48

I haven't seen any shortcut for creating "A New Text Document" or any file. Is there any?

|improve this question
53

Alt+F, W, T works for me, regardless of whether the file or folder pane has focus.

It is probably worth noting that this doesn't work in Windows 8 any more. Menu, w, t works as long as the file pane has focus.

Windows 10 changes things slightly. Menu, w, t works as long as the file pane has focus and no file is selected. Press CONTROL-SPACE to clear the selected files (thanks @RogUE).

|improve this answer
  • 1
    This is the only built-in-solution I found for Win7. Still wonder why Microsoft has decided to use shortcut w for New. Why not n to make it easy? – Kai Noack Jan 5 '14 at 21:43
  • 1
    @EchtEinfachTV: Look at the underlined letters in the menu. “New” can’t be ‘N’ because ‘N’ is “Se n d to”. (And “Send to” can’t be ‘S’ because ‘S’ is “Create shortcut”. And “Create shortcut” can’t be ‘C’ because ‘C’ is “Close”.) ... (No relation to Ben.) – Scott Jul 9 '14 at 19:46
  • 1
    If a file or folder is selected, you could hit crtl+space to deselect it – RogUE May 6 '16 at 1:43
  • @RogUE it works for only a certain file. When I enter a folder, select some files then do ctrl+space it only selects or deselects a certain file, not all the selected files, on Windows 10 that is. – kittenparry Jul 28 '16 at 9:04
15

I wrote a script based on the suggestions to use AutoHotkey. If you want to change the .txt file extension, this requires Hide extentions for known file types to be off.

#IfWinActive, ahk_class CabinetWClass
#n:: ;If Windows+N is pressed in Windows Explorer
Send {Alt} ;Menu
Send f ;> File
Send w ;> New
Send t ;select Text Document
Send ^a ;select all
Exit

If you need any help with AutoHotkey, let me know. :)

|improve this answer
  • Where does the limitation on the visible file name extensions come in? – Daniel Beck♦ Jan 26 '12 at 19:44
  • @DanielBeck Studiohack merged two questions. The one that I originally answered asked if the file extension could be removed. Since we are using .txt, we should select the whole file name including .txt. I've updated my answer to clarify. – iglvzx Jan 26 '12 at 19:46
  • Thanks iglvzx! I added Send {Delete} because even though everything was selected, typing only deleted the part before the extension. – Andrei Khramtsov Jan 27 '12 at 14:29
  • If you want to make it shorter and easier use this: SendInput !fwt – Phil Roggenbuck Jan 8 '19 at 15:25
  • If you want to rename the file to what you have in the clipboard and open the file afterwards use this: SendInput !fwt Sleep 100 SendInput ^a{backspace}^v{enter}{enter}{enter} – Phil Roggenbuck Jan 8 '19 at 16:13
4

It may be possible with a third party solution (haven't tested it, autokey is famous too), since it's not available in Windows 7's official keyboard shortcuts. You can create a new folder using Ctrl+Shift+N though.

|improve this answer
4

The following works under XP (I don't have Windows 7):

  • make sure the Files (not Folders) pane has focus (Tab or F6 to get there).
  • make sure no file is selected (press CTRL+Space to unselect one file if necessary).
  • bring up either the File menu with Alt+F or the context menu with the context menu key or Shift+F10.
  • Press W for New, and T for Text Document.
|improve this answer
  • 1
    This is a looong procedure. Something like Ctrl+Shift+T will do. – Abdulsattar Mohammed Apr 21 '10 at 12:07
  • It works, but not if any other applications start adding to the file menu to interfere with the W shortcut e.g. WinMerge. – Vince Bowdren Oct 8 '13 at 13:54
  • This still works under Windows 8. When other application add menu items with the W shortcut, you have to press the W key twice and submit with enter or right arrow key. – danijar Jun 21 '14 at 14:11
1

I just tried the following on my Swedish Windows 7 machine and it works good. No need to install third party.

  1. Open folder
  2. Press ALT-key to display menubar
  3. A (Swe. Arkiv, Eng. File)
  4. N (Swe. Nytt, Eng. New)
  5. T (Swe. Textdokument, Eng. Textdocument)

Short: ALT, A, N, T

|improve this answer
0

Get AutoHotkey.

Then you need create or find a script for shortcut binding. For more, read the AHK tutorial.

|improve this answer
  • 3
    So, how does this exactly solve the problem? Which script should they use? – slhck Jan 26 '12 at 18:37
  • 1
    @slhck I'm working on one! Shh. – iglvzx Jan 26 '12 at 18:38
0

Right click (leave right click mouse button) then press 'W' (leave W) and finally press 'T' works with windows 8.1

|improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.