Windows (or Windows 11) has more than 200 documented keyboard shortcuts, but one of its strangest isn’t even listed on Microsoft’s main Windows shortcuts page, and that is Ctrl + Alt + Shift + Win + L. This shortcut opens LinkedIn.com in the default browser, and Microsoft apparently keeps track of how many users actually use the shortcut.
When I opened LinkedIn using the keyboard shortcut, Windows also added a referral tracking parameter, which allows LinkedIn to identify traffic generated by Microsoft’s Office keyboard shortcut. You can try the shortcut yourself and closely watch the browser’s address bar while LinkedIn.com opens.
https://www.linkedin.com/?trk=Officekey
But the parameter is quietly stripped off when LinkedIn finishes loading. LinkedIn has some of the worst dark patterns, so I am not surprised it keeps track of where you visited its homepage from. And I don’t think the tracker is necessarily added by Windows here. But how is it even tied to the Office suite?
Is the five-key shortcut (Ctrl + Alt + Shift + Win + L) tied in any way to Microsoft 365 or an Office perpetual license? Well, no. Although the tracker uses “Officekey,” the LinkedIn shortcut on Windows is not tied to any other product. It’s baked into Windows, and you can’t turn it off or remap it unless you use PowerToys. I also found that the shortcut works on Windows Server, so it’s certainly not a Windows 11 Home thing.
Why does Ctrl + Alt + Shift + Win open LinkedIn?
Microsoft usually maintains explanations for keyboard shortcuts on Windows, but we can’t find the company’s answer to this question. Microsoft owns a lot of products, but why does only LinkedIn have a dedicated shortcut that works even when you’re using a vanilla version of Windows?
One possible explanation is that Ctrl + Alt + Shift + Win is tied to Microsoft’s old Office key, which shipped on older physical keyboards, similar to how you now have the Copilot key. For example, here’s a physical keyboard that comes with a dedicated Office key, and it was added with Windows 10 1903:
Microsoft’s own support document confirms that the LinkedIn shortcut exists, along with the following:
- Office key + W → Word
- Office key + P → PowerPoint
- Office key + X → Excel
- Office key + O → Outlook
- Office key + T → Teams
- Office key + D → OneDrive
- Office key + N → OneNote
- Office key + L → LinkedIn in your default browser
“Microsoft Office at your fingertips: Get to your Microsoft Office apps in a second with the Office key on your Microsoft Ergonomic Keyboard,” Microsoft noted in a document published years ago. “Want to open Word quickly? Just press the Office key + W. With the Office key, you can get to the Office apps you use every day without taking your hands off the keyboard.”
But it turns out that even Windows PCs that no longer come with the Office key can still use the shortcut. If you use any keyboard, even a virtual keyboard, and press Ctrl + Alt + Shift + Win, it reproduces the Office key combination, which is why we have Ctrl + Alt + Shift + Win + L opening LinkedIn.
This shortcut has been part of Windows since at least 2019, which is when Windows 10 1903 shipped. While it’s just trivia for me, some users dislike the idea because Alt + Ctrl + Shift + Win hijacked combinations they used for AutoHotkey.
