Windows 10 Keyboard Shortcuts you Must Know

Learning keyboard shortcut keys is always a fun task and you can leave good impression on others. Especially if you are planning to be Windows 10 user on a professional level, knowing these shortcut keys will definitely save your time. This article is an ultimate guide to Windows 10 keyboard shortcut keys which you can take advantage of.

Windows 10 Keyboard Shortcuts

Here, we sharing Windows 10 shortcuts that useful when playing with virtual desktop, snapping window, command prompt, cortana and also some commonly used windows shortcuts as well.

Virtual Desktop:

This is a new addition to Windows 10 and you can add multiple virtual desktop.

• Windows key + Ctrl + D This will add a new Virtual Desktop and switch to it.
• Windows key + Ctrl + Right-arrow / left-arrow Switch between virtual desktops either on the right or left side.
• Windows key + Ctrl + F4 Close your current virtual desktop.
• Windows key + Tab View all virtual desktop to switch between.

Snapping Window:

Windows 10 enable you to open four windows on screen at one time in different quadrants. Like windows 8, you can perform this task with the help of Windows key + any arrow key, you can snap active window to any side or corner of the screen:

• Windows key + Left snap active window to left, this will cover half screen on the left side.
• Windows key + Right snap active window to right.
• Windows key + Up snap active window to top.
• Windows key + Down snap the active windows to bottom.

To snap windows in the left-top corner you need to press Windows + Left and then Window + Up arrow key. You can drag window with you mouse and snap window in any corner or on any side of the screen.

Command Prompt:
You can use shortcut keys while you are in command prompt and you may need to enable shortcut option first. In order to enable shortcut keys in command prompt, Run cmd and press Alt+spacebar or you can right click on title bar and choose properties. You will see Options tab in the dialogue box. Just unselect the “Use Legacy console and enable Ctrl Key shortcuts”. Once you have done that, you may need close and run the cmd again. after that you can use following shortcut keys in command prompt.

• Ctrl + M Use this shortcut for highlight/selecting text and copy it. Right-click on the window to exit form mark mode.
• Ctrl + A Select all the text
• Shift + Right highlight text to the right of cursor.
• Shift + Left highlight text to the left of cursor.
• Ctrl + C Copy the highlighted command prompt text to clipboard.
• Ctrl + V Paste the text
• Ctrl + F This will open a Find dialog to search the output in command prompt.

You can also use the Shift, Ctrl, Home, End, Pg up, Pg dn keys combination as you do in notepad or word processor application for selecting/highlighting text.

Cortana:
Cortana is an interesting part of Windows 10 which will enjoy the most but if you do not want to talk out loud, you can choose from following keyboard shortcut keys to fulfil your task.

• Windows key + C Run Cortana in listening mode.
• Windows Key + Q Open Cortana for voice input.
• Windows Key + S Open Cortana for types input.

Commonly used shortcuts:

Some shortcut keys are still the same in Windows 10 than any other previous Windows. For example:

• Windows key + , View desktop without minimizing any open program or windows.
• Windows key + D Minimize all open apps and windows and show desktop, if you keep hitting this keys combination then you can switch between.
• Windows key + L Lock you Windows computer quickly.
• Windows key + E Open Windows File Explorer and this will show you frequently accessed files and folder.
• Alt + Up Navigate in File Explorer to go up one level.
• Alt + Down Go down one level in File explorer.
• Alt + F4 Close currently active program or window, using this on Desktop will show you Windows Shut Down dialog.
• Alt + Enter View properties of select file or folder (Item info like location, size, date, etc.).
• Windows Key + Home Minimize everything except currently active window.
• Windows Key + T Navigation through task bar icons (on the right-side of Start button) and press space bar or enter key to open it.
• Windows key + A Open Windows 10 Action Center, where you can view new notifications and control other settings like WiFi, Brightness, VPN, etc.
• Windows key + S Access search box quickly that is available in Start menu.
• Windows key + I Open windows 10 settings panel
• Windows Key + X Open start button context menu
• Windows key + Prtsc Save screenshot directly in to Pictures folder.
• Windows key + P Switch, extend or duplicate you display when you have another display attached with you computer.
• Windows Key + -/+ Run Windows Magnifier utility and zoom out or in.

Assign custom shortcut keys

Instead going into Start menu or on desktop to run any program, we can assign shortcut keys to any built-in or 3rd party installed programs so we can run it quickly with a keyboard shortcut.

• First need to open Applications folder contains all the installed programs, open File Explorer and type explorer shell:AppsFolder in the address bar and hit enter.
  
• Here, I am going to assign shortcut keys to windows Mail app you can choose whatever you want. In the Applications folder right-click on the program icon and select Create Shortcut, and hit Yes to create shortcut on desktop.
  
• Now go to Desktop and right-click on the shortcut icon and then select Properties option from the menu.
  
• In the properties window, click inside the Shortcut key textbox and press shortcut keys combination from keyboard that you want to assign like Ctrl+Alt+M. You can also select Run option if you want to open this program minimized or maximized when press shortcut. Try not to choose short keys that already assigned to another program. Once done click the Ok button to save the settings.
  
• Now, press shortcut keys from keyboard that you just assigned to test and run program.

Want to know more Windows keyboard shortcuts? check out this page to see complete list of Windows 10 shortcuts. If you know any other useful hidden short keys for Windows then please share with us below in comments.