Windowskeyboardshortcuts can streamline writing, research, and web browsing to make everyday tasks a little bit easier. From quickly checking your settings and launching emoji and GIF keyboards to utilizing accessibility tools, the shortcut updates that come withWindows 11streamline laptop and desktop workflows. Whether you consider yourself a pro of Windows or find tech intimidating, our list can help improve how you use your computer.
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Let’s first make sure your device is running Windows 11. To do this quickly, on your keyboard input the following:
If the above prompt displays Windows 11 OS, congratulations, you’re able to use all the shortcuts below to optimize your workflow and have a little fun with Windows.
Before we get into the best of Windows 11 list, there are a few tried and true shortcuts that every Windows PC user should have in their toolbox, regardless of their version of Windows. As Pocket-lint’s copy editor, I use the five keyboard shortcuts below constantly throughout the day to highlight and copy text, find specific words on pages, and undo errors.
Open a search box in the window, so you can locate words, phrases, and letters
Covers all the text and images on a webpage or document
Reverses recent typing
Makes a copy of the highlighted text
Adds copied text to a page
Now that you’re equipped with my most used keyboard shortcuts, let’s dive into the newest and most exciting Windows 11 quick prompts you can launch with yourkeyboard.
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1Open quick links
Useful pop-up list
Quick links will provide a pop-up list with incredibly useful commands, files, and prompts you can locate with a stroke of two keys instead of digging around trying to remember where your network connections, task manager, or settings live. Some of the quick links I used most often are the File Explorer shortcut, Task Manager, and quick shutdown.
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2Open emoji, GIF, and clipboard shortcut
Personal touch
These three different shortcut options all bring you to the same pop-up window. It is a window that shows six tabs covering different additions you’re able to insert within your text. The six tabs are: recently used, an emoji keyboard 👻, aGIF keyboardvia Tenor, a Kaomoji keyboard (❁´◡`❁), special characters, and your clipboard showing your most recent 25 copied items. I love adding GIFs to friendly chats and personal emails without downloading extensions or additional apps.
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3Screenshots and recording
I do this all day
I spend a lot of my day formatting images and creating screenshots of products, so we can put them into articles. These two shortcut options allow you to take precise screenshots quickly, without downloading external applications or software. The time saved to grab a screenshot while I’m still within the appropriate window, without launching a separate program, has saved me hours each week.
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4Open Windows Task Manager
Force-stop apps
When you want to check out your background performance or see which window is slowing down your computer, the Windows Task Manager is the place to go. Before upgrading to my newAcer Swift Xthis past fall, I used to check on the Task Manager daily to force-stop tasks and check on my older laptop’s performance. While I don’t have to do that so consistently now, it’s still a great tool to quickly access a useful report of your device’s functions.
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5Cast from Quick Settings
It’s straightforward
Casting might be new to some, or old hat to others, but it’s a cool feature that you can utilize to mirror your laptop screen to another device. This shortcut is a favorite when my partner is searching for a live college football game that is easiest to find on a laptop instead of a streaming TV app.
It’s straightforward to use and only requires a few additional steps on the device you’d like to cast your screen to for full set up. My casts usually take under five seconds to go live on my TV. To disconnect the cast, simply input Windows key + K again and select Disconnect.
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6Delete without the Recycle Bin
Permanently delete on first try
To permanently delete files on a Windows device, usually you must first delete the files, then empty the Recycle Bin, otherwise a deleted copy will still live in your Recycle Bin. This shortcut skips the initial delete and permanently deletes a file on the first try.
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7Launch Windows Copilot
Microsoft’s AI
Copilot is a new service Microsoft has launched to try to stay relevant in the generative AI game since they discontinued Cortana. Copilot is a chatbot developed by Microsoft designed to answer your questions in a natural language, summarize content, customize your settings for you, troubleshoot issues, and perform basic actions.
This all depends on what you input into Copilot, and it offers three conversation styles: more creative, more balanced, and more precise. I mostly use Copilot when I have questions about Windows settings or my laptop, but it’s fun to play around with for silly questions and prompts.
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8Navigating Tabs and Windows
Quick preview all windows
These are staples in my workday, as like many others, I tend to have a minimum of four windows open with at least 10 tabs in each window. I find the Windows + Tab much easier to use than clicking through and opening every program from the taskbar at the bottom of the screen, as it provides a quick preview of all operating windows.
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9Quickly hide your current screen
Boo nosy loved ones
There are plenty of reasons you may want to minimize your screen quickly from prying eyes. My favorite of the four options above is Windows key + D, if it’s not anything important, but if I’mshopping for presentsfor my family, I tend to lean toward a quick Windows key + L to lock the computer screen away from the eyes of nosy loved ones.
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10Accessibility settings
For example, prompt voice typing
Windows 11 comes with a slew of accessibility keyboard shortcuts. When you want to look through the entirety of the accessibility settings, use the Windows key + U. When you would like to prompt voice typing and the on-screen keyboard, you may use the shortcuts above or find them within the main accessibility settings. For a full list ofaccessibility shortcuts, check out Microsoft’s explainer.
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