Desktop Shortcuts
| Press this key: | To do this action: |
|---|---|
| Alt + A | Set focus to the first icon in the Suggested actions menu. |
| Alt + Esc | Cycle through windows in the order in which they were opened. |
| Alt + F4 | Close the active window. If no windows are open, prompt to shutdown. |
| Alt + F8 | Show your password on the sign-in screen. |
| Alt + Left arrow | Go back. |
| Alt + Page Down | Move down one screen. |
| Alt + Page Up | Move up one screen. |
| Alt + PrtScn | Capture a screenshot of the active window and copy it to the clipboard. |
| Alt + Right arrow | Go forward. |
| Alt + Shift + arrow keys | When a group or tile is in focus on the Start menu, move it in the specified direction. |
| Alt + Spacebar | Open the context menu for the active window. |
| Alt + Tab | Switch between open windows. To cycle through multiple windows, continue to hold the Alt key and press Tab multiple times. |
| Alt + underlined letter | For actions in command or context menus, some windows and apps specify keyboard shortcuts by underlining a character in the action name. Press Alt and then the letter to do that action. |
| Ctrl + A | Select all items in a window. |
| Ctrl + Alt + Del | Switch to the security screen where you can lock the desktop, switch user, sign out, change a password, or open Task Manager. |
| Ctrl + Alt + Tab | View a thumbnail of all open apps. Use the arrow keys to switch between open apps. |
| Ctrl + Esc | Open the Start menu. |
| Ctrl + F4 | In apps that are full-screen and let you have multiple documents open at the same time, close the active document but not the entire app. |
| Ctrl + F5 Ctrl + R | Refresh the current window. |
| Ctrl + Shift | When multiple keyboard layouts are available, switch the keyboard layout. |
| Ctrl + Shift + arrow keys | When a tile is in focus on the Start menu, move it into another tile to create a folder. |
| Ctrl + Shift + Esc | Open Task Manager. |
| Ctrl + Spacebar | Enable or disable the Chinese input method editor (IME). For more information, see Microsoft Simplified Chinese IME and Microsoft Traditional Chinese IME. |
| Ctrl + Y | Redo an action that was previously undone with Ctrl + Z. |
| Ctrl + Z | Undo the previous action. |
| Esc or Escape | Stop or leave the current task, or dismiss a dialog box. |
| F5 | Refresh the active window. |
| F6 | Cycle through elements in a window or on the desktop. |
| F10 | Activate the menu bar in the active window. |
| PrtScn or Print Screen | Select a region of the screen to capture a screenshot to the clipboard. You can then open the Snipping Tool to share or markup the image. Note: You can turn off this default behavior. Select Start > Settings > Accessibility > Keyboard, and set Use the Print Screen button to open screen snipping to Off. Open the Settings app |