Using keyboard shortcuts make Windows users more efficient at doing tasks on computers. There are lots of keyboard shortcuts like Ctrl + C, Ctrl + V, etc. In this post, MiniTool Partition Wizard introduces a keyboard shortcut “Ctrl + W”.
Keyboard shortcuts are the strategic use of combinations of keys on a keyboard to deal with some tasks in on a computer more efficiently — using Alt + Tab for switching windows quickly, use Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V for copying and pasting files, etc. (read the post to learn more important keyboard shortcuts on Windows)
Today’s post focuses on a keyboard shortcut “Ctrl + W”. What does Ctrl + W do? Scroll down to get the answer.
What Does Ctrl W Do?
Let’s do a small experiment:
Open a folder and then press Ctrl + W at the same time.
You should see that the folder is closed. So, what does Ctrl W do? Ctrl + W is most often used to close a program, window tab, or document. Other keyboard shortcuts like Ctrl + F4 and Alt + F4 have the same function.
Scroll down to see more details about Ctrl + W, Ctrl + F4, and Alt + F4 in different browsers and Microsoft Office software.
Ctrl + W/Ctrl + F4/Alt+ F4 in Browsers
What does Ctrl W do in Chrome? If you press Ctrl + W at the same time when you are browsing a page in all major browsers (such as Chrome, Firefox, Edge, etc.), the page will be closed without any prompt. If there is only one tab open in a browser, pressing Ctrl + W will close the browser.
How about the other two keyboard shortcuts in browsers?
Ctrl + F4 works the same as Ctrl + W in the above cases.
Pressing Alt + F4 in different browsers leads to different outcomes. Pressing Alt + F4 in Chrome where many tabs open will close the browser directly without any prompt. But thing comes different in Firefox — press Alt+ F4 in Firefox and then a prompt pops up like the following image:
Ctrl + W in Microsoft Office Software
Pressing Ctrl + W, Ctrl + F4, or Alt + F4 will close the Excel/Word/PowerPoint window without any prompt if you have saved your work.
If you are editing the contents and press each of the three keyboard shortcuts, Excel/Word/PowerPoint will ask you whether to save the changes.
The Ctrl key and other keys like A, S, F, X, and more form useful keyboard shortcuts. So, the Ctrl key is important. But some users reported that Ctrl key not working. Why does this happen? How to get the key back to work? You can read the following recommended article if you are interested in this issue.
Bottom Line
Reading here, you know what Ctrl + W does. Have you ever used the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Alt + Del? What does the keyboard shortcut do? Go to What Is Ctrl+Alt+Del and What Does It Do to figure out the function of the keyboard function.
If there is something unclear in this post, please write down your doubts in the following comment zone and I will reply to you as soon as possible.