Keyboard Shortcuts for Windows

To be efficient and fast on the computer.

In this short article, we will see a broad selection of shortcut keys that will be extremely useful for your everyday tasks on the computer. Shortcut keys help provide an easier and quicker method of navigating and executing commands in the computer.

If you are working with specific software, you can also find the shortcut keys of that program by looking for underlined letters in their menus.

But for commonly used shortcuts on windows, we have compiled the most useful ones and divided them into several categories.

Search and Replace

General

Navigation

File Management: when working with several files.

Display:

Basic Editing: for working on a text editor.

Integrated Terminal: for when you need to use a terminal.

Listed below will be a longer list with more shortcuts, save them for when you need them later.

• Alt + F → File menu options in the current program.
• Alt + E →Open Edit options in the current program.
• Alt + Tab →Switch between open programs.
• F1 → View help information (F1 is used by almost every Windows program to display help).
• F2 → Rename a selected file.
• F5 → Refresh the current program window.
• Ctrl + D → Bookmark the current page in most Internet browsers.
• Ctrl + N → Create a new or blank document in some software, or open a new tab in most Internet browsers.
• Ctrl + O → Open a file in the current software.
• Ctrl + U → Change selected text to be underlined.
• Ctrl + I → Change selected text to be in italics.
• Ctrl + F → Open find window for current document or window.
• Ctrl + S → Save the current document file.
• Ctrl + X → Cut selected item.
• Ctrl + Y→ Redo the last action.
• Ctrl + Z → Undo the last action.
• Shift + Del → Cut selected item.
• Ctrl + C → Copy selected item.
• Ctrl + Ins → Copy selected item.
• Ctrl + K → Insert hyperlink for the selected text.
• Ctrl + P → Print the current page or document.
• Home →Go to the beginning of the current line.
• Ctrl + Home → Go to the beginning of the document.
• End → Go to the end of the current line.
• Ctrl + End → Go to the end of the document.
• Shift + Home → Highlight from the current position to the beginning of the line.
• Shift + End → Highlight from the current position to the end of the line.
• Ctrl + Left arrow → Move one word to the left at a time.
• Ctrl + Right arrow → Move one word to the right at a time.
• Ctrl + Esc → Open the Start menu.
• Ctrl + Shift + Esc → Open Windows Task Manager.
• Alt + F4 → Close the currently active program.
• Alt + Enter → Open the properties for the selected item (file, folder, shortcut, etc.).
• Windows key + L → Lock the computer, requiring password entry to access again.
• Windows key + X →Access the Power User Tasks Menu in Windows 8 and Windows 10.
• Windows key + Down arrow → Minimize the active program window.
• Windows key + Up arrow → Maximize the active program window.

With all of these keyboard shortcuts, you’ll be saving tons of time each time you want to perform an action. Remembering all of them isn’t crucial and you can always search for them whenever you need to.

Thanks for reading, and have a great rest of your day!