We got a lot of feedback about our “Windows Shortcut” blog article asking about other shortcuts. Here is a list of common shortcuts you’ll use often to speed up your daily repetitive tasks.
- F1 [Display Help]
- F2 [Rename the selected item]
- F3 [Search for a file or folder]
- F4 [Display the address bar list in File Explorer]
- F5 [Refresh the active window]
- F6 [Cycle through screen elements in a window or on the desktop]
- F10 [Activate the Menu bar in the active app]
- ALT + F4 [Close the active item, or exit the active app]
- ALT + ESC [Cycle through items in the order in which they were opened]
- ALT + underlined letter in menus and dialog box options [Perform the command for that letter]
- ALT + ENTER [Display properties for the selected item]
- ALT + SPACEBAR [Open the shortcut menu for the active window]
- ALT + LEFT ARROW [Back]
- ALT + RIGHT ARROW [Forward]
- ALT + PAGE UP [Move up one screen]
- ALT + PAGE DOWN [Move down one screen]
- ALT + TAB [Switch between open apps (except desktop apps)]
- CTRL + F4 [Close the active document (in apps that allow you to have multiple documents open simultaneously)]
- CTRL + A [Select all items in a document or window]
- CTRL + C or CTRL + INSERT [Copy the selected item]
- CTRL + D / DELETE [DELETE the selected item and move it to the Recycle Bin]
- CTRL + R or F5 [Refresh the active window]
- CTRL + V or SHIFT + INSERT [Paste the selected item]
- CTRL + X [Cut the selected item]
- CTRL + Y [Redo an action]
- CTRL + Z [Undo an action]
- CTRL + + or CTRL + – [Zoom in or out of a large NUMBER of items, like apps pinned to the Start screen]
- CTRL + mouse scroll wheel [Change the size of desktop icons or zoom in or out of a large NUMBER of items, like apps pinned to the Start screen]
- CTRL + RIGHT ARROW [Move the cursor to the beginning of the next word]
- CTRL + LEFT ARROW [Move the cursor to the beginning of the previous word]
- CTRL + DOWN ARROW [Move the cursor to the beginning of the next paragraph]
- CTRL + UP ARROW [Move the cursor to the beginning of the previous paragraph]
- CTRL + ALT + TAB [Use the arrow keys to switch between all open apps]
- CTRL + ARROW + SPACEBAR [Select multiple individual items in a window or on the desktop]
- CTRL + SHIFT + ARROW [Select a block of text]
- CTRL + ESC [Open the Start screen]
- CTRL + SHIFT + ESC [Open Task Manager]
- CTRL + SHIFT [Switch the keyboard layout when multiple keyboard layouts are available]
- CTRL + SPACEBAR [Turn the Chinese input method editor (IME) on or off]
- SHIFT + F10 [Display the shortcut menu for the selected item]
- SHIFT + ARROW [Select more than one item in a window or on the desktop, or select text within a document]
- SHIFT + DELETE [Delete the selected item without moving it to the Recycle Bin first]
- RIGHT ARROW [Open the next menu to the right, or open a sub-menu]
- LEFT ARROW [Open the next menu to the left, or close a sub-menu]
- ESC [Stop or leave the current task]
