What is the Windows Key for…?

I don’t know…it is just a key that doesn’t seem to do anything when pressed and it is just in the way. So many years staring at it and wondering what it was good for.

Well, it appears this little key is actually quite useful, as I have recently learned. By combining the Windows Key with other key, it allows you to perform frequently used task with hardly any effort. For example, to launch Windows Explorer, you may go to Start > Accessories, etc or maybe rightclick the Start button and select Explore or…… you could just hit Windows Key + E. That simple. Check out this list of shortcuts that I am sure you will start using, if you didn’t know them already.

[Windows Key] + L: Locks the workstation
[Windows Key] + E: Launch Windows Explorer

[Windows Key] + Tab: Cycle through the buttons in the Task Bar.

[Windows Key] + R: Launch the Run dialog box
[Windows Key] + Pause/Break: Launch System Properties dialog box

[Windows Key] + D: Minimize or restore all windows
[Windows Key] + M: Minimizes all open windows.
[Windows Key] + Shift + M: Undo minimize all windows

[Windows Key] + F: Launch Search for Files
[Windows Key] + Ctrl + F: Launch Search for Computers

[Windows Key] + U: Launch the Utility Manager

PS: In Office 2003 SP1 and 2007 the Windows Key has even more functionality. For example, by pressing Windows key + S in OneNote you can take an instant screen clipping – just drag the cursor over the
area you want to “clip”. Then paste the clipping wherever you need it.