Or you can quickly bring up the PowerShell command prompt window to access advanced Windows commands.

From here, you can jump straight to Device Manager to review and configure any hardware, such as printers or keyboards, that are currently attached to the system. Windows has a hidden Start menu, called the Quick Link menu, that allows you to access all the key areas of the system. Or stick with shortcuts: Win+Ctrl+arrow will cycle through your open desktops, and Win+Ctrl+F4 will close whichever one you’re currently viewing and shift your open windows and apps to the next available virtual desktop. Once you have, click the Task View button to the right of the taskbar search box to switch from one desktop to another. Virtual desktops create secondary screens where you can stash some of your open applications and windows, giving you extra workspace.

You can do this instead of, or in addition to, saying, “Hey Cortana.”

Once you’ve enabled the shortcut, hit the Win+C whenever you want to talk to the digital assistant. - Ronnie Vernon Microsoft MVP Windows Desktop Experience mataeux wrote in message news.

To do so, open Cortana from the taskbar search box, click the cog icon, and turn on the keyboard shortcut. This shortcut puts Cortana in listening mode, but you must activate it before you can give it a whirl. This shortcut will call up the Task Manager, no matter what application you’re using. The Task Manager is your window into everything running on your Windows system, from the open programs to the background processes. If you don’t want to snap the whole screen, the Alt+PrtScn combination will take a screenshot of just the active window, but it will only copy this image to the clipboard, so you won’t get a saved file. At the same time, Windows will also copy the image to the clipboard. No need to open a dedicated screenshot tool: Win+PrtScn grabs the whole screen and saves it as a PNG file in a Screenshots folder inside your Pictures folder.

Jump straight to it with this keyboard shortcut, then type in your search terms. The Windows taskbar has a handy search box that lets you quiz Cortana or sift through your applications and saved files. Alt+F4 or Alt+Space then C Cmd+W: Alt+F4: Alt+F4: Ctrl+x, then k: Ctrl+W: Close all windows of current application Cmd+ Opt+W: Ctrl+ Shift+W: Restore the focused window to its previous size Alt+Space then R: Alt+F3 then X: Alt+F5: Ctrl+x, then r, then j, then letter of the window state register.

Alt f4 windows 7