#1: Cut, Copy and Paste
Few of the most extensively used windows keyboard shortcuts when working on computers are to cut or copy, and paste. These actions help in moving content including text, images, code, etc. from one place to another, saving users a good amount of time otherwise invested in manual typing.
Cut (Ctrl + X)
Copy (Ctrl + C)
Paste (Ctrl + V)
To cut or copy, highlight the text or click on the image that you need to cut or copy and using the shortcuts above, move it where you want by pasting it at the new location.
#2: Return to Desktop with Windows Keyboard Shortcut
This is one of the functions many users find useful. Many times, you just want to minimize all open windows on your computer and just return to your desktop. Here’s the shortcut to do that:
Windows + D
Windows key is the key that has the Windows symbol on it. 
Another good use of this windows keyboard shortcut is to minimize all open windows before you lock your computer. This way, when you open it back, you avoid the risk of accidentally typing on or closing something that may be open prior to locking.
#3: Lock Computer
It is a responsible practice to lock your computer when working in an office or workspace, before stepping away from your computer to keep confidential data and resources secure from breach. Here’s the shortcut to lock your computer:
Windows + L
#4: Find with Windows Keyboard Shortcut
When reading your large data or content files, we often feel the need to find out keywords to read related information on. This is the shortcut to do that.
Ctrl + F
Using this shortcut will open a pop-up or window on most applications including web browser, PDFs, word files, etc. and you can enter a keyword there and press ‘Find’ or ‘Search’. This will yield all results related to that keyword for you to browse through and find what you need.
#5: Switching Between Application Windows
When working on multiple applications, it is unavoidable to have multiple windows open for the same application and between applications. To make switching between those seamless, here’s your shortcut:
Alt + Tab
Interestingly, you can use Alt + Tab in two ways.
Switching Between Two Windows with Windows Keyboard Shortcuts
To make this happen, just maximize/open the windows you want to switch between, one after the other. Then use Alt + Tab to switch between the two.
A good use case is when you are referring to data on one window and working on adding details to another. Of course, it can have other use cases too, but this is the most common one.
Switching Between Multiple Windows with Windows Keyboard Shortcuts
If you keep pressing the Alt and then press Tab, you will see thumbnails of open windows on your computer screen. You can keep re-pressing Tab while having the Alt pressed to move on to the app/window you want to be at. When you release the buttons, that window will open up.
#6: Save with Windows Keyboard Shortcut
Saving your work is one of the most basic functions of everyday computer use. Here’s a shortcut for that:
Ctrl + S
This can be used not just for documents like Word, notepad, etc., but also for saving images or webpages. All you have to do is press Ctrl + S for anything you want to save. This will open a window for you to browse to the location where you want the data saved and assign a file name. Once you do that and press OK, your data/file will be saved to the desired location.
When editing a document or image that is already saved on your computer, pressing Ctrl + S will save your latest work, making the saved document the most current version of your work.
#7: Select All
This function has an extensive usage when working with large documents or data that needs to be analyzed or copied or needs other functions performed on. Here’s the windows keyboard shortcut to select all:
Ctrl + A
Just go to the data file where you want to copy the data from and press Ctrl + A. This will highlight all data and images on that page. Then you can perform whatever function it is you want on that selected data set.
#8: New Window or New Tab for Browsers
Almost every internet user has a few browser tabs/windows open at a time when working on something.
New Window (Ctrl + N)
New Tab (Ctrl + T)
Opening a new window sometimes becomes necessary if users want to maintain certain search results/data on one window and something different in another. Ctrl + N would be the windows keyboard shortcut open a fresh browser window.
To open a new tab in an already existing window, Ctrl + T will do the trick.
These shortcuts work well for both Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge browsers.
#9: Print Screen
There’s a button on your keyboard to take a screenshot of your entire screen. It is labeled ‘PrtScn’. This will capture the current image of your Windows screen.
Now to edit that screenshot and to keep only the relevant portion of it, you can paste it in Word or Paint application to edit it.
#10: Open File Explorer
File explorer is the file directory which leads us to all recently accessed files and favorites or quick access folders, along with a directory of all drives and important folders like Desktop, Downloads, Documents, Pictures, etc. Here’s the keyboard shortcut to open File Explorer:
Windows + E
Windows + E can also be used to open multiple File Explorers at a time. This can be useful when two or more file locations need to be readily available to access and saves time required to switch back and forth between folders and drives.
Conclusion
Becoming proficient at the use of these Windows keyboard shortcuts can make your computing experience smoother and more effective and considerably boost your productivity.
The key to becoming a pro at these keyboard shortcuts is practice. With practice, these just end up becoming muscle memory and go effortlessly with your work, saving you much more time and effort than you can think of.
