Windows tip: Alt+Enter helps in games and Excel

Martin Jud

19/5/2025

Translation: Patrik Stainbrook

The key combination Alt+Enter has a long tradition in Windows. It helps when gaming, as well as when working with Excel, Explorer and the browser.

Holding down the left Alt key and hitting Enter once was already a common trick in the 90s under Windows 3.0 to 98. It allowed you to switch from windowed mode to full-screen in games or console programs – and vice versa.

This still works today if you use the command prompt or PowerShell under Windows 10 or 11. When gaming, however, window mode supports depends on the respective title and engine used. Switching helps with multitasking as well as in situations where a game starts in the wrong mode after installation.

Also helpful for Excel, Explorer and the browser

Apart from games, the key combination helps when working with Excel, Explorer and surfing the internet.

If you’re editing a cell in Microsoft’s spreadsheet program, you can insert a line break with Alt+Enter.

In Explorer or on the desktop, you can use the key combination after selecting one or more objects (files/folders) to open the properties window.

Last but not least, you can also use Alt+Enter when surfing or using the web browser. It works on any link in a text field (the browser search bar, a Google Docs document, etc.). If you hover the cursor over it or it’s highlighted, the key combination will open the URL in a new tab.

Need more Windows tips? The following article contains an overview of all previously published articles.

Martin Jud

Senior Editor

martin.jud@digitecgalaxus.ch

I find my muse in everything. When I don’t, I draw inspiration from daydreaming. After all, if you dream, you don’t sleep through life.

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