Using a single press of one or more keys, keyboard shortcuts provide you with a quicker way of navigating and operating your desktop environment.

Regardless of what industry you work in, you will have at some point used simple Windows shortcuts, such as Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V to copy and paste information from one location to another. Microsoft Windows has many more shortcuts that are easy to remember and will make you much more efficient throughout the year.

Ready to save time? Here is our compiled list of keyboard shortcuts, broken down into: Classic, Essential and those shortcuts especially for Windows 10 users.

Classic Shortcuts

Shortcut Keys Description
Ctrl + A Select All
Ctrl + X Cut the selection and store it in clipboard
Ctrl + C Copy the selection and store it in clipboard
Ctrl + V Paste contents of the clipboard at the cursor
F5 Refresh a webpage or folder contents
Ctrl + Alt + Del Open Task Manager
Ctrl + S Save a document, webpage or file
Ctrl + F Find
Ctrl + P Print
Ctrl + Z Undo last operation
Ctrl + Y Redo last operation
Ctrl + B Bold
Ctrl + U Underline
Ctrl + I Italics
Ctrl + D Save page as Bookmark
Ctrl + +/- Zoom in and out
Ctrl + N New document or internet session
Ctrl + O Open a file or document

Keyboard shortcuts will enhance your productivity and save you time. Instead of using your touchpad or external mouse to navigate around your desktop environment, you can press a combination of keys to get things done. Here is our list of Essential shortcuts to help you through your working day:

Essential Shortcuts

Shortcut Keys Description
Win Launch Start Menu
Win + D Show your desktop
Win + L Lock your computer
Win + Right Arrow Resize window to half of the display and snap it right
Win + Left Arrow Resize window to half of the display and snap it left
Win + M Minimise all windows
Alt + Tab Show all open applications
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
F2 Rename object
Ctrl + Shift + A Change text to uppercase/lowercase
Ctrl + 0 Zoom to 100%
Ctrl + Shift + N New private browsing session
Alt + F4 Close the focussed window
F11 Switch fullscreen/normal size
Win + T Switch between Taskbar entries
Win + P External display options
Ctrl + Win + C Accessibility/Ease of access settings
Win + Prtscn Save screenshot to Screenshots folder

As Microsoft is constantly updating its Operating System, they have also added some new keyboard shortcuts that align with their latest operating system, Windows 10. Some of these keyboard shortcuts are as new as 2015 and compliment the latest OS. These help you navigate around the newest environment and fully utilise some additional features such as Cortana.

Windows 10 Shortcuts

Shortcut Keys Description
Win + C Open Cortana for voice input
Win + S Open Search
Win + I Open Windows settings
Win + A Open Notification/Action Centre
Win + X Open Quick Link menu
Win + Ctrl + D Create a new virtual desktop
Win + Ctrl + F4 Close current desktop
Win + Tab Access all desktops and apps in Task View
Win + Prtscn Take screenshot and save to Screenshots folder
Win + G Open Game Bar
Win + Alt + G Record your screen
Win + Alt + R Manually start and stop recording
Win + V Access clipboard library
Win + H Talk instead of type
Win + . Access emoji keyboard
Win + Shift + S Access Snipping tool

After reading through these selected shortcuts, it is clear to see how keyboard shortcuts can save you time. Many of these shortcuts above can be used in Windows Operating Systems, Internet browsers and creating documentation. You can 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.