{"id":125015,"date":"2022-05-13T15:33:10","date_gmt":"2022-05-13T13:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/?p=125015"},"modified":"2022-05-13T15:33:10","modified_gmt":"2022-05-13T13:33:10","slug":"the-essential-windows-keyboard-shortcuts-for-gamers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/pc\/125015-the-essential-windows-keyboard-shortcuts-for-gamers","title":{"rendered":"The essential Windows keyboard shortcuts for gamers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>While your mouse is a PC peripheral you can&#8217;t go without these days, doing everything on your PC by using it exclusively is quite a laborious process.<\/p>\n<p>Your keyboard is one of the most powerful tools at your disposal when it comes to multitasking, using multi-monitor setups, increasing your productivity, and increasing the speed at which you complete tasks.<\/p>\n<p>Here are the essential keyboard shortcuts that you should commit to memory, as you&#8217;ll undoubtedly use them regularly.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"my-4\">Windows key shortcuts<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Windows <\/strong>+<strong> E<\/strong> \u2014 Opens File Explorer<\/li>\n<li><strong>Windows <\/strong>+ <strong>Number keys<\/strong> \u2014 Opens the app on the taskbar corresponding to the numbered position.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Windows <\/strong>+ <strong>I<\/strong> \u2014 Opens Settings.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Windows <\/strong>+ <strong>L<\/strong> \u2014 Locks your PC.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Windows <\/strong>+ <strong>V<\/strong> \u2014 Opens your clipboard history (if it is your first time using this, you will need to enable it after pressing the keys.)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Windows <\/strong>+ <strong>A<\/strong> \u2014 Opens Action Centre (where you can turn on Wi-Fi and Bluetooth).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Windows <\/strong>+ <strong>K<\/strong> \u2014 Opens the Connect pane, allowing you quick access to any connected devices.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Windows <\/strong>+ <strong>D<\/strong> \u2014 Minimise all windows, and repeat to bring them back. (You can also shake the active window from left to right using your mouse.)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Windows <\/strong>+ <strong>P<\/strong> \u2014 Opens the Project panel for multi-monitor configurations.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Windows <\/strong>+ <strong>X<\/strong> \u2014 Opens the Quick Link menu (which you can also access by right-clicking on the Start button), giving you access to Device Manager, Disk Management, and Task Manager.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Windows <\/strong>+ <strong>arrow keys<\/strong> \u2014 Snap the active window to the different halves or corners of the screen. If you snap your window left or right first, then use the down arrow, you will move the window into your screen\u2019s corner. Pressing the down arrow with a maximised window active will minimise it.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Windows <\/strong>+ <strong>Shift <\/strong>+ L<strong>eft\/Right arrow<\/strong> \u2014 Move your window to your other monitor.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Windows <\/strong>+ <strong>Shift <\/strong>+ <strong>S<\/strong> \u2014 Opens a quick menu for the Snipping tool.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ctrl <\/strong>+ <strong>Shift <\/strong>+<strong> Windows + B<\/strong> \u2014 Resets your video driver for when you are experiencing graphical glitches or display issues with multiple monitor setups.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Windows <\/strong>+ <strong>G<\/strong> \u2014 Opens Xbox Game Bar.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Windows <\/strong>+<strong> Alt <\/strong>+ <strong>G<\/strong> \u2014 Records the last 30 seconds of gameplay.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Windows <\/strong>+ <strong>Alt <\/strong>+ <strong>R<\/strong> \u2014 Starts\/stops recording.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Windows <\/strong>+ <strong>Ctrl <\/strong>+ <strong>D<\/strong> \u2014 Creates a new virtual desktop. This is useful for multitasking and organising your workflow.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Windows <\/strong>+ <strong>Ctrl <\/strong>+<strong> Right\/Left arrow<\/strong> \u2014 Cycles through your virtual desktops.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Windows <\/strong>+ <strong>Ctrl <\/strong>+ <strong>F4<\/strong> \u2014 Closes current virtual desktop.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h3 class=\"my-4\">General shortcuts<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Alt <\/strong>+ <strong>F4<\/strong> \u2014 Closes the active window\/app.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Alt <\/strong>+ <strong>Tab<\/strong> \u2014 Let\u2019s you switch between windows by continuously pressing Tab until you select the desired app.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ctrl <\/strong>+ <strong>Alt <\/strong>+ <strong>Tab<\/strong> \u2014 Does the same as Alt + Tab but keeps the app view open after releasing the keys.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Shift <\/strong>+<strong> Click<\/strong> \u2014 Opens a new window of the selected app\/browser tab.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ctrl <\/strong>+ <strong>Shift <\/strong>+ <strong>Click\/Enter<\/strong> \u2014 Runs an app as administrator.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ctrl <\/strong>+ <strong>Shift <\/strong>+ <strong>Esc<\/strong> \u2014 Opens task manager.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Alt <\/strong>+<strong> Enter<\/strong> \u2014 Forces a windowed game to display full-screen. Press it again to revert to windowed mode.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Shift <\/strong>+ <strong>Delete<\/strong> \u2014 Use at your own peril since this bypasses the recycle bin and permanently deletes a file.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Alt <\/strong>+<strong> double click<\/strong> \u2014 Displays the selected item\u2019s properties.<\/li>\n<li><strong>F2<\/strong> \u2014 Renames a file or folder.<\/li>\n<li><strong>F5\/Ctrl <\/strong>+<strong> R<\/strong> \u2014 Refreshes the active page\/app<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Read: <a href=\"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/pc\/125010-all-the-big-updates-from-electronic-arts-q4-financial-results\">All the big updates from Electronic Arts Q4 financial results<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Committing these essential Windows shortcuts to memory will undoubtedly improve your gaming experience on Windows.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":249,"featured_media":125016,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_facebook_post_id":"","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,7,3],"tags":[26188,91,2791],"class_list":["post-125015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-hardware","category-pc","tag-keyboard-shortcuts","tag-microsoft","tag-windows"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/249"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125015"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125015\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}