The Windows 8 stalemate is over and you can read this review of reviews, on what the big websites have to say on Windows 8 release. Already 4 million copies of 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, Metro apps all have shortcuts which make Windows 8 browsing experience a breeze.

What are Keyboard Shortcuts?

According to this Microsoft article, the definition of keyboard shortcuts is listed below.

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 make it easier to interact with your computer, saving you time and effort as you work with Windows and other programs.

The above articles not only details about shortcuts simplicity, but it also mentions about various keyboard shortcuts under Windows 7. There are different type of shortcuts like – 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.

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Some Useful Windows 8 Keyboard Shortcuts

    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 cheatsheet 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.

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Windows 8 Keyboard Shortcuts

Keep the productive work happening with these shortcuts!

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