How to increase typing speed with PowerToys on Windows

With so much to do in a day, you should find shortcuts or solutions that can speed up your work. One way to get things done faster on Windows is to reduce the time spent typing with Microsoft PowerToys.

PowerToys has several utilities like Keyboard Manager, Quick Accent and Shortcut Guide that can help you speed up typing.

How to remap keys and shortcuts with Keyboard Manager

Keyboard Manager allows you to remap keys and keyboard shortcuts with the ones you're most comfortable typing with.

How to remap keys for faster typing

To remap keys using Keyboard Manager:

1. Open PowerToys on PC by searching for it on Windows Search and clicking on PowerToys under Best match . Or double-click the PowerToys icon in the system tray. The PowerToys Settings screen will open.

2. Click Keyboard Manager in the left pane. Then, toggle the Enable Keyboard Manager switch in the right pane.

3. Click Remap a key to open the Remap keys window .

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4. Press the down arrow below the Type button in the Physical Key section and select a key, such as P. Then, in the Mapped to section , click the down arrow below Type and select a key, such as S to physical key mapping.

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5. Finally, click the blue OK button at the top and select Continue Anyway on the warning prompt. Now, when you type P on the keyboard, the letter S will be typed.

Key remapping is also useful if a key stops working. You can map it to another key until you fix the faulty key or buy a new keyboard.

You can also map shortcuts like Ctrl + I to a key. Click the plus sign below Physical Key . Then click the Type button. Next, select a key, such as F1 by pressing it on the keyboard. Then click OK.

Now, in the Mapped to section , click the Type button. Now press Ctrl + I or the Italicize shortcut on your keyboard to map the F1 key to it.

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Now, when you need to italicize a piece of text, instead of Ctrl + I , you just need to press a single key, F1. So you will automatically type faster.

This way, you can remap multiple alphanumeric keys, and even function keys, to speed up your work.

How to remap shortcuts for faster typing

Below the Remap a key option , you will find the Remap a shortcut option . Click on it to open the Remap shortcuts window . You can rearrange common shortcuts into other shortcuts you want to use.

For example, instead of pressing the Ctrl + B keys to make text bold, you should use Shift (left) + Z - The Shift (left) + Z keys are next to each other so it's easier and faster to press them together. So, in the Remap Shortcuts window , type Shift (left) + Z in the Physical Shortcut  and Ctrl + B in the Mapped to section.

You can select All Apps as the Target App or an app such as Word where you want this remapped shortcut to work. But remember to put the executable or EXE name of the Word application, that is Winword. You can easily find the EXE names of the applications through a Google search.

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Finally, click the blue OK button and select Continue Anyway on the prompt.

You can now bold text with your favorite shortcuts and type faster on your favorite apps.

How to type accents in a snap with Quick Accent

There may be times when you need to add an accented character while typing. Maybe while sharing the name of the vacation destination or making sure the guest's last name is spelled correctly.

With Quick Accents , you can do it in a snap when typing with an English keyboard. It's easy to use this quick way to type accented characters.

In PowerToys Settings , click Quick Accent in the left pane and enable Enable Quick Accent . You can use Left, Right Arrows or Space as the Activation key.

In Characters , select the character set you want to use in Choose a character set , like Catalan, Dutch, French, German, Spanish, etc., or select All available to get all the options select.

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To use Quick Accent, first press and hold the key of the character to which you want to add the accent. Then press Activation Key.

For example, if you want to use the character marked ü to type Munich, the German name for Munich, press and hold the u key and then press the spacebar or the left or right arrow keys. A toolbar of accented characters for the letter u will appear on the PC screen.

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Move on the toolbar with spacebar or left/right arrow keys to highlight characters with ü. Then release the u key on your keyboard and ü will be entered.

How to make shortcuts handy with Shortcut Guide

It is not always possible for you to remember the various Windows keyboard shortcuts, even if you are a professional Windows user. Shortcut Guide will help you.

First, enable Shortcut Guide in PowerToys Settings. Then, choose to activate the Shortcut Guide by holding down the Win key for a set amount of time or using a custom keyboard shortcut.

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While typing, activate the Shortcut Guide. An overlay will appear on the screen showing shortcuts using the Win key. You will also see the results of each shortcut written in the tutorial.

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You can use shortcuts while the tutorial is displayed. So if you're holding down the Win key, just press a letter like E - will become Win + E and open File Explorer. Release the Win key to close the overlay.

If you used a shortcut key combination to activate, the instructions will still be displayed on the screen. So first enter the Win key, then enter another key to apply the shortcut.

Once done, press the keyboard shortcut again to close the tutorial overlay.

Lesley Montoya

Update 27 June 2023