Software & Apps > Windows 39 39 people found this article helpful How to Use the Windows Keyboard Shortcut Alt + Underlined Key Navigate menus in Windows without using your mouse By Keith Ward Keith Ward Writer Towson University Keith Ward is a former Lifewire writer with over 25 years' experience writing about Microsoft products and creating and Windows tutorials. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on November 5, 2022 Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email Windows The Ultimate Laptop Buying Guide What to Know To activate, select Start icon > Settings > Ease of Access > under Interaction, select Keyboard.Next, turn on Underline access keys when available toggle > close window to save changes.To use shortcuts, select Alt + corresponding underlined key. This article explains how to activate and use the Alt + Underlined keyboard shortcut on Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Vista, and Windows XP. Activating Underlined Keys in Newer Windows Versions If you're on an older version of Windows, this feature is automatic, but later versions don't have this feature on by default. Here's how to activate the feature if it isn't already on. Select Start icon or the Windows key. Choose Settings (gear icon). Select Ease of Access. Scroll down to the Interaction heading and select Keyboard. Under Change how keyboard shortcuts work, turn on the Underline access keys when available toggle. Close the window to save your changes. Now, in menus, the keys you can use with the Alt key will have underlines when you hold the Alt key. Keep holding down Alt to keep making selections within menus. For example, hold Alt and press F to open a File menu. Keep holding Alt and press W to open a new window. Modern Apps More recent programs are doing away with the customary menu bar that we're used to seeing in Windows XP and earlier versions of Windows. Even some programs in Windows 7 have this more modern, menu-less look. Nevertheless, you can still use the Alt+letter shortcut in Windows 10. In many applications, the letters don't have underlines, but the feature still works the same way. Windows Store apps generally do not offer this feature. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Subscribe Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit