Using a computer involves clicking and clicking and clicking. The process of dragging the mouse to the spot that needs to be clicked could take some time (especially if the mouse is dirty), not so much though but enough to do something else, if you knew a shortcut. Every operating system and application program can be manipulated with a keyboard shortcut. At times you may find that the same shortcut could be used for several other applications. Once you are acquainted with a collection of shortcuts for a given OS or application, you can use a lot of it on others.
I have decided to begin this series with an Operating System. I will take Windows XP and Vista since they are found on majority of systems now.
Let the icon represent The Windows key. It is normally located between the Ctrl and Alt keys on most keyboards. However, some vendor keyboards and some laptops do not have this key.
Note: Majority of the shortcuts have a + sign in between. The existence of the plus means a combination of keys i.e. you press the keys involved simultaneously to activate the command.
Have fun…
Keystroke Function
Opens the Start menu
+ E Opens My Computer in Windows Explorer
+ Pause/Break Opens the System Properties dialog box
+ U Opens the Utility Manager
+ R Opens the Run… prompt
+ F Opens the Search for Files and Folder window
+ Ctrl + F Opens the search for computers on the network
+ M Minimize all windows
+ Shift + + M Maximize all windows (after minimizing them)
+ D Minimize all windows to the desktop, and then restore all Windows
+ L Lock Computer
+ Tab Cycle through the open programs on the Taskbar
+ 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
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 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)
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