moves a window to another screen (if you have one)<\/p>\n

Windows key + “,”<\/strong> (comma key) closes apps temporarily to show you the desktop<\/p>\n

Windows key + T<\/strong> shows a small view of the windows in the taskbar<\/p>\n

Windows key + Any Number Key<\/strong> opens the window docked in the taskbar in the position that you determine<\/p>\n

Was this guide helpful for you? I so, share it. Or, did we forget a command?<\/strong> In which case, let us know in the comments.<\/p>\n

Related Stories<\/h3>\n

What’s inside the Windows 10 insider preview?<\/a><\/p>\n

Everything you need to know about Windows 10<\/a><\/p>\n

Windows 10: The 45 most useful keyboard shortcuts<\/a><\/p>\n

10 tips for customizing Windows 10<\/a><\/p>\n

What’s new in Office 2016 for Windows<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Now that you have a good understanding of Windows 10, how about learning the keyboard shortcuts to make using your computer much faster? The good thing about Windows 10 shortcuts is that they are very simple: most of them consist of the Windows key + one other key. Moreover, this second key is often easily related … Continue reading “Windows 10: The 45 most useful keyboard shortcuts”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2041,"featured_media":83225,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","wpcf-pageviews":7},"categories":[2441],"tags":[2351],"usertag":[],"vertical":[],"content-category":[],"class_list":["post-83224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-how-to","tag-app-subdomain-redirectionwindows-10"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2041"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83224"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83224\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":329465,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83224\/revisions\/329465"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83224"},{"taxonomy":"usertag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/usertag?post=83224"},{"taxonomy":"vertical","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vertical?post=83224"},{"taxonomy":"content-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content-category?post=83224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}