Registry Editor gets address bar shorthand notation support

Since build 14942, the Registry Editor app in Windows 10 got an address bar, which displays the current Registry key path, and allows you to copy and paste it. This small, but very useful feature got a further improvement in the recently released Windows 10 build 14965 "Creators Update".

In Windows 10 build 14965, you can use shorthand notation for HKEY_* root key names. They are as follows:

• HKEY_CURRENT_USER = HKCU
• HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT = HKCR
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE = HKLM
• HKEY_USERS = HKU

So, when you need to go directly to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop, you can type the following in the address bar:

hcku\control panel\desktop

Once you hit the Enter key, the path will be automatically expanded to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop. See the following screenshot:

You can watch the following video to see this new feature in action.

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Additionally, Registry Editor supports the Ctrl + L keyboard sequence to move the focus to the address bar. It is an additional shortcut which works along with Alt + D. Now you can use your preferred key combination to activate the address bar input.

It is a good improvement Microsoft made to Registry Editor and was long overdue. The application became really useful for those of us who use it actively.

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