Windows 7 Keyboard Shortcuts
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Windows 7 supports several useful new keyboard shortcuts. We have gathered up as many Windows 7 keyboard shortcuts as we can find and they are presented on this page for your pleasure. Enjoy...
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Alt+P |
| Display/ hide the Explorer preview pane | |
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Windows Logo+G |
| Display gadgets in front of other windows | |
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Windows Logo++ (plus key) |
| Zoom in, where appropriate | |
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Windows Logo+- (minus key) |
| Zoom out, where appropriate | |
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Windows Logo+Up |
| Maximise the current window | |
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Windows Logo+Down |
| Minimise the current window | |
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Windows Logo+Left |
| Snap to the left hand side of the screen | |
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Windows Logo+Right |
| Snap to the right hand side of the screen | |
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Windows Logo+Home |
| Minimise/ restore everything except the current window | |
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In Windows Explorer, activate an additional file preview pane to the right side of the window with this new shortcut. This panel is great for previewing images in your photos directory. |
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Windows + + (plus key) Windows + - (minus key) |
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Pressing the Windows and plus or minus keys activates the Magnifier, which lets you zoom in on the entire desktop or open a rectangular magnifying lens to zoom in and out of parts of your screen. You can customize the Magnifier options to follow your mouse pointer or keyboard cursor. Keep in mind that so far, the Magnifier only works when Aero desktop is enabled. |
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Windows + Up Windows + Down |
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If a window is not maximized, pressing Windows + Up will fill it to your screen. Windows + Down will minimize that active window. Unfortunately, pressing Windows + Up again while a window is minimized won’t return it to its former state. |
| Windows + Shift + Up | |
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Similar to the shortcut above, hitting these three keys while a window is active will stretch it vertically to the maximum desktop height. The width of the window will however stay the same. Pressing Windows + Down will restore it to its previous size. |
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Windows + Left Windows + Right |
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One of the new features of Windows 7 is the ability to automatically make a window fill up half of your screen by dragging to the left or right. This pair of shortcuts performs the same function without your mouse. Once a window is fixed to one side of the screen, you can repeat the shortcut to flip it to the other side. This is useful if you’re extending a desktop across multiple monitors, which prevents you from executing this trick with a mouse. |
| Windows + Home | |
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This shortcut performs a similar function to hovering over a window’s peek menu thumbnail in the Taskbar. The active window will stay on your desktop while every other open application is minimized. Pressing this shortcut again will restore all the other windows. |
| Windows + E | |
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Automatically opens up a new Explorer window to show your Libraries folder. |
| Windows + P | |
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Manage your multiple-monitor more efficiently with this handy shortcut. Windows + P opens up a small overlay that lets you configure a second display or projector. You can switch from a single monitor to dual-display in either mirror or extend desktop mode. |
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Windows + Shift + Left Windows + Shift + Right |
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If you are using two or more displays (and who isn’t, these days?), memorize this shortcut to easily move a window from one screen to the other. The window retains its size and relative position on the new screen, which his useful when working with multiple documents. Utilize that real estate! |
| Windows + [Number] | |
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Programs (and new instances) pinned to your Taskbar can be launched by hitting Windows and the number corresponding to its placement on the Taskbar. Windows + 1, for example, launches the first application, while Windows + 4 will launch the fourth. We realize that this is actually one key-press more than just clicking the icon with your mouse, but it saves your hand the trouble of leaving the comfort of the keyboard. |
| Windows + T | |
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Like Alt + Tab (still our all time favorite Windows specific shortcut), Windows + T cycles through your open programs via the Taskbar’s peek menu. |
| Windows + Space | |
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This combo performs the same function as moving your mouse to the bottom right of the Taskbar. It makes every active window transparent so you can view your desktop. The windows only remain transparent as long as you’re holding down the Windows key. |
| Ctrl + Shift + Click | |
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Hold down Ctrl and Shift while launching an application from the Taskbar or start menu to launch it with full administrative rights. |
| Ctrl + Click | |
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By now, you’ve
probably seen that Windows 7 does a lot to make
window management easier: you can “dock” a
window to the left or right half of the screen
by simply dragging it to the edge; similarly, you can drag the window to the top of the screen to maximize it, and double-click the window top / bottom border to maximize it vertically with the same horizontal width. What you might not know is that all these actions are also available with keyboard shortcuts: |
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Win+Left Arrow and Win+Right Arrow dock; * Win+Up Arrow and Win+Down Arrow maximizes and restores / minimizes; * Win+Shift+Up Arrow and Win+Shift+Down Arrow maximizes and restores the vertical size. |
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Had enough of
messing around with weird and wonderful OEM
display driver utilities to get your notebook
display onto an external projector?
In that case, you’ll be pleased to know that projection is really quick and simple with Windows 7. Just hit Win+P,
and you’ll be rewarded by the following pop-up
window: Use the arrow
keys (or keep hitting Win+P) to switch to
“clone”, “extend” or “external only” display
settings. You can also access the application as
displayswitch.exe. |
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Walking Through the Taskbar |
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Another “secret” Windows shortcut: press Win+T
to move the focus to the taskbar.
Once you’re
there, you can use the arrow keys to select a
As ever, you can cancel out of this mode by hitting the Esc key. I don’t know for sure, but I presume this shortcut was introduced for those with accessibility needs. However, it’s
equally valuable to power users – another good
reason for all developers to care about ensuring
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Do you know any more Windows 7 shortcuts that you would like to share?
Use the form below to share them with us and the rest of the Windows 7 community.
What Other Visitors Have Said
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Windows Mobility Center toggle
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With Windows + X you can turn Windows Mobility Center on.
shift and icon in taskbar
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Holding down the shift key n clicking the internet explorer icon in taskbar opens up a new internet explorer not a tab .
Same for the windows explorer ...
