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Home » Feature » 15 Killer Windows 7 Keyboard Shortcuts That Might Surprise You
• Author: Abhijeet

15 Killer Windows 7 Keyboard Shortcuts

That Might Surprise You
July 21, 2010

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One of my personal favorites among the new features that Windows 7 came with was the
introduction of some awesome and long awaited keyboard shortcuts. I personally use them as
much as I can to save time, and I recommend the practice of using keyboard shortcuts to
others too.
This article talks about 15 really cool keyboards shortcuts that are specific to Windows 7. I
can bet that you don’t know all of them. Check them out, some of them will surprise you for
sure.
1. Ctrl+Shift+N to Create a New Folder

Creating a new folder in Windows explorer is something we all need to do on a frequent

basis. And until now, there was no default shortcut key available for this task. But Windows
7 changed that.
You could now use Ctrl+Shift+N to quickly create a new folder in Windows or anywhere on
your computer where a folder can be created.
2. Ctrl+Shift+Click to Open a Program As Administrator
There are many instances when just clicking on the icon of the application and opening it
doesn’t solve your purpose. You need to right click on it and click on “Run as Administrator”
so that you can make the required changes to the app.
In Windows 7, this can be done with a keyboard shortcut. You just need to point your mouse
cursor on that program and then click on it while pressing Ctrl+Shift keys to open it as
administrator.
3. Shift+Right-Click Enhances Send to Menu

The above screenshot shows the default send to menu that I get when I simply right click on a
program.
Now, if I press the Shift key, and while having it pressed, I right click on the icon, I get an
enhanced send to menu. See the screenshot below to check how it looks.
Nice, isn’t it?
Also check 2 Useful Tools To Add Items & Customize the Windows Right Click Menu.
4. Shift+Right-Click on a Folder to Open Command
Prompt

If you do Shift+right-click on a folder, you’ll find an option that says “Open command
windows here.” If you love working with the command prompt, this option should come in
handy.
5. Win+Space to Quickly Show Desktop
Remember our quick tip on hiding open windows in windows 7 ? Well, this is the keyboard
shortcut version of that mouse cursor trick. Pressing the Win key and the space bar
simultaneously shows you the desktop immediately.
6. Win+Up/Down/Left/Right for Moving the Active
Window

If you intend to quickly move the active window to make space for other apps, you could do
that by using the Win key and one of the arrow keys. Each arrow key would move the
window in the direction it is meant to.
7. For Dual Monitors: Win+Shift+Left Arrow Key to
Move Active Window to Left Monitor
If you are on a dual monitor setup using Windows 7 then you could press the Win+Shift+Left
arrow key combination to move the active application window to the left monitor.
8. For Dual Monitors: Win+Shift+Right Arrow Key to
Move Active Window to Right Monitor
Similarly, if you need to move the current window to the right monitor screen, just press
Win+Shift+right arrow key.
9. Win+T to Get to Taskbar Items
You could use the key combination Win+T to toggle through the applications pinned on the
taskbar in Windows 7.
10. Shift+Click on a Taskbar App to Open a New Instance
of the App
Let’s say you’ve got a bunch of Chrome windows open. And you need to quickly open a new
blank window of the browser. Here’s the way – point your cursor to the chrome icon on the
taskbar, hit Shift and click on it. There you go!
11. Win+B to Move Focus to the System Tray

In a previous article, we talked about a technique to add more clocks to the default Windows
clock in the system tray. Now, if you need to get there without using your mouse cursor,
how’d you do that?
Answer – Win+B. That would move the focus on the system tray, and then you could use the
arrow keys to cycle through the items, including the Windows clock.
12. Win+P for Quickly Connecting Your Laptop to a
Projector
Windows 7 has a nifty projection menu feature which enables you to quickly connect your
laptop to a projector or an extended monitor. Win+P is the keyboard shortcut for that
purpose.
13. Win+1, Win+2..so on for Opening Taskbar Programs
Want to quickly open a program that’s pinned to your Windows 7 taskbar? You can press the
Win key and the number corresponding to the location of the app on the taskbar.
14. Win+Pause helps you check System Properties

Need to take a quick look at what’s the processor model you are using, or may be check the
device manager, or advanced system settings? You could use Win+pause key combination to
open the system properties window.
15. Ctrl+Shift+Esc Can Quickly Windows Task Manager
I think this was in Vista too, I am not sure. But it’s a cool shortcut nevertheless. Just press the
Ctrl key, Shift key and the ESC key simultaneously and you have the task manager pop up
right in front!
So that was about the amazing Windows 7 keyboard shortcuts. I hope you find them useful.
In fact, learn them if you are on Windows 7. That’s what I did and it has helped a great deal.
If I’ve missed a cool shortcut, do share that in the comments.
Now, if you are on Windows XP, and would love to get some these shortcuts that are relevant
to XP, we’ll have you covered tomorrow. We will tell you how you could get some of the
above shortcuts working on XP. Stay tuned!
Tagged as: keyboard, shortcuts, windows 7

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Windows )
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• Get Extra Windows Tweaks and Shortcuts With 7Plus
{ 66 comments… read them below or add one }

J Rob July 22, 2010 at 2:17 am

Ctrl+Shift+Esc also brings up Task Manager in Windows XP … it’s a keyboard
shortcut classic!
Reply

pranav July 22, 2010 at 10:33 pm

This trick even works on Windows xp, Windows server..

Reply
July 22, 2010 at 2:55 am
nice..
Reply

Robert L. July 22, 2010 at 3:01 am

WIN+PAUSE has been a shortcut since at the very least XP…
…don’t have a 2K machine to test on at the moment…
Reply

Efreak July 29, 2010 at 4:56 am

win+pause has been a shortcut since at least windows 98, actually, and probably
windows 95. Not sure about 3.x or before
Reply

Ron July 22, 2010 at 3:02 am

Here is a simple shortcut to go to run:”win+R” ..I need it coz run is nt easyly found in
windows 7..I knw this is an old shortcut,bt this for new users..Thank you
Reply

Elliott July 23, 2010 at 10:30 pm

You can type a command in the Start Menu search box. Press Windows Key once and
then type. No mousing needed.
Reply

Hilton July 22, 2010 at 3:04 am

Windows + Pause has been around since XP too.
And added to the Taskman shortcut (from XP as J Rob said) Ctrl + Esc opens the start
menu.
Reply

Sharon July 22, 2010 at 9:17 am

The Windows key alone also opens the Start menu. Combine this with the Search box
and you can launch programs with just a few keys. For example, Windows – e – x – c
– Enter could launch Microsoft Excel.
Reply

Becki July 22, 2010 at 3:07 am

You can also just right click on the bar at the bottom and choose “Start Task
Manager”
Reply

Abhijeet July 22, 2010 at 3:18 am

Yes, that’s right, but the point of this post is to eliminate clicks as much as possible.
Hitting Ctrl+Shift+Esc would be faster than that process.
Reply

David Mqehlana July 22, 2010 at 3:11 am

cool shortcuts hey, also try Win+tab to switch between applications, works best in
ultimate, it was in vista too
Reply

Moron! July 22, 2010 at 12:04 pm

Win+Tab has been a shortcut since win 98
Reply

David Mqehlana July 22, 2010 at 6:08 pm

Yes, but it has been enhanced here, it make it look very nice and modern, with
animations of windows flying a you press win+tab
Reply

Jay August 17, 2010 at 6:26 pm

Before Vista, there was only Alt+tab. Now since Vista there’s both alt+tab which is
basic window switching using previews and title bars, and Win+tab which is a cooler
looking window switcher using the Aero interface introduced in Vista.
Reply
Jo July 22, 2010 at 5:36 am
I’m mostly using Ctrl+S or Ctrl+Q to save or quit on the documents that I’m working
on. Thank you for sharing this very useful tips!
Reply

Brian July 22, 2010 at 8:11 am

My keyboard doesnt have a pause button

Reply

Jay August 26, 2010 at 1:22 am

If you have a “Break” button you can try that instead. I believe they do the same
thing, as they are the same key on a standard keyboard.
Reply

Brian August 26, 2010 at 9:28 am

Yeah, my laptop doesn’t have that either. It’s the only key that i really miss off a
regular keyboard.
Reply

webrotate360 July 22, 2010 at 9:34 am

So glad that I found your post! Have been so frustrated trying to find a quick way to
collapse all windows to switch to win7′s desktop. Used taskbar’s toolbar button on
xp/win2000 which seem to be removed in win7. ..
Reply

ElliottKyle July 23, 2010 at 10:31 pm

Windows Key + D Minimizes all apps and shows the desktop.
Reply

Abram Limpin August 5, 2010 at 10:30 pm

Windows Key + M as well!
Reply
 WigglyFace August 24, 2010 at 6:52 pm
works in XPsp2. Win + M minimizes all while Win + D is a toggle to show/unshow
desktop
Reply

Hassan Shah July 22, 2010 at 9:40 am

In windows xp task manager is brought up by the Ctrl+Alt+Delete Key….. well most
people use that….
Reply

Richard July 22, 2010 at 7:20 pm

Ctrl+Alt+Esc works to quickly bring up the Task Manager in XP as well.
Reply

Coraphsie July 22, 2010 at 8:33 pm

Depending on your Windows OS, CTRL+ALT+DEL is associated more with
accessing logging on to the system rather than bringing up the task manager.
Windows 7 lets you get to the task manager this way, but isn’t as fast as
CTRL+SHIFT+ESC
Reply

Arpan July 22, 2010 at 10:18 am

Thanks Very Cool Shotcuts
Reply

Riedhwaan July 22, 2010 at 11:28 am

Hi there. Thanks for the useful tips.
Reply

Shahab khan July 22, 2010 at 11:44 am

Nice list of shortcuts specially the shortcut no. 10 to 13.
Reply
Vijay July 22, 2010 at 11:53 am

I already knew some…

Reply

habil Bozali July 22, 2010 at 12:04 pm

Thank you for sharing this very useful tips!
Reply

steve July 22, 2010 at 12:16 pm

Here’s an interesting one I found by pure accident today:
CTRL + ALT + [DOWN ARROW]

I suggest you try it – I won’t ruin the surprise

I had to search online (with some obvious difficulty) to find the remedy. To revert the
change, do the following:
CTRL + ALT + [UP ARROW]
Reply

Brian July 22, 2010 at 11:22 pm

Yeah i found that one out by accident once too lol. Took me a while to fix it
Reply

Rajesh Kumar July 22, 2010 at 12:36 pm

Not great enough reasons to buy upgrade from xp.
Reply

Aleksi Rustholkarhu July 22, 2010 at 12:48 pm

Thank you for the tips! I thought I knew all of them but you had a couple new ones.
Reply

Alex Baroutsos July 22, 2010 at 1:13 pm

Nice shortcuts – I misread the one comment and pressed [WIN] + [+] accidentally.
It zooms into the screen to quite a degree, use [WIN] + [-] to zoom back out.
Reply

Brian July 22, 2010 at 11:23 pm

Thats cool!
Reply

habeautifulmind July 22, 2010 at 4:51 pm

In addition to previous comment Win + Esc closes the magnifier.
Alt+Up – One folder up in Explorer. Alt+Left/Right – Back or forward in Explorer.
Win + E brings out Explorer, but i guess it has been on XP too. Since XP or even
earlier there is also possibility to create a shortcut key to any program or file via it’s
shortcut like Ctrl+Shift+Alt+Key… =)
Wonder why 3. and 4. doesn’t work?
Reply

Deena July 22, 2010 at 4:53 pm

AMAZING blog post! Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Reply

SICKofitALL July 22, 2010 at 6:56 pm

Hello
Thanks for these nice shortcuts !
About #10, instead of shift+click, you may use a middle click on the taskbar shotcurt
to launch a new instance. It works for browser, windows explorer, etc…
(sorry for bad english)
Reply

Tarun Chaudhary July 22, 2010 at 8:27 pm

@ SICKofitALL

I was just about to say this…

you stole my words..
Reply
Muhammad Adnan July 22, 2010 at 8:52 pm
very nice .. I like shortcuts
Reply

Avi July 22, 2010 at 9:08 pm

Thanks for sharing the most useful shortcuts for windows7.
You can also find more keyboard shortcuts for Windows7 at below post:
http://www.etechplanet.com/post/2010/07/03/Keyboard-Shortcuts-for-
Windows7.aspx
Reply

Funny & Offensive T-Shirts July 22, 2010 at 9:45 pm

These are great! Almost every one of these will be very useful (except the projector
one)
Reply

Hilton July 22, 2010 at 9:51 pm

Actually the projector panel is very useful if you have a laptop. Let’s you quickly set
up your dual monitor. Not to mention switching to the projector if you’re using one. I
use it at work to hook my laptop to the monitor and then extend my desktop.
Reply

Brian July 22, 2010 at 11:25 pm

Its not that useful if your laptop already has a projector button though
Reply

Rohit July 22, 2010 at 10:00 pm

Win+D = go to Desktop (minimizes all open windows)
Win+D again restores them all back
Win+M = also Minimizes all open windows
Win+L = Lock desktop (if you have password-protected screensaver set up)
Win+F = Find (search)
Reply
Rohit July 22, 2010 at 10:11 pm
Win+D = go to Desktop (minimizes all open windows)
Win+D again = unminimizes the windows (restores them)
Win + M = also Minimizes open windows
Win+L = Lock desktop (if you have password-protected screensaver set up)
Win+F = Find (search)
Reply

deepanshu July 23, 2010 at 12:20 am

cool shorcuts
nice site
………………….
liked
Reply

Johnny July 23, 2010 at 1:17 am

Cool tips. I use several all the time and will use a couple of new ones now.
Thanks for the post.
Reply

M L July 26, 2010 at 5:46 pm

Win +E opens windows explorer
Win +Prt Scr puts a screen shot on the clip board
Didn’t see these so I thought I would contribute.
Reply

Coraphise July 27, 2010 at 7:35 pm

Printscreen on it’s own gives a full desktop screenshot.
If you want just the active window, use Alt + Printscreen.
Reply

nick September 5, 2010 at 8:03 am

it actually opens up the computer window win and e
Reply
asoy July 27, 2010 at 2:41 pm
why Ctrl+Shift+Click to Open a Program As Administrator not work for me?
Reply

munish July 29, 2010 at 12:50 am

use:
win+R to open run
win+tab to see all open programs in a new way…must try it…
alt+space+x for maximizing
win+L for switching user
win+d for showing desktop
win+m for minimizing all
Reply

igeek404 July 31, 2010 at 7:22 pm

ALT + F4 //close window
CTRL+W //close window or tab
Win+ E //opens explorer
Is there a shortcut for creating a new document as a text file?
Reply

TheTechMedia Team August 2, 2010 at 9:13 pm

Nice tips.
Reply

M@rce August 5, 2010 at 9:20 pm

Muy interesante!! algunos aún se aplican en versiones anteriores a W7…
Pero faltó el más importante : -) ” Ctrl+Alt+Supr = reset”
Saludos
Reply

Saurabh Thakur August 5, 2010 at 9:45 pm

15 is already on xp
Reply
Mezanul August 5, 2010 at 10:13 pm
These keyboard shortcuts are really very useful! I knew some of them and learnt some
new ones, thanks to you.
Reply

Danny August 9, 2010 at 10:21 am

Drag & Drop has not been mentioned.
If the normal function of a drag & drop is to MOVE a file (e.g. between folders within
the same drive/partition), CTRL+[drag&drop] will copy the file.
If the normal function of a drag & drop is to COPY a file (e.g. between folders of
different drives/partitions), SHIFT+[drag&drop] will cut & paste the file.
Despite both situations, ALT+[drag&drop] will create a shortcut of the file in the
destination folder.

Discovered this accidentally

Cheers
Reply

shashank August 22, 2010 at 7:03 am

awesome tips:)
Reply

Shahan August 26, 2010 at 12:11 am

I don’t use windows anymore (Ubuntu all the way!) But the first shortcut surprised
me a lot ‘CTRL+SHIFT+N’ for a new folder amazing
Reply

Mike K September 1, 2010 at 10:04 pm

The problem with all this is when I’m at work and kvm keyboards don’t have the
windows key. They are great shortcuts though when on a normal keyboard.
Other than Alt-F4 which I use all the time there is the Ctrl-Shift drag on icon to create
a shortcut of the program instantly. I use that all the time. It’s not specifc to windows
7 either.
 If you’re not opposed to adding some freeware to your system then the following
article will show you how to create any keyboard short you want.
http://www.intowindows.com/how-to-create-windows-key-shortcuts-in-vista-7/
Reply

Dusty September 2, 2010 at 8:47 am

Thank you this really helps me with what I am doing in in computer networking,
saves me plenty of time. Instead of always haveing to minimize multiple windows and
bring them back just to find one thing or post somthing.
Reply

Atlanta Homes September 10, 2010 at 6:44 am

Love em!
Like the add new folder.
Reply
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