Windows 8.1 FAQ

Windows Explorer

1. How do I run and close programs?

The new user interface replaces the old Desktop and Start menu which has been in use since Windows 95. It is the same interface used on the Windows Phone 7 and 8 to launch apps using a touch. So to run apps on Windows 8 you just press on the icon your your fingers (assuming the screen supports touch), otherwise you can click on the icons using your mouse point as before.

To close an app, you can press Alt+F4 on the keyboard or press the Windows key to switch to the Start menu. If you have a mouse, move it to the right of the screen to get the Charms Bar to appear, and click on the Start icon (2nd icon down). For touch gestures, swipe the screen from top of the screen to the bottom to close the app or use the Charms Bar.

2. What types of touch gestures can I use?

Windows 8 supports multi-touch so you can use one or more fingers to manage the screen and icons on the screen.

* Tap. This is the the equivalent of selecting or clicking left mouse button to select open items.
* Slide. Moving your finger across the screen is the equivalent to dragging a selected item across the screen.
* Press and hold. This is selecting and holding down the left mouse button.
* Drag to close. This is dragging a selected item down the screen.
* Pinch or Stretch to zoom. This is compressing or expanding an item on screen to make things smaller or bigger (use Ctrl + Scroll Wheel on mouse)
* Rotate. This method using two fingers, slightly apart, to rotate items about its axis.
* Swipe from Right. Starting from right side of screen and move finger across from the right to the left. This will open the Charms Bar (normally hidden)
* Swipe from Left. Starting from the left side of the screen and move finger across from the left to the right. This will open the Switcher.
* Swipe from Top or Bottom. Starting from top or bottom of screen and move finger down or up the screen. This will activate the App and Navigation bars.
* Swipe In and Out of the Left Edge. Starting from the left edge and move the finger a short distance to the right. This cycles through recent Apps.

3. How to I open the Charms Bar (right side menu)?

Use the Swipe from the Right gesture or mouse mouse pointer to the far right of the screen and hover the pointer around the right side of the screen to get the 'Charms Bar' to appear.
The Charms bar has the following options:
* Search. Select this to search for Apps, Settings, Files, Mail, Internet or other items of iterest. (pressing Windows+F will load search too).
* Share. A context sensitive option to share items with other users.
* Start. This will switch between the start menu and the last opened app.
* Devices. This allows you to send contents of the screen to another device such as a second monitor or to a printer (E.g. Maps).
* Settings. These are the various settings for network, volume, brightness, notification, power, keyboard and PC Settings.

4. How do I add or remove apps from the start screen?

If you select Search (or Windows+F) from the Charms Bar, you can search for new apps to add to the start menu. In the search results, select and right click (or swipe from the Bottom) and
the App bar will appear. You can then select Pin to Start or Pin to Taskbar to add it to the start menu. If an app is already on the Start menu or Taskbar you can then Unpin from Start or
Unpin from Taskbar from the app Bar

You can re-arrange any apps on the start menu by selecting and dragging the app to a new location such as an empty space or over existing apps, and the apps will move out out of the way
to allow the app to be inserted in the new location. If you drag an app out of group of apps to a new column you can start a new group of apps.

Not all apps or programs are shown on the start screen, to view all apps, drag from the bottom of the screen or right click the mouse at the bottom to get the App bar to appear and click on
the All Apps icon to view more programs.

5. How do I logout or shutdown?

To logoff (or sign out), click on your account name at the top right of the Start screen and select Sign out.
To lock the workstation click on the word Lock.
You can also select Sign out and Lock, by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del keys together, and you can also access the
Shutdown and Restart options on the power icon at the bottom right.

6. What keyboard shortcuts can I use in Windows 8?

Here are a list of common keyboard shortcuts

Windows 8.1