Within Windows 10 there are many different and unique combinations of buttons that you can press to carry out actions. These are called shortcuts or hotkeys.
Shortcuts can range from simple and easy commands to the more complex and useful as well as the downright pointless. Each person has a different pattern habit so it makes sense to have such a variety of shortcuts.
One person may only use one shortcut whereas someone else may use every shortcut under the sun. Let’s jump in and discover a few shortcuts you can use in daily life. For anyone that’s not computer literate, there’s nothing to worry about as everything will be laid out in an easy to understand way.
Shortcut 1. “Alt-Tab”
Alt-Tab is the button combination you use to switch between opened programs. By holding the Alt key that is beside the windows button and pressing the Tab button located just above the caps lock key. A new window will be opened showing you all open applications and instances. By releasing the alt button it will open the application highlighted. You can also use your mouse to hover over and select the application you wish to open.
Shortcut 2. “Windows Tab”
The Windows key + Tab will allow you to access the multi-desktop. This feature is not for everyone but can be extremely useful if you like to open dozens of programs. You can use this feature to help organise. For instance, you could create a desktop for work on a certain project, a separate desktop for music and a one for social media so everything can be kept separate.
Shortcut 3. “Windows arrow keys”
By holding the Windows key and pressing the arrow keys in any direction you will move the selected program in the direction you press. The selected program will snap to the nearest edge. You can snap up to two application using the snap guides.
Shortcut 4. “Windows L”
This shortcut may be much more useful for people working in office buildings or places of work with high confidentiality while working with client or important data. By pressing the Windows key and the L key at the same time you will be sent to the Lock screen.
Shortcut 5. Task Manager
In the event that a program crashes and won’t close or respond. Instead of turning off your PC, you can just right-click on the Start Menu and select Task Manager. This will result in a new application being opened that will allow you to force close programs even if the program refuses to be closed. An alternative way to access the Task Manager is by pressing the CTRL (control), Alt and Delete keys at the same time and selecting Task Manager from the list. The fastest method to opening your Task Manager is as simple as pressing CRTL, Shift and the Escape keys all at once
Shortcut 6. File Browser
As a quicker alternative to going to your folders, you can simply click the Windows key and the E key to open your file browser.
Shortcut 7. Close
By pressing Alt and F4 together you will close the selected program. If there are no programs open, you can use this shortcut on your Desktop for quick access to your options in powering off your device.
Shortcut 8. Desktop
If you have too many applications open or if you just want to quickly switch to the desktop of your device. Press the Windows Key and the D key to instantly minimise all applications. By pressing the combination again, you will reopen the minimised applications.
Shortcut 9. Find
By pressing CTRL and the F key you can search for a specific word or phase in documents and online
Shortcut 10. New window
By pressing the CTRL key and the N key you can open a new instance of many programs and web browsers. An example of this would be to open a duplicate file location in the file browser so that you can keep that location safe while you navigate for another folder.