Windows never ceases to amaze me. Last month I first discovered that you could pause Windows Task Manager by holding down the CTRL key, and today I stumbled upon a special keyboard shortcut that allows you to launch LinkedIn, Word, and many other Office applications.
If you’re running Windows, try holding CTRL + SHIFT + ALT + WIN + L. Then watch in bewilderment as LinkedIn opens in your default browser. window watcher Paul Thurrott published this strange keyboard shortcut in X (Twitter), pointing out that it is an operating system hotkey.
So why does Windows have this? It’s all part of office key which Microsoft introduced in some of its own keyboards a few years ago. The Office key replaced the usual Windows right key, offering the ability to hold down the key in combination with another key to quickly open Office applications. Here is the full list:
- LinkedIn – CTRL + SHIFT + ALT + WIN + L
- Word – CTRL + SHIFT + ALT + WIN + W
- Standing out – CTRL + SHIFT + ALT + WIN + X
- PowerPoint – CTRL + SHIFT + ALT + WIN + P
- panorama – CTRL + SHIFT + ALT + WIN + O
- Microsoft Teams – CTRL + SHIFT + ALT + WIN + T
- OneDrive – CTRL + SHIFT + ALT + WIN + D
- A note – CTRL + SHIFT + ALT + WIN + N
- Complain – CTRL + SHIFT + ALT + WIN + Y
If you do not have these Office applications installed, the shortcuts will open. office.com in your browser. It looks like a complicated shortcut, but all the keys are grouped in the corner of the keyboard, so it actually feels like you’re pressing buttons in a game to achieve these Office shortcuts.
While Thurrott says this is an operating system hotkey that “cannot be disabled,” there is actually a method to disable these Office key shortcuts in the Windows registry. If, like me, you had no idea these keyboard shortcuts existed for people with an Office key, then it’s probably not worth turning them off, but if you love digging into the Microsoft registry posted the method here.
I’m sure I’ll discover some other hidden part of Windows in the coming weeks or months, so stay tuned for the next installment of Today I Learned… This Weird Windows Thing.
