What you need to know
- CtrlHelp is a new app on Windows 11 that helps you master shortcuts within apps.
- You can use the app to summon a searchable cheat sheet within supported applications that shows all of the shortcuts available.
- The app also has an interactive practice mode that lets you explore shortcuts within popular apps, including Word, Excel, Photoshop, and Visual Studio.
Windows 11 has a massive library of shortcuts that are always available at your fingertips. On top of system shortcuts, Windows 11 apps have hotkeys and shortcuts that streamline your workflow. While these shortcuts are useful, it can be difficult to remember all of them, especially when the same keys perform different actions within separate apps. A relatively new app called CtrlHelp is here to help you out, and it’s one of my favorite new apps of the year.
CtrlHelp is a straightforward app with two parts. First, you can practice shortcuts in an interactive practice mode. That mode also makes it easy to browse through which shortcuts you can use in an app. The second half of the app is more useful, at least in my opinion, as it allows you to summon a cheat sheet of shortcuts by holding down the Control key.
That cheat sheet shows the keys you need to press to use any shortcut within the app, but you can also just click on an action. Searching the cheat sheet is also supported, making it easy to find a specific command.
Right now, CtrlHelp supports over 80 applications and 8,000 shortcuts. The app allows you to suggest apps that should be supported, so it seems likely the list of supported apps will expand over time. CtrlHelp already works with several popular apps, including multiple browsers, Slack, Zoom, Teams, and Visual Studio. Much of the Adobe suit is already supported, as are DaVinci Resolve, Figma, and Blender. The app’s Microsoft Store listing has a full list of supported apps.
CtrlHelp costs $9.99, but it has a free trial. As far as I can tell, there aren’t any feature limits on the trial, so you can see if the app is worth it for your specific workflow.
Must-have Windows 11 app
Every once in a while, I come across an app that makes me wonder why it didn’t exist sooner. CtrlHelp feels so natural on my PC that I’m surprised it’s not built into Windows 11, or at least Microsoft PowerToys. I was so excited about the app that I asked my wife to see CtrlHelp in action. When I showed my wife, she said it looks like it always should have been part of Windows.
It’s worth clarifying that CtrlHelp is not the first application to show app shortcuts. CheatKeys also shows shortcuts available within supported apps by holding down the Control key. But in my opinion, CtrlHelp looks more natural while providing similar functionality. The developers of CtrlHelp did a good job following Windows design language, so the app fits right in on Windows 11. I also like the search tool within CtrlHelp.
CtrlHelp only launched this summer, so there are still some bugs to work out. For example, I was not able to use the cheat sheet within the version of Slack downloaded through the Microsoft Store. But issues have been few and far between during my testing. The current version of CtrlHelp is more than respectable, especially for such a new app.
