How to Assign Keyboard Shortcut to Shortcuts in Windows 10  

    How to Assign Keyboard Shortcut to Shortcuts in Windows 10

    How to Assign Keyboard Shortcut to Shortcuts in Windows 10

    Published by Category: General Tips
    23 Feb 2022
    Designer Media Ltd

    How to Assign Keyboard Shortcut to Shortcuts in Windows 10


    In Windows 10, you can assign a keyboard shortcut (aka: shortcut key) to a shortcut on your desktop, taskbar, and Start menu. When you use the assigned shortcut key, it will open the shortcut.

    This tutorial will show you how to assign a keyboard shortcut to open a shortcut on your desktop, taskbar, or Start menu in Windows 10.

    If you assign the same shortcut key to a shortcut (B) that was already assigned to another shortcut (A), the shortcut key will no longer work for the other shortcut (A) and will now only work for the current shortcut (B).

    If you move a shortcut that you assigned a shortcut key to another location, the shortcut key will no longer work to open the shortcut.



    Contents

    • Option One: To Assign Keyboard Shortcut to a Shortcut on Desktop
    • Option Two: To Assign Keyboard Shortcut to a Shortcut on Start Menu
    • Option Three: To Assign Keyboard Shortcut to a Shortcut on Taskbar






    OPTION ONE

    To Assign Keyboard Shortcut to a Shortcut on Desktop


    1 Right click or press and hold on the shortcut (ex: "Command Prompt") on your desktop, and click/tap on Properties. (see screenshot below)

    How to Assign Keyboard Shortcut to Shortcuts in Windows 10-shortcut_key_desktop-1.jpg

    2 Click/tap in the Shortcut key field, press the key you want to use as the shortcut key, and click/tap on OK to assign it to this shortcut. (see screenshots below)
    Note   Note
    Deleting the current assigned shortcut key will restore it back to the default of None for no shortcut key assigned to the shortcut.

    Press this key Assigned Shortcut key
    Numbers 0-9 from top of keyboard Ctrl + Alt + <number>
    Numbers 0-9 or characters / * - + . on numpad Num <number or character>
    Letters A-Z Ctrl + Alt + <letter>
    Character keys ` ~ @ # $ % ^ & ( ) = + [ ] { } | ; : , ‘ “ . < > / ? Ctrl + Alt + <character key>
    Up, Down, Left, or Right arrow keys Ctrl + Alt + <arrow key>
    Function keys F1-F12 <function key>
    How to Assign Keyboard Shortcut to Shortcuts in Windows 10-shortcut_key_desktop-2.jpg How to Assign Keyboard Shortcut to Shortcuts in Windows 10-shortcut_key_desktop-3.jpg






    OPTION TWO

    To Assign Keyboard Shortcut to a Shortcut on Start Menu


    1 Open the Start menu ().

    2 Right click or press and hold on an item (ex: "Screenpresso") pinned to Start (tile) or in All Apps, click/tap on More, and click/tap on Open file location. (see screenshot below)

    This is not available for Store apps.

    How to Assign Keyboard Shortcut to Shortcuts in Windows 10-shortcut_key_start_menu-1.jpg

    3 Right click or press and hold on the shortcut (ex: "Screenpresso"), and click/tap on Properties. (see screenshot below)

    How to Assign Keyboard Shortcut to Shortcuts in Windows 10-shortcut_key_start_menu-2.jpg

    4 Click/tap in the Shortcut key field, press the key you want to use as the shortcut key, and click/tap on OK to assign it to this shortcut. (see screenshots below)
    Note   Note
    Deleting the current assigned shortcut key will restore it back to the default of None for no shortcut key assigned to the shortcut.

    Press this key Assigned Shortcut key
    Numbers 0-9 from top of keyboard Ctrl + Alt + <number>
    Numbers 0-9 or characters / * - + . on numpad Num <number or character>
    Letters A-Z Ctrl + Alt + <letter>
    Character keys ` ~ @ # $ % ^ & ( ) = + [ ] { } | ; : , ‘ “ . < > / ? Ctrl + Alt + <character key>
    Up, Down, Left, or Right arrow keys Ctrl + Alt + <arrow key>
    Function keys F1-F12 <function key>
    How to Assign Keyboard Shortcut to Shortcuts in Windows 10-shortcut_key_start_menu-3.jpg How to Assign Keyboard Shortcut to Shortcuts in Windows 10-shortcut_key_start_menu-4.jpg






    OPTION THREE

    To Assign Keyboard Shortcut to a Shortcut on Taskbar


    By default, you can already press the Win+1 to Win+0 keys (1-10) to open the first ten apps on your taskbar from left to right if the taskbar is on the top or bottom of the screen, or top to bottom if taskbar is on the left or right side of the screen.


    1 Right click or press and hold on an item (ex: "Google Chrome") pinned to taskbar to open its jump list.

    2 Right click or press and hold on the shortcut (ex: "Google Chrome") in the jump list, and click/tap on Properties. (see screenshot below)

    This is not available for Store apps.

    How to Assign Keyboard Shortcut to Shortcuts in Windows 10-shortcut_key_taskbar-1.jpg

    3 Click/tap in the Shortcut key field, press the key you want to use as the shortcut key, and click/tap on OK to assign it to this shortcut. (see screenshots below)
    Note   Note
    Deleting the current assigned shortcut key will restore it back to the default of None for no shortcut key assigned to the shortcut.

    Press this key Assigned Shortcut key
    Numbers 0-9 from top of keyboard Ctrl + Alt + <number>
    Numbers 0-9 or characters / * - + . from numpad Num <number or character>
    Letters A-Z Ctrl + Alt + <letter>
    Character keys ` ~ @ # $ % ^ & ( ) = + [ ] { } | ; : , ‘ “ . < > / ? Ctrl + Alt + <character key>
    Up, Down, Left, or Right arrow keys Ctrl + Alt + <arrow key>
    Function keys F1-F12 <function key>
    How to Assign Keyboard Shortcut to Shortcuts in Windows 10-shortcut_key_taskbar-2.jpg How to Assign Keyboard Shortcut to Shortcuts in Windows 10-shortcut_key_taskbar-3.jpg


    That's it,
    Shawn






  1. Posts : 21,421
    19044.1586 - 21H2 Pro x64
       #1

    @Brink,
    Hello Shawn. Is there a way to get the list of all assigned keyboard shortcuts and what shortcut they were assigned to?
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 68,543
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Thread Starter
       #2

    steve108 said:
    @Brink,
    Hello Shawn. Is there a way to get the list of all assigned keyboard shortcuts and what shortcut they were assigned to?
    Hello Steve,

    I haven't seen a way to do so other than via 3rd party software like below.

    List All Shortcut Hotkeys Currently in Use on Windows >> Winhelponline

    HotKeysList - View registered hot keys on Windows
      My Computers


  3. Posts : 21,421
    19044.1586 - 21H2 Pro x64
       #3

    Brink said:
    Hello Steve,

    I haven't seen a way to do so other than via 3rd party software like below.

    List All Shortcut Hotkeys Currently in Use on Windows >> Winhelponline

    HotKeysList - View registered hot keys on Windows
    Hi Shawn,
    Thanks for those two links.

    ShortcutsMan is good too as it shows the assigned hotkeys for Desktop and Start Menu, but it doesn't include AppData folder like the script from Winhelponline.
    ShortcutsMan - Shortcuts Manager for Windows
      My Computer


 

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