Keyboard shortcuts are the unsung heroes of the computer age, we explain some essential shortcuts so you can save time on all your tasks.
Shortcuts are a way to simplify our busy and stressful daily lives and thanx to the work of Larry Tesler we have the means to decrease downtime and increase efficiency while boosting productivity.
Below is a list of some of the essential Windows keyboard shortcuts and their uses:
Copy
Ctrl+C: One of the most basic commands that allow you to copy any item you have highlighted and paste it wherever you wish.
Paste
Ctrl+V: This command allows you to paste your previously copied item to the space of your choice.
Undo
Ctrl+ Z: Whatever program you are running Ctrl+Z will roll back to your previous action, which is handy to remember if you make small mistakes, just undo them.
Close Tab
Ctrl+W: This shortcut will close whatever your viewing at the time, browser tab, File explorer window, or even an open image file.
Reopen Tab
Ctrl+⇧Shift: This command works if you have mistakenly closed a tab that you were working on. This shortcut will open your most recently closed tab, and if you have closed more than one you can continue tapping the T key to open them in the reverse order in which you closed them.
Select All
Ctrl+A: This command will let you highlight all the text in your document, or select all the files in a folder, which will save you time.
Switch Apps
Alt+ Tab: This command lets you quickly flick through all your open windows.
Close Apps
Alt+F4: This old-school shortcut will shut down any active apps to save you the effort of searching for their on-screen menus.
Open Start menu
Ctrl+Esc: This command will open the Start menu if you are typing on a keyboard that doesn’t have a window key.
Rename
F2: With this shortcut, you can highlight a file and press F2 to give it a new name, this is a much simpler option than right-clicking on your mouse, scrolling to the appropriate option, etc.
Refresh
F5: If you are using File Explorer on your web browser this key will simply refresh your page.
Save a Screenshot
Win+Prt Scn: This is an easy way to take a screenshot of the entire screen in front of you and saves it as a PNG file in a Screenshots folder inside your Pictures folder. The image will also get saved to the clipboard. If you don’t want to snap the whole screen, the Alt+PrtScn combination will take a screenshot of just the active window, but it will only copy this image to the clipboard, so you won’t get a saved file.
Open Hidden menu
Win+X: Windows has a hidden start menu that is called the Quick Link menu. This hidden menu allows you to access all the key areas of the system. It also allows you to jump straight to Device manager to configure or view any hardware, like printers or keyboards currently linked to the system.
Minimize/Maximize Window
Alt + Space + N: This simple command will minimize or maximize the current window you are working on.
Cycle through browser tabs
Ctrl + Page up/Page Down: The Tab key can be used instead of PageUp and PageDown, but these two keys allow you to cycle in both directions. PageUp will take you to the tabs on the left, PageDown to the tabs on the right.
Well, there you have the most basic and most used Shortcuts that were designed to make our lives easier yet many people don’t use these as much as they could. It will take some getting used to for a newbie, but these shortcuts will undoubtedly save you extra effort and time in the long run, so why not take this chance to get clued up on these various shortcuts and cut down on your work time.