Uhhh... It looks like a window...
Posted by the123king-reddit@reddit | talesfromtechsupport | View on Reddit | 71 comments
Quick one for you.
We had a meeting with one of our MSP overlords yesterday, when the phone rang...
$User: "How do i add an extra screen to my PC when it's plugged in, i want to get another desktop up on my screen so i can do work on 2 documents at the same time "
$Me: "Oh, easy, just do Win and P, then select "Extend"
$User: "So i type in W I N P" and it'll pop up?"
$Me: "No, Press the windows key and P at the same time..."
$User: "Where's the Windows key, i can't find it"
$Me: "Uhhh... It looks like a window... Bottom of your keyboard, by the space bar... Kind of squareish with a cross through it.
$User: "..."
$User: "Ah, got it, thanks!"
Hangs up
$Colleague: "Another user unable to find the ANY key again?"
EricHermes@reddit
16 Benefits of Using the "WIN" Key
Pressing Win + B disables the keyboard and prevents keys from typing.
Pressing Win + D takes you directly to the desktop.
Pressing Win + E opens "My Computer" directly.
Pressing Win + F opens the search function without using the mouse.
Pressing Win + L locks your computer screen.
Pressing Win + M minimizes all open windows on the desktop.
Pressing Win + P switches the display mode for additional screens.
Pressing Win + R opens the "Run" dialog box.
Pressing Win + T activates the taskbar.
Pressing Win + U displays the "Ease of Access" menu.
Pressing Win + F1 opens the "Help and Support" menu.
Pressing Win + Up Arrow maximizes the current window to full screen.
Pressing Win + Left or Right Arrow moves the current window to the left or right.
Pressing Win + Shift + Left or Right Arrow moves the current window to another screen.
Pressing Win + Plus (+) zooms in on the screen.
Pressing Win + any number key opens the corresponding application pinned to the taskbar.
Strazdas1@reddit
This seems to be buggy and only work half of the time. I have a fourth screen thats only on some of the time. sometimes software thinks its the default screen to load and then its a cointoss on whether i can move it or im going to turn on the screen. This almost never works if your screens are of different resolutions as something does not align in windows then.
Regular-Chemistry-13@reddit
You are forgetting Win + Tab
lotsofpun@reddit
You forgot the most important one!:
Ctrl+Shift+Alt+Windows+L
Ferro_Giconi@reddit
Wtf why is that a thing.
lotsofpun@reddit
Lol, it's because Microsoft bought Linkedin.
Ferro_Giconi@reddit
I know they bought Linkedin, but it still makes no sense.
This keyboard shortcut feels like the kind of thing that some c-suite with no concept of what the real world is like for 99.99% of people wanted added just to claim some kind of value was added.
johlae@reddit
wtf!
greypiewood@reddit
I assumed you were joking, but tried it anyway - you're for real!!
Sweaty_Ad3942@reddit
Win+L is my daily use. I have a small dog who thinks she needs access to my coffee cup. Without locking my computer, she can cause all kinds of havoc by walking across the keyboard while I’m in another room.
Tattycakes@reddit
Pets and technology are a funny combo. All they have to do is put a foot or an ass on the keyboard or the remote and they manage to summon up some function that you never knew existed
oloryn@reddit
And some cats regard laptop keyboards as a warm, if a bit lunky, mattress. While living at my brother's house a few years ago, I learned to not leave the laptop open if I didn't want to come back to it to find that now had a bookmark named 'bbbbbbbbbbbbbbythp'.
Sweaty_Ad3942@reddit
Lulu is a dog-shaped cat. There is no other description.
Strazdas1@reddit
Hardware of a dog but software of a cat.
Sweaty_Ad3942@reddit
Every. Flipping. Time.
DrBackBeat@reddit
I know plenty of people who never use the Windows key, myself included for the first 10 years or so. People think it's just a redundant button for the Start menu most of the time anyway.
anubisviech@reddit
Win+Tab is among my favorites, only surpassed by Win+L.
philbass85@reddit
My new favourite is Win+Shift+S
AdreKiseque@reddit
Print Screen?
Strazdas1@reddit
print screen only lets you select what you are copying on windows 11, it did not do that previuosly.
cyrusthemarginal@reddit
I use Win+E a lot, the youngins in the office think it's witchcraft when i mess with actual files and directories
JeffTheNth@reddit
I have this linked to right-scroll (pull the scroll wheel to the right for the button) on my mouse... left-scroll is minimize active window. I realized I was never using them for what the defaults were. My only issue is left is a bit trigger-happy, so I'll be scrolling and the window minimizes on me.
But screen-clip is great
Xeni966@reddit
Learned this one recently and I use it so much more than any other way to screenshot things
XkF21WNJ@reddit
Why Win+Tab? It just feels like a clunkier less useful form of Alt+Tab.
Anyway my favourite is Win+R.
Regular-Chemistry-13@reddit
It’s way more useful than Alt+Tab
anubisviech@reddit
The main difference is virtual desktops.
bendem@reddit
Win-v is the real winner for me. We have been waiting way too long for native clipboard history.
weebobbytables@reddit
I'm surprised but also not surprised that it took so long for this to be mentioned. Not enough people know about it.
grimegroup@reddit
I wanted it so bad but by the time I got it, I'd already baked the open source solution into my workflows for a decade or so, so I just keep a portable instance of that app on every Windows machine I use repeatedly
Jezbod@reddit
I just used it 5 times in a row - to provision a new machine in autopilot, without logging a user in.
Troneous@reddit
Exactly which “it” was so useful while provisioning?
Jezbod@reddit
From the comment I replied to - The Windows Key.
ITrCool@reddit
A situation I had once:
User: I want to lock my screen using a keyboard command, can you help me set one up?
Me: actually there already is one! You can use Windows key + L
User: …..where’s the Windows key?
Me: (seriously??!) It’s that key that has a little Windows logo down by the spacebar on your keyboard
User: I still can’t find it. Mine has a squiggly square logo on it
Me: wait……does it have a word on it?
User: “yes. It says Command”
Me: 😑. (They were using an old Mac keyboard a friend gave them, for their Windows PC)
Strazdas1@reddit
I had an issue of a user using a laptop where they replaced windows key with copilot key. Not fun.
bob_in_the_west@reddit
Customer: "Let me close all the windows so I have access to the icons on the desktop"
Me: "You only have to press Win + D"
And then the explanation takes longer than them closing all their windows. Next time they won't remember it anyway.
MemeTroubadour@reddit
Win+D actually only shows the desktop but doesn't minimize every window. I wish it did. As it is, every window that was active previously comes back up as soon as I open something.
Strazdas1@reddit
so Win+D does even better when you want to peek at the desktop.
Extension-Ad-173@reddit
Win+M minimizes every window
UsablePizza@reddit
win+shift+m gets them back.
bob_in_the_west@reddit
But maybe that's all you want. A quick access to the icons on the desktop.
Olivinism@reddit
Thank you very much for this beautiful key combo. I'm sure I'll remember it until tomorrow and then suddenly recall it a month from now at work
bob_in_the_west@reddit
With newer versions of Windows you can also grab a window by the titlebar and shake it.
Xaphios@reddit
Or click the little bar to the right of the clock on the very end of the taskbar
P5ychokilla@reddit
That's like a game in itself, especially if you're remoted in, thing is microscopically thin
AdreKiseque@reddit
It isn't a distinct bar anymore in 11 but this still works yeah
Some-Challenge8285@reddit
It is Windows 7-10, it was disabled in 11.
drawersonthedesk@reddit
lol
AdreKiseque@reddit
Pretty sure Aero Shake is disabled by default on 11
Also you can just click the bottom right of the taskbar
bob_in_the_west@reddit
Yes, another comment thread already talked about this.
monedula@reddit
You may also like Win + Home, which minimises all windows except the one that currently has the focus.
AdreKiseque@reddit
I'm pretty sure there's another one similar to Win + D which is subtly different, too? Maybe Win + , but I'm not sure. I think the difference is one of them makes it easier to bring everything back up with another press.
JeffTheNth@reddit
Win-M minimizes all windows too if you don't need them all to come back up. Great for "I have too many windows open" moments when you want to "reset" what's available quickly
XkF21WNJ@reddit
There used to be a button on the bottom right to go to the desktop.
I think windows 11 killed it, along with the start button, because fuck accessibility.
editrix_1870@reddit
It's still there, but it's optional so you might have it turned off. Just right-click on the taskbar and go into taskbar settings, then it's one of the options under Taskbar behaviours.
bob_in_the_west@reddit
You can still click there to minimize everything. It's just not an actual button anymore.
DTM-shift@reddit
You are my Cape-less Hero of the Day.
bob_in_the_west@reddit
Here you go: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/73-keyboard-shortcuts-in-windows/1a56279c-752a-4d2e-8223-2b31b643ebaa
DTM-shift@reddit
Aaaaaand bookmarked.
I'm on this one now, but your link is more concise.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/keyboard-shortcuts-in-windows-dcc61a57-8ff0-cffe-9796-cb9706c75eec
MacMan4242@reddit
"Stop swearing at me, and tell me what key to push"
Doesn't know about the FN key.
T_Noctambulist@reddit
Weird flex, but OK.
Different keyboards have different symbols on them. Grow up.
come_ere_duck@reddit
In all fairness, I think the OEM keyboards that come with workstation machines like Dell, should have "Win" printed beneath the symbol for these idiots.
crazykitty123@reddit
Ahhh, the old ANY key...
Overall-Tailor8949@reddit
What's funny, and I just noticed it after using this keyboard for 5+ years, is the "Windows" key on mine is actually marked "Win".
Kyla_3049@reddit
They must be too cheap or small to get rights for the logo.
Overall-Tailor8949@reddit
Actually it's a RedDragon Keyboard/mouse combo, although I DID buy it because it was cheap LOL
javiers@reddit
That’s an MSP? For real?
Honest-Apricot6086@reddit
I went from being completely manual labor to 95% computer work about 3 years ago. I have been slowly discovering things, but this comment thread has almost literally blown my mind. Thank you all for your insights and tricks.
morgando2011@reddit
$Me: now I see variables.
frac6969@reddit
My daily button was Win-Space Bar to switch input methods. But they fucked it up in Windows 11 where the input method has to finish switching before you can switch to the next one. Unlike in Win 10 you can press it multiple times to go to the input method you want. In fact this is the only thing I hate about Windows 11.
mitko_bg_@reddit
I usually describe the Windows key as "the button on the bottom with the flag on it" if the "button with the Windows logo on it" doesn't work. People usually get it, most that ask me it's for the Win+P shortcut (I work at a a school, teachers need help with the projectors).
dedokta@reddit
I've given up telling people to press the windows key. Apparently it doesn't exist unless I'm actually in the room pointing at it to the user.