Keyboard shortcuts are a great productivity tool, especially for those whose work involves a lot of typing. Instead of moving your mouse, you can quickly press a sequence of keys to execute a command, speeding up your work and making your workflow more convenient. However, discovering useful keyboard shortcuts in your favorite applications can be difficult.
Here are 10 useful shortcuts that can help you increase your productivity on Microsoft Edge
1. Ctrl + Shift + L: Paste and Access

This shortcut is a 3-in-1 multi-tool: Place the cursor in the address bar, paste the content from the clipboard, and "hit" Enter, allowing you to perform a search or navigate to the copied website address with just a three-key press. Very convenient.
This shortcut only works on the current tab instead of opening a new tab. However, you can get around this limitation by pressing Ctrl + T to open a new tab and then pressing Ctrl + Shift + L .
2. Tab Navigation
Microsoft Edge has a number of keyboard shortcuts for quickly navigating between tabs, saving you time when switching:
- Ctrl + Tab : Switch to the next tab.
- Ctrl + Shift + Tab : Switch to the previous tab.
- Ctrl + 1 / 2 / 3 : Go to the first, second, third, etc. tab. Note that if you have more than 9 tabs open, pressing Ctrl + 9 will go to the last tab instead of the 9th tab.
3. Working with Tabs
You can open new tabs, close tabs, reopen closed tabs, and do more with tabs in Microsoft Edge without touching your mouse. Here are keyboard shortcuts for some common actions:
- Ctrl + T : Open new tab.
- Ctrl + Shift + T : Reopen the most recently closed tab. Continue pressing to open previously closed tabs.
- Ctrl + W : Close tab.
- Ctrl + M : Mute tab.
- Ctrl + D : Highlight tab.
- Ctrl + N : Open new window.
- Ctrl + Shift + N : Open a new InPrivate window.
4. Alt + D: Place Cursor in Address Bar

If you want to quickly navigate to another website or perform a search without opening a new tab, press Alt + D and type whatever you want. This shortcut puts the cursor in the address bar and also lets you copy the address of the current tab.
Tip: Use Ctrl + E to put the cursor in the address bar in search mode.
5. Ctrl + Enter: Add www or .com
This handy shortcut can automatically add www or .com to anything you type in the address bar. For example, you can type " microsoft " and press Ctrl + Enter to turn it into www.microsoft.com. Alternatively, you can press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to do the same thing but in a new browser window.
6. Browser Items
Sections like Downloads, History, Favorites, and more in Edge have their own shortcuts for quick access. The browser also automatically places the cursor on the first item in each menu for arrow key navigation.
- Ctrl + H : History. Tip: Use Ctrl + Shift + Delete to quickly clear browsing data.
- Ctrl + J : Download.
- Ctrl + Shift + O : Favorites.
7. Alt + Arrow Keys: Navigation

You can navigate to the previous or next page by pressing Alt + Left Arrow (back) or Alt + Right Arrow (forward).
8. Ctrl + Shift + S: Screen Capture
Did you know that Microsoft Edge has a built-in screenshot tool? You can capture a portion of a page and annotate the screenshot. It also lets you use the captured image for visual search—which is great when you need to look something up on the internet.
9. Ctrl + G / Ctrl + Shift + G: Switch Between Search Results
Most people know that Ctrl + F activates the " Find on Page " feature . But did you know that you can move between matching results with the Ctrl + G and Ctrl + Shift + G shortcuts ? Press Ctrl + G to go to the next result or press Ctrl + Shift + G to go back to the previous result.
10. Bookmarks
In addition to Ctrl + Shift + O , which opens the favorites panel, you can use the following shortcuts to work with your bookmarks:
- Ctrl + Shift + B : Show or hide the favorites bar (below the address bar).
- Ctrl + Shift + D : Add all open tabs to favorites in a new folder.
- Ctrl + D : Add current tab to favorites.
Wishing you a great experience with Microsoft Edge.