Windows 10 allows you to use a variety of keyboard shortcuts to help with your repetitive PC activities and tasks. Shortcut keys let you increase your productivity: by mastering the right combinations, it becomes much easier to perform certain actions on the computer without breaking your typing flow. This is the practical list — the ones worth committing to muscle memory, grouped the way you actually use them.
Window management
- Win + Left / Right — snap the window to half the screen
- Win + Up / Down — maximize / restore the snapped window
- Alt + Tab — switch between open apps (hold Alt, tap Tab)
- Win + D — show the desktop; press again to restore everything
- Win + L — lock the PC instantly
Virtual desktops
- Win + Ctrl + D — create a new desktop
- Win + Ctrl + Left / Right — switch between desktops
- Win + Tab — open Task View to see all desktops at a glance
- Win + Ctrl + F4 — close the current desktop (windows move to the previous one)
File Explorer
- Win + E — open File Explorer
- Alt + D — focus the address bar
- Ctrl + E — focus the search box
- Ctrl + Shift + N — new folder
- F2 — rename the selected item
Screenshots and clips
- Win + Shift + S — screenshot any region to the clipboard
- Win + PrtScn — full-screen capture saved straight to the Screenshots folder
- Win + G — game bar for recording clips
The everyday core
If you only learn five, learn these: Win + Left/Right for snapping, Alt + Tab for switching, Win + E for files, Win + Shift + S for screenshots and Ctrl + Shift + Esc for Task Manager. Everything else is a bonus that compounds over a working day.
Classic shortcuts that still rule
Ctrl+C, Ctrl+X, Ctrl+V need no introduction, but two classics are underused: Ctrl+Shift+V pastes without formatting, and Win+V opens the clipboard history — once you enable it, you will wonder how you worked without it. For the file-management side of speed, see our guide to the two-column Fluent interface in Windows 10.