Over the years I have run into a number of people who know basic ways of navigating around their computer. Many of them just simply go online and use the social sites or use messaging programs, some just type reports, and some play games. However, one thing I have noticed is how many people lack the ability to utilize their keyboard for more than what they thinks its for. Sure the keyboard is great for typing and creating the words we want to say, but there’s more to it than that.
Long before the mouse was even thought of, computers solely relied on keying in entries or commands, today we seem to have lost touch with its amazing power. There are literally thousands of keyboard shortcuts however a vast majority of them are specific to certain programs, while a number of very common ones are used every day such as copy and paste. In this article I will go over several keyboard shortcuts that I find are very useful and make many tasks much more simplified.
First are some shortcuts that about 99% of computer users probably do or should know.
- Ctrl + C – This shortcut is best known for copying any selectable item such as text or files.
- Ctrl + V – This shortcut is best known for pasting anything located on the clipboard.
- Ctrl + Z – Use this shortcut whenever you would like to undo something. Perhaps you copied to the wrong folder, or cut the wrong text.
- Ctrl + X – This is used to cut anything that is selectable, such as text or files.
- Ctrl + P – This is quick access to the print function which allows you to print any page or selection.
- Tab – This not only indents a line in text editors, but many programs and web browser utilize what is called “tab index” which allows you to cycle from say one entry field to the next, from link to link, button to button, or to any object with a tab index.
- Shift + Tab – This is the lesser know function of the tab key which just reverses the order in which the Tab key itself cycles allowing you to quickly get back to any fields you may have accidentally skipped over.
- Windows Logo – This is a key found on just about any keyboard, mainly windows keyboards. It displays the well known start menu.
- Ctrl + Alt + Del – And finally this is probably the most well known keyboard shortcut which, depending on certain settings, will either bring up the task manager or bring up a display that will allow you to select different functions like locking your computer or, again, the task manager. In earlier days when pressed more than once it would restart a persons computer, however, in recent years I have noticed that function is no longer common.
Next I will show you some more uncommonly used keyboard shortcuts that I find are very useful for me in many different ways.
- Ctrl + Left or Right Arrow – These are very useful when used in text editors. They allow you to skip the cursor across words, left or right, giving you a quick way to go back and correct or change something without pulling away from the keyboard. Especially useful when you’ve just typed a whole paragraph without pausing.
- Ctrl + Up or Down Arrow – These work just the same as the previous commands except they allow you to skip whole paragraphs for quickly moving through a long entry like a paper or essay. Use in combination with previous commands and you can fix a mistake quicker than you would by clicking to the desired location.
- Backspace – It is not just useful for deleting something you have just written. When in a windows explorer window or in a web browser you can actually use the key to go back a single page. Again this is much quicker than clicking the back button.
- Shift + Backspace – This is just like using Shift + Tab, it reverses the function allowing you this time to go forward one page. Especially useful if you have skipped a page.
- F5 – Pressing this button will refresh or reload any window that is currently active. Useful when you have changed something that is not reflected live like posting comments on certain sites or uploading something. One very good use is if your in a discussion on forums or something similar you can refresh the page to see new replies as their happening to avoid delay.
- F11 – One thing I have noticed is that a large number of computer users, who are unaware of these keyboard shortcuts, will bump a key and cause their current window to go Full Screen. Then they’ll freak out trying to figure out what just happened and ask someone else, who also is not familiar with the shortcuts, for help resulting in having that person restart their computer to fix the problem. Well, if anyone you see or know does either of the two aforementioned things, please slap them upside the head and show them that by pressing F11 it will enter and exit full screen mode, ending their soon thought to be apocalypse.
- Home and End – Respectively these two keys have multiple functions depending on the program. There are two main functions in windows though. The first is that, respectively, they will move your screen to the top or bottom of any particular web page that you are viewing. Second they will move your cursor to the beginning or end of the line of text that it is positioned on, this effect will always take precedence over the previously mentioned effect so long as your cursor is located within a text field.
- Alt + Tab – This is one of my favorite keyboard shortcuts. It basically allows you to easily switch to any program window you currently have open. Holding the Alt key while doing so will allow you to select the window from a pop-up display that disappears upon the release of both keys.
- Ctrl + Esc – Finally another very useful shortcut, especially for gamers. Pressing this keys together will do the exact same thing that pressing the Windows logo will do, bring up the start menu. The reason that it is very useful for gamers is that many times gamers will disable the Windows key because they often bump it causing the game to minimize during intense moments when they need every critical second. This will allow them to achieve the same effect but not cause a disturbance to their game.
Well these are some of my favorite keyboard shortcuts and I hope that any of you who read this will take notice to how much more easy and quickly you can navigate you computer using these. there are many more shortcuts out there and for a full list you can go to Microsoft’s website. What shortcuts do you use? Do you have any that are your favorite. Can you think of any new ones that need to be implemented?
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