Complete list of Windows 11 Keyboard shortcuts with Downloadable PDF

Keyboard shortcuts make our lives much easier when working on a Windows 11 computer. These hotkeys fasten your workflow and increase productivity whether you need to access settings, enter directories or navigate around tabs and windows. Moreover, when your mouse or pointer isn’t working due to any reason, hotkeys come to the rescue. So, in this post, we are putting together a complete list of the Windows 11 keyboard shortcuts.

If you are someone like us who loves to use keyboard shortcuts, this list is extremely worthwhile. Furthermore, most of these hotkeys would be applicable to Windows 10 too. In case, you want to download keyboard shortcuts pdf for Windows 11 go to the last of this post and click the link there.

Table of Contents

Windows 11 Keyboard shortcuts

Here is the complete list of Windows 11 Keyboard shortcuts –

We have classified the hotkeys to make it somewhat easier for you to find them you need or are looking for.

1] Most used Hotkeys

There are shortcuts that many of us use very frequently and you can call them generic. If you have been using a computer for some period of time, you might be cognizant of many of these hotkeys as well. In this list, we have all the most common shortcuts that can work on both Windows 11 as well as its predecessor:

Shortcut	Actions
Ctrl + A	Selects all selectable contents on the current screen
Ctrl + Z	Undo the recent action(s)
Ctrl + Y	Redo the action you have undone
Ctrl + C	Copies the items you have selected
Ctrl + X	Cuts the items you have selected
Ctrl + V	Pastes the items you have copied or cut
Win + Tab	Opens Task View to view all open tasks or windows
Alt + Tab	Allows users to switch between the running applications
Win + D	Allows users to switch back and forth from the desktop
Alt + F4	Shuts the active app or window; or, If you are on Desktop, opens the power options
Win + L	Locks computer and display the Lock screen
Alt + Page Down	Move down one screen (Used to go down faster)
Alt + Page Up	Move up one screen( Used to go up faster)
Alt + Right arrow	Goes to the next screen; if you are on the web, goes to the next webpage if you had gone back
Alt + Left arrow	Goes to the previous screen; if you are on the web, goes to the previous webpage you had opened on the tab
F10	Bring down the menu bar of the current Window/ program
F5	Refreshes the active screen
Ctrl + S	Save the current file
Ctrl + Shift + S	Save As function- lets the user save a copy of the current file at the specified location
Ctrl + O	Help opens a file in the active program if allowed—–
Ctrl + Delete/ Delete	Deletes the chosen item and move it to the Recycle Bin
Shift + Delete	Deletes the item permanently
Shift + Arrow keys	To select multiple items or to select text
Win + Shift + S	Allows users to capture part of the screen with Snip & Sketch
PrtScn or Print	Captures a complete screenshot and keeps it on the clipboard
Ctrl + P	Sends the current page to print
Windows + X	Open Start button context menu.
Alt + Esc	Switch between the apps on the Taskbar
Alt + F8	Displays the entered password on your login screens
Alt + F10	Opens the context menu or the right-click menu for a particular item
Alt + Enter	Brings up properties for a selected item
Alt + Spacebar	Opens up the shortcut menu for the current window
Win + R	Pops out the Run window
Ctrl + N	Launches a new program window of the current app
Win + Shift + S	Helps to take a screen clipping
Win + I	Opens up the Windows 11 settings
Esc	Exits or cancels the current task
Win + period ( . ) or Win + semicolon ( ; )	Launches Emoji keyboard
F11	Helps enter or exit the full-screen mode
Window logo key (Win)	Opens Windows 11 Start menu
Win + M	Minimizes all the open windows (Alternative to Win +D)
Win + Home	Minimize or bring up all windows except the currently active window
Ctrl + Shift	Switch keyboard layout
Ctrl + Arrow keys + Spacebar	To choose multiple items on the desktop
Win + Left Arrow Key	Shifts the current window to the left-hand side of your screen
Win + Right Arrow Key	Places the current window to the left-hand side of your screen
Win + Shift + Up arrow key	Stretch or place the active window to the top of the screen
Win + Shift + down arrow key	Stretch or place the active window to the top of the screen
Ctrl + Shift + Left and click app icon	Launches the application on the taskbar as administrator
Win + 1	Opens the app in the first position on your taskbar
Win + Alt + D	Views Date and Time along with calendar
Alt + Windows key + number keys	Open the application’s menu on the taskbar

2] New Windows 11 Keyboard shortcuts

In addition, there are a bunch of new hotkeys available only on Windows 11. Going forward we may explore more exclusive Windows 11 shortcuts, but here are the ones we found so far:

Shortcut	Actions
Win + W	Opens the Widget Pane that shows the weather forecast, local news, your calendar, etc.
Win + A	Pops up the Quick access menu that helps you manage Focus Assist, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Brightness sliders, and such settings
Win + Z	Help organize apps
Win + N	Brings up all the unaddressed notifications

3] Desktop/Virtual desktop Shortcuts

Here are a few common desktop related shortcuts –

Shortcut	Actions
Win + Ctrl + D	Allows users to add a new virtual desktop
Win + Ctrl + F4	Closes down the currently active virtual desktop
Win key + Ctrl + Right arrow	Switch or toggle between the virtual desktops you’ve created towards the Right
Win key + Ctrl + Left arrow	Switch or toggle between the virtual desktops you’ve created towards the Left
CTRL + SHIFT while dragging icon or file	Create a shortcut
Win + S or Win + Q	Opens the Windows Search

4] File Explorer Windows 11 shortcut keys list

Generally, users frequently go through File Explorer therefore, this section lists all the shortcuts you can use in the app that allow you to navigate through the program, subfolders, and tools smoothly.

Shortcut	Actions
Win + E	Launches the File Explorer
Ctrl + E	Puts cursor in the search box in the file explorer
Ctrl + N	Opens up a new window of the program
Ctrl + W	Close active Explorer window
Ctrl + M	Enables the mark mode
Ctrl + Mouse Scroll	Changes the file or the folder view
Ctrl + Shift + E	Expands all the sub-folders available in the navigation pane
F6	Allows you to switch between panes
Alt + D	Selects the address bar in the File Explorer
Ctrl + Shift + (Any numbers) 1-8	Changes the folder view
End	Move to the bottom of the window that is currently active
Alt + P	Display the preview panel
Alt + Enter	Opens the Properties for the selected item
F4	Goes to address bar
Num Lock + plus (+)	Expands the drive or folder you have selected
Num Lock + Minus (-)	Collapse the drive or folder you have chosen
Alt + Right arrow	Shifts to the next accessible folder
Alt + Left arrow	Goes to the previous folder
Alt + Up arrow	Switch back to the parent folder the folder was in
Home	Moves to the top of the currently active window

5] Command Prompt shortcut keys

Several advanced Windows 11 users use Command Prompt frequently to execute tasks. If you are one of those people who love to get tasks done through command lines, the following shortcuts would be quite useful.

Shortcut	Actions
Ctrl + Home	Scrolls up to the very top of the current Command Prompt window
Ctrl + End	Goes to the bottom of CMD window
Ctrl + A	Selects everything on the current line
Shift + Up	Moves the cursor up one line and select the texts along
Shift + down arrow	Puts the cursor down one line and select the text in between as well
Up or Down arrow keys	Cycles through commands passed in the current session
Left or Right arrow keys	Move cursor left or right in the current
Shift + Home	Move your cursor to the start of the current line
Shift + End	Move your cursor to the end of the current line
Ctrl + Up arrow	Move the screen up one line in the output history
Ctrl + down arrow	Move the screen down one line in the output history

6] Shortcuts to use with Accessibility Keyboard

Accessibility Keyboard is a pretty useful feature available in newer Windows versions. If you are using this attribute repeatedly, you might want to check out the compilation of the below shortcuts for accessibility keyboard.

Shortcut	Actions
Win + U	Launches Ease of Access Centre
Ctrl + Alt + D	Enables the docked mode in Magnifier
Ctrl + Alt + M	Allows users to cycle through different views in Magnifier
Ctrl + Alt + L	Switches to Magnifier lens mode
Win + plus (+)	It Starts Magnifier and lefts you Zoom in
Ctrl + Alt + mouse scroll	Allows users to zoom in or out using mouse
Win + minus (-)	Zooms out the Magnifier
Ctrl + Alt + R	Resizes the lens
Ctrl + Alt + up arrow keys	Pan upwards in Magnifier
Ctrl + Alt + down arrow keys	Pan downwards in Magnifier
Ctrl + Alt + left arrow	Pan to left in Magnifier
Ctrl + Alt + right arrow	Pan to right in Magnifier
Press Shift five times	Turn on or off Sticky Keys
Left Alt + left Shift + PrtScr	Enable or disable High Contrast
Win + Enter	Opens Narrator to start textto speech feature
Win + Ctrl + O	Launches on-screen keyboard
Win + Esc	Exits out of Magnifier

See more keys here – Narrator Keyboard Shortcuts / Hotkeys in Windows 10

7] Other useful keyboard shortcuts

Here are a couple of other hotkeys meaningful when you perform specific tasks. Take a quick look at the list and decide for yourself as to which of these would be useful to you according to your computer usage.

Shortcut	Actions
Win + G	Launches the Game bar
Win + Alt + G	Enable screen recording and records the last 30 seconds of the currently active game
Win + Alt + R	Starts or stops recording the game that is currently active
Win + Alt + PrtScr	Capture a screenshot of the current window
Win + Alt + T	Shows or hides recording timer of the game during the recoding
Win + forward slash	Starts an IME reconversion
Win + F	Opens the Feedback Hub to provide feedback to the Microsoft community
Win + H	Launches Voice Typing feature
Win + K	Enables or launches the Connect quick setting
Win + O	Locks the orientation of your device
Win + Shift + Left or right arrow keys	Moves an application or a program window from one monitor to another, following the direction of the arrow key pressed
Win + Spacebar	Switches between the input languages and keyboard layout
Win + V	Opens the Clipboard History window
Win + Y	Flips the input between your desktop and Windows Mixed Reality
Win + Pause	Displays the System Properties Page
Win + C	Launches the Cortana feature
Ctrl + Tab	Moves forward through tabs of the open window
Ctrl + Shift + Tab	Move back through tabs of the open window
F4	Displays all the items in the active list
Tab	Shifts forward through options of the dialog box or Window
Shift + Tab	Moves back through the options or button on the dialog box
Spacebar	Checks or Unchecks the check box if a check box is the active option
Backspace	Opens up the parent folder if a folder is selected in the Open file window
Ctrl + Any number (1–9)	Skips forward or backward to nth tab
Arrow keys	Selects or moves to a button in any group of active buttons