{"id":31847,"date":"2026-04-07T08:51:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T12:51:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/?p=31847"},"modified":"2026-04-07T08:51:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T12:51:13","slug":"creating-your-own-windows-hotkeys-customizing-your-command-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/creating-your-own-windows-hotkeys-customizing-your-command-center\/","title":{"rendered":"Creating Your Own Windows Hotkeys: Customizing Your Command Center"},"content":{"rendered":"

Creating Your Own Windows Hotkeys: Customizing Your Command Center<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Do you have several programs you use every day? Instead of clicking on the start menu or a desktop or taskbar shortcut to open those programs, why not create a hotkey combination to open them? It\u2019s really easy to do. This article is for Windows 10 and Windows 11 users.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s get started using Hotkey combinations:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

I use OE Classic every day. I have a shortcut on my taskbar and my start menu for it. It\u2019s nice having a shortcut on the taskbar because it\u2019s always right where I can see it. However, you can only add so many shortcuts to your taskbar before you can\u2019t see all your shortcuts.<\/span><\/p>\n

So rather than taking up taskbar space with another icon, I decided to create a hotkey shortcut to open OE Classic. It\u2019s really easy to do.<\/span><\/p>\n

I thought a good hotkey combination to open OE Classic would be CTRL+ALT+T. T being for OE Classic \u2013 I\u2019m so smart.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, all I had to do was open OE Classic\u2019s Properties dialog. You can do this for any program by right-clicking its shortcut or right-clicking on the program\u2019s executable\u00a0file \u2014 and then clicking on \u201cProperties\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Once you have the Properties window open, click anywhere inside the shortcut key box:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Cloudeight<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2026 and type in your desired Hotkey combination.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Cloudeight<\/span><\/p>\n

To get the Hotkeys CTRL+ALT+O\u00a0for OE Classic, all I had to do was press CTRL O. Windows automatically adds the ALT and the + signs. \u00a0Press \u201cApply\u201d then \u201cOK\u201d when you’re done to save your Hotkey combo for that program.<\/span><\/p>\n

When you click \u201cApply\u201d or \u201cOK\u201d, you may see this:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Cloudeight<\/span><\/p>\n

If you see this dialog, no worries, mate, just press \u201cContinue\u201d and your Hotkey combo for that program will be saved.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now all I have to do to open OE Classic is press CTRL+ALT+0. Pretty cool.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s more info on how to create Hotkey combos for your favorite programs:<\/span><\/p>\n

If you hold the CTRL key and type a letter, number, or Function Key, Windows will automatically add the ALT key to the combination<\/span><\/p>\n

If you hold the ALT key and type a letter, number, or Function Key, Windows will automatically add the CTRL key to the combination.<\/span><\/p>\n

You can use the CTRL, ALT, and\/or SHIFT keys in combination with a letter, number, or Function Key.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you try to use a Hotkey combination that you\u2019ve already used, Windows will detect it. You can\u2019t use the same Hotkey combo more than once.<\/span><\/p>\n

I created Hotkey combos for Notepad<\/span><\/p>\n

CTRL+ALT+N<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Cloudeight<\/span><\/p>\n

And Chrome<\/span><\/p>\n

CTRL+ALT+C<\/span><\/p>\n

And Firefox<\/span><\/p>\n

CTRL+ALT+F<\/span><\/p>\n

I can remember my four Hotkey combos because I\u2019ve made them easy to remember. \u00a0And I use them almost every day!<\/span><\/p>\n

T=OE Classic<\/span><\/p>\n

N=Notepad<\/span><\/p>\n

C=Chrome<\/span><\/p>\n

F=Firefox<\/span><\/p>\n

Windows Hotkey Combinations: Simple. Easy. Handy. Maybe Windows Hotkey combos will make your Windows computer life easier, too.<\/span><\/p>\n

Want to get even fancier?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

If you want to get really fancy\u2014like changing what the “Caps Lock” key does or creating shortcuts that work across the entire system\u2014you need Microsoft PowerToys<\/a><\/span>. It\u2019s a free, official “toolbox” from Microsoft that we highly recommend.<\/span><\/p>\n

Keyboard Manager: Inside PowerToys, there is a tool called “Keyboard Manager.” It allows you to “re-map” keys.<\/span><\/p>\n

Example: If you never use the “Scroll Lock” key, you can tell Windows to make that button open your Email instead.<\/span><\/p>\n

Shortcut Guide: It also includes a feature where holding down the Windows Key for a second will pop up an overlay on your screen, reminding you of all the available shortcuts. It’s a great “cheat sheet” while you’re learning!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Creating Your Own Windows Hotkeys: Customizing Your Command Center Do you have several programs you use every day? Instead of clicking on the start menu or a desktop or taskbar shortcut to open those programs, why not create a hotkey combination to open them? It\u2019s really easy to do. This article is for Windows 10 and Windows 11\u2026 Read More »<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22147,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4411,4540,3948,4299,10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31847"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31847"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31847\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31848,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31847\/revisions\/31848"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}