Essential Windows 8 Shortcuts, Clicks, and Gestures

Windows 8 has a lot of cool features, but they’re hard to find - unless you know the secret keyboard shortcuts, mouse clicks, and touch gestures. In this article, author Michael Miller provides an invaluable reference to everything you need to know to use Windows 8 to the fullest.

 

Windows 8 is much like previous versions of Windows—except it’s not. That is, you can do almost everything you used to be able to do, and then some, if you know the secret handshakes. Well, not really secret handshakes, but it seems like that, sometimes.
That’s because a lot of what used to be out in the open in Windows 7 and Windows Vista (and even Windows XP) is now accessible only by a touch gesture or keyboard shortcut or mouse movement. There are fewer “visual cues” to what you need to do, and more stuff you need to memorize. You can’t rely on whatever you want to do being located somewhere on the Start menu, because the Start menu doesn’t exist anymore.
So to get the most out of Windows 8 —heck, just to use it on the most basic level—you have to learn a series of shortcuts, clicks, and gestures. These aren’t always intuitive, and are often difficult if not impossible to remember.

Essential Keyboard Shortcuts

Let’s start with how to operate Windows 8 with your computer keyboard. Yeah, you might have a fancy new touchscreen PC (although you probably don’t), and I’m sure you’re a wiz with the mouse or touchpad, but more often than not, the fastest way to do any specific operation is to tap a key or two on your keyboard.
I say a key or two, because much of what you need to in Windows 8 is accomplished by pressing two keys together—what we call keyboard shortcuts. When you see a key combination, such as Windows+C, you can press both keys simultaneously, or press one then press the other (while still keeping the first key pressed, of course).
The following table tells you all you need to know.

Operation	Shortcut Keys
Close currently running app or window	Alt+Q
Display Charms bar	Windows+C
Display context-sensitive options menu	Application (menu) key
Display Options bar	Windows+Z
Lock computer	Windows+L
Open a program or document	Move to item with arrow keys, then press Enter
Open All Apps Window	From Start screen, press Ctrl+Tab
Open Windows Help	Windows+F1
Return to Start screen	Windows key
Scroll down	PageDown or down arrow
Scroll left	PageUp or left arrow
Scroll right	PageDown or right arrow
Scroll up	PageUp or up arrow
Search	Windows+Q
Shut down Windows	Alt+F4
View or switch to other open apps	Alt+Tab

Most of these keyboard shortcuts are self-evident; you know what the Alt key is, and the Tab key, and even the various function keys (F1, F2, F3, and so forth). Two keys, however, are unique to Windows PCs.
The Windows key is the key, typically on the bottom row of the keyboard, to the left of the spacebar, that has a picture of the Windows logo on it. This key is particularly important in Windows 8, as you press this key to display the Start screen, which in the lieu of the old Start menu, you use to launch all your apps.

Posted in: Computer Tricks,Windows 8