Windows 10 supports a variety of keyboard shortcuts (See last month’s post) as well as gestures for touch-based devices. Try them out a few times, and before long they’ll become second nature.
Touchpads are standard equipment on laptops and for everyday computing a modern touchpad can do pretty much everything a mouse can.
GESTURE | WHAT IT DOES |
Tap the touchpad with one finger | Open or select an item |
Tap the touchpad with two fingers | Show more commands (like right-clicking) |
Tap the touchpad with three fingers | Open Cortana |
Tap the touchpad with four fingers | Open the Action Center |
Place two fingers on the touchpad and slide vertically or horizontally | Scroll |
Place two fingers on the touchpad and pinch | Zoom out |
Place two fingers on the touchpad and spread them apart | Zoom in |
Swipe three fingers up | Show thumbnails of your currently running apps in Task View |
Swipe three fingers down | Show the desktop |
Swipe three fingers either left or right | Switch between your open apps |
Swipe four fingers either left or right | Switch between virtual desktops |
If you’re working on a tablet or a touchscreen PC, here’s how to get around:
GESTURE | WHAT IT DOES |
Tap | Open or select an item |
Tap the Windows button | Switch between the Start screen and the currently running app |
Press and hold | Pop up a menu to display more information about the item |
Press and hold, slide and release | Move an item to a new location (the equivalent of dragging an item with a mouse) |
Pinch with two fingers | Zoom out (used in apps such as Maps where you commonly zoom in and out) |
Spread two fingers apart | Zoom in (used in apps such as Maps where you commonly zoom in and out) |
Rotate with two fingers | Rotate the display in the direction you move your fingers |
Swipe horizontally | Scroll sideways through a screen |
Swipe vertically | Scroll up or down |
On the lock screen, swipe up from the bottom edge of the screen | Display the login screen |
Swipe in from the left edge of the screen to the center | Show thumbnails of your currently running apps in Task View |
Swipe in from the right edge of the screen to the center | Display the Action Center |
Pull down from the top of the screen to the bottom | Close an app |
Swipe down from the top of an app | Bring up the app’s title bar |
Slowly pull down from the top of an app | Snap the app to take up one half of the screen |