If you’re a frequent visitor to this blog you probably know that I love keyboard shortcuts and write about them fairly often. Today it dawned on me that I have never posted a complete list of all the Windows 8 keyboard shortcuts in a single comprehensive list. Well, here it is!
If you’re new to the world of keyboard shortcuts, they are extremely easy to use. Simply press and hold the appropriate modifier key (Windows, Ctrl, ALT or Function) and then press the key that follows the plus sign. You’ll find the Windows key on the lower left-hand corner of the keyboard between the Ctrl and Alt keys (check out the photo at the bottom of the page for exact placement).
Now that the preliminaries are out of the way, here is your complete list of Windows 8 keyboard shortcuts:
Windows key shortcuts…
Windows + C Display the charms bar
Windows + Tab Display the Modern Desktop Taskbar
Windows + I Display the Settings charm
Windows + H Display the Share charm
Windows + K Display the Devices charm
Windows + Q Display the Apps Search screen
Windows + F Display the Files Search screen
Windows + W Display the Settings Search screen
Windows + P Display the Second Screen bar
Windows + Z Brings up the App Bar when you have a Modern Desktop App running
Windows + X Display the Windows Tools Menu
Windows + O Lock screen orientation
Windows + V View all active Toasts/Notifications
Windows + Shift + V View all active Toasts/Notifications in reverse order
Windows + PrtScn Takes a screenshot saves it in the Pictures folder
Windows + Enter Launch Narrator
Windows + E Open Computer
Windows + R Open the Run dialog box
Windows + U Open Ease of Display Center
Windows + Ctrl + F Open Find Computers dialog box
Windows + Pause/Break Open the System page
Windows + T Cycle through the items on the Taskbar
Windows + M Minimize all windows
Windows + Shift + M Restore all minimized windows
Windows + D Show/Hide Desktop (minimize/restore all windows)
Windows + L Lock computer
Windows + Up Arrow Maximize current window
Windows + Down Arrow Minimize/restore current window
Windows + Home Minimize all but the current window
Windows + F1 Launch Windows Help and Support
Alt key shortcuts…
Alt Display a hidden Menu Bar
Alt + D Select the Address Bar
Alt + P Display the Preview Pane in Windows Explorer
Alt + Tab Cycle forward through open windows
Alt + Shift + Tab Cycle backward through open windows
Alt + F Close the current window and open the Shut Down Windows dialog box
Alt + Spacebar Display the Shortcut menu for current window
Alt + Esc Cycle between open programs in the order that they were opened
Alt + Enter Open the Properties dialog box of the selected item
Alt + PrtScn Take a screen shot of the active Window and place it in the clipboard
Alt + Up Arrow Move up one folder level in Windows Explorer
Alt + Left Arrow Display the previous folder
Alt + Right Arrow Display the next folder
Shift key shortcuts…
Shift + Insert Load CD/DVD without triggering Autoplay or Autorun
Shift + Delete Permanently delete an item skipping the Recycle Bin)
Shift + F6 Cycle backward through elements in a window or dialog box
Shift + F10 Display the context menu for the selected item
Shift + Tab Cycle backward through elements in a window or dialog box
Shift + Click Select a consecutive group of items
Shift + Click on a Taskbar button Launch a new instance of a program
Shift + Right-click on a Taskbar button Display context menu forselected item
Ctrl key shortcuts…
Ctrl + A Select all items
Ctrl + C Copy the selected item
Ctrl + X Cut the selected item
Ctrl + V Paste the selected item
Ctrl + D Delete selected item
Ctrl + Z Undo an action
Ctrl + Y Redo an action
Ctrl + N Open a new window in Windows Explorer
Ctrl + W Close current window in Windows Explorer
Ctrl + E Select the Search box in the upper right corner of a window
Ctrl + Shift + N Create new folder
Ctrl + Shift + Esc Open the Windows Task Manager
Ctrl + Alt + Tab Use arrow keys to cycle through open windows
Ctrl + Alt + Delete Display the Windows Security screen
Ctrl + Click Select multiple individual items
Ctrl + Click and drag an item Copies that item in the same folder
Ctrl + Shift + Click and drag an item Creates a shortcut for selected item
Ctrl + Tab Move forward through tabs
Ctrl + Shift + Tab Move backward through tabs
Ctrl + Shift + Click on a Taskbar button Launch a program as Administrator
Function key shortcuts…
F1 Display Help
F2 Rename a file
F3 Open Search
F4 Display the Address Bar list
F5 Refresh display
F6 Cycle forward through elements in a window or dialog box
F7 Display command history in a Command Prompt
F10 Display hidden Menu Bar
F11 Toggle full screen display
