Shortcut to connect Bluetooth device [Windows 10]
Tags: watercooler
Published: 2021-10-17 05:07:29

### Now it's a pre-defined feature [UPDATED]
Windows made some updates and after that you can easily open the connect tab using 
```
Windows + K
```
<hr>
### Life before **Windows** added this feature
If you use a Windows Machine and have a Bluetooth audio device then you can understand the pain of connecting it to the PC.

It usually happen that we wanted to watch a video but the audio device isn't connected and to connect it we have to go through
`settings > bluetooth > then connect`
which in itself consume much time for a little thing.

It is not something we called simple like in Android or Mac where there's a notification center.

### Windows Action Center
![Windows 10 action center](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/xat0mnladksylxtmbgdw.png)
 
Some people might know about it but many don't that Windows also have something called action center from where you can get basic controls of PC.

In the action center there's an option called _Connect_ , it allows you to connect to all external devices.

Now, this was also not efficient to me as this method also includes so many clicks.
`Action center > connect > connect device`
But it is easier than the previous one where we have to open the settings and the connect.

### Creating a shortcut
Now it's time to make it much easier, so first of all we can use keyboard shortcuts instead of manually clicking using the mouse.

To open the Action center there's a shortcut predefined in Windows which is (`Windows + A`) but there's no shortcut to open the connect menu so we have to create one

> Now it's depends on you that you want to implement a shortcut to open the connect tab or are you okay with using the action center

I want to make things more easier and decided to make a shortcut


![Creating a Shortcut](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/rv7mfj5ionrx1wk2y7bw.png)

- To create a shortcut right click on the desktop and hover over new then click on shortcut as shown in the image above

![Shortcut Wizard](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/f9i7xhxlniko3b7854ly.png)
- It will open the shortcut wizard as shown above
- Now enter the location given below
```
%windir%\explorer.exe ms-settings-connectabledevices:devicediscovery
```
This will directly open the connect tab
- Enter the name of the shortcut and press Finish, you successfully created the shortcut try opening it it will open the connect menu instantly

![Shortcut properties](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/xjxb1h24a789r7m4w0qy.png)
 
- Time to create a Keyboard shortcut, for that right click on the shortcut and open properties
![Shortcut key](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/5yiex7m02pmomriuevtl.png)
- Now click the shortcut key option and press a combination using Shift, Alt, Ctrl + a letter. I made it `CTRL+SHIFT+C`

- Now connect your device rapidly

### Done
Now you can connect your devices hassle free, hope it helped you and made your life easier.

### Follow for more
Connect with me on Linked in :[connect](https://www.linkedin.com/in/areeburrub/)