50+ Windows 11 Keyboard Shortcuts for Productivity (2026 Guide)

Alt+Tab returns you to the previous window without the mouse. Win+Left snaps the current window to the left half of the screen. You turn clipboard history on under Settings, System, Clipboard. Win+V then opens the history of the latest 25 copied items. Those three keys replace three common mouse trips on this PC.

The keys below are ones Windows 11 has. A few are called out as Windows 11 only. PeakFlow adds three default keys of its own, listed with the Windows ones. The setup for a long stretch of real work is where those keys meet the timer and the dimmer.

Every day

Press the Windows key by itself to open Start with the search box ready. Press Win+S to open Windows Search on its own separate page. Press Win+R to open the Run box for a command such as notepad. Press Win+E to open a new File Explorer window on the desktop.

Press Win+D to show the desktop by minimizing every open window. Press Win+D again to restore the windows you just hid from view. Press Win+L to lock this PC before you step away from the desk. Press Win+Period to open the emoji and symbol panel on screen.

Press Win+Shift+S to open the snip overlay for a region, a window, or the whole screen. Press Print Screen to copy the whole screen to the clipboard. Press Alt+Print Screen to copy only the active window to the clipboard.

Window positions

Press Win+Left to snap the active window to the left half of the screen. Press Win+Right to snap that same window to the right half of the screen. Press Win+Up to maximize the active window on the current screen. Press Win+Down to restore a maximized window, or to minimize it on a second press.

Press Win+Left, then Win+Up, to fill the top-left quarter of the screen. Press Win+Left, then Win+Down, to fill the bottom-left quarter of the screen. The same pair of keys on the right fills the right-hand quarters. Press Win+Z to open the Snap Layouts picker for this window.

Press Win+Shift+Left or Win+Shift+Right to move the window to the other monitor. Press Win+P to open the project menu for PC screen only, duplicate, extend, or second screen only.

Four snapped windows can still fight for your eyes on a wide screen. FocusDim, in Active mode, leaves only the front window bright. App mode keeps the other windows of that same app bright. The default key is Ctrl+Shift+D.

Virtual desktops

Press Win+Ctrl+D to create another virtual desktop. Press Win+Ctrl+Left to move to the previous desktop. Press Win+Ctrl+Right to move to the next desktop. Press Win+Ctrl+F4 to close the current desktop and send its windows to a neighbor. Press Win+Tab to open Task View with every desktop and the windows on this one.

Taskbar

Press Win+1 to open the first app pinned on the taskbar. The same pattern runs through the other pins, with Win+2 for the second pin. Press Win+Shift plus that same number to open a new window of the pinned app. Tap Alt+Tab to return to the window you were just using. Press Alt+Esc to cycle windows in open order without the preview strip.

Press Ctrl+Alt+Tab to leave the app switcher on screen for the arrow keys. Press Win+T to cycle taskbar buttons, then Enter to open the one you landed on. Press Win+B to move to the tray, then use the arrows and Enter. Press Win+A to open Quick Settings for network, sound, and brightness. Press Win+N to open Notification Center on Windows 11.

The tray apps behind Win+B are described in the tray apps page.

Text

Press Home or End to jump to the start or end of the line. Press Ctrl+Left or Ctrl+Right to move one word at a time. Press Ctrl+Backspace to delete the word behind the cursor. Press Ctrl+Delete to delete the word ahead of the cursor. Press Shift+Home or Shift+End to select from the cursor to the end of that line. Press Ctrl+Shift+Left or Ctrl+Shift+Right to select one word at a time. Press Ctrl+A to select all text in the field. Press Ctrl+Z to undo in almost every editor. Press Ctrl+Y to redo in many apps, though some apps use a different redo key.

Clipboard

Press Ctrl+C to copy the current selection to the clipboard. Press Ctrl+X to cut the current selection out of the document. Press Ctrl+V to paste the newest clipboard item into the field. Win+V shows those 25 items with no search box in the panel. Unpinned items in that panel clear whenever Windows restarts on this PC. Account sync moves clipboard text only, with the Microsoft account switch turned on. The clipboard history page stays on that Windows panel. The longer clipboard guide stays with QuickBoard rather than Win+V.

Press Ctrl+Shift+V to open QuickBoard from whatever app you are in. Chrome, Edge, and Firefox use that same key to paste without formatting when QuickBoard is not taking it. QuickBoard keeps unpinned clips up to a limit you set, with 500 as the default. Pinned clips sit above the 500 cap for unpinned clips. A plain-text paste mode is included inside QuickBoard itself. The page on copying several items and the page on free clipboard apps are the longer clipboard reads.

File Explorer

Press Alt+Up to go up one folder in File Explorer. Press Alt+Left to go back one page in Explorer or the browser. Press Alt+Right to go forward again in Explorer or the browser. Press Ctrl+L or Alt+D to put the cursor in the address bar. Press F2 to rename the selected file or the selected folder. Press Ctrl+Shift+N to create a new folder in this location. Press Delete to send the selection to the Recycle Bin. Press Shift+Delete to remove the selection without using the Recycle Bin. Press Alt+Enter to open Properties for the selected file. Press Alt+P to show or hide the preview pane in Explorer. Press Ctrl+Shift plus a number from 1 through 8 to change the Explorer view.

Browser

These browser keys work in Chrome, Edge, and Firefox on Windows. Press Ctrl+T to open a new browser tab. Press Ctrl+W to close the current browser tab. Press Ctrl+Shift+T to reopen the tab you just closed. Press Ctrl+Tab to move forward to the next open tab. Press Ctrl+1 through Ctrl+8 to jump to the tab in that position. Press Ctrl+9 to jump to the last tab in the window. Press Ctrl+L to select the address in Explorer or the browser. Press Ctrl+F to find text on the current page. Press Ctrl+Shift+R to reload the page without using the saved cache. Press Ctrl+D to bookmark the current page in the browser. Press Ctrl+H to open the browser history page in Chrome, Edge, or Firefox. Press Ctrl+J to open the downloads page in Chrome, Edge, or Firefox. Press Alt+Left or Alt+Right to move backward or forward through pages.

System

Press Win+I to open the Settings app on this PC. Press Win+X to open the power-user menu for Terminal, Task Manager, and similar tools. Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open Task Manager directly from the keyboard. Press Win+Pause on a keyboard that has a Pause key to open the About page. Press Win+G to open Xbox Game Bar on this PC. Press Win+Alt+R to start or stop a Game Bar recording of the active window. Press Win+H to start voice typing on Windows 11.

Press Win+Plus to open Magnifier on this PC. Press Win+Minus to zoom the Magnifier back out again. Press Win+Esc to close the Magnifier window on the desktop. Press Win+U to open the accessibility page inside Settings. Press Win+Ctrl+Enter to turn the Narrator screen reader on or off. Press Win+Ctrl+O to open the on-screen keyboard on the desktop. Press Win+Ctrl+C to toggle the Windows color filters on this PC.

PeakFlow keys

Three PeakFlow tools have default keys you can press from any app on Windows. QuickBoard opens from the default key Ctrl+Shift+V on Windows. FocusDim toggles from the default key Ctrl+Shift+D on Windows. MeetReady opens from the default key Ctrl+Shift+M on Windows. Changing any of those three keys is a Pro feature in PeakFlow. The 14-day trial included with the download includes that Pro feature. The default keys work on the free tools without that change.

Shortcut	Action	Tool
Ctrl+Shift+V	Open the clip list	QuickBoard
Ctrl+Shift+D	Turn window dimming on or off	FocusDim
Ctrl+Shift+M	Open the camera and microphone check	MeetReady

A short chain is Win+Ctrl+Right for the next desktop, Win+Left to snap the document, and Ctrl+Shift+D to dim the rest. Then start the 25-minute LiquidFocus timer from the tray. The timer lengths are in the Pomodoro timer guide. LiquidFocus has no published default hotkey.

A few keys at a time

Pick three keys that match the mouse trip you still hate. Stay with those three keys for long enough to learn them cold. Then pick three more keys from the sections above. Start window snapping with Win+Left, Win+Right, or Win+Z. Start the writing keys with Ctrl+Backspace, Ctrl+Shift+Left, or Shift+End. Start copying with Win+V, with Ctrl+Shift+V for QuickBoard, or with Ctrl+C.

FAQ

Can I change the keyboard shortcuts Windows 11 ships with?

Windows 11 does not include a full remap for most of its own shortcuts. PowerToys Keyboard Manager can remap keys plus create shortcuts of your own. Changing a PeakFlow hotkey is a Pro feature in the app. The 14-day trial included with the download includes that Pro feature. The default PeakFlow keys work on the free tools without a change.

Do these keys also work on Windows 10?

Most of these keys work on Windows 10 as well as on Windows 11. Win+Z, Win+A, and Win+N are the Windows 11 keys in this list. Win+Z opens the Snap Layouts picker on Windows 11. Win+A opens Quick Settings on a Windows 11 desktop. Win+N opens Notification Center on a Windows 11 desktop.

How do I get back to the previous window?

Press Alt+Tab a single time to return to the window you just left. Win plus a taskbar pin's number opens that pinned app directly from the bar. FocusDim can dim the windows you are not using.

How is Win+V different from Ctrl+Shift+V?

Win+V opens the built-in Windows clipboard history panel on the desktop. That history panel stays completely off on a new Windows PC. Settings, under System then Clipboard, is where you enable it. That panel holds 25 items and has no search inside it. Unpinned items in that panel clear whenever Windows restarts on this PC. Account sync moves clipboard text only, with the Microsoft account switch turned on. Ctrl+Shift+V opens QuickBoard from any app on Windows. Chrome, Edge, and Firefox use Ctrl+Shift+V to paste without formatting when QuickBoard is not taking that key. The clipboard guide spells out the QuickBoard limits in more detail.

Other pages

The app comparison names what each program does. The Clock timer page covers the Windows session timer. The long-task setup puts Do not disturb, dimming, and the 25-minute timer together.