150+ Most Useful Windows 11 Keyboard Shortcuts You Should Know

Jul. 16, 2021

Alongside the new features and refreshed UI, Windows 11 has also brought several new keyboard shortcuts that can greatly help improve the efficiency of your workflow. We will learn about all the new keyboard shortcuts on Windows 11 including the existing ones. While some of the keyboard shortcuts in this article are familiar to long-term Windows users, others may not be as widely known to some. With that said, here are the most useful keyboard shortcuts you should use in Windows 11.

Note:

The following keyboard shortcuts have all been tested on Windows 11. If you are still using Windows 10, you should check out our article on thebest Windows 10 keyboard shortcutsyou can use. On the other hand, if you are a Linux user, learn about the12 must-use keyboard shortcuts in Ubuntu.

Open Copilot – Win + C Shortcut

Microsoft has added Copilot, an AI chatbot to Windows 11 and 10 as well. You can simply press “Windows + C” key to open the Copilot AI chatbot on any screen. It works like a charm. Future Windows laptops will come with aCopilot keyon the keyboard which will make it even easier to open the Copilot window.

You can now use a keyboard shortcut to open the Snap Layout on Windows 11. Press “Windows + Z” to open the Snap Layout menu and then press the number as labeled on the menu. This will quickly snap your window in the selected position.

Technically, theWin + Ashortcut is also available in Windows 10, but it works slightly differently in Windows 11. In Windows 10, this keyboard shortcut opens up the Control Center and the Notification Panel. But in Windows 11, it launches just the Action Center with the Quick Settings panel. That’s the case because Microsoft has separated Action Center and Notifications Panel in its latest desktop OS.

TheWin + N keyboard shortcutis a new addition to Windows 11. It opens up the Notification Panel, which is now tucked away under the clock icon in the System tray. Using this keyboard shortcut will show all your unread notifications.

Windows 11 comes with a dedicated widgets panel, giving you access to the weather, news, and your calendar at a glance. While the Widgets panel has a dedicated button on thetaskbar in Windows 11, you can also access it using theWin key + Wkeyboard shortcut.

Following are the must-know Windows 11 keyboard shortcuts that everyone should be using for an efficient workflow and enhanced productivity. They work with most apps, under most conditions, and in all recent versions of Windows.

You can learn more abouthow to take screenshots in Windows 11as well ashow to take scrolling screenshotsfrom our dedicated articles on the subject, but here are some of the common native screenshot keyboard shortcuts in Windows 11:

Most of the following keyboard shortcuts work with all the dialog boxes and text fields, whether on the web or your PC. That includes website forms, CMS softwares such as WordPress, as well as Notepad, WordPad, MS Word, etc. However, some of these are exclusive only to Rich Text Editors and won’t work on apps like Notepad.

The following shortcuts work on allmajor Windows browsers, including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and Opera. You can easilychange your default browser in Windows 11without worrying about the compatibility of these keyboard shortcuts. In general, these are among the keyboard shortcuts that I use the most.

All the dialog box shortcuts mentioned above also work with browsers, as do many of the general ones, like Alt+F4 to close windows, etc. The tab shortcuts, meanwhile, also work on other tabbed apps, like Windows Terminal.

The Command Prompt, Windows PowerShell, and Terminal support the standard text editing shortcuts to copy, paste, and edit commands. Additionally, they also support the following dedicated keyboard shortcuts:

The File Explorer comes with its own set of keyboard shortcuts that make navigating the Windows file system a breeze. Here are the nearly two dozen shortcuts that work with the Windows File Explorer:

The following shortcuts help you easily launch apps in specific ways or under specific conditions using the Windows taskbar icons:

The following keyboard shortcuts help activate and make use of accessibility features in Windows 11:

Originally introduced in Windows 10, the Windows Game Bar offers many dedicated keyboard shortcuts for convenience and ease of use.

Apart from the ones listed above, Windows 11 offers many other shortcuts, not all of which can be classified under any particular category. Here they are:

So that wraps up our list of best Windows 11 keyboard shortcuts. In case, you are using Windows 11 but aren’t liking the changes, here’s a guide to help youroll back to Windows 10 from Windows 11on your PC. Conversely, if you are stuck with Windows 10, check out how you canget Windows 11 features in Windows 10right now. And if we missed out on any keyboard shortcut, let us know in the comment section below.

Passionate techie. Professional tech writer. Proud geek.