What exactly is the allure of keyboard shortcuts? Do they really save time? I mean, why bother if your mouse is permanently attached to your hand, right?

Well, I like to use keyboard shortcuts quite a bit, especially if someone is watching me, because they make me look like a pro! With just a few key strokes, I can leave a mouse spinning his wheel. So, whatever your motivation, here's a big list of keyboard shortcuts for you to try out. I hope you enjoy them!

General Shortcuts

ALT + F4 – Quit a program/Shut down.

ALT + TAB – Hold down the ALT key and hit the Tab key to cycle through open windows.

CTRL + ESCAPE – Display the Start menu.

SHIFT + TAB – Tab backward through a form.

CTRL + X – Cut

CTRL + C – Copy

CTRL + V – Paste

F1 – Help menu

CTRL + Z – Undo

SHIFT & Restart – To restart just Windows and not your whole computer, hold down the Shift key when you click the OK button on the shutdown screen. This will save you a lot of time.

CRTL + TAB – Navigate tabs on a tabbed screen.

File and Desktop Shortcuts

Hold SHIFT while inserting a CD – Prevents the CD from "autorunning."

If an item is selected:

CTRL while dragging a file copies the file.

CTRL + SHIFT while dragging a file creates a shortcut to the file.

SHIFT + DELETE – Deletes an item without sending it to the Recycle Bin.

ALT + ENTER – Display a file's properties.

F2 – Rename a file.

In Windows Explorer:

LEFT ARROW – Collapse the current selection if it's expanded.

NUM LOCK + MINUS SIGN ( – ) – Collapse the selected folder.

NUM LOCK + PLUS SIGN ( + ) – Expand the selected folder.

RIGHT ARROW – Expand the current selection if it is collapsed or select the first subfolder.

NUM LOCK + * (asterisk sign) – Expand all folders below the current selection.

F6 cialis no prescription – Switch between left and right panes.

In My Computer:

BACKSPACE – View the folder one level up.

ALT + RIGHT ARROW – Move forward to a previous view.

ALT + LEFT ARROW – Move backward to a previous view.

Internet Browser Shortcuts

For Internet Explorer 6 (may work in older versions as well):

Internet Explorer Only

A faster way to type in addresses with Internet Explorer is to just type in the name of the site:

For example, just type "worldstart" into your address bar and hit Ctrl + Enter. The "http://www." and the ".com" parts will be added for you!

Windows Key Shortcuts

The Windows key can be used in conjunction with other keys to act as a keyboard shortcut for faster access to menu commands. Now, while the Alt key tends to open program menus (for example, Alt + F opens the File menu and Alt + E opens the Edit menu) and the Ctrl key performs actual operations (such as Ctrl + C will copy and Ctrl + V will paste), the Windows key will open various Windows tools.

Win key + R will open the Start menu's Run box.
Win key + F will open the Start menu's Find window.
Win key + E will quickly launch Explorer.
Win key + Pause/Break will open the System Properties window.
Win key + M will Minimize all open windows.
Win key + Shift + M will undo the minimize of all open windows.
Win key + D will switch between minimizing all open programs and showing them all.
Win key + Tab will cycle through items on the taskbar.

The Windows key by itself will open the Start menu.

You can also open programs or folders on your desktop by pressing the Windows key + the first letter of the program/folder/shortcut + Enter. Sounds kind of tedious, but if you're in a bind with your mouse, it can come in quite handy!

Arrow Tricks

Here's a cool little arrow trick to try with word processing programs. The next time you're using your arrow keys to go from one area of a sentence to another (left and right arrows), hold down your Ctrl key. Instead of moving one space at a time, you'll go one word at a time.

If you're using the up and down arrows to go from line to line, holding down the Ctrl key will make your cursor jump from paragraph to paragraph (well, from carriage return to carriage return anyway).

One last thing: If you hold down the Shift key while you do this (for instance, hold down Shift + Ctrl at the same time), you select text as you arrow along.

I've tested this in MS Word and Wordpad, but it should work no matter what word processing program you use.

Home/End Key Fun

Do you ever find yourself scrolling through a huge folder? Well, if you need to get to the beginning or the end quickly, just press Ctrl + Home. If you want to get to the end, click Ctrl + End.

And hey, that's not all!

This little trick works on more than just folders. If you use the Home key in a word processor, it goes to the beginning of the line you're currently working on. If you hit the End key, it should head to the end of the current line. If you pair Home and End up with the Ctrl key in a word processor, you will be whisked away to the beginning or end of the document. Again, this should work, but it depends on your word processing program.

Wow, that should be enough to keep you busy for awhile. Have fun!

By Jason Hiner, MCSE, CCNA

Special thanks to TechRepublic members who responded to the first version of this document with suggestions for additional keyboard shortcuts that should be added. They have helped us double the number of keyboard shortcuts on the new version of this document.

Author's Note: The Windows key (􀃡) is normally located between the Ctrl and Alt keys on most keyboards. However, some vendor keyboards and some laptops do not have this key. : The Windows key (􀃡) is normally located between the Ctrl and Alt keys on most keyboards. However, some vendor keyboards and some laptops do not have this key. Keystroke	Function
􀃡	Opens the Start menu
􀃡 + E + E	Opens My Computer in Windows Explorer
􀃡 + Pause/Break + Pause/Break	Opens the System Properties dialog box
􀃡 + U + U	Opens the Utility Manager
􀃡 + R + R	Opens the Run… prompt
􀃡 + F + F	Opens the Search for Files and Folder window
􀃡 + Ctrl + F + Ctrl + F	Opens the search for computers on the network
􀃡 + M + M	Minimize all windows
􀃡 + Shift + + M + Shift + + M	Maximize all windows (after minimizing them)
􀃡 + D + D	Minimize all windows to the desktop, and then restore all Windows
􀃡 + L + L	Lock Computer
􀃡 + Tab + Tab	Cycle through the open programs on the Taskbar
􀃡 + B + B	Selects the first item in the System Tray; use the arrow keys to cycle through the items and use the Enter key to open a selected item in the SysTray
Alt + Tab	Switch between open programs
Alt + F4 (in a program)	Closes the program
Alt + F4 (from desktop)	Opens the Windows Shutdown/Restart dialog box
Alt + Enter	Opens the Properties page of a selected item
Alt + Esc	Cycle between open programs in the order that they were opened
Alt + Spacebar	In the active window, this brings up the corner dialog box for Move, Size, Minimize, Maximize, or Close
Shift + Insert CD/DVD	Inserts a CD/DVD without triggering Autoplay or Autorun
Shift + Delete	Permanently deletes an item (rather than sending it to the Recycle Bin)
Ctrl + Shift + Esc	Opens the Windows Task Manager
Ctrl + drag an icon	Copies that item
Ctrl + Shift + drag an icon	Creates a shortcut for the item

Keystroke Function Right-click + drag a file	Brings up a menu to copy, move, or create a shortcut
PrtScn	Takes a screen shot of the entire screen; go into a photo program (the Windows program "Paint" will also work) and hit Paste to edit and save the screen shot
Alt + PrtScn	Takes a screen shot of only the active Window; hit Paste in a photo program to edit and save the screen shot
F1	Opens the Windows XP Help
F2	Rename selected item
F3	Opens Windows search for files and folders
F5 (or Ctrl + R)	Refresh Internet Explorer page, or refresh any other window
F6	Cycle through the different types of elements that can be selection on a screen or window
F10	Selects the menu bar in the active program (usually "File") so that you can use the arrow keys to navigate through the menus and the Enter key to select
Shift + F10	For a selected item, this does the same thing as a right-click with the mouse
Tab	Move through the different elements on a page or the fields in a form
Shift + Tab	Move backward through the different elements on a page or the fields in a form
Ctrl + A	Select All
Ctrl + C	Copy
Ctrl + X	Cut
Ctrl + V	Paste
Ctrl + Z	Undo
Ctrl + Y	Redo
Ctrl + P	Print
Ctrl + O	Open
Ctrl + Esc	Opens the Start menu
Ctrl + Backspace	Deletes the entire word to the left
Ctrl + Delete	Deletes the entire word to the right
Ctrl + Right arrow	Moves the cursor to the beginning of the next word
Ctrl + Left arrow	Moves the cursor to the beginning of the previous word
Ctrl + Down arrow	Moves the cursor to the beginning of the next paragraph
Ctrl + Up arrow	Moves the cursor to the beginning of the previous paragraph
Ctrl + Shift + Arrow keys	Highlight a block of text
Click Shift 5 times	Turns StickyKeys on cialis 5mg side effects or off
Hold down the right Shift key for 8 seconds	Turns FilterKeys on or off

Hold down Num Lock for 5 seconds	Turns ToggleKeys on or off
Make your own custom keystroke for a program	Right-click on the icon of a program or shortcut; go to Properties; click on the Shortcut tab; enter your custom keystroke combination in the "Shortcut key" field (it will only let you assign key combos that aren't already taken)

Date: October 17th, 2007

Author: Jody Gilbert

Today's quick tip may seem a little basic for some of you, but I think a lot of you out there will appreciate this. I get e-mails and even phone calls all the time about such procedures like copy, paste and cut. Since I receive so many requests about those things, I thought it would be a good idea to take a step back and go over them one more time. So, if you ever have trouble doing those little tasks, listen up, because this tip is dedicated to you! We'll go over the basics of copying, pasting, cutting and maybe even a couple others.

 

Here we go!

 

Let's begin with copying. There are a couple different ways you can copy something on your computer. Both are pretty easy to do, so you'll just have to decide which one you prefer. But, before you can do anything else, you have to figure out what you want to copy. Once you've done that, click your mouse button, hold it down and drag it over what you'd like to copy. It will then be highlighted. You can then either right click and choose Copy or you can hit Ctrl + C on your keyboard. Next up is the paste function. This always comes after the copy, because you have to have something copied so that you can paste it. Go to where you'd like to paste your material (in an e-mail, a Word document, etc.) and click your mouse once. Then you can either right click and choose Paste or hit Ctrl + V on your keyboard. That's all there is to that!

 

Some of the other commands you all sometimes ask about are cut and undo. I promise both of these functions are rather simple too, so let's go over them right now. If you ever want to cut something out (a portion of text, a picture, etc.) of what you're working on, all you have to do is highlight it and then you can either right click and choose Cut or hit Ctrl + X on your keyboard. That part of your document will then disappear. Now, what if you're working cialis 40 mg on something and you make a mistake? You probably want to undo it, right? Well, the easiest way to do that is to hit Ctrl + Z on your keyboard. That combination will automatically undo what you just did. Cool, huh?! Yep, just a couple mouse clicks or a few taps on your keyboard will take you a long way!