There are times when you might need to shutdown your computer as quickly as possible. This can prove burdensome if you have a dozen programs open. For times like these, and even in your day-to-day, Windows has a shortcut to quickly close all of your open programs. We will show you this time-saving trick with this week’s tip.

Close All Windows Applications

You will want to open the Applications Tab in Windows Task Manager, this is done by pressing Ctrl+Shift+Esc. You will see in the tab a list of all the open programs, you will now want to press the down arrow to highlight the first application on the list. With your first program selected, you will now select all the applications by holding Shift+down arrow. You can now close everything at once by pressing Alt+E. That is it, every application is closed, but you will still need to close Windows Task Manager; to do this you will either use Alt+F/down arrow/Exit Task Manager/Enter, or simply press the x icon.

If you do not regularly use keystrokes, then you may suspect that this tip is not a timesaver, due to the multiple steps. But if you get into the habit of practicing this keystroke formula, you will discover that it takes less than 8 seconds to complete. Remember to have everything saved before you attempt to close everything at once. Most programs automatically save your project, but for the programs that do not, you will want to regularly save your work while you are working on it so you can quickly close everything down at once, without worry of data loss.

This tip will save you 30 seconds or more in your PC shutdown routine. This may not seem like a lot of time, but any astute businessperson will understand the productivity value of shaving off 30 seconds here and there throughout their daily routine. Be sure to check back next week for more time saving tips and best practices!