List of Windows 10 desktop shortcut keys
Keyboard shortcuts can be great time savers regardless of application you are using them in. No matter if it is Ctrl-t in Firefox to open a new tab, Windows-Pause to open the System Control panel applet in Windows 7 or Windows-q to open Windows Search quickly on Windows 10.
Tip: Check out this Windows keyboard shortcut top 10 list.
Microsoft's Windows 10 operating system supports most of the shortcuts of previous versions of Windows.
In addition to that, new shortcuts were added to Windows 10 that power new features such as Cortana or virtual desktops.
The following list displays all new shortcuts that Microsoft added to its Windows 10 operating system as well as a handful of old shortcuts that were already part of previous versions of Windows.
Windows 10 desktop shortcuts
- Windows-A opens the Action Center.
- Windows-B highlights the notification area.
- Windows-C launches Cortana in listening mode so that Cortana accepts voice input right away.
- Windows-D toggles Show Desktop and the previous state.
- Windows-E launches File Explorer with the Quick Access tab focused.
- Windows-H opens the Share charm on the right side of the screen.
- Windows-I opens the Settings application.
- Windows-K opens the Connect pane to connect to wireless displays and audio devices.
- Windows-L locks the device and displays the Lock screen.
- Windows-M minimizes all open windows.
- Windows-O locks the device's orientation.
- Windows-P opens the Project pane to search and connect to external displays and projectors.
- Windows-Q opens Search.
- Windows-R display the run dialog box.
- Windows-S launches Cortana in typing mode which means that users can start typing queries right away.
- Windows-T cycles through the apps on the taskbar.
- Windows-U launches the Ease of Access Center.
- Windows-V cycles through all notifications.
- Windows-X opens the advanced menu in the lower-left corner of the screen (introduced in Windows 8.1).
- Windows-Z opens the app-specific command bar.
- Windows-Enter launches the Narrator.
- Windows-Spacebar switches between supported input languages and keyboard layouts.
- Windows-Tab opens the Task View.
- Windows-, to peek at the desktop
- Windows-+ to zoom in.
- Windows-- to zoom out.
- Windows-Escape to close the Magnifier.
- Windows-Left Arrow to dock the active window to the left half of the monitor it is displayed in.
- Windows-Right Arrow to dock the active window to the right half of the monitor it is displayed in.
- Windows+Down Arrow minimizes the active window or restores it.
- Windows-Up Arrow maximizes the active window.
- Windows-Shift-Left Arrow moves the active window to the monitor on the left.
- Windows-Shift-Right Arrow moves the active window to the monitor on the right.
- Windows-Shift-Down Arrow minimizes or restores the active window vertically while maintaining the current width.
- Windows-Shift-Up Arrow maximizes the active window vertically while maintaining the current width.
- Windows-Home minimizes or restores all inactive windows.
- Windows-Print takes a picture of the full screen and saves to to the Pictures > Screenshots folder.
- Windows-Ctrl-Left Arrow switches to the previous virtual desktop.
- Windows-Ctrl-Right Arrow switches to the next virtual desktop.
- Windows-Ctrl-D creates a new virtual desktop.
- Windows-Ctrl-F4 closes the current virtual desktop.
- Windows-? launches the Windows Feedback application
Now You: Are you using those shortcuts? What are your favorite ones?
What mental age of reader are you targeting with the first sentence? 10?
Why not write an article on how to *avoid* upgrading from W10 to W11. Analogous to those like me who avoided upgrading from 7 to 10 for as long as possible.
If your paymaster Microsoft permits it, of course.
5. Rufus
6. Ventoy
PS. I hate reading these “SEO optimized” articles.
I used Rufus to create an installer for a 6th gen intel i5 that had MBR. It upgraded using Setup. No issues except for Win 11 always prompting me to replace my local account. Still using Win 10 Pro on all my other PCs to avoid the bullying.
bit pointless to upgrade for the sake of upgrading as you never know when you’ll get locked out because ms might suddenly not provide updates to unsupported systems.
ps…. time travelling?
written. Jan 15, 2023
Updated • Jan 13, 2023
This happens when you schedule a post in WordPress and update it before setting the publication date.
Anyone willing to downgrade to this awful OS must like inflicting themselves with harm.
I have become convinced now that anybody who has no qualms with using Windows 11/10 must fit into one of the following brackets:
1) Too young to remember a time before W10 and W11 (doesn’t know better)
2) Wants to play the latest games on their PC above anything else (or deeply needs some software which already dropped W7 support)
3) Doesn’t know too much about how computers work, worried that they’d be absolutely lost and in trouble without the “”latest security””
4) Microsoft apologist that tries to justify that the latest “features” and “changes” are actually a good thing, that improve Windows
5) Uses their computer to do a bare minimum of like 3 different things, browse web, check emails, etc, so really doesn’t fuss
Obviously that doesn’t cover everyone, there’s also the category that:
6) Actually liked W7 more than 10, and held out as long as possible before switching, begrudgingly uses 10 now
Have I missed any group off this list?
You have missed in this group just about any professional user that uses business software like CAD programs or ERP Programs which are 99% of all professional users from this list.
Linux doesn’t help anyone who is not a linux kid and apple is just a fancy facebook machine.
Microsoft has removed KB5029351 update
only from windows update though
KB5029351 is still available from the ms update catalog site
1. This update is labaled as PREVIEW if it causes issues to unintelligent people, then they shouldn’t have allowed Preview updates ot install.
2. I have installed it in a 11 years old computer, and no problems at all.
3. Making a big drama over a bluescreen for an updated labeled as preview is ridiculous.
This is probably another BS internet drama where people ran programs and scripts that modified the registry until they broke Windows, just for removing stuff that they weren’t even using just for the sake of it.
Maybe people should stop playing geeks and actually either use Windows 10 or Windows 11, but don’t try to modify things just for the sake of it.
Sometimes removing or stopping things (like defender is a perfect example) only need intelligence, not scripts or 3rd party programs that might mess with windows.
Windows 11 was a pointless release, it was just created because some of the Windows team wanted to boost sales with some sort of new and improved Windows 10. Instead, Microsoft cannot support one version well let alone two.
Windows 11 is the worst ugly shame by Microsoft ever. They should release with every new W11 version a complete free version of Starallback inside just to make this sh** OS functionally again.
motherboard maker MSI has recently released a statement regarding the “unsupported processor” blue screen error for their boards using Intel 600/700 series chipsets & to avoid the KB5029351 Win11 update:
https://www.msi.com/news/detail/MSI-On–UNSUPPORTED-PROCESSOR–Error-Message-of-Windows-11-Update-KB5029351-Preview-142215
check out the following recent articles:
Neowin – Microsoft puts little blame on its Windows update after UNSUPPORTED PROCESSOR BSOD bug:
https://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-puts-little-blame-on-its-windows-update-after-unsupported-processor-bsod-bug/
BleepingComputer – Microsoft blames ‘unsupported processor’ blue screens on OEM vendors:
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/microsoft-blames-unsupported-processor-blue-screens-on-oem-vendors/
While there may be changes or updates to the Windows 10 Store for Business and Education in the future, it is premature to conclude that it will be discontinued based solely on rumors.
My advice, I left win 15 years ago. Now I’m a happy linux user (linuxmint) but there is Centos, Fedora, Ubuntu depending on your needs.
motherboard maker MSI has recently released new BIOS/firmware updates for their Intel 600 & 700 series motherboards to fix the “UNSUPPORTED_PROCESSOR” problem (Sept. 6):
https://www.msi.com/news/detail/Updated-BIOS-fixes-Error-Message–UNSUPPORTED-PROCESSOR–caused-BSOD-on-MSI-s-Intel-700-and-600-Series-Motherboards-142277
I try to disable the Diagnostics Tracking Service (Connected Devices Platform User Services) but it wont let me disable it, any help will be greatly appreciated.
Tank you for your help