Windows 11 is Microsoft’s latest software update, and while many of the features and settings are still the same as they were on Windows 10, there are several new additions — and that includes a few unique keyboard shortcuts to perform tasks faster and improve your overall productivity, so you don’t have to worry about learning all-new shortcuts.
Read more: Windows 11 Hidden Features You Should Know About
In this article we’ll cover the most important keyboard shortcuts for Windows 11, many of which carry over from Windows 10 and earlier versions of Microsoft’s operating system. That includes the basics, like copying highlighted items and undoing a previous action, as well as lesser known shortcuts, like snapping an active window into place.
Windows Hotkeys or Shortcut Keys for Windows 11
Windows 11 keyboard shortcuts can save you a lot of time and help you to do things faster. Plus, it is more convenient to do tasks with a single press of one or multiple keys than endless clicks and scrolls.
By learning these shortcuts, you can navigate both Windows 10 and Windows 11 easily.
Windows 11 Keyboard Shortcuts You Should Know
We are dividing the list of existing keyboard shortcuts into 9 segments to help you better remember and access them. There are dozens of keyboard shortcuts available in Windows under the following categories:
- New Keyboard Shortcuts in Windows 11
- General and Popular Shortcuts
- Screenshot Shortcuts
- Dialog Box and Text Editor Shortcuts
- Browser Shortcuts
- Command Prompt Shortcuts for Windows 11
- File Explorer Shortcuts for Windows 11
- Taskbar Keyboard Shortcuts
- Accessibility Keyboard Shortcuts
New Keyboard Shortcuts in Windows 11
Windows 11 brings a few Keyboard Shortcuts for accessing its cool new features such as widgets, snap layouts, action center, and quick settings. We will list all of them below, along with their functions. Just so you know, the “Win” or “Win” key in this article refers to the Windows Logo key on your keyboard.
| Action | SHORTCUTS KEYS |
|---|---|
| Open up the Widgets pane. It supplies you with the weather forecast, local traffic, news, and even your calendar. | Win + W |
| Quick Access to Snap Layout. It helps you organize apps and windows for multitasking. | Win + Z |
| Open Notifications Panel. It shows all your notifications in the OS. | Win + N |
| Toggle up the Quick Settings. It controls the Volume, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Brightness sliders, Focus Assist, and other settings. | Win + A |
| Open Teams Chat app from Taskbar. It helps you quickly select a chat thread directly from the Taskbar. | Win + C |
General and Popular Shortcuts
To start, here are the ones you’ll use most often.
| Action | SHORTCUTS KEYS |
|---|---|
| Cycle through the apps on the taskbar | Alt + Esc |
| Display your password on the login screen | Alt + F8 |
| Open the shortcut menu for the current window | Alt + Spacebar |
| Open properties for the selected item | Alt + Enter |
| Open the context menu (right-click menu) for the selected item | Alt + F10 |
| Move up one screen | Alt + Page Up |
| Move down one screen | Alt + Page Down |
| Close active window. When you are on the desktop with no active window selected, this shortcut opens the shutdown dialog box with options to restart, sleep, hibernate, log out, or shut down your PC. | Alt + F4 |
| Switch between the running applications (Task Switcher) | Alt + Tab |
| Undo an action | Ctrl + Z |
| Redo an action | Ctrl + Y |
| Move selected item to Recycle Bin | Ctrl + Delete |
| Keyboard shortcut to open Task Manager in Windows 11 | Ctrl + Shift + Esc |
| Save the current file (works on apps like Office 365, Notepad, Paint, etc.) | Ctrl + S |
| Print the current page | Ctrl + P |
| Save As | Ctrl + Shift + S |
| Open a file in the current app | Ctrl + O |
| Open a new program window of the current app | Ctrl + N |
| Lock your computer | Win + L |
| Minimizes all open windows and takes you. to the Desktop | Win + D |
| Open Task View | Win + Tab |
| Open Start Button context menu | Win + X |
| Open Windows 11 Settings | Win + I |
| Open Run command | Win + R |
| Open Windows Search | Win + S or Win + Q |
| Launch Voice Typing | Win + H |
| Windows 11 keyboard shortcut to access the Emoji keyboard | Win + period (.) or Win + semicolon (;) |
| Project a screen | Win + P |
| Delete the selected item permanently | Shift + Delete |
| Select more than one item | Shift + Arrow keys |
| Rename a selected item. | F2 |
| Quickly search for files in File Explorer. | F3 |
| Highlight the address bar in File Explorer. | F4 |
| Refresh your active window. This shortcut also refreshes the Windows desktop when no active window is selected. | F5 |
| Cycle through elements (tab, buttons, search bar, etc.) in a window or your desktop. | F6 |
| : Activate the menu bar in the active window. | F10 |
| Enter/ Exit full-screen mode | F11 |
| Stop or close the current task | Esc |
| Go back to the Settings home page (while on any Windows Settings page) | Backspace |
Screenshot Shortcuts
Here are some of the common native screenshot keyboard shortcuts in Windows 11.
| Action | SHORTCUTS KEYS |
|---|---|
| Take a screenshot of the entire desktop | PrtScn/ Print Screen |
| Take a screenshot of the Active Window | Alt + PrtScn |
| Capture any part of the screen with Snip & Sketch | Win + Shift + S |
Dialog Box and Text Editor Shortcuts
Use the following Windows hotkeys to navigate the Dialog box of any application easily.
| Action | SHORTCUTS KEYS |
|---|---|
| Select all conte | Ctrl + A |
| Copy the selected items | Ctrl + C |
| Cut the selected items | Ctrl + X |
| Paste the clipboard items | Ctrl + V |
| Bolden selected text (Rich Text Editors only) | Ctrl + B |
| Italicize selected text (Rich Text Editors only) | Ctrl + I |
| Underline selected text (Rich Text Editors only) | Ctrl + U |
| Move the cursor to the start of the current line | Home |
| Move the cursor to the end of the current line | End |
| Move forward through tabs. | Ctrl + Tab |
| Move back through tabs. | Ctrl + Shift + Tab |
| Show the items in the active list. | F4 |
| Move forward through options of the dialog box | Tab |
| Move back through options of the dialog box | Shift + Tab |
| Execute the command (or select the option) that is used with the underlined letter. | Alt + underlined letter |
| Check or Uncheck the check box if the active option is a check box. | Spacebar |
| Select or move to a button in a group of active buttons. | Arrow keys |
| Open the parent folder if a folder is selected in the Open or Save As dialog box. | Backspace |
Browser Shortcuts
The following shortcuts work on all major Windows browsers, including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and Opera. In general, these are among the keyboard shortcuts are mainly use.
| Action | SHORTCUTS KEYS |
|---|---|
| Move to the tab on the left | Ctrl + Shift + Tab |
| Move Between Tabs | Ctrl + Numbers (1,2,…,9) |
| Move to the tab on the right | Ctrl + Tab |
| Open on-page Search (works on text editors, word processors, Command Prompt, etc.) | Ctrl + F |
| Move back one page (back arrow) | Alt + Left Arrow |
| Move forward one page | Alt + Right Arrow |
| Move the cursor to the end of the current line and select text | Shift + End |
| Select/ highlight one line at a time | Shift + Up/ Down Arrow Keys |
| Move the cursor to the start of the current line and select text | Shift + Home |
| Select/ highlight one character at a time | Shift + Right/ Left Arrow keys |
Command Prompt Shortcuts for Windows 11
The Command Prompt, Windows PowerShell, and Terminal support the standard text editing shortcuts to copy, paste, and edit commands. if you are a Command Prompt user, then these shortcuts will come handy.
| ACTION | SHORTCUTS KEYS |
|---|---|
| Scroll to the top of the Command Prompt window (cmd). | Ctrl + Home |
| Open search for Command Prompt. | Ctrl + F |
| Scroll to the bottom of the cmd. | Ctrl + End |
| Select everything on the current line | Ctrl + A |
| Move the cursor up a page | Page Up |
| Move the cursor down a page | Page Down |
| Enter Mark mode. | Ctrl + M |
| Move the cursor to the beginning of the buffer in Mark mode | Ctrl + Home |
| Move the cursor to the end of the buffer in Mark mode | Ctrl + End |
| Cycle through command history of active session. | Up / Down arrow keys |
| Move cursor left or right in the current command line. | Left / Right arrow keys |
| Move the screen up one line in the output history. | Ctrl + Up arrow |
| Move the screen down one line in the output history. | Ctrl + Down arrow |
| Move the cursor one word at a time. | Ctrl + Shift + Arrow Keys |
| Move your cursor to the start of the current line. | Shift + Home |
| Move your cursor to the end of the current line. | Shift + End |
| Move cursor down one screen and select text. | Shift + Page Down |
| Move cursor up one screen and select text. | Shift + Page Up |
| Move cursor down one line and select the text. | Shift + Down |
| Move cursor up one line and select the text. | Shift + Up |
File Explorer Shortcuts for Windows 11
These keyboard shortcuts can help you navigate your Windows file system quickly.
| ACTION | SHORTCUTS KEYS |
|---|---|
| Open the File Explorer. | Win + E |
| Select Search in File Explorer. | Ctrl + E or Ctrl +F |
| Open the current page in a new window. | Ctrl + N |
| Close active window. | Ctrl + W |
| Change the file and folder view (switch between small icons, large icons, list, detailed view, etc.). | Ctrl + Mouse Scroll |
| Changes folder view. | Ctrl + Shift + Number (1,2,…,8) |
| Create a new folder. | Ctrl + Shift + N |
| Expand all subfolders in the navigation pane on the left. | Ctrl + Shift + E |
| Select address bar of the File Explorer. | Alt + D |
| Display the preview panel. | Alt + P |
| Open the Properties settings for the selected item. | Alt + Enter |
| Go to the next folder. | Alt + Right arrow |
| Go to the previous folder. | Alt + Left arrow (or Backspace) |
| Go to the parent folder for the current file/folder. | Alt + Up arrow |
| Switch focus to address bar. | F4 |
| Refresh the File Explorer. | F5 |
| Switch between left and right panes. | F6 |
| Collapse the current folder tree or select the parent folder (if it’s collapsed) in the left pane. | Left Arrow |
| Expand the current folder tree or select the first subfolder (if it’s expanded) in the left pane. | Right Arrow |
| Move to the top of the active window. | Home |
| Move to the bottom of the active window. | End |
Taskbar Keyboard Shortcuts
The following shortcuts help you easily launch apps in specific ways or under specific conditions using the Windows taskbar icons.
| ACTION | SHORTCUTS KEYS |
|---|---|
| Run an app as administrator from the taskbar | Ctrl + Shift + Left Click app button or icon |
| Open the app in the first position on your taskbar. | Win + 1 |
| Open the app in the number position from the taskbar. | Win + Number (0,1,2,…,9) |
| Cycle through apps in the taskbar. | Win + T |
| View Date and Time from the taskbar | Win + Alt + D |
| Open another instance of an app from the taskbar. | Shift + Left Click app button |
| Show the window menu for the group apps from the taskbar. | Shift + Right-click grouped app icon |
| Highlight the first item in the Notification Area and use the Arrow key switch between the item | Win + B |
| Open the application’s menu on the task bar | Alt + Windows key + number keys |
Accessibility Keyboard Shortcuts
The following keyboard shortcuts help activate and make use of accessibility features in Windows 11.
| ACTION | SHORTCUTS KEYS |
| Open “Ease of Access” Centre in Windows Settings | Win + U |
| Turn on Magnifier and Zoom in | Win + plus (+) |
| Zoom out using Magnifier | Win + minus (-) |
| Exit Magnifier | Win + Esc |
| Switch to the docked mode in Magnifier | Ctrl + Alt + D |
| Switch to full-screen mode in Magnifier | Ctrl + Alt + F |
| Switch to lens mode in Magnifier | Ctrl + Alt + L |
| Invert colors in Magnifier | Ctrl + Alt + I |
| Cycle through views in Magnifier | Ctrl + Alt + M |
| Resize the lens with the mouse in Magnifier. | Ctrl + Alt + R |
| Pan in Magnifier. | Ctrl + Alt + arrow keys |
| Zoom in or out using mouse | Ctrl + Alt + mouse scroll |
| Open Narrator | Win + Enter |
| Open on-screen keyboard | Win + Ctrl + O |
| Turn Filter Keys on and off | Press Right Shift for eight seconds |
| Turn High Contrast on or off | Left Alt + left Shift + PrtSc |
| Turn Mouse Keys on or off | Left Alt + left Shift + Num Lock |
| Turn Sticky Keys on or off | Press Shift five times |
| Turn Toggle Keys on or off | Press Num Lock for five seconds |
I hope after reading this blog you will know Keyboard Shortcuts of windows 11. If you have still any question or doubt related to Keyboard Shortcuts then you can ask your question in comment section or you can massage us on Instagram.
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