MeKnows

Keyboard shortcuts!

OK, on to the basics. In a Windows environment there are many pre-defined shortcuts that you can utilize to make your computer experience faster and more efficient. In the old days there were no mouses (I refuse to say Mice!) so anyone that had to use a computer had to use shortcuts from the keyboard to navigate around and do simple functions.

Here’s a list of some of the pre-defined Windows shortcuts.

Alt + F4 –> Quits out of most windows unless the program is designed not to support it. This is the magical key sequence when an annoying spyware ad has taken over your screen and you can’t remove the silly thing by clicking on the exit button on the top right.

 Alt + Tab –> Switches between active open windows and gives you a brief description in text on what the other windows are. (If you get that nifty powertoy in the Utilities section then it will give you an awesome description with an actual page preview!)

Ctrl + C –> Used to Copy selected text or a selected item in Explorer.

Ctrl + V –> Used to Paste a previously copied item(s) or text.

Ctrl + Alt + Delete –> Opens up the Windows Task Manager and allows you to force programs to close when they are not responding and allows you to view stats on your processor voltage, process memory usage etc.

The most useful shortcuts actually derive from the Windows Key as seen below. If you don’t have a Windows key on your keyboard then you have a special keyboard and this article will not really apply to you. But if you’re using a Natural QWERTY layout then continue reading!

  That’s the famous Windows key. This key does not just open your Start menu. It has many other tricks up its sleeve.

Windows Key + E –> Opens up a new Explorer window. Explorer is everything you see in My Computer… in any folder. That is what is running to allow you to navigate around you computer. So it opens another one of those windows for you to navigate to a new section.

Windows Key + D –> My favorite one of all. When you’re an avid multi tasker like myself there’s nothing better than when you can just jump to to the desktop without having to minimize 20 windows. Press this key sequence and you will suddenly be jumped back to the desktop. It’s also very useful if someone tries to sneak a peak at your e-mail or at your improper party pictures from the night before, you get the picture it’s useful!

Windows Key + L –> This one locks your computer if you’re stepping away… it is assumed that you have a password protected account otherwise this one is kind of useless. It almost immediately jumps to the Welcome screen where your username is and does not log you off so nothing gets lost in the process. If it doesn’t immediately do it then your computer is slow and you need to refer to my previous post about speeding it up

Windows Key + F — > This is an old-time favorite. Pops up the search menu where you can search for anything on your computer.

Windows Key + M –> Minimizes all active windows that are open but in my opinion it is not as useful as the Windows Key + D shortcut because it doesn’t restore the minimized windows unless you press Windows Key + Shift + M, in other words too much work. Windows Key + D > Windows Key + M. Enough said.

Windows Key + Pause/Break –> You’ll find the Pause/Break key on the upper right area of the keyboard and you probably have never used it unless you play video games :D. If you press these keys together System Properties shows up. This is excellent when you’re trying to see how much RAM there is and who the computer is registered to, windows version, etc…

Windows Key + Tab –> If you know what Alt + Tab does then this is similar except that it switches between taskbar buttons.

And now the best shortcut that we will talk about… Windows Key + R

Being an IT Consultant in Boston MA, this is one shortcut that comes in handy all the time.