Surviving Windows 8 First Encounter
After installing Windows 8 you might quickly find yourself at unease at doing few things the old way or “cornering” the mouse too much. The answer to your frustration is keyboard shortcuts! There are many but below are the ones that would save the day:
| Windows + D | Jump to Desktop mode |
| Windows | Switch between Start screen and last app |
| Windows + Q | Search Apps |
| Windows + W | Search Settings |
| Windows + X | A popup menu for power users� (Command Prompt, Control Panel, File Explorer, Computer Management etc) |
| Alt + F4 | Close app (Metro app doesn’t have close button) |
| Windows + E | Open explorer |
| Windows + R | The good old Run dialog |
| Windows + C | Open Charms bar (allows you to quickly go to Settings and Search options for the app) |
| Page Up/Down | Move around tiles on Start screen |
| Ctrl+Shift+Esc | Task Manager |
| Windows + Tab | Recent Metro apps |
| Right Click on Tile | Options for uninstall, pin, unpin, size etc |
| Windows + Z or Right Click inside Metro App | Show App specific bar (for example, open file, play button etc) |
| Windows + . | Snap metro app on left |
Shital Shah
A program trying to understand what it’s computing.