Top 10 essential Windows 11 keyboard shortcuts to boost your productivity

In Windows 11, we usually use our mouse to navigate the menu and select options. But in a fast-paced digital age, maximizing productivity has become the main goal. So rather than using your mouse to go through the options, you can simply press two or more keys at once for quick results. With the release of Windows 11, Microsoft has introduced many keyboard shortcuts for navigating around more quickly and efficiently, which will boost your productivity.

In this article, we'll go through some important keyboard shortcuts for Windows 11, many of which are from previous versions of this operating system. This will help you boost your productivity and get more done in less time.

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Unlock your productivity potential with these essential Windows 11 keyboard shortcuts

1) Win key+Shift+S: Take screenshot

In Windows 11 this shortcut opens the Snipping Tool screen capture interface. It offers four modes: rectangle mode, freeform mode, window mode, and full-screen mode. After choosing any of the modes, the screenshot will be taken and copied to the clipboard.

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2) Win key+V: Open clipboard history

This combo fetches the clipboard history, which lets you see previously copied items from that active session and use them in another document or browser. In Windows 11, this panel also consists of multiple other functions that will be discussed below.

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3) Win key+ . (period): Special characters

Pressing the Windows key with period opens up a panel consisting of emojis, special characters, symbols, kaomoji, and even GIFs to make your messages more expressive. You can also find greek letters and special symbols that aren't on a standard keyboard.

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4) Win key+Tab: Switch task view

This shortcut is an enhanced version of the old Alt-Tab shortcut. It shows the full task view of the ongoing apps, which means you can see and switch between all the apps from all of your desktops.

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5) Win key+H: Speech to Text

With speech-to-text or voice typing, you can enter text on your PC using speech recognition, powered by Azure Speech services. In Windows 11, this shortcut will save you a lot of time from typing with your fingers and instead using voice typing. Pressing Windows Key-H opens Microsoft Speech Services where you can press the microphone button and start voice typing.

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6) Win Key+G: Game Bar

Using this shortcut will offer audio controls, and screen recording, and also show stats for aspects like performance and friend activities. Gamers can use this feature to record their gameplay, while non-gamers can use it to simply check their performance and make changes to their audio controls from the same shortcut.

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7) Win Key+A: Open Quick Settings

This shortcut opens a new panel that consists of quick settings. In this panel, you can control screen brightness, speaker volume, and music apps, while having features like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Airplane mode, Battery Saver, and Focus Assist.

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8) Win Key+N: Open Notifications

Pressing the Windows key alongside the 'N' will open the Notification panel and the calendar together. From there, you can also turn on the Do Not Disturb and Focus mode.

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9) Win Key+Z: Snap Layouts

The snap layout feature is a new addition to the Windows 11 operating system. This new feature can maximize your productivity by fitting multiple windows on a screen by snapping them in your choice of layout.

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10) Win Key+C: Open Teams

Teams, Microsoft's free chat and video-conferencing software is one of the most common applications to use in 2023. This keyboard shortcut opens a small panel of Microsoft Teams, from where you can start a new meeting session, call, and even chat with your co-workers.

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In conclusion, there are a lot of shortcuts in Windows 11, which are mostly carried over from the previous versions with some new additions. Although you don't need every one of them, the aforementioned shortcuts are going to save you some time for your daily tasks.