The wonderful, and slightly hidden, Windows shortcuts that can make your working day easier

Windows + V – the Clipboard you didn’t know you had

This is one of my favourite shortcuts to introduce to your daily shortcuts partly because almost nobody knows it exists, and because it gets an “oh wow” every time.

How does Windows + V do you ask? Instead of only remembering the last thing you copied, Windows quietly keeps a history of copied items. This helps massively in legal work because think about how often you copy things, such as:

• clauses from precedents
• wording from emails
• party names or definitions

Normally, each new copy replaces the previous one. With Windows + V, nothing is lost.

When you first use this, you have to switch on your clipboard history!

Then you can copy multiple things from your document in the usual way (Ctrl + C or right-click + Copy), press Windows + V and you’ll see all of them waiting for you.

Click the one you want to paste – in any order.

Once people start using this, it often becomes a daily habit.

Windows + Shift + S – screenshots without the hassle

In your day-to-day work, screenshots are everywhere, from IT issues to internal guidance notes or showing colleagues a particular thing. This shortcut is one that I have brought up many times as it is one of my favs!

So, what does this do, it lets you capture a screenshot of your whole screen or just the part of the screen you need.

Instead of taking a full screenshot, pasting it, and cropping it (thinking you are removing confidential information, or worse, attaching it by accident), you can be precise from the start.

When you want to screenshot something on your screen use this shortcut, this will grey out your screen, drag over the error message or screen area you want to copy.

You can then paste it straight into an email, Teams chat or document. This way is faster, cleaner, and much safer.

Windows + L – the security one

This one isn’t about speed – it’s about good professional practice. This locks your computer screen instantly.

This is key as whether you’re stepping away for a coffee or being called into a quick meeting, client confidentiality is always front of mind.

When you get up from your desk, Windows + L and walk away knowing the information on your computer is secure.

It’s quicker than waiting for auto-lock and shows good awareness in shared office spaces.

Windows + ← / → – your shortcut to side-by-side working

If your screen feels constantly cluttered, this shortcut can genuinely change how you work by having your screen laid out the way you want – great for large screens.

It snaps windows neatly to either side of your screen.

Why it’s perfect for legal work, you can have the windows next to each other and work on your emails and documents on one screen.

Try it, open a document, press Windows + ←, then open another and press Windows + →. This instantly organises your screen, no resizing required.

Ctrl + Shift + V – paste without the formatting drama

If you’ve ever pasted text into Word and watched the font, size, or spacing go wild, this one’s for you. This shortcut pastes text without bringing formatting along with it.

This is a great shortcut to use especially as legal documents thrive on consistency. This ensures everything looking exactly as it should in your templates.

Copy text from an email or PDF → press Ctrl + Shift + V → the text adopts your document’s formatting automatically, it’s such a small change that saves a surprising amount of tidy-up time.

Windows + Tab – see everything at once

When you’ve got lots open (and let’s be honest, who doesn’t?), this shortcut helps you find what you need without frustration.

It can show a visual overview of all open windows. You can cycle through your applications and see exactly what’s open and click straight to it.

It’s particularly helpful during busy drafting or research sessions.

Ctrl + Shift + Esc — the “something’s frozen” shortcut

Every firm has that moment when Word or Outlook decides to stop responding.

This shortcut opens Task Manager instantly and is the fastest route to close an unresponsive application without restarting your entire machine.

Ctrl + Shift + T — undo a closed browser tab

This one saves a lot of frustration especially for users that have cloud-based software!

When you are on a web browser and you accidentally close a tab, if you press Ctrl + Shift + T and it comes straight back. Meaning you can continue to browse with reassurance.

Please note that this does not work if you close the whole web browser, just the tabs.

The aim of shortcuts isn’t to work faster for the sake of it – it is to reduce your stress levels during your workday and help you enjoy working with IT. Fewer clicks. Less distractions. More focus on the work that actually matters.