Keyboard shortcut for creating a new folder or file? (Windows)

Question

Does anybody know if there's a keyboard shortcut equivilant to the right click -> New context menu in explorer?

Given that I suspect that there isn't, does anybody know of an explorer extension that offers something similar? It would be great to have a key combination that yielded an intellisense style dropdown (or similar) of the available file types!

Answer 1

The "simple way":

Using the Keyboard Accelerator Keys

You can use the keyboard accelerator keys: Alt + F to bring up the file menu, and then W for the New menu, and then F for new folder. So your shortcut key sequence ends up being F + W + F with the Alt key held down. (Try it out)

Note: this combination depends on the language of your Windows system.

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Alternative way 1:

Create your own shortcut like Ctrl + N with AutoHotKey

Script you have to hot key:

NOTE: "Display full path in title bar" must be checked in "folder options" of Windows Explorer.

^N::
WinGetActiveTitle aTitle
InputBox, FolderName, Create New Folder, What would you like to name
the folder?,
FileCreateDir %aTitle%\%FolderName%
MsgBox "%FolderName%" has been created in "%aTitle%". 
Return

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Alternative way 2:

mdAxelerator v1.0 (~26k)

It enables defining the shortcut key for creating new folder and making possible to change some other "create new folder" behaviours like default new folder name. This version works only with 2k/xp/2k3 (no nt 4.0 and 9x - sorry).

There are some useful features added like auto enter into just created folder.

Download link

Answer 2

CtrlShiftN creates a new folder in Windows 7.

You can use the keys in the context menu:

Menu » N » F

Or with the mouse:

Right-click » N » F

Answer 3

Ctrl+Shift+N to Create a new folder

This is a legacy command from win95, so it is available in all versions of windows since 95. Best place for window shortcuts is the window help and support file. Just open Help and Support then search for keyboard shortcuts, it is just that easy. I print them out and give them to my older PC students to help them understand the OS better. Works every time.

Answer 4

For Windows 8:

• Right click on the 'New item' button (on the right to the 'New folder' button)
• Select 'Add to Quick Access Toolbar'

Now the icon from the 'New item' button should appear on the top-left corner of the explorer window.

• Press [Alt]

Numerous small letters and number should appear at the top of the window. The small icons on the top-left corner of the explorer window should be indicated with numbers: 1, 2, 3, ...

Usually, the 'New item' button should have the number 3 assigned.

• Now you can just press [Alt]+3 and the New item popup menu will appear.

Answer 5

If you're referring to a shortcut for this Home | Share | View:

Press:

ALT+H for Home
ALT+V for View
ALT+S for Share

After you press the key combination, Windows tells you what to do next.

Answer 6

The built-in Windows Explorer Control+Shift+N shortcut hasn't worked for me for years. If you Google this, you can find lots of people in similar boats. Perhaps there's some app I'm using that is eating the keystrokes, but I've never been able to find it.

Once I found this trick, I decided to create an autohotkey (v1) script to make Control+Shift+N work correctly again:

#IfWinActive ahk_exe Explorer.exe
+^N::
SendInput {Blind}{Ctrl up}{Shift up}{Alt up}{n up}
SendInput {Blind}{Alt}2

Here's the line by line explanation:

1. If Explorer.exe is the active window
2. And you press Control+Shift+N
3. "Release" the Control+Shift+ALT+N keys so they don't interfere with the next line.
4. Press ALT, 2

You can put this script in a ".ahk" file and double click it to start it. Follow these instructions to have it run automatically when Windows starts.

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I don't have code to share for creating a new file, but I will provide the tools:

• Modify the above file to change the hotkeys to your preference.
• Change that last line to use FileAppend.

Answer 7

Here's how it works:

Right-click the to-be-shortcutted file or application and select Create shortcut. Move that shortcut anywhere you want. In the example above, I put mine in a folder, called keyboard shortcuts, specifically to manage these sorts of shortcuts from one place. (This step is entirely optional; you could just leave the shortcut in the same folder.) Right-click the shortcut and select Properties. In the Shortcut tab of the Properties dialog, click in the Shortcut key input and type your preferred shortcut. Cick OK.