Windows 8 Keyboard Shortcuts

Windows 8 is the latest offering from Microsoft and has reinvented itself as an operating system for both tablet and PC users. While touchscreen users can take advantage of the many navigational rewrites e.g. the Charms Menu, Metro UI with tiles, and swipes, Microsoft has also done their part to ensure that users who prefer getting around with the keyboard would not be left out.

To cater to this group, Microsoft has integrated new keyboard shortcuts to let them navigate through the reconstructed OS faster and easier. And as much fun as touchscreens can be, sometimes you can do more with keyboard shortcuts than you can with swipes. Besides, if you are part of the keyboard generation, shortcuts just come more naturally anyways.

Read on for 50 keyboard shortcuts that you’d probably find yourself using on Windows 8, when out of swipe mode.

Shortcut	Description
Windows Key + D	Show Desktop
Windows Key + C	Open Charms Menu
Windows Key + F	Charms Menu – Search
Windows Key + H	Charms Menu – Share
Windows Key + K	Charms Menu – Devices
Windows Key + I	Charms Menu – Settings
Windows Key + Q	Search For Installed Apps
Windows Key + W	Search Settings
Windows Key + Tab	Cycle through open Modern UI Apps
Windows Key + Shift + Tab	Cycle through open Modern UI Apps in reverse order
Windows Key + .	Snaps app to the right (split screen multitasking)
Windows Key + Shift + .	Snaps app to the left (split screen multitasking)
Windows Key + ,	Temporarily view desktop
Alt + F4	Quit Modern UI Apps
Windows Key + E	Launch Windows Explorer Window
Windows Key + L	Lock PC and go to lock screen
Windows Key + T	Cycle through icons on taskbar (press Enter to launch app)
Windows Key + X	Show Advanced Windows Settings Menu
Windows Key + E	Launch Windows Explorer Window
Windows Key + Page Down	Moves Start screen and apps to secondary monitor on the right
Windows Key + M	Minimize all Windows
Windows Key + Shift + M	Restore all minimized Windows
Windows Key + R	Open Run dialog box
Windows Key + Up Arrow	Maximize current window
Windows Key + Down Arrow	Minimize current window
Windows Key + Left Arrow	Maximize current window to left side of the screen
Windows Key + Right Arrow	Maximize current window to right side of the screen
Ctrl + Shift + Escape	Open Task Manager
Windows Key + Print Screen	Takes a Print Screen and saves it to your Pictures folder
Windows Key + Page Up	Moves Start screen and apps to secondary monitor on the left
Windows Key + Pause Break	Display System Properties
Shift + Delete	Permanently delete files without sending it to Recycle Bin
Windows Key + F1	Open Windows Help and Support
Windows Key + V	Cycle through notifications
Windows Key + Shift + V	Cycle through notifications in reverse order
Windows Key + 0 to 9	Launch/show app pinned to taskbar at indicated number
Windows Key + Shift + 0 to 9	Launch new instance of app pinned to taskbar at indicated number
Alt + Enter	Display Properties of selected item in File Explorer
Alt + Up Arrow	View upper level folder of current folder in File Explorer
Alt + Right Arrow	View next folder in File Explorer
Alt + Left Arrow	View previous folder in File Explorer
Windows Key + P	Choose secondary display modes
Windows Key + U	Open Ease of Access Center
Alt + Print Screen	Print Screen focused Window only
Windows Key + Spacebar	Switch input language and keyboard layout
Windows Key + Shift +Spacebar	Switch to previous input language and keyboard layout
Windows Key + Enter	Open Narrator
Windows Key + +	Zoom in using Magnifier
Windows Key + -	Zoom out using Magnifier
Windows Key + Escape	Exit Magnifier