Here are many useful Windows 10 keyboard shortcuts. Try Ctrl+F or F3 to search for keywords. There is also a screen reader friendly text-only version of this page. If you need to type characters like £$¥¢©®½, see the How to Type Special Characters in Windows 10 page. For web-browser shortcuts, see the Microsoft Edge keyboard shortcuts list.
Windows 10 keyboard shortcuts
Windows – Open Start menu
Windows + A – Open Action Center
Windows + U – Open Ease of Access Center
Windows + F1 – How to Get Help
Windows + B – Focus in Notification Area
Windows + I – Settings
Windows + C – Cortana (Talk to her)
(See Keyboard shortcut option in Cortana Settings.)
Windows + S – Search (including Cortana)
Windows + D – Show Desktop
Windows + , – Show Desktop (quick look)
Windows + T – Cycle through Taskbar Apps
Windows + E – Open File Explorer
Windows + Shift + Enter – Open UWP Apps in Full Screen
Ctrl + F1 – Expand File Explorer ribbon
Windows + H – Open Share charm
Windows + Ctrl + D – New Virtual Desktop
Windows + Ctrl + F4 – Close Virtual Desktop
Windows + Ctrl + Left Arrow – Switch Virtual Desktop (left)
Windows + Ctrl + Right Arrow – Switch Virtual Desktop (right)
Windows + PrtScn – Save Screenshot
Alt + PrtScn – Save Screenshot of window
Windows + Ctrl + Enter – Open Narrator
Windows + H – Open Dictation toolbar
Ctrl + Mouse wheel – Zoom in/out on the fly
Windows + +/- – Zoom in/out
Windows + X – Start Button Context Menu
Windows + X, then P – Open Control Panel,
Windows + Left Arrow – Snap window to left
Windows + Right Arrow – Snap window to right
Windows + Up Arrow – Maximize window (or move side window up)
Windows + Down Arrow – Restore window to original size (or move side window down – then minimize)
Windows + M – Minimize all windows
Windows + Shift + M – Restore all minimized windows
More on the way.
General Windows keyboard shortcuts
F1 – Help
Windows + L – Lock the computer
F2 – Rename object
F3 – Find / Search
F5 – Refresh window
Alt + Tab – Switch between open items
Alt + F4 – Close program / window
Windows – Open Start menu
Ctrl + Esc – Open Start menu
F11 – Full Screen
Ctrl + Shift + Esc – Windows Task Manager
Shift + Del – Delete selection immediately
Alt + Left Arrow – Back a page
Alt + Right Arrow – Forward a page
Windows program keyboard shortcuts
Ctrl + C – Copy
Ctrl + X – Cut
Ctrl + V – Paste
Ctrl + Z – Undo
Ctrl + Y – Redo
Ctrl + A – Select All
Ctrl + B – Bold
Ctrl + I – Italic
Ctrl + U – Underline
Ctrl + P – Print
Ctrl + Right Arrow – Next word
Ctrl + Left Arrow – Previous word
Ctrl + Down Arrow – Next paragraph
Ctrl + Up Arrow – Previous paragraph
Esc – Cancel current task
Windows 8.1 keyboard shortcuts
Windows – Open Start screen
Windows + C – Access Charms bar
Windows + I – Access Settings charm
Windows + Q – Search
Windows + . followed by Left Arrow –
Screen split to left
,
Windows + . followed by Right Arrow –
Screen split to Right,
Windows + PrtScn – Save Screenshot
Windows + Enter – Open Narrator
Windows + Left Arrow – Dock window left
Windows + Right Arrow – Dock window right
Windows + Up Arrow – Maximize window
Windows + Down Arrow – Minimize window
Windows + Shift + Up Arrow –
Maximize window vertical size
Windows + Shift + Down Arrow –
Minimize window vertical size
Windows + Home – Minimize Non-active
Windows + D – Show desktop
Windows + E – Show computer drives
Windows + T – Cycle through Taskbar Apps
Windows + B – Focus System tray items
Alt + Tab – Switch between open items
Windows + +/- – Zoom in or Zoom out
Windows 7 keyboard shortcuts
Windows + Left Arrow – Dock window left
Windows + Right Arrow – Dock window right
Windows + Up Arrow – Maximize the window
Windows + Down Arrow – Minimize the window
Windows + Shift + Up Arrow –
Maximize vertical window size
Windows + Shift + Down Arrow –
Minimize vertical window size
Windows + Home – Minimize Non-active
Windows + Space – Preview desktop
Windows + D – Show desktop
Windows + E – Show computer drives
Windows + T – Scroll Taskbar items
Windows + B – Focus System tray items
Alt + Tab – Switch between open items
Windows + Tab – Cycle Aero Flip 3-D
Windows + +/- – Zoom in or Zoom out
(If you have a Mac computer, some of the keyboard shortcuts on this page work by pressing the Cmd key for Mac instead of the Ctrl key for Windows.)
How to type other things:
Feel free to recommend other Windows 10 keyboard shortcuts, and we will add them to this page.
What are your most-used keyboard shortcuts?
Grant is the webmaster here and a longtime computer enthusiast. He enjoys building new PCs and fixing old ones. Originally from the UK, Grant lives in Japan, teaches English, and is a part-time vegetable farmer. Lesser-known history about him includes getting his Commercial Helicopter License CPL(H) in the US and being a caregiver in the disabled community. Grant enjoys playing Apex Legends.
