Microsoft™
Windows© Operating Systems are most used OS around the world, despite
of so much criticism, no other competitor has occupied the place which
Microsoft has enjoyed since early 90’s. Amongst Windows OS Family, we
have Windows 8/8.1. Its the revolutionary OS which is useful same time
for Desktops, Servers (Windows Server 2012) and Mobile Devices. Here are
some shortcut keys which are very useful while working with
Microsoft Windows 8/8.1 
1. Windows 8 Specific
Keyboard Shortcuts
|
|
Keystrokes
|
Functions
|
ÿ
|
Switch
between Metro Start screen and the last accessed application
|
ÿ+C
|
Access
the charms bar
|
ÿ+Tab
|
Access
the Metro Taskbar
|
ÿ+I
|
Access
the Settings charm
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ÿ+H
|
Access
the Share charm
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ÿ+K
|
Access
the Devices charm
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ÿ+Q
|
Access
the Apps Search screen
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ÿ+F
|
Access
the Files Search screen
|
ÿ+W
|
Access
the Settings Search screen
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ÿ+P
|
Access
the Second Screen bar
|
ÿ+Z
|
Brings
up the App Bar when you have a Metro App running
|
ÿ+X
|
Access
the Windows Tools Menu
|
ÿ+O
|
Lock
screen orientation
|
ÿ+.
|
Move
the screen split to the right
|
ÿ+
Shift + .
|
Move
the screen split to the left
|
ÿ+
V
|
View
all active Toasts/Notifications
|
ÿ+
Shift + V
|
View
all active Toasts/Notifications in reverse order
|
ÿ+
PrtScn
|
Takes a screenshot of the screen and automatically saves
it in the Pictures folder as Screenshot (#)—incrementing the # with each
successive screenshot
|
PageUp
|
Scroll
forward on the Metro Start screen
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PageDown
|
Scroll
backward on the Metro Start screen
|
Esc
|
Close
a charm
|
Ctrl
+ Esc
|
Switch
between Metro Start screen and the last accessed application
|
Ctrl
+ Mouse scroll wheel
|
Activate
the Semantic Zoom on the Metro screen
|
2. Standard Windows Keyboard Shortcuts
|
|
Keystroke
|
Function
|
ÿ+E
|
Open
Computer (My Computer / Windows Explorer)
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ÿ+R
|
Open
the Run dialog box
|
ÿ+U
|
Open
Ease of Access Center
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ÿ+Ctrl + F
|
Open
Find Computers dialog box
|
ÿ+Pause/Break
|
Open
the System page
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ÿ+ 1..10
|
Launch a program pinned on the Taskbar in the position
indicated by the number Or, access a running program on the Taskbar in
the position indicated by the number
|
ÿ+ Shift + 1..10
|
Launch a new instance of a program pinned on the Taskbar
in the position indicated by the number
|
ÿ+ Ctrl + 1..10
|
Access the last active instance of a program pinned on the
Taskbar in the position indicated by the number
|
ÿ+ Alt + 1..10
|
Access the Jump List of a program pinned on the Taskbar in
the position indicated by the number
|
ÿ+ B
|
Select the first item in the Notification Area and then
use the arrow keys to cycle through the items Press Enter to open the
selected item
|
ÿ+ Ctrl + B
|
Access
the program that is displaying a message in the Notification Area
|
ÿ+ T
|
Cycle
through the items on the Taskbar
|
ÿ+M
|
Minimize
all windows
|
ÿ+ Shift + M
|
Restore
all minimized windows
|
ÿ+ D
|
Show/Hide
Desktop (minimize/restore all windows)
|
ÿ+ L
|
Lock
computer
|
ÿ+Up Arrow
|
Maximize current window
|
ÿ+Down Arrow
|
Minimize/restore
current window
|
ÿ+ Home
|
Minimize
all but the current window
|
ÿ+ Left Arrow
|
Tile
window on the left side of the screen
|
ÿ+ Right Arrow
|
Tile
window on the right side of the screen
|
ÿ+ Shift + Up Arrow
|
Extend
current window from the top to the bottom of the screen
|
ÿ+ Shift + Left/Right Arrow
|
Move
the current window from one monitor to the next
|
ÿ+ F1
|
Launch
Windows Help and Support
|
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 window
|
Alt
+ F4
|
Close the current window, Open the Shut Down Windows
dialog box from the Desktop
|
Alt
+ Spacebar
|
Access 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 (Like the Up
Arrow in XP)
|
Alt
+ Left Arrow
|
Display the previous folder
|
Alt
+ Right Arrow
|
Display the next folder
|
Shift
+ Insert CD/DVD
|
Load CD/DVD without triggering Autoplay or Autorun
|
Shift
+ Delete
|
Permanently delete the item (rather than sending it to the
Recycle Bin)
|
Shift
+ F6
|
Cycle backward through elements in a window or dialog box
|
Shift
+ F10
|
Access 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
|
Access the context menu for the selected item
|
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
|
Access 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 that item in the same folder
|
Ctrl
+ Tab
|
Move forward through tabs
|
Ctrl
+ Shift + Tab
|
Move backward through tabs
|
Ctrl
+ Shift + Click on a Taskbar button
|
Launch a new instance of a program as an Administrator
|
Ctrl
+ Click on a grouped Taskbar button
|
Cycle through the instances of a program in the group
|
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
|
Tab
|
Cycle forward through elements in a window or dialog box
|
PrtScn
|
Take a screen shot of the entire screen and place it in
the clipboard
|
3 (Application Key)
|
Access the context menu for the selected item
|
Home
|
Move to the top of the active window
|
End
|
Move to the bottom of the active window
|
Delete
|
Delete the selected item
|
Backspace
|
Display the previous folder in Windows Explorer
Move up one folder level in Open or Save dialog box |
Esc
|
Close a dialog box
|
Num
Lock Enabled + Plus (+)
|
Display the contents of the selected folder
|
Num
Lock Enabled + Minus (-)
|
Collapse the selected folder
|
Num
Lock Enabled + Asterisk (*)
|
Expand all subfolders under the selected folder
|
Press
Shift 5 times
|
Turn StickyKeys on or off
|
Hold
down right Shift for 8 seconds
|
Turn FilterKeys on or off
|
Hold
down Num Lock for 5 seconds
|
Turn ToggleKeys on or off
|
Courtesy: www.techrepublic.com
