Use keyboard, mouse, touch, and pen in Windows App - Windows App (2025)

Table of Contents

Prerequisites Input methods Keyboard shortcuts Keyboard language Use touch gestures Related content

Once you're connected to your devices and apps using Windows App, it's important to know how to use its features and configure settings. This article shows you how to user different input methods, such as keyboard, mouse, touch, and pen in Windows App.

Prerequisites

Before you can configure display settings, you need:

Windows App installed on your local device, or access to Windows App in a web browser, with at least one device or app added. To learn more, see Get started with Windows App

Input methods

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Here's how to use the different input methods in Windows App for Windows. You can use a built-in or external PC keyboard, mouse, and trackpad to control devices or apps.

Keyboard shortcuts

There are several keyboard shortcuts you can use with your devices and apps. These shortcuts are divided into two categories: those shortcuts to control the session window, and those shortcuts to use in the remote session.

Here are the keyboard shortcuts you can use to control the session window:

Key combination	Description
`CTRL`+`ALT`+`HOME`	Activates the connection bar when in full-screen mode and the connection bar isn't pinned.
`CTRL`+`ALT`+`PAUSE`	Switches the client between full-screen mode and window mode.

Most common Windows keyboard shortcuts, such as CTRL+C for copy and CTRL+Z for undo, are the same in a remote session. When you're using a device or app in windowed mode, there are some keyboard shortcuts that are different so that Windows knows when to use them in a remote session or on your local device. These keyboard shortcuts are:

Windows shortcut	Windows App shortcut	Description
`CTRL`+`ALT`+`DELETE`	`CTRL`+`ALT`+`END`	Shows the Windows Security dialog box. Also applicable in fullscreen mode.
`ALT`+`TAB`	`ALT`+`PAGE UP`	Switches between programs from left to right.
`ALT`+`SHIFT`+`TAB`	`ALT`+`PAGE DOWN`	Switches between programs from right to left.
`WINDOWS` key or `CTRL`+`ESC`	`ALT`+`HOME`	Shows the Start menu.
`ALT`+`SPACE BAR`	`ALT`+`DELETE`	Shows the system menu.
`PRINT SCREEN`	`CTRL`+`ALT`+`+` (plus sign)	Takes a snapshot of the entire remote session, and places it in the clipboard.
`ALT`+`PRINT SCREEN`	`CTRL`+`ALT`+`-` (minus sign)	Takes a snapshot of the active window in the remote session, and places it in the clipboard.

Note

Keyboard shortcuts don't work when using device or app sessions that are nested.

Keyboard language

By default, devices and apps use the same keyboard language, also known as locale, as your Windows PC. For example, if your Windows PC uses en-GB for English (United Kingdom), the same is also used by Windows in the remote session.

You can manually set which keyboard language to use in the remote session by following the steps at Managing display language settings in Windows. You might need to close and restart the application you're currently using for the keyboard changes to take effect.

Use touch gestures

You can use touch gestures to replicate mouse actions in your remote session. If you connect to a device or app running Windows 10 or later, native Windows touch and multi-touch gestures are supported.

The following table shows which mouse operations map to which gestures:

Mouse operation	Gesture
Left-click	Tap with one finger
Right-click	Tap and hold with one finger
Left-click and drag	Double-tap and hold with one finger, then drag
Right-click	Tap with two fingers
Right-click and drag	Double-tap and hold with two fingers, then drag
Mouse wheel	Tap and hold with two fingers, then drag up or down
Zoom	With two fingers, pinch to zoom out and move fingers apart to zoom in