Windows 8 is the latest offering from Microsoft and has reinvented itself as an operating system for both tablet and PC users. While touchscreen users can take advantage of the many navigational rewrites e.g. the Charms Menu, Metro UI with tiles, and swipes, Microsoft has also done their part to ensure that users who prefer getting around with the keyboard would not be left out.

To cater to this group, Microsoft has integrated new keyboard shortcuts to let them navigate through the reconstructed OS faster and easier. And as much fun as touchscreens can be, sometimes you can do more with keyboard shortcuts than you can with swipes. Besides, if you are part of the keyboard generation, shortcuts just come more naturally anyways.

Read on for 50 keyboard shortcuts that you’d probably find yourself using on Windows 8, when out of swipe mode.

Recommended Reading: More Windows 8 related articles.

Shortcut	Description
Windows Key + D	Show Desktop
Windows Key + C	Open Charms Menu
Windows Key + F	Charms Menu – Search
Windows Key + H	Charms Menu – Share
Windows Key + K	Charms Menu – Devices
Windows Key + I	Charms Menu – Settings
Windows Key + Q	Search For Installed Apps
Windows Key + W	Search Settings
Windows Key + Tab	Cycle through open Modern UI Apps
Windows Key + Shift + Tab	Cycle through open Modern UI Apps in reverse order
Windows Key + .	Snaps app to the right (split screen multitasking)
Windows Key + Shift + .	Snaps app to the left (split screen multitasking)
Windows Key + ,	Temporarily view desktop
Alt + F4	Quit Modern UI Apps
Windows Key + E	Launch Windows Explorer Window
Windows Key + L	Lock PC and go to lock screen
Windows Key + C	Cycle through icons on taskbar (press Enter to launch app)
Windows Key + X	Show Advanced Windows Settings Menu
Windows Key + E	Launch Windows Explorer Window
Windows Key + Page Down	Moves Start screen and apps to secondary monitor on the right
Windows Key + M	Minimize all Windows
Windows Key + Shift + M	Restore all minimized Windows
Windows Key + R	Open Run dialog box
Windows Key + Up Arrow	Maximize current window
Windows Key + Down Arrow	Minimize current window
Windows Key + Left Arrow	Maximize current window to left side of the screen
Windows Key + Right Arrow	Maximize current window to right side of the screen
Ctrl + Shift + Escape	Open Task Manager
Windows Key + Print Screen	Takes a Print Screen and saves it to your Pictures folder
Windows Key + Page Up	Moves Start screen and apps to secondary monitor on the left
Windows Key + Pause Break	Display System Properties
Shift + Delete	Permanently delete files without sending it to Recycle Bin
Windows Key + F1	Open Windows Help and Support
Windows Key + V	Cycle through notifications
Windows Key + Shift + V	Cycle through notifications in reverse order
Windows Key + 0 to 9	Launch/show app pinned to taskbar at indicated number
Windows Key + Shift + 0 to 9	Launch new instance of app pinned to taskbar at indicated number
Alt + Enter	Display Properties of selected item in File Explorer
Alt + Up Arrow	View upper level folder of current folder in File Explorer
Alt + Right Arrow	View next folder in File Explorer
Alt + Left Arrow	View previous folder in File Explorer
Windows Key + P	Choose secondary display modes
Windows Key + U	Open Ease of Access Center
Alt + Print Screen	Print Screen focused Window only
Windows Key + Spacebar	Switch input language and keyboard layout
Windows Key + Shift + Spacebar	Switch to previous input language and keyboard layout
Windows Key + Enter	Open Narrator
Windows Key + +	Zoom in using Magnifier
Windows Key + -	Zoom out using Magnifier
Windows Key + Escape	Exit Magnifier

Further Reading

Check out our past Windows keyboard shortcut posts here:

• Windows Keyboard Shortcuts To Increase Productivity
• 100 Keyboard Shortcuts (Windows)

Editor’s note: This is a contributed post by Jordan Driediger, an entrepreneur, public speaker, and writer from Toronto, Canada. He is the CEO of his own company DM2 Studios LLC. He and his company are dedicated to support the creativity and inspiration in others.

Let’s get this out of the way to begin with: you are creative! Creativity is a governing force in humanity – an innate function of the mind. It is, at its essence, your outward expression of an inward thought or emotion.

This means that there are two hindrances that can limit your creativity: an internal barrier that limits your imagination and inspiration, and an external barrier that limits your expression or presentation of your creativity.

(Image Source: entrepreneurthearts.com)

In either or these instances, there are simple but very effective techniques you can use to get your creativity flowing.

Recommended Reading: Ways To Motivate Yourself When You’re Running Low

Find Your Source

Finding your source of inspiration (or "muse") is the doorway to your creativity. This seems like an obvious factor, but I am constantly surprised in how few people can specifically tell me what inspires them.

(Image Source: Fotolia)

Your muse can be found in nature, in people, in music, in a memory, or in a particular situation. When you find it, you don’t have to wait for those moments of inspiration to come around, you can activate your creativity on demand.

Search out and take note of anything that makes you say, "I want to do that!" "What if?" or "I have an idea!".

What’s your source?

Surround Yourself with Excellence

I have discovered my most favorite music by not just listening to talented musicians, but by finding out who they listen to. Without fail, good artists observe great artists, and great artists observe extraordinary artists.

You should always study and surround yourself with great art, great music, great literature, and especially great people. This builds in you a template of quality and standard of excellence that can propel your creativity forward.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with studying and even copying aspects of the greats of your industry. As Pablo Picasso once said, "Good artists copy, great artists steal." While I agree with Picasso, it goes without saying that you should steal their methods and not their products.

Just Create

What was the factor that changed Edgar Allen Poe from a depressing houseguest to an inspirational figure? He wrote. If you do not use your creativity you will not improve your creativity. Try something original, and try something new, put yourself in positions that require creativity, and practice your art continuously.

(Image Source: Stephen Wiltshire)

This is where creativity flourishes or dies. When you first start off, your end result is rarely your desired result. This is okay and absolutely normal. For every great painting you see in an art gallery, there are a dozen sketches, rough drafts, and discarded concepts that you don’t see.

Every single one of history’s most creative heroes, from Da Vinci to Edison, started off with a failed attempt. What sets them apart is that they worked until their finished product finally matched their mental image.

Check Out: Beating Designer’s Block – 5 Tips To Get Back Your Creativity

Cross Creative Borders

As a designer, writer, and musician I can say with absolute certainty that the arts parallel each other. I feel that as I improve as musician, I improve as a designer, and as I improve as a designer, I improve as a communicator.

Have you ever noticed that successful people get nearly all of their inspiration from a few select victories in life? The athlete uses sports metaphors and principals to build a great company. The soldier uses military principals to raise a family. The biologist uses the principles of nature to improve their photography.

Use your confidence in one area and apply it to a something new – you will find that both skill and creativity are transferable to any new challenge.

Limit Amusement

Your creative source is known as your "muse". This is an ancient Greek word meaning to be absorbed in thought or inspired. Amusement is the absence of thought or inspiration.

While being amused can be healthy in small doses, over saturating yourself with it can be detrimental to your creativity. Use things like television or movies as ways to expand your imagination – not replace it.

(Image Source: EvaKedves)

Television for example, requires little creativity or thought. If you don’t believe me, find someone watching TV and observe their facial expressions. Most of the time you will find that their eyes are open and their mind is off. This is because most shows do the imagining for you. Again, this can be a good thing, so long as you use it as a creative trigger rather than an imagination killer.

A fantastic way to exercise your creativity is to use literature, audiobooks, or good storytelling songs as a form of entertainment. Since there is generally no imagery to go along with the story, it forces you to use your imagination – something desperately needed in a graphic-filled world.

Take Care of Yourself

If you work in a creative industry you know that you can do more work in a few hours of focus and inspiration than you can do in a full day with your mind wandering. Physical and environmental distractions can destroy the creative process.

Keeping your body healthy and your workplace tidy will have a profound effect on your ability to imagine and create. Creativity requires quality of work more than quantity, so make sure that your home, workplace, and body aren’t limiting your work.

Ignore the Scoffers

Creativity must be expressed. However, this leaves the artist in a vulnerable state, open to scrutiny and judgment. In business, athletics, the arts, and in life in general you will come across those discouraging critics who feel that they can build themselves up by pushing you down (you yourself may even be your own worst critic).

Keep yourself open to suggestion and improvement from those who have your best interest at heart, but refuse to give any space in your mind to a spiteful comment.

Ignore the scoffers, or better yet, use their negativity as motivation. Every great creative figure has had critics say they were inadequate, but history doesn’t remember the reviews, it remembers innovation, inspiration, imagination, and creativity.

You might like: 6 Ways To Unleash Creativity In The Workplace