20 essential Windows keyboard shortcuts that will make you forget your mouse

Let your fingertips fly.

By David Nield March 24, 2021

This post has been updated. It was originally published on 09/26/19.

Compared to reaching for the mouse or navigating a menu, a single Windows keyboard shortcut shaves a moment off your task. This might not seem like much, but add up all those saved moments over a week or a month, and you’re gaining a substantial chunk of time.

That’s why it’s important to know as many shortcuts as possible for your operating system. Try a keyboard command a few times, and you’ll find out just how useful it can be. Here are 20 of the most indispensable keyboard shortcuts for a Microsoft Windows computer.

Basic Windows keyboard shortcuts

Ctrl+Z: Undo

No matter what program you’re running, Ctrl+Z will roll back your last action. Whether you’ve just overwritten an entire paragraph in Microsoft Word or deleted a file you didn’t mean to, this one is an absolute lifesaver.

Ctrl+W: Close

Another shortcut that works just about everywhere, Ctrl+W will close down whatever you’re viewing. Shut that File Explorer window, browser tab, or open image file without bothering to hone in on the close button.

Ctrl+A: Select all

This command lets you highlight all the text in a document or select all the files in a folder. Hitting Ctrl+A can save you time you’d otherwise spend clicking and dragging your mouse.

Alt+Tab: Switch apps

This baby is one of the classic Windows shortcuts, and it can be hugely useful when you’re running multiple applications. Just press Alt+Tab and you’ll be able to quickly flick through all your open windows.

Alt+F4: Close apps

Another old-school shortcut, Alt+F4 shuts down active apps so you can skip the process of hunting down their on-screen menus. Don’t worry about losing unsaved work with this command—it will prompt you to save your documents before closing them.

Windows shortcuts for navigation

Win+D: Show or hide the desktop

This keyboard combo minimizes all your open windows, bringing your home screen into view. If you store rows and rows of files and shortcuts on your desktop, Win+D will let you access them in moments.

Win+left arrow or Win+right arrow: Snap windows

Snapping a window simply opens it on one side of the screen (left or right, depending on which arrow you hit). This allows you to compare two windows side-by-side and keeps your workspace organized.

Win+Tab: Open the Task view

Like Alt+Tab, this shortcut lets you switch apps, but it does so by opening an updated Windows application switcher. The latest version shows thumbnails of all your open programs on the screen.

Tab and Shift+Tab: Move backward and forward through options

When you open a dialog box, these commands move you forward (Tab) or backward (Shift+Tab) through the available options, saving you a click. If you’re dealing with a dialog box with multiple tabs, or a very busy browsing session, hit Ctrl+Tab or Ctrl+Shift+Tab to navigate through them.

Ctrl+Esc: Open the Start menu

If you’re using a keyboard that doesn’t have a Windows key, this shortcut will open the Start menu. Otherwise, a quick tap of the Windows key will do the same thing. From there, you can stay on the keyboard and navigate the Start menu with the cursor keys, Tab, and Shift+Tab.

Advanced Windows hotkeys

F2: Rename

Simply highlight a file and hit F2 to give it a new name. This command also lets you edit text in other programs—tap F2 in Microsoft Excel, for example, and you’ll be able to edit the contents of the cell you’re in.

F5: Refresh

While you’re exploring the function key row, take a look at F5. This key will refresh a page—a good trick when you’re using File Explorer or your web browser. After the refresh, you’ll see the latest version of the page you’re viewing.

Win+L: Lock your computer

Keep your computer safe from any prying eyes by using this keyboard combo right before you step away. Win+L locks the machine and returns you to the login screen, so any snoops will need your user account password to regain access.

Win+I: Open Settings

Any time you want to configure the way Windows works, hit this keyboard shortcut to bring up the Settings dialog. Alternatively, use Win+A to open up the Action Center panel, which shows notifications and provides quick access to certain settings.

Win+S: Search Windows

The Windows taskbar has a handy search box that lets you quiz Cortana or sift through your applications and saved files. Jump straight to it with this keyboard shortcut, then type in your search terms.

Win+PrtScn: Save a screenshot

No need to open a dedicated screenshot tool: Win+PrtScn grabs the whole screen and saves it as a PNG file in a Screenshots folder inside your Pictures folder. At the same time, Windows will also copy the image to the clipboard. If you don’t want to snap the whole screen, the Alt+PrtScn combination will take a screenshot of just the active window, but it will only copy this image to the clipboard, so you won’t get a saved file.

Ctrl+Shift+Esc: Open the Task Manager

The Task Manager is your window into everything running on your Windows system, from the open programs to the background processes. This shortcut will call up the Task Manager, no matter what application you’re using.

Win+C: Start talking to Cortana

This shortcut puts Cortana in listening mode, but you must activate it before you can give it a whirl. To do so, open Cortana from the taskbar search box, click the cog icon, and turn on the keyboard shortcut. Once you’ve enabled the shortcut, hit the Win+C whenever you want to talk to the digital assistant. You can do this instead of, or in addition to, saying, “Hey Cortana.”

Win+Ctrl+D: Add a new virtual desktop

Virtual desktops create secondary screens where you can stash some of your open applications and windows, giving you extra workspace. This shortcut lets you create one. Once you have, click the Task View button to the right of the taskbar search box to switch from one desktop to another. Or stick with shortcuts: Win+Ctrl+arrow will cycle through your open desktops, and Win+Ctrl+F4 will close whichever one you’re currently viewing and shift your open windows and apps to the next available virtual desktop.

Win+X: Open the hidden menu

Windows has a hidden Start menu, called the Quick Link menu, that allows you to access all the key areas of the system. From here, you can jump straight to Device Manager to review and configure any hardware, such as printers or keyboards, that are currently attached to the system. Or you can quickly bring up the PowerShell command prompt window to access advanced Windows commands.

Windows commands

All supported versions of Windows (server and client) have a set of Win32 console commands built in.

This set of documentation describes the Windows Commands you can use to automate tasks by using scripts or scripting tools.

Prerequisites

The information that is contained in this topic applies to:

• Windows Server 2019
• Windows Server (Semi-Annual Channel)
• Windows Server 2016
• Windows Server 2012 R2
• Windows Server 2012
• Windows Server 2008 R2
• Windows Server 2008
• Windows 10
• Windows 8.1

Command shell overview

The Command shell was the first shell built into Windows to automate routine tasks, like user account management or nightly backups, with batch (.bat) files. With Windows Script Host you could run more sophisticated scripts in the Command shell. For more information, see cscript or wscript. You can perform operations more efficiently by using scripts than you can by using the user interface. Scripts accept all Commands that are available at the command line.

Windows has two command shells: The Command shell and PowerShell. Each shell is a software program that provides direct communication between you and the operating system or application, providing an environment to automate IT operations.

PowerShell was designed to extend the capabilities of the Command shell to run PowerShell commands called cmdlets. Cmdlets are similar to Windows Commands but provide a more extensible scripting language. You can run Windows Commands and PowerShell cmdlets in Powershell, but the Command shell can only run Windows Commands and not PowerShell cmdlets.

For the most robust, up-to-date Windows automation, we recommend using PowerShell instead of Windows Commands or Windows Script Host for Windows automation.

You can also download and install PowerShell Core, the open source version of PowerShell.

Incorrectly editing the registry may severely damage your system. Before making the following changes to the registry, you should back up any valued data on the computer.

To enable or disable file and directory name completion in the Command shell on a computer or user logon session, run regedit.exe and set the following reg_DWOrd value:

To set the reg_DWOrd value, use the hexadecimal value of a control character for a particular function (for example, 0 9 is Tab and 0 08 is Backspace). User-specified settings take precedence over computer settings, and command-line options take precedence over registry settings.

Command-line reference A-Z

To find information about a specific command, in the following A-Z menu, click the letter that the command starts with, and then click the command name.

Windows keyboard shortcuts for accessibility

Accessibility shortcuts can help you use your PC with a keyboard or assistive device.

The following is a list of keyboard shortcuts for assistive technologies in Windows 10, including Magnifier, high contrast, and others.

To see a list of keyboard shortcuts and touch gestures for Narrator in Windows 10, see Narrator keyboard commands and touch gestures.

Magnifier keyboard shortcuts

Windows logo key + Plus sign (+)

Turn Magnifier on

Windows logo key + Esc

Turn Magnifier off

Windows logo key + Plus sign (+) or Minus sign (-)

When Magnifier is on, zoom in or out

Ctrl + Alt + mouse scroll wheel

Zoom in and out using the mouse scroll wheel

Windows logo key + Ctrl + M

Open Magnifier settings

Ctrl + Alt + arrow keys

Pan in the direction of the arrow keys

Switch to full screen view

Switch to lens view

Switch to docked view

Cycle through views

Resize the lens with the mouse

Shift + Alt + arrow keys

Resize the lens with the keyboard

Ctrl + Alt + Spacebar

Quickly see the entire desktop when using full screen view

Magnifier reading commands

Windows logo key + Plus sign (+)

Turn Magnifier on

Start, pause, and resume reading

Modifier key + Enter

Read from mouse pointer

Modifier key + Left Mouse click

Read previous sentence

Modifier key + H

Read next sentence

Modifier key + K

For more info about Magnifier reading, see How to use Magnifier reading

Additional accessibility keyboard shortcuts

Right Shift for eight seconds

Turn Filter Keys on and off

Left Alt + left Shift + Print screen

Turn High Contrast on or off

Left Alt + left Shift + Num lock

Turn Mouse Keys on or off

Shift five times

Turn Sticky Keys on or off

Num lock for five seconds

Turn Toggle Keys on or off

Windows logo key + U

Open the Ease of Access Center

Windows logo key + Ctrl + C

Turn color filters on or off

Windows logo key + Ctrl + N

Open Narrator settings

Windows logo key + Ctrl + S

Turn on Windows Speech Recognition

Windows logo key + Ctrl + O

Turn on the On-Screen Keyboard

Additional keyboard shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts to help control Windows 8.1 with the keyboard.

Ease of Access keyboard shortcuts

The following table contains keyboard shortcuts that can help make your PC easier to use.

Right Shift for eight seconds

Turn Filter Keys on and off

Left Alt + left Shift + Print Screen

Turn High Contrast on or off

Left Alt + left Shift + Num Lock

Turn Mouse Keys on or off

Shift five times

Turn Sticky Keys on or off

Num Lock for five seconds

Turn Toggle Keys on or off

Windows logo key + U

Open the Ease of Access Center

Magnifier keyboard shortcuts

The following table contains keyboard shortcuts for working with Magnifier.

Windows logo key + plus (+) or minus (-)

Ctrl + Alt + Spacebar

Preview the desktop in full-screen mode

Switch to docked mode

Switch to full-screen mode

Switch to lens mode

Resize the lens

Ctrl + Alt + arrow keys

Pan in the direction of the arrow keys

Windows logo key + Esc

Narrator keyboard shortcuts

The following table contains keyboard shortcuts for working with Narrator.

Spacebar or Enter

Activate current item

Tab and arrow keys

Move around on the screen

Caps Lock + Page Up or Page Down

Increase or decrease the volume of the voice

Caps Lock + plus (+) or minus (-)

Increase or decrease the speed of the voice

Caps Lock + Spacebar

Do default action

Caps Lock + Left or Right arrows

Move to previous/next item

Show commands for current item

Press Caps Lock twice in quick succession

Turn Caps Lock on or off

Narrator touch keyboard shortcuts

The following table contains keyboard shortcuts for working with Narrator on a four-point tablet.

Tap once with two fingers

Stop Narrator from reading

Tap three times with four fingers

Show all Narrator commands (including the ones not in this list)

Activate primary action

Activate secondary action

Touch or drag a single finger

Read what’s under your fingers

Flick left/right with one finger

Move to next or previous item

Swipe left/right/up/down with two fingers

Swipe down with three fingers

Start reading on explorable text

Additional keyboard shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts to help control Windows 7 with the keyboard.

Ease of Access keyboard shortcuts

The following table contains keyboard shortcuts that can help make your PC easier to use.

Right Shift for eight seconds

Turn Filter Keys on and off

Left Alt + left Shift + Print Screen

Turn High Contrast on or off

Left Alt + left Shift + Num Lock

Turn Mouse Keys on or off

Shift five times

Turn Sticky Keys on or off

Num Lock for five seconds

Turn Toggle Keys on or off

Windows logo key + U

Open the Ease of Access Center

Magnifier keyboard shortcuts

The following table contains keyboard shortcuts for working with Magnifier.

Windows logo key + plus (+) or minus (-)

Ctrl + Alt + Spacebar

Preview the desktop in full-screen mode

Switch to docked mode

Switch to full-screen mode

Switch to lens mode

Resize the lens

Ctrl + Alt + arrow keys

Pan in the direction of the arrow keys

Windows logo key + Esc

Create keyboard shortcuts to open programs

You can create keyboard shortcuts to open programs. Before you get started, you need to create a shortcut for the program to which you want to assign a keyboard shortcut. To do this, open the folder that contains the program’s executable file, right-click it, and then click Create Shortcut.

For more information about creating shortcuts to programs, see Create or delete a shortcut.

Locate the shortcut to the program that you want to create a keyboard shortcut for.

Right-click the shortcut, and then click Properties.

In the Shortcut Properties dialog box, click the Shortcut tab.

Click in the Shortcut key box, press the key on your keyboard that you want to use in combination with Ctrl + Alt (keyboard shortcuts automatically start with Ctrl + Alt), and then click OK. If you’re prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

If you’re using a program that also has a keyboard shortcut using the same key combination as the shortcut you just created, then your shortcut might not work.

The word None appears in the Shortcut key box until you press a key; then it’s replaced with Ctrl + Alt + the key that you pressed.

You can’t use the Esc, Enter, Tab, Spacebar, PrtScn, Shift, or Backspace keys to create a keyboard shortcut.