Microsoft is considering adding a dedicated Office key to keyboards. The new key would provide additional keyboard shortcuts for Office apps, including the ability to quickly share documents and files. Microsoft has been conducting a survey with testers of the Office key, spotted by WalkingCat, and is getting feedback on how the dedicated key operates.
Microsoft appears to suggest the key will replace the secondary Windows key on the right-hand side of a keyboard, or the dedicated menu key. Microsoft’s survey, which requires a work or school Microsoft account to access, includes questions around Office key shortcuts, and asks whether testers would like to see this dedicated key on laptops. Microsoft appears to be testing the concept with its latest Windows 10 May 2019 Update.
The survey asks if the participant has tried a keyboard with the Office key on a PC running the Windows 10 May 2019 Update version 1903, and how Microsoft could improve the experience.
There’s mention of its shortcuts Office key + O, T, W, X, P, D, N, Y, and L which presumably launches Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel, Powerpoint, etc., and whether users would like to see extra shortcuts added, such as Office key + S to share a document.
Respondents are asked to rate the Office key concept out of five and whether they would like to see it appear on a laptop.
Whether people would get much use out of a dedicated Office key is open to debate, but in some cases it will probably be used more often than the secondary Windows key or Menu key. This is still classed as a concept, so we’ll have to wait and see if Microsoft decides it’s something users want.
