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3 min read

Most useful Windows keyboard shortcuts in 2024

Keyboard shortcuts provide a quicker way of doing tasks, helping you to be more efficient and productive.

Brainscape even quantified these savings to 8 days a year. Windows and Microsoft's 365 suite are packed with useful shortcuts.

There are common key combinations that many people know and use frequently. There are, however, many more worth learning because they will speed up your digital life, saving you time and money.

Below we've listed the most helpful Windows shortcut key combinations.

Universal Shortcuts

Some shortcuts work across almost every application in Windows. For example, Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V to copy and paste. That combination will copy and paste files in Windows Explorer, text in Microsoft Word, or cell data in Microsoft Excel. It will work with Photoshop, AutoCAD, and your web browser. It's universal.

These shortcuts apply across almost all Windows apps and reduce common tasks to just two key presses. 

Universal Shortcuts
Shortcut Keys Description
Ctrl + A Select All
Ctrl + X Cut the selection and store it in the clipboard
Ctrl + C Copy the selection and store it in the clipboard
Ctrl + V Paste the contents of the clipboard at the cursor
F5 Refresh a webpage or folder's contents
Ctrl + S Save a document, webpage or file
Ctrl + F Find
Ctrl + P Print
Ctrl + Z Undo the last operation
Ctrl + Y Redo the last operation
Ctrl + +/- Zoom in and out
Ctrl + 0 Zoom to 100%
Ctrl + N New document or internet session
Ctrl + O Open a file or document

 

Formatting Shortcuts

These shortcuts can help you quickly format text no matter what application you're writing in.

Formatting Shortcuts
Shortcut Keys Description
Ctrl + B Bold
Ctrl + U Underline
Ctrl + I Italics
Ctrl + Shift + A Change text to uppercase/lowercase
Win + . Access emoji keyboard

 

Internet Browsing Shortcuts

Moving about and between web pages is almost always fastest using your mouse or touchpad. There are, however, some tasks that can be accomplished quicker in your browser with just a quick keyboard press. 

Internet Browsing Shortcuts
Shortcut Keys Description
Ctrl + T Open new tab
Ctrl + W Close active tab
Ctrl + Shift + T Reopen a recently closed tab
Ctrl + Tab Go to the next tab
Ctrl + Shift + N Open a new private browsing window
Ctrl + D Save the page as a Bookmark

 

Desktop Experience Shortcuts

These shortcut combinations can help you control your computer, and your desktop environment, with ease.

Desktop Experience Shortcuts
Shortcut Keys Description
Win Launch Start Menu
Win + D Show your desktop
Win + L Lock your computer
Win + Right Arrow Resize the window to half of the display and snap it right
Win + Left Arrow Resize the window to half of the display and snap it left
Win + M Minimise all windows
Alt + Tab Show all open applications
Alt + F4 Close the focused window
F11 Switch fullscreen/normal size
Win + T Switch between apps in the taskbar
F2 Rename object
Win + P Opens the external display options menu
Ctrl + Win + C Accessibility/Ease of access settings
Ctrl + Alt + Del Opens the quick menu giving access to lock, switch user, sign out, change your password or open the task manager
Win + H Dictate instead of typing text
Win + V Access clipboard library (you'll need to press this once to enable this function before it will work permanently)
Win + Shift + S Access Snipping tool

 

Capturing Screenshots Shortcuts

If you need to capture a picture or a video of either your whole screen or just a portion of it these commands will help you achieve that. 

Capturing Screenshots Shortcuts
Shortcut Keys Description
Prt Sc Opens the Snipping Tool menu
Win + Prtscn Save a screenshot of all screens to the screenshots folder

 

Take a look at our blog about recording your screen in Windows 11 for a much deeper explanation of how to record still images or videos of your screen.

Windows 11 Shortcuts

New shortcuts are introduced with each iteration of Microsoft's Windows operating system. Below is a list of useful shortcuts specific to Windows 11.

Windows 11 Shortcuts
Shortcut Keys Description
Win + C Open Copilot
Win + S Open Search
Win + I Open Windows settings
Win + A Open Quick Settings
Win + W Open Widgets.
Win + Z Shows window snapping options

 

After reading through these selected shortcuts, it is clear to see how keyboard shortcuts can save you time.

Use this guide and our quick 8 time saver secrets to figure out which keyboard shortcuts suit your needs, put yourself to the test and see how much time you can save.

If your team would benefit from our technical knowledge, IT support and user training then get in touch today.

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