25 Windows 8 Keyboard Shortcuts—New from Windows 7

The Windows 8 stalemate is over, and you can read this review of reviews on what the big websites have to say on the Windows 8 release. Already 4 million copies of the Windows 8 upgrade have been sold since the release date of October 26th. But since this new version is powered towards tablet and mobile devices, desktop users may find it clumsy using their old tools of “keyboard and mouse.”

But Nah! You don’t need to worry! All the keyboard shortcuts that worked in Windows 7 continue to work in 8 as well. As an additional advantage, some more shortcuts are added. The new features of Windows 8, like the Charms bar, Start Screen, and Metro apps, all have shortcuts, which make the Windows 8 browsing experience a breeze.

What are keyboard shortcuts?

This Microsoft article provides the definition of keyboard shortcuts.

Keyboard shortcuts are combinations of two or more keys that, when pressed, can be used to perform a task that would typically require a mouse or other pointing device. Keyboard shortcuts can save you time and effort when using Windows and other programs.

The above articles not only detail shortcuts’ simplicity, but they also mention various keyboard shortcuts under Windows 7. There are different type of shortcuts, like the Ease of Access Keyboard. Shortcuts, General Keyboard Shortcuts, Dialog Box Keyboard Shortcuts, Taskbar Keyboard Shortcuts, etc.

Most of them will work in Windows 8, but shortcuts to some features like “Start Menu,” which are missing in the new version, may not have the same meaning. The keyboard shortcuts that are to be watched are the Start Screen, Charms Bar, and Metro apps, which are new to Windows 8.

Some Useful Windows 8 Keyboard Shortcuts

1. 1. Windows key: Switch between Modern Desktop Start screen and the last accessed application
   2. Windows key + C: Access the charms bar
   3. Windows key + Tab: Access the Modern Desktop Taskbar
   4. Windows key + I: Access the Settings charm
   5. Windows key + H: Access the Share charm
   6. Windows key + K: Access the Devices charm
   7. Windows key + Q: Access the Apps Search screen
   8. Windows key + F: Access the Files Search screen
   9. Windows key + W: Access the Settings Search screen
   10. Windows key + P: Access the Second Screen bar
   11. Windows key + Z: Brings up the App Bar when you have a Modern Desktop App running
   12. Windows key + X: Access the Windows Tools Menu
   13. Windows key + O: Lock screen orientation
   14. Windows key + .: Move the screen split to the right
   15. Windows key + Shift + .: Move the screen split to the left
   16. Windows key + V: View all active Toasts/Notifications
   17. Windows key + Shift + V: View all active Toasts/Notifications in reverse order
   18. Windows key + PrtScn: Takes a screenshot of the screen and automatically saves it in the Pictures folder as Screenshot
   19. Windows key + Enter: Launch Narrator
   20. Windows key + E: Open Computer
   21. Windows key + R: Open the Run dialog box
   22. Windows key + U: Open Ease of Access Center
   23. Windows key + Ctrl + F: Open Find Computers dialog box
   24. Windows key + Left Arrow: Tile window on the left side of the screen
   25. Windows key + Right Arrow: Tile window on the right side of the screen

The list of Windows 8 keyboard shortcuts goes over 100. If you want to get a cheat sheet in PDF form containing all those 100 simple shortcuts to the mouse movements, you can download it from here. Before we end this informative article, let’s see an infographic displaying some of the Windows 8 keyboard shortcuts.

Keep the productive work happening with these shortcuts!