- Essential Keyboard Shortcuts
- Essential Mouse Clicks
- Essential Touch Gestures
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Essential Touch Gestures
Now we come to the way that Microsoft really, truly wants you to use your PC—with your fingers. That’s right, Microsoft believes that touchscreen displays, like the kind you find on an iPad or smartphone, are the future of personal computers. In fact, Microsoft is pushing heavy for HP, Dell, Lenovo, and all the other PC manufacturers to add touchscreen displays to as many new computers as possible. The problem, of course, is that a touchscreen display adds several hundred dollars to the price of given computer, and few (if any) consumers are willing to pay the extra bucks. Go figure.
Anyway, if you do happen to be the proud, if not poorer, owner of a fancy schmancy touchscreen PC, you can take full advantage of all the finger-based operations that Microsoft designed into the Windows 8 operating system. Of course, there’s really no guide to what these new touch gestures are; I guess you’re just supposed to intuit wagging your finger this way and that does this thing or the other.
Assuming that you’re not touch prescient, you need a guide to all the various touch gestures present in Windows 8. The following table serves as that guide.
Operation |
Touch Gesture |
|
Close currently running app or window |
Touch the top edge of the screen and swipe down about halfway through the screen |
|
Display Charms bar |
Touch the right edge of the screen and swipe to the left |
|
Display context-sensitive options menu |
Press and hold the item with your finger |
|
Display Options bar |
Touch the top or bottom of the screen and swipe toward the middle |
|
Display options for any tile on Start screen |
Touch the tile then swipe downward |
|
Display two Windows 8 apps side-by-side (snap the apps) |
Touch the left edge of the screen, drag your finger to the right, and then quickly drag it back to the left to display the switcher panel; press and drag the app you’d like to snap to the right, then drop it on either the left or right edge of the screen |
|
Lock computer |
From Start screen, tap username, Lock |
|
Move an item to new location |
Press and hold, drag to new location, then release |
|
Open a program or document |
Tap |
|
Open All Apps Window |
From Start screen, display Options bar and tap All Apps |
|
Open Windows Help |
From Charms bar, tap Settings, Help |
|
Return to Start screen |
Open the Charms bar and tap Start |
|
Scroll down |
Swipe up |
|
Scroll left |
Swipe right |
|
Scroll right |
Swipe left |
|
Scroll up |
Swipe down |
|
Search |
Display Charms bar and tap Search |
|
Shut down Windows |
From Charms bar, tap Settings, Power, Shut Down |
|
Switch to previous application |
Touch the left edge of the screen and swipe rapidly to the right |
|
View or switch to other open apps |
Touch the left edge of the screen, drag your finger to the right, and then quickly drag it back to the left; you can then tap any app thumbnail to switch to that app |
|
Zoom in to Start screen (or zoomable apps) |
Use two fingers to touch two adjacent points on the screen, then move your fingers apart |
|
Zoom out of Start screen (or zoomable apps) |
Use two fingers to two distant points on the screen, then pinch your fingers in toward each other |
And that’s how you use Windows 8 with your finger—or your mouse or your keyboard. There’s really a lot you can do, if you know how to do it.