Windows 10 keyboard tips and tricks

Whether it’s being productive, staying in touch, or just plain having fun, Windows 10 has lots of little tricks and shortcuts that can help you achieve more. Here are a just a few of them:

Smile and the world smiles with you

Emojis aren’t just for your phone anymore! The new emoji keyboard in Windows 10 lets you express yourself like never before. To use it:

During text entry, type Windows logo key + . (period). The emoji keyboard will appear.

Select an emoji with the mouse, or keep typing to search through the available emojis for one you like.

Type all the symbols like a pro

Sometimes you need to type a character that isn’t on your keyboard, like an em-dash (—) or the copyright symbol (©). If you have a numeric keypad on your keyboard, you don’t have to find one and copy and paste, you can just do it! Here’s how:

Hold down the Alt key on your keyboard.

With the Alt key held down, type the four-digit code on the numeric keypad for the character you want. (Include the leading 0 if that’s required.)

Note: This only works on the numeric keypad. This won’t work on the row of numbers at the top of the keyboard.

Release the Alt key.

Here’s just a few of the characters you can type with the Alt key:

How to change a default keyboard shortcut on Windows 10

Apr 29, 2019
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Windows 10 has quiet a few universal shortcuts that do the same thing throughout the OS. The Ctrl+C shortcut is one obvious example. It lets you copy a selected item, whether it’s text or a file, to your clipboard. There are other universal shortcuts as well, some that use the Ctrl, Alt, and Shift modifier keys, and some that use the Windows key. If you want to change a default keyboard shortcut to something else, you’re going to have to use AutoHotKey.

Change default keyboard shortcut

The only safe way to change a default keyboard shortcut is through AutoHotkey. You may be able to find other keyboard shortcut remapping apps but they may not allow you to edit default keyboard shortcuts. Additionally, AutoHotKey is easier to manage whenever you need to make a change or if you need to undo it.

Download and install AutoHotKey. Open a new Notepad file and then follow the instructions below to create and edit a script to suit your needs.

Let’s say you want to change the Ctrl+X keyboard shortcut to do what Ctrl+C does. To do that, you will enter the following in the Notepad file;

Here, the ‘^’ symbol denotes the Ctrl key and the x shows what it’s being combined with. The part followed by Send shows what keyboard shortcut will be executed when you press Ctrl+X. In the above script, it’s Ctrl+C.

You can now change these shortcuts to whatever you need to replace. You can read our guide to defining keyboard shortcuts in AutoHotKey and learn how to use different keyboard combinations in a script.

Once you’ve created the script, save it with the AHK file extension and run it. So long as the script is running, it will intercept the keyboard shortcut and execute a different one in its place.

If you’re new to Windows 10 and are used to different keyboard shortcuts from your previous operating system, this is a good way to get around learning the new ones. Of course, in the long run, it’s a good idea to use the default keyboard shortcuts that your OS has.

AutoHotKey is a great keyboard remapping tool but it doesn’t let you choose which apps a particular script will run in i.e., you can’t limit scripts to certain groups of apps. If you only need to change keyboard shortcuts when certain apps are running, consider using scheduled tasks to automatically run and quit scripts when an app is running/quit.

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How to Change Default Keyboard Shortcuts in Windows 10

It’s not too complicated to create your own keyboard shortcuts in Windows 10. Just right-click the executable for whatever it is you want to create a shortcut to, click Properties, then enter your command into a box. (More on creating custom shortcuts here.)

But what if you want to change the default keyboard shortcuts that Windows 10 has foisted on you, such as getting Win + S to open your own Search tool instead of the Windows one or to reassign shortcuts to reflect how they work on Mac or Linux? Well, things get a little more complicated at that point but are still perfectly doable.

Here’s how to change the keyboard shortcuts in Windows 10.

Meet Auto Hotkey

So let’s start with the bad news, which is that there is no native way to change the default keyboard shortcuts in Windows. Nope, after all these years, Microsoft still isn’t willing to offer that simple bit of flexibility, presumably for fear that you’ll want to use its shortcuts to access non-Microsoft apps … which is probably the case.

Instead, you’re going to have to create scripts for every shortcut key that you want to replace. Don’t worry, this process is actually made pretty easy thanks to a great tool called AutoHotkey. This is a script creator tool that can be used for all kinds of creative purposes, but today we’ll be looking specifically at how you can use it to change the default Windows shortcuts.

Once you’ve done that, on the Window desktop right-click an empty space, then select “New -> Auto Hotkey script,” and call it something recognisable, followed by the suffix “ahk.” (We’re calling ours “Search.ahk,” as we’ll be replacing the Windows Search shortcut with a shortcut to the far superior search tool, Search Everything.)

Next, we’ll familiarize you with the basics of the Auto Hotkey syntax you need to know to change Windows shortcuts. Most Windows shortcuts use some combination of the below buttons, so this should be enough to get you started.

AutoHotkey syntax	Representation
^	Ctrl key
!	Alt key
+	Shift key
#	Win key
Up, Down, Left, Right	Arrow Keys/Directions
run,	Makes your hotkey open a file, folder or program on your PC
send,	Redirects the hotkey to your chosen keystrokes

If you want to type a letter, you just literally type that letter, while buttons like Esc and Del and others can also be directly typed into your script. You can find a convenient list of the main Auto Hotkey syntax at this site.

So let’s say we want to redirect the default Windows Search shortcut Win + S to Search Everywhere. We’d type in the following command:

The :: is what separates the hotkey from the action you want it to perform. The bit before this is the hotkey we’ll be entering (Win+S in this case), and the bit after run is the command to open the Search Everything app.

With all your keyboard shortcut replacements, we recommend adding a second line to the script with the text #NoTrayIcon . This will block the Auto Hotkey tray icon from popping up, ensuring that the whole process stays in the background.

Once your script is ready, close it and save it, then double-click the script to run it, and test your keyboard shortcut to see if it does what it should.

If it does, move the .ahk script to your system startup folder in File Explorer (C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp). Do the same for all your keyboard shortcut replacements. That way they’ll all be working as soon as you boot your PC.

Conclusion

It’s a little bit of effort, but it certainly works, and as a bonus you’ve now learned the absolute basics of Auto Hotkey – an extremely handy tool capable of running scripts much more complex than the ones we mention here.

Content Manager at Make Tech Easier. Enjoys Android, Windows, and tinkering with retro console emulation to breaking point.

Change Hotkeys to Switch Keyboard Layout in Windows 10

Recent Windows 10 builds come with a new «Region & Language» page in the Settings app. It completely replaces the classic «Language» applet of Control Panel, which is removed starting with Windows 10 Build 17063. The new page allows users to change the display language, text-to-speech, speech recognition, and handwriting options. Here is how to change hotkeys to switch keyboard layout in Windows 10 because the UI for it has changed.

If you upgraded to Windows 10 Build 17074, its new language options can look strange to you. Unlike previous releases, it does not include the Language settings UI in the Control Panel. Now you have to use Settings to configure language settings in Windows 10.

By default, Windows 10 comes with two predefined keyboard shortcuts to switch layouts: one of them is the old, familiar Alt + Shift key combination and the other is Win + Space key combination. However, some users also changed the key sequence to Ctrl + Shift or the Grave accent (`), located below Esc . Because of redesigned settings, it may not be so obvious how to change this hotkey.

As of this writing, Windows 10 Build 17074 is most recent release of the OS. It doesn’t offer any Settings page which could allow you to change the hotkeys for the input language. Instead, it offers a link which opens the classic Control Panel applet. Ironically, this applet is not accessible from the classic Control Panel any more! The situation should be changed with the final release version of Windows 10 version 1803. Here are a couple of workarounds we found that you can use in the mean time to change the hotkeys to switch keyboard layout in Windows 10 Builds 17063 and above.

To change hotkeys to switch keyboard layout in Windows 10, do the following.

1. Open Settings.
2. Go to Time & language — Keyboard.
3. Click on the Advanced keyboard settings link.
   Update: Starting with build 17083, the Advanced Options link was moved to Devices — Typing. The Keyboard page was eliminated.
4. There, click on the link Language bar options.
5. This will open the familiar dialog «Text Services and Input Languages».Tip: This dialog can be opened directly with the following command:
   Rundll32 Shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL input.dll,,
6. Switch to the Advanced Key Settings tab.
7. Select Between input languages in the list.
8. Click on the button Change key sequence, select the new key, and click OK.

An alternative way you can use is a simple Registry tweak.

Change hotkeys with a Registry tweak

1. Open the Registry Editor app.
2. Go to the following Registry key.

See how to go to a Registry key with one click.

On the right, modify or create a new string (REG_SZ) value named Hotkey.

Set it to one of the following values:
1 — Key Sequence enabled; use LEFT ALT+SHIFT to switch between locales.
2 — Key Sequence enabled; use CTRL+SHIFT to switch between locales.
3 — Key Sequences disabled.
4 — The grave accent key (`), located below Esc toggles input locales.

To make the changes done by the Registry tweak take effect, you need to sign out and sign in to your user account.

If you are running the stable version of Windows 10, refer to the following article:

The method described in the mentioned article works in all previously released Windows 10 versions and builds prior to Windows 10 Build 17063.

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About Sergey Tkachenko

Sergey Tkachenko is a software developer from Russia who started Winaero back in 2011. On this blog, Sergey is writing about everything connected to Microsoft, Windows and popular software. Follow him on Telegram, Twitter, and YouTube.

13 thoughts on “ Change Hotkeys to Switch Keyboard Layout in Windows 10 ”

Hi.
There is no info here (HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Keyboard Layout\Toggle) about a particular language hotkey.
On your screenshot it states “To English — (None)”
Where do I find it? I want a .reg file to set those hotkeys.

WORKED AS F^^^ . WORKING LIKE A GLOVE NOT WITH THE DIRECT COMMAND BUT WITH THE STEPS. I GOT WIN 10 OCTOBER UPDATE AND THIS IS 100%. СПАСИБА ЖИВ БИО И ЖИВЕО

Is there any option/tweak to play sound on layout switching. It’s for disabled peoples. Even to play different sound for different layout.

You can make the process a bit simpler by typing “advanced keyboard settings” in the windows search field. It works the same way, but I find it easier. Thanks for the info.

Many thanks for the helpful information! Especially by the command line to change the function! 🙂

Thank you for this!

I have a problem. I make hotkeys for changing keyboard, then, when I restart computer, It goes back to “None”. Windows simply forgets I ever did it… Help?

It’s OK from the step no.4, but the way to this step depends on your build. Microsoft developers think that it’s fun to change menu items names, their order, modify a bit functionality… :o)

Is there any way to set input language on NEW CUSTOM hotkeys , not the ones from list like Ctrl + 0 or so ??
Where are these located in registry ?

It’s empty in this direction
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Keyboard Layout\Toggle

Thank you so much for this! This was driving me crazy because I ctrl+tab and ctrl+shift+tab so frequently, and I have two keyboard layouts. I don’t think it’s hyperbolic for me to say that this has changed my life!

Not what I was after.

I can change input languages using the hotkey(s) as described in this article. However, for a language I also have multiple keyboard layouts (japanese laptop with UK external keyboard). Languages get switched with Alt-Shift and/or Windows-Space.

Keyboard layout gets switched with Ctrl-Shift (which I use a lot while programming). Needless to say this is causing a lot of grief. On another laptop, Keyboard layout is swtiched using Windows-Shift. I can’t figure out how to edit this hotkey! Either the setting used to exist and doesn’t anymore, or I found some registry tweak a long time ago.

However, can’t find it anymore. Every article I’ve found only describes how to switch the language, not the layout.

Hi, I use the option to use a hotkey to switch to a specific keyboard layout. However it seems to reset and forget the setting on every restart. How to fix that? I haven’t found a single person with that issue on the internet.