A few Windows shortcuts that are sure to come in handy

Apr 20, 2015 15:03 GMT  ·  By

Amongst the first computer input methods is your good old keyboard. It’s fitted with well over a hundred different buttons, each with second functions besides the original, thus providing double the standard practicality. There might come a time when your mouse fails, so you’re forced to completely rely on your keyboard, given the display is not touch sensitive.

Windows secretly holds the key to this enhanced navigation through hotkeys, although there’s no built-in method to view, let alone change them. Some are pretty familiar and we are not going to mention them, but rather point out some that are practical in the right circumstances.

Sure, these have changed throughout the years, with new Windows iterations bringing about new accessibility methods. Even if barely pointed out, you can fully discard your mouse and start using the keyboard, and it’s not a time-consuming process as you might think.

General Hotkeys

Hotkey Action
Alt + F Open File Menu
Alt + E Open Edit Menu
Alt + V Open View Menu
Ctrl + Z Undo last operation
Ctrl + Y Redo last operation
Ctrl + X Cut selection
Ctrl + C Copy selection
Ctrl + V Paste selection
Ctrl + Alt + V Paste special (usually discarding format)
Ctrl + A Select everything
Shift + Alt or Win + Space Cycle through keyboard languages

Navigation Hotkeys

Hotkey Action
Ctrl + N New Instance
Win/Ctrl + Esc App Menu
Win + L Lock Screen/Switch User
Win + D/M Show Desktop/Minimize Everything
Ctrl + Shift + Esc Start Task Manager
Alt + Tab Cycle Through Windows
Ctrl/Win + F Run Search
Ctrl + H Search and Replace
Alt + Enter Force Full Screen

Miscellaneous Hotkeys

Hotkey Action
Alt + F4 Close Instance
Win + Print Screen Capture Screen to File
Alt + Print Screen Capture Active Window
Ctrl + Del/Backspace Delete Entire Word
Ctrl + Home Jump to Document Start
Ctrl + End Jump to Document End
Win + Arrow Keys Move/Resize active Window
Win + U Run Utilities Center (Ease of Access)
Left Alt + Left Shift + Print Screen Inverted Color Mode
Win + # Run Taskbar Pinned Items, where # = 1, 2, 3...
Needless to say that there are a lot more, some you already know and others that seem completely useless. It just comes to show that you don’t need sophisticated applications for a comfortable editing and navigation experience on your PC.

A small example of practical hotkeys (2 Images)

How to press buttons
A small list of general keys
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