Windows 8 Keyboard shortcuts and mouse tips and tricks
Changing the Windows interface 8 is the most drastic change we've seen from the jump from Windows 3.11 to Windows 95. With a more active approach due to interaction by touch (touchscreen), initially you may feel intimidated to want to use this new operating system with the traditional mouse and keyboard. But Windows 8 offers new shortcuts using these two peripherals.
Here are some shortcuts using the keyboard and / or mouse we have found:
- Unlock the lock-screen: Double-click with the mouse or press any keyboard key, instead of dragging the welcome screen image to the top.
- Open up the Charms-bar (shutdown, settings, share, and others) by hitting the lower-left corner of the screen with the mouse — clicking required or alternatively use Windows Key
+ C. - Peek your desktop by using Windows Key
+ Y - Use Windows Key
+ I to activate the currently opened application setting - Use Windows Key
+ P to extend the screen to external monitor/TV - Always use Windows Key
to go back to the Start Screen. - Use Windows Key
+ F to open file search - Use Windows Key
+ W to open Search Settings pane - Use Windows Key
+ H to open Search App pane - Use Windows Key
+ Q to open Search Apps - Use Windows Key
+ Space-bar to switch the input language and keyboard layout - Use Windows Key
+ D to show the desktop - Use Windows Key
+ O to lock the screen rotation - Use Windows Key
+ Enter to launch the narrator - Use Windows Key
+ Z to display the App bar in a Metro style app. - Just type any keyword to start a search for anything, app, setting, file, etc.
- Use Windows Key
+ Tab to cycle through the open apps - To display everything you can do inside an application, just right-click to bring up the App-bar.
- Most applications don’t need to be closed down — Windows 8 will suspend them if they are not being displayed. To completely close an application down, you could use the new re-designed Task Manager (using the live tile or with the Ctrl+Shift+Esc keyboard shortcut) to perform a force quit.
- Move the mouse pointer to the left edge of the screen to view a small thumbnail of the most recently used application.
- Use the Page Up and Page Down keyboard keys to switch between tiles groups on the Start Screen.
- To Pin or Unpin tiles or remove applications, right-click on tiles on the Start Screen
- You can right-click a tile and change the size to smaller (half-tile) or larger (full-tile) — it may not be supported on every app tile.
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