Application launchers are a real time saver, as they allow you to launch applications quickly without having to go through several menus.

However Windows has several hidden features which are least exploited by users. Those hidden features can definitely save users a lot of time keeping them productive, for example many users may not have known that they could open Quick Launch applications by using the Windows key, however we had talked about it earlier in our Windows Button Hotkeys guide ^[1].

Recommended Read: Free Dock Applications for Windows ^[2]

Another feature many users are not aware about is the inbuilt feature in Windows to launch applications using Hotkeys, this feature can definitely be useful and can be used to quickly launch frequently used applications.

Guide On Setting Up Hotkeys To Quickly Launch Applications In Windows

Step 1: Right click on a application shortcut on the desktop or in the programs menu and click on the Properties option.

Step 2: Select the shortcut tab in the properties window.

Step 3: In the shortcut tab click on the Shortcut key box and enter any key combination you want to use to launch this application.

Step 4: Click on the Ok button.

The next time you want to launch the application, simply press the hotkey you created for it, for example, in this tutorial we created the hotkey Ctrl + Shit + C for launching the calculator. This trick works in both Windows XP and Windows Vista ^[3].

Hope this tip helps you to save some time, do visit the Windows Tips ^[4] section to learn about several other tricks. Also don’t forget to give us your feedback.