Back in the early 90’s, most computer keyboards for Windows-based systems had 101 or 102 keys scattered across them (and thus were called “101/102 keyboards”). With the arrival of Microsoft Windows 95 came a slightly different version, the “104/105 keyboard”.
Among the three keys added to the keyboard was the Windows Key or WinKey for short. On a standard 104/105 keyboard, there are two WinKeys on the bottom the keyboard on either side of the space bar. The WinKey has changed its look over the years as the Windows logo has evolved, but they all work the same. Some keys have the word “start” in addition or instead of the Windows logo. Here are four different versions of the WinKey that you might find on your keyboard:
When it first appeared on the keyboard, the function of the WinKey was simple. If you press and release the WinKey, the Windows Start Menu opens. Press it again and the Start Menu is dismissed. Big deal, right? Well, it is in fact a big deal.
From Windows 95 through the present, a fundamental concern for Windows programmers are “accessibility” features designed to ensure that Windows programs can be used by all people regardless of ability or disability. So the WinKey allows a user unable to utilize a mouse or other pointing device to activate the Win95 Start Menu via the keyboard. Once open, we can navigate around the Start Menu using the tab key, the arrow keys, and pressing enter when the program to be run is selected. On keyboards that did not have the WinKey, the similar function was/is to press and hold the “control” key and hit the “escape” key. We’ll discuss those keys later.
Let’s try this out right now. Press and release the WinKey. Look for “Help and Support” on the Start Menu (it should be in the right column near the bottom). Now use the arrow keys to highlight this option. When it is selected, press the Enter key to open Windows Help. Easy enough?
But this wasn’t enough functionality for the WinKey. Along the way it was given additional tasks. So soon after Windows 95 was released, system-wide short cuts were created. In a nutshell, this means that you can hold down the Windows Key and press another key on the keyboard to start a system program or perform a function such as show the desktop. There are some incredibly useful predefined shortcuts, so I’ll start by listing just a few. As we cover more Windows tips, I’ll introduce you to more WinKey shortcuts.
To use these keystrokes, hold down the WinKey, press the second key indicated and release the WinKey.
- WinKey + E: open Windows Explorer (for file access). Windows Explorer is also known as “My Computer” and is very useful for looking at your documents and other files.
- WinKey + F: open the Search window to look for files on your computer.
- WinKey + D: show the Desktop (minimize all open windows down to icons on the Task Bar). Press it a second time to restore all windows that were open.
- WinKey + M: minimize all open windows.
- WinKey + Shift + M: restore the windows minimized by WinKey + M.
Windows Vista and Windows 7 users have several additional options that will become more important as Windows 7 is released. We’ll discuss the Quick Launch toolbar in an upcoming tip, and I’ll restate this at that time. If you use the Quick Launch Toolbar, you can launch any of the first nine links by pressing WinKey + # (where # is 1 through 9).
With my Quick Launch toolbar configured as in the above image, I can run Microsoft Internet Explorer by pressing WinKey + 1 and Windows Media Player by pressing WinKey + 9.
If you are not using the Quick Launch toolbar yet, I strongly encourage you to begin. If you don’t know what it is or how to set it up, start making a list of the programs you run most often, and we’ll cover that in due time.
Next time we’ll look at my most absolute favorite key on the entire keyboard. It’s great for getting us out of many sticky situations. See you then…
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