Learning basic key combinations can help you to operate menus and settings more quickly than depending on your mouse or touchpad. More shortcut keys have been added after you upgraded from Windows 10 to Windows 11 enhance speed and efficiency of computing. Surely there’s no excuse not to use these tools to boost your output.
As a software engineer, I depend mostly on keyboard shortcuts to speed up my coding process. I can not overlook the major advantages these shortcuts offer. Thanks to this habit, over time I have become a power user of Windows 11; hopefully, you too know at least some basic shortcuts.
No matter how busy you are — a student handling homework, a worker rushing to get things done, or a casual user wanting to make daily tasks easier — learning keyboard shortcuts will save you a lot of time and help you get a lot more done.
I have listed the Windows 11 keyboard shortcut keys in several sections to make it easy for you to navigate them.
Basic Daily Office Tasks Keyboard Shortcuts (Ctrl +)
Below are my most frequently used shortcut keys in daily office work. You may work more efficiently by using these shortcuts to complete basic tasks like copying, pasting, saving, and searching within documents much more quickly:
| Keyboard shortcut | Function |
| Ctrl + C | Copy selected items. (text, images, videos, files, folders) |
| Ctrl + X | Cut selected items. (text, images, videos, files, folders) |
| Ctrl + V | Paste copied or cut items. (text, images, videos, files, folders) |
| Ctrl + Z | Undo the last action. |
| Ctrl + Y | Redo the last action. |
| Ctrl + A | Select all items (text, images, videos, files, folders) in the current window. |
| Ctrl + F | Open the find dialog to search within the current document or file. |
| Ctrl + S | Save the current document, file, or project. |
| Ctrl + P | Print the current document or file. |
Basic Daily Life Tasks Keyboard Shortcuts (Win +)
You can access settings, browse your system, and organise your desktop more effectively with the use of these shortcuts:
| Keyboard shortcut | Function |
| Win | Open or close the Start menu. |
| Win + D | Show or hide the desktop. |
| Win + E | Open File Explorer. |
| Win + L | Lock your computer or switch user accounts. |
| Win + R | Open the Run dialog box to quickly launch applications or commands. |
| Win + I | Open the Settings app. |
| Win + Tab | Open Task View to see all open windows and manage virtual desktops. |
| Win + Plus (+) | Open Magnifier to zoom in on parts of the screen. |
| Win + Minus (-) | Zoom out with Magnifier. |
| Win + V | Open Clipboard History |
Navigation Keyboard Shortcuts
When using mouse controls alone, it can be difficult to go through tasks like managing virtual desktops, snapping windows into place, and accessing necessary settings. So, you can manage them much easier by using keyboard shortcuts:
| Keyboard shortcut | Function |
| Win + Tab | Open Task View to manage open windows and virtual desktops. |
| Win + Ctrl + D | Create a new virtual desktop. |
| Win + Ctrl + Left / Right Arrow | Switch between virtual desktops quickly. |
| Win + Ctrl + F4 | Close the current virtual desktop. |
| Win + Up Arrow | Maximize the current window if it’s minimized. |
| Win + Down Arrow | Minimizes the current window if it’s maximized. If already minimized, restores the window. |
| Win + Left / Right Arrow | Snap the current window to the left or right side of the screen for side-by-side viewing. |
| Win + Shift + Up Arrow | Stretch the current window vertically to utilize full screen height while maintaining its current width. |
File Management Keyboard Shortcuts
These keyboard shortcuts can help you better manage your Windows files and folders:
| Keyboard shortcut | Function |
| Win + E | Open File Explorer. |
| Ctrl + Shift + N | Create a new folder in File Explore / Desktop. |
| Alt + Up Arrow | Go up one level in File Explorer. |
| Alt + Left Arrow / Backspace | Go back to the previous folder in File Explorer. |
| Alt + Right Arrow | Go forward to the next folder in File Explorer. |
| F2 | Rename the selected item. |
| Delete | Delete the selected items. |
| Shift + Delete | Delete the selected item(s) permanently. (bypassing Recycle Bin) |
| Ctrl + Shift + Esc | Open Task Manager. |
Screenshot Keyboard Shortcuts
If you want to take a screenshot quickly during your online class ,watching a video or just capture a specific part of an image , you can efficiently do so using these shortcuts:
| Keyboard shortcut | Function |
| PrtScn (Print Screen) | Capture the entire screen. The screenshot is copied to the clipboard. On some laptops, it directly open the Snipping Tool because of feature in Windows 11 that allows users to configure their PrtSc key to launch the Snipping Tool. |
| Win + PrtScn | Capture the currently active window. The screenshot is saved into your folder. |
| Win + Shift + S | Open the Snip & Sketch tool to capture a screenshot. You can select a portion of the screen to capture. The screenshot is copied to the clipboard. |
Accessibility Keyboard Shortcuts
These accessibility keyboard shortcuts give rapid access to necessary features, therefore enabling you to more effectively navigate and control applications:
| Keyboard shortcut | Function |
| Alt | Activate the menu bar in many applications, displaying access keys for each menu item. |
| Alt + F4 | Close the current window or exit the current application. |
| Alt + Tab | Switch between open windows. |
| Alt + Enter | Open the properties for the selected item (e.g., file, folder). |
| Alt + D | Select the address bar in a browser to type a URL or search term. |
| Win + . | Open special keyboard including emojis, smileys, symbols, and various objects. |
Others Windows 11 Keyboard Shortcuts
Depending on your requirement, these extra keyboard shortcuts could or not be helpful to you. However, trying them out to determine their relevance and potential benefits.
| Keyboard shortcut | Function |
| Win + C | Open or close Copilot. |
| Win + A | Open quick settings access to commonly used system settings like brightness, volume, and more. |
| Win + W | Open widgets which provide personalized news, weather, and updates directly on your desktop. |
| Win + Z | Open snap layouts allow you to quickly organize and snap windows into different layouts on your screen. |
| Win + N | Open notification center displays recent notifications and alerts from apps and system events. |
| Win + K | Connect allows you to quickly connect to wireless displays, audio devices, and other PCs. |
You can check all the Windows shortcut keys here.
This is a summary of my keyboard shortcuts, which significantly enhances my productivity and efficiency. You will find there are too many shortcut keys, but you don’t need to memorize all of them. Instead, pick some of them that are most useful for your daily routines.
I look forward to Windows introducing more shortcuts to optimize our overall user experience, and please feel free to revisit these shortcuts.
