Windows 11 Keyboard Shortcuts

November 25, 2025

denotes Windows key. On older keyboards, it have sign.

Keyboard Shortcut	Usage
	Open Start Menu or Screen.
+ E	Open File Explorer.
+ C	Open Chat.
+ S or + Q	Open Search (online and offline).
+ I	Open Settings app.
+ A	Open Action Center.
+ N	Open Notification Center.
+ H	Start voice typing.
+ F	Open Feedback hub.
+ W	Open Widgets.
+ K	Connect to wireless displays and audio devices.
+ X	Open Start context menu.
+ G	Open Game bar.
+ [1][2][3][…]	Open programs that are pinned to task bar.
+ Space	Switch keyboard input language (only if 2 or more than 2 languages present).
+ R	Open Run.
+ P	Project current screen.
+ L	Lock your Windows 11.
+ D	Show Windows Desktop.
+ V	Show Clipboard history.
+ O	Change orientation.
+ M	Minimize all open windows.
+ ,	Take a peek look at the desktop until you release the key.
+ Shift + S	Capture part of the screen with Snip & Sketch.
+ U	Open Accessibility settings.
+ ; or **.	Open Emoji viewer.
+ B	Highlight the first item in the Notification Area and use the Arrow key switch between the items.
+ PrtScr or + Fn + PrtScr	Take screenshot of current screen and saves it to Screenshots directory under Pictures library.
+ T	Cycle through apps on taskbar.
+ Tab**	Open Task View.
+ Ctrl + Left / Right	Switch to the virtual desktop on the left/right.
+ Down	Snap current window to the bottom of the screen.
+ Up	Snap current window to the top of the screen.
+ Right	Snap current window the the right side of the screen.
+ Left	Snap current window to the left side of the screen.
+ Ctrl + D	Create a new virtual desktop and switch to it.
+ Ctrl + F4	Close the current virtual desktop.

Other useful keyboard shortcuts

Keyboard shortcut	Usage
Alt + F4	Closes current program window. When no program is open, it provides Shut down Windows dialog.
Ctrl + F	Opens a Find dialog for searching the currently opened program.
Ctrl + M	Enter mark mode which helps for selecting text especially in Command Prompt.
Ctrl + Page Up / Page Down	Scrolling up / down on current screen or page.
Ctrl + Up / Down	Move up / down on current screen or page line by line.
Ctrl + A	Select all content on the screen.
Ctrl + C or Ctrl + Insert	Copies all content on screen to clipboard.
Ctrl + V or Shift + Insert	Pastes text at the cursor.
Ctrl + Z	Undo operation.
Ctrl + Y	Redo operation, provided if you’ve used Ctrl + Z already.
Ctrl + Page Up / Page Down	Scrolling up / down on current screen or page.
Ctrl + Page Up / Page Down	Scrolling up / down on current screen or page.
Alt + Tab	This is the good older shortcut we’ve used for year to switch between tabs.
Shift + Left / Right / Up / Down	Moves the cursor left a character, right a character, up a line, or down a line, selecting the text along the way. Continue pressing arrow keys to select more text.
Ctrl + Shift + Left / Right	Moves the cursor one word to the left or right, selecting that word along the way.
Shift + Home / End	Moves the cursor to the beginning or end of the current line, selecting text along the way.
Shift + Page Up / Page Down	Moves the cursor up or down a screen, selecting text.
Ctrl + Shift + Home / End	Moves the cursor to the beginning or end of the screen buffer, selecting all text between the cursor and the beginning or end.
Ctrl + Shift + Esc	Open Task Manager.
Alt + Tab + F4	Restart File Explorer.