Why it matters to you
If you’ve been wishing Microsoft’s Edge browser had a full-screen mode, then you’ll love this shortcut that works with all Windows 10 apps.
Microsoft is working hard on making its Edge browser more competitive with Google’s Chrome, and although market share numbers don’t signal tremendous growth, Edge’s features have steadily improved. In fact, Edge features and functionality improvements were a highlight of the recently released Windows 10 Creators Update.
But not everyone is happy with Edge’s advancements. Microsoft pundit Paul Thurrott, for example, called out some of the browser’s most crucial failings recently, and these limitations are definitely glaring. One of his complaints, however, namely the lack of a full-screen view, is actually already mostly addressed, as On MSFT points out.
Thurrott’s complaint was that unlike Chrome, hitting the F11 key does nothing in Edge. However, hitting the Shift-Windows-Enter key combination does essentially the same thing — it puts Edge into the same kind of full-screen mode that shows off just the page contents without any distracting user interface elements.
Here’s Edge in normal view:
Mark Coppock/Digital Trends
Here’s Edge in full-screen view when you hit Shift-Windows-Enter:
Mark Coppock/Digital Trends
There has been some confusion over the fact that this full-screen key combo works for any Universal Windows Platform (UWP) app, or Windows 10 app as they’re commonly called. While the effect varies by app depending on how many user interface elements have been implemented, it seems to work for Edge much like hitting F11 works for Chrome. And in fact, there’s even the added bonus of a small set of buttons that pop up if you mouse into the corner to minimize or close the app or leave full-screen mode.
Mark Coppock/Digital Trends
The real problem here, as OnMSFT points out, is likely that Microsoft has simply failed to point out this functionality to users. It took a Reddit thread and Redditor Phantasm1337 to do the job of letting everyone know about the feature. As noted in the thread, the Shift-Windows-Enter combination is a system-wide shortcut, as opposed to the similar Alt-Enter combination that’s only sent to an application.
Mark Coppock/Digital Trends
Windows 10 is a complex operating system that has introduced a significant number of new concepts, from touchscreen support to Windows Ink to UWP apps and much, much more. It’s likely that we’re only scratching the surface of what’s possible with Windows 10, and can only hope that one day Microsoft catches up in telling us all about it.