Monday 7 January 2013

Windows 8 Shortcuts and Tips

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Navigating Windows 8 can be a nightmare if you are used to the start button, and also depend on it so much.

Here are a few shortcuts and helpful tips to get you on your way, as i already mentioned in an earlier post you can get the start button back with the stardock app.

  • Press the Windows key to open the Start screen or switch to the Desktop (if open)
  • Press the Windows key + D will open the Windows Desktop.
  • Press the Windows key + . to pin and unpin Windows apps on the side of the screen.
  • Press the Windows key + X to open the power user menu, which gives you access to many of the features most power users would want (e.g. Device Manager and Command Prompt).
  • Press the Windows key + C to open the Charms.
  • Press the Windows key + I to open the Settings, which is the same Settings found in Charms.
  • Press and hold the Windows key + Tab to show open apps.
  • Press the Windows key + Print screen to create a screen shot, which is automatically saved into your My Pictures folder.
Task Manager



The Windows 8 Task Manager has been significantly improved over previous versions of Windows. Some of the new changes include showing a total percent usage at the top of your Processes, which makes it easier to determine total memory and CPU usage, improved Performance graphs, a Startup tab to see startup processes and their impact to system performance, and the App history tab (as shown below) that gives you the total resources an app has used over a period of time. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to start exploring the new Task Manager.


Windows Search

With Windows 8 if you are on the start screen you can simply just start typing to search for anything you are looking for, weather it be an app or a file, just type the letters and your results will start to appear on the left hand side.
The Search is also found through Charms and can also be opened by pressing Windows key + F.

Hot Corners

The corners on your screen are hot corners and give you access to different Windows features. Below, is a brief explanation of each of these corners.

Bottom Left-hand corner

The bottom left-hand hot corner of the screen will allow you to access the Start screen, if you're in the Start screen and have the Desktop open, this corner will open the Desktop from the Start screen.
Right-clicking in the left hand corner will open the power user menu.

Top-left corner of the screen

Moving the mouse to the top-left corner and then down will display all the apps running on the computer. Clicking and dragging any of these apps to the left or right-hand side of the screen will snap that app to that side of the screen. Each of these open app icons can also be right-clicked to close or snap.

Right-hand side of the screen

On the full right-hand side of the screen will be given access to the Windows Charms.