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New Keyboard Shortcuts (Hot Keys) in Windows 8
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Windows
8 is the latest client operating system from Microsoft. The
user interface differs a lot from previous versions of Windows. Most of
the design effort for Microsoft Windows 8 has been focused around
creating a powerful touch screen interface and introducing a new type of
software and application user interface; so called apps. Apps are small
applications that are optimized for touch screen environments.
If you have a touch device
(for example a tablet) you will find that Windows 8 is very easy to use
and intuitive. But if you don't have a touch device Windows 8 can
sometimes be rather non-intuitive and complicated to use, unless you are
not familiar with some new keyboard shortcuts (hot keys) that have been added to
Windows 8. Knowing these keyboard shortcuts will help you having a good
experience with Windows 8 also without a touch device. This information will also be a productivity boost for you
if you are used to keep your hands on the keyboard often.
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In this article we will present some of the new keyboard shortcuts that
has been addded to Windows 8. The Win abbreviation used in the
tables below is the
Windows key of your keyboard. You must press the
Windows key and the letter or special character in the same time
to invoke the command.
Windows 8 - New keyboard
shortcuts
Charms / Charms bar
Charms (or the Charms bar) is a new
feature in Windows 8. It is a kind of tool bar that can be accessed from
anywhere in Windows, no matter which application you are working on. The charms bar
will usually be shown to the right in the computer screen, and can be used for
example for searching, sharing information and configuration of
settings. The keyboard shortcuts below can be used to handle the charms
bar:
Win + C |
Invoke charms (all charms) |
Win + Q |
Invoke the Search charm |
Win + H |
Invoke the Share charm |
Win + K |
Invoke the Devices charm |
Win + I |
Invoke the Settings charm |
Search
The following keyboard shortcuts can
be used for searching for apps, programs, settings and files:
Win + Q |
Search for apps / programs |
Win + W |
Search for settings |
Win + F |
Search for files |
Apps
The following keyboard shortcuts can
be used to handle apps:
Win + Z |
Open app options (shows the
commands that are available for an app) |
Win + . |
Snap the current app to the
right side of the screen |
Win + Shift + . |
Snap the current app to the left
side of the screen |
Win + Tab |
Opens switch list, can be used to switch to
another app |
Win + J |
Switch between the main app and the snapped
app |
Alt + F4 |
Close the app |
Classic Desktop
The following keyboard shortcuts can
be used to handle the classic desktop in Windows 8:
Win + D |
Show / hide the classic desktop |
Win + , |
Peek at the classic desktop |
Win + B |
Select the first item in the
notification area |
Start screen
The following keyboard shortcut
(keyboard button) can
be used to handle the Start screen of Windows 8:
Win |
If you press the Windows
key the Start screen is shown |
Miscellaneous
Below are some other useful keyboard
shortcuts (hot keys) described:
Win + X |
Open the menu for frequent
administrator tasks (system utility settings menu) |
Win + PrntScrn |
Take a screenshot and save the picture as
a .PNG file in the Picture folder |
Win + Tab |
Open switch list (can be used to switch to
another app) |
Win + T |
Cycle through the items on the Taskbar |
Win + U |
Open Ease of Access Center |
Win + Spacebar |
Switch input language and keyboard layout |
Win + Enter |
Open Windows Narrator |
Keyboard
shortcuts from previous Windows that are useful also in Windows 8
The Windows button has existed for a long time and below you will
find a list with some commands / keyboard shortcuts that are very useful
also in Windows 8:
Win + E |
Open Windows Explorer |
Win + R |
Open the Run dialog box |
Win + F1 |
Launch Windows Help and Support |
Using the
mouse in Windows 8
You can also access many functions in Windows 8 by using the
mouse. For example the Charms Bar can be opened by moving
the mouse pointer to the top or bottom right corner of your
computer screen. And the Start screen can be opened by
moving the mouse pointer to the bottom-left corner of the screen
and clicking in the bottom-left corner of the preview window that
is shown. |
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Other articles
More articles are available from the article index
page.
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The information in this
article is also valid for Windows 8.1. |
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