Are you looking for keyboard shortcuts to help speed up your Windows 11 workflow? Windows 11 has many shortcuts carried over from Windows 10, plus some new ones, but the list can get quite overwhelming.
The good news is you don’t have to learn every shortcut. Just jot down the ones that are convenient for how you use your computer.
This page will help you
This page includes recently tried and tested Windows 11 Keyboard Shortcuts. Some work the same way in a web browser as they do in the Windows environment.
The added images below might help you identify what each shortcut does.
Latest Windows 11 Keyboard Shortcuts
If you’re a keyboard veteran and want to focus only on the new or updated Windows 11 shortcuts, you can skip to the New Keyboard Shortcuts section further down the page.
Try using Search
If you’re looking for specific keywords like Copy or Paste, try pressing the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+F or F3 and search those types of words on this page.
Web Browser Shortcuts
We’ve added a few general web browser shortcuts below, too. If you’re a Microsoft Edge user, there’s a quick list for you here, as well.
Accessibility Shortcuts
Many of the shortcuts on this page will help with Accessibility. However, please visit Microsoft’s support page for a more extensive list of Windows 11 keyboard shortcuts for Accessibility.
Windows 11 Keyboard Shortcuts
Here are the useful keyboard shortcuts for Windows 11. For Copy and Paste type shortcuts, skip to the Windows Program Shortcuts list.
Windows – Open Start menu
Ctrl + Esc – Open Start menu
Windows + F1 – How to Get Help in Windows (online)
Windows + A – Open Quick Settings (UPDATED)
(Used to be open Action Center)
Windows + B – Focus in Notification Area
Windows + C – Open Microsoft Teams (Chat) (NEW)
(Used to be Open Cortana)
Windows + D – Show Desktop
Windows + , – Show Desktop (quick look)
Windows + E – Open File Explorer
Windows + F – Open Feedback Hub
Windows + G – Open Xbox Game Bar
Windows + H – Start Voice Typing (NEW)
(Cursor should be in a text field.)
Windows + ; – Open Emoji panel
Windows + . – Open Emoji panel
Windows + I – Open Settings
Windows + K – Open Cast (NEW)
Windows + L – Lock the computer
Windows + N – Open Notification Center / Calendar (UPDATED)
Windows + S – Search
Windows + T – Cycle through Taskbar Shortcuts
Windows + U – Open Accessibility Settings
Windows + Ctrl + D – New Virtual Desktop
(Try enabling Task view in Taskbar settings)
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
(Screenshot is saved to Pictures-Screenshots folder.)
Alt + PrtScn – Save Screenshot of the window to Windows Clipboard.
(Win + V opens Windows Clipboard)
Windows + Ctrl + Enter – Open Narrator
Ctrl + Mouse wheel – Adjust content size or view style.
(Can be used to change desktop icon size, File Explorer view type, zoom in/out in the browser.)
Windows + +/- – Open Magnifier and magnify content
Windows + W – Open Widgets (NEW)
Windows + X – Start Button Context Menu
Windows + Z – Open Window Snapping UX (NEW)
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 + Alt + Up Arrow – Snap window to top
Windows + Down Arrow – Restore window to original size (or move side window down – then minimize)
Windows + Alt + Down Arrow – Snap window to bottom
Windows + M – Minimize all windows
Windows + Shift + M – Restore all minimized windows
New Windows 11 Keyboard Shortcuts
Although included above, here’s a shortlist of the latest keyboard shortcuts that are new or updated for Windows 11. We will update this list (and this page) as Windows 11 evolves.
Windows + A – Open Quick Settings (UPDATED)
Windows + C – Open Microsoft Teams (NEW)
(This used to be for opening Cortana in Windows 10)
Windows + H – Start Voice Typing (NEW)
(Cursor should be in a text field.)
Windows + K – Open Cast (NEW)
Windows + N – Open Notification Center / Calendar (UPDATED)
Windows + W – Open Widgets (NEW)
Windows + Z – Open Window Snapping UX (NEW)
(This used to be to open a Share Charm in Windows 10)
General Web Browser Shortcuts
Some shortcuts work the same way in a web browser as they do in Windows. So, functions like Search, Full Screen, Next page, or Previous page, if available, should work whether you are browsing online or exploring inside of Windows 11’s File Explorer.
Up Arrow – Scroll up the page
Down Arrow – Scroll down the page
Mouse wheel – Scroll up or down the page
Ctrl + Mouse wheel – Zoom in/out in the browser
Ctrl + F – Find / Search a web page
Ctrl + H – Manage History
F3 – Find / Search a web page
F11 – Full Screen
Ctrl + Shift + Delete – Clear Browsing Data
Ctrl + T – Open a New Tab
Ctrl + N – Open a New Window
Ctrl + W – Close the Tab or Window
Ctrl + Shift + T – Reopen Closed Tab
Ctrl + L – Select Address Bar
Shift + Esc – Browser Task Manager (Chromium-based browsers)
F5 – Refresh current web page
Ctrl + R – Refresh current web page
Alt + Left Arrow – Back a web page
Alt + Right Arrow – Forward a web page
General Windows keyboard shortcuts
F1 – Help (online)
F2 – Rename file or object
Ctrl + F – Find / Search
F3 – Find / Search
F5 – Refresh window
Ctrl + R – Refresh window
Alt + Tab – Switch between open items
Alt + F4 – Close program / window
F11 – Full Screen
Ctrl + Shift + Esc – Windows Task Manager
Shift + Del – Permanently Delete file?
Alt + Left Arrow – Back a page / directory
Alt + Right Arrow – Forward a page / directory
Windows Program Keyboard Shortcuts
Many of these shortcuts are useful in Windows apps like Word, WordPad, Mail, and other content creation environments. Some can also be used with entering properties and renaming files, for example, on the desktop or in File Explorer directly in Windows.
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 – Go to Next word
Ctrl + Left Arrow – Go to Previous word
Ctrl + Down Arrow – Go to Next paragraph
Ctrl + Up Arrow – Go to Previous paragraph
Shift + Ctrl + Down Arrow – Highlight Next paragraph
Shift + Ctrl + Up Arrow – Highlight Previous paragraph
Ctrl + Shift + Right Arrow – Highlight words to the right
Ctrl + Shift + Left Arrow – Highlight words to the left
Ctrl + Backspace – Delete Previous word to the left
Ctrl + Del – Delete Next word to the right
Esc – Cancel the current task
Closing Thoughts
Some keyboard shortcuts are easier to remember than others. The more intuitive ones use a more relevant letter. For example, with Windows + M for Minimize all windows, the M stands for minimize. With Ctrl + U for Underline, the U stands for underline.
We can try to think of other ways, too, for the less intuitive ones. For example, with Windows + I for Opening Settings, we can think of I meaning System information. With Windows + C to Open Microsoft Teams (used to be for opening Cortana in Windows 10), we can think of C meaning chat. Try whatever works for you.
Mac Users
(If you have a Mac computer, a few of the keyboard shortcuts on this page work by pressing the Cmd key for Mac instead of the Ctrl key for Windows.)
Keyboards used for testing these shortcuts
To test the keyboard shortcuts for this page, I used two keyboards, a Logitech K750 and Logitech G Pro.
Windows 11 Version
The version of Windows 11 used at the time of writing this article was Window 11 Pro Version 21H2 (OS Build 22000.318). We’ll be sure to keep an out for any other shortcuts added to Windows 11 from now on.
Special Characters
For those of you who are interested in typing special characters like £$¥¢©®½, try this page. For ways to type things like Emoji, Kaomoji, and more, see the links below.
Shortcuts and ways to type other things:
Grant is the webmaster here and a longtime PC enthusiast. He likes talking about computers and seeing other people enjoy theirs. When he’s not working or tinkering with this site, he enjoys playing Apex Legends. Grant lives in Japan as an English teacher and vegetable farmer.
