Top 12 Keyboard Shortcuts for Windows 8

Windows key - Shows the New Metro User Interface (UI) screen
Win + A / Win + Space - Switches keyboard Layouts
Win + C - Brings Start menu with Time and date
Win + D - Shows the Standard Desktop Screen
Win + F - Allows you to search for files
Win + I  – Opens the Settings Sidebar
Win + L - Lock Windows
WIN + O - Applies Rotation Lock
Win + P - Presents with Multi-Monitor options
Win + Q - Lists all Installed applications
Win + W - Instant search for settings.
Win + X - Opens oower user shortcut menu
Win + Y - Desktop Glance
Win + Z - Shows the Application bar in Metro apps,,,,

Functional Keys Shortcuts;—-

Win + F1 - Displays Help

Win + F2 - Rename Item

Win + F3 - Search for files and folders

Win + F4 - Displays items in Active list

Win + F5 - Refresh

Page Up/Down Shortcuts

Win + Page Up - Move Start screen to left Monitor
Win + Page Down - Move Start screen to right Monitor

Number Shortcuts

Win + (1-9) - Switches to the app as numbered on the Taskbar

Arrow Keys Shortcuts

Win + Left arrow- Snaps Desktop Window to left 
Win +  Right arrow - Snaps Desktop Window to right
Win +  Up arrow - Maximizes the Desktop Window
Win +  Down arrow - Minimizes or Restores the the Desktop Window

Windows Key – This will bring you to the Windows 8 Start Screen. Doesn’t matter if you are on the desktop or in a full-screen Metro app, pressing the Windows key on your keyboard will slide you back to the main Start Screen. Pressing the key again will toggle you between the start screen and the last app you were using.


Windows Key + D – Missing the desktop? Hate having to open the charms bar or sliding your mouse to the upper left corner to get back to the desktop? Just press Windows Key + D and you’re back in the desktop.

Windows Key + C – This hotkey brings up the Charms bar. The charms bar is basically a “settings” type bar that gives you different options depending on which program you have open. Also, it lets you share something or perform a quick search.

Windows Key + E – Opens Windows Explorer. I’m pretty much always messing with files, so this is a very useful shortcut.

Windows Key + R – Brings up the Run dialog box, which lets you quickly run commands. Also, it’s easy to open the command prompt by using this shortcut, then typing in CMD.

Windows Key + Z - This will bring up the app bar in a full-screen Metro app so you can execute commands.

Windows Key + Tab - The same key combination through all versions of Office to quickly cycle through all open apps.

Windows Key + H – This will open the Share charm directly. Now that you will have to use Charms all the time in Windows, learning this one and the next one will make you work a lot faster.

Windows Key + I - Opens the Settings charm directly. The settings charm also lets you turn off the computer and change your PC settings. Yes, you have to go through this charm to turn off a Windows 8 machine!

Windows Key + V – Notifications is a new and big part of Windows. You can get notifications for all kinds of stuff including when you get a new email, a download has completed, and lots more stuff.

Windows Key + Period (.) – This probably my favorite. You can snap any Metro app to the right or left hand side of the screen and then continue using other Metro apps. This is great if you want to snap your email to the right and then read the news or do something else.

Ctrl + Shift + Esc - This will bring up the new Windows 8 Task Manager. The shortcut is the same as it was in previous version of Windows.

So those are the 12 shortcuts I have found to be the most useful in Windows 8 so far. A lot of them use the Windows Key, so that makes it a little easier to remember too. Tell us what you think! Enjoy!