Big Dan
Saturday, August 9th, 2008, 01:31 AM
For anyone who types a lot on the computer whether it be in a word processing program, web browser, or email client; keyboard shortcuts save you time. No need to move your hand from the keyboard to the mouse.
While I'm sure there are plenty of more exhaustive lists out there on the internet, I'm going to list a few common and not so common keyboard shortcuts.
These are shortcuts I use regularly and they work globally within Windows XP and Vista.
Win Key + L: Returns you to the log in screen whilst saving your session as long as your user account is password protected it prevents people from seeing what you were doing before you *had* to run to the bathroom.
Win Key + D: Minimizes all windows just like clicking on the show desktop icon on the quick launch bar.
Win Key + R: Opens run dialog box useful for more advanced users.
Alt + Tab: Shows a list of all open windows and allows you to use the arrow keys to switch in between them.
Alt + F4: Closes current window.
Shift + Delete: Deletes a file without moving it to the recycle bin.
Clipboard Keyboard Shortcuts
These commands interact with windows clipboard with selected text in any text based program.
Ctrl + A: Select All
Ctrl + C: Copy
Ctrl + X: Cut (Copy to clipboard and delete original text)
Ctrl + V: Paste
The above commands can also be used within windows explorer to move files around. For instance to move all files from on folder to another click in the source folder > Press Ctrl + A (Select All) > Then Ctrl + X (Cut) In the destination folder Press Ctrl + V (Paste) Presto your files are moved.
Text Styling Shortcuts
In almost any program which uses a rich text editor such as Word, Open Office, Excel, Text Input boxes in browser, etc these shortcuts stylize text. The first press activates the style the second deactivates it.
Ctrl + B: Bold
Ctrl + I: Italicize
Ctrl + U: Underline
Other notable shortcuts
Ctrl + T: Opens a new tab in IE 7, Firefox, Opera, and Safari
Tab: Moves cursor between input fields particularly useful when filling out forms.
Ctrl + Z: Undo last command or last word typed. This depends on the program most more advanced applications include this functionality.
Ctrl + S: Saves current document or file
Ctrl + Shift + S: Saves as. Basically saves an already saved file as a new file. This is useful for files with multiple revisions.
Ctrl + O: Open. This opens the open dialog for the specified program
Ctrl + W: Close current document. Useful for programs the allow multiple documents open in the same window such as MS Office Apps. In Firefox and IE this will close the current tab.
Ctrl + Enter: In Internet explorer & Firefox automatically adds www. before and .com to the end of a word. For instance typing discussny and pressing Ctrl + Enter will bring you here. :)
Shift + Enter: In Internet explorer & Firefox automatically adds www. before and .net to the end of a word. For instance typing sourceforge and pressing Shift + Enter will bring you here. :)
There you have it folks, I hope these keyboard shortcuts save you some time. Add any of your favorite time saves to this thread. :)
While I'm sure there are plenty of more exhaustive lists out there on the internet, I'm going to list a few common and not so common keyboard shortcuts.
These are shortcuts I use regularly and they work globally within Windows XP and Vista.
Win Key + L: Returns you to the log in screen whilst saving your session as long as your user account is password protected it prevents people from seeing what you were doing before you *had* to run to the bathroom.
Win Key + D: Minimizes all windows just like clicking on the show desktop icon on the quick launch bar.
Win Key + R: Opens run dialog box useful for more advanced users.
Alt + Tab: Shows a list of all open windows and allows you to use the arrow keys to switch in between them.
Alt + F4: Closes current window.
Shift + Delete: Deletes a file without moving it to the recycle bin.
Clipboard Keyboard Shortcuts
These commands interact with windows clipboard with selected text in any text based program.
Ctrl + A: Select All
Ctrl + C: Copy
Ctrl + X: Cut (Copy to clipboard and delete original text)
Ctrl + V: Paste
The above commands can also be used within windows explorer to move files around. For instance to move all files from on folder to another click in the source folder > Press Ctrl + A (Select All) > Then Ctrl + X (Cut) In the destination folder Press Ctrl + V (Paste) Presto your files are moved.
Text Styling Shortcuts
In almost any program which uses a rich text editor such as Word, Open Office, Excel, Text Input boxes in browser, etc these shortcuts stylize text. The first press activates the style the second deactivates it.
Ctrl + B: Bold
Ctrl + I: Italicize
Ctrl + U: Underline
Other notable shortcuts
Ctrl + T: Opens a new tab in IE 7, Firefox, Opera, and Safari
Tab: Moves cursor between input fields particularly useful when filling out forms.
Ctrl + Z: Undo last command or last word typed. This depends on the program most more advanced applications include this functionality.
Ctrl + S: Saves current document or file
Ctrl + Shift + S: Saves as. Basically saves an already saved file as a new file. This is useful for files with multiple revisions.
Ctrl + O: Open. This opens the open dialog for the specified program
Ctrl + W: Close current document. Useful for programs the allow multiple documents open in the same window such as MS Office Apps. In Firefox and IE this will close the current tab.
Ctrl + Enter: In Internet explorer & Firefox automatically adds www. before and .com to the end of a word. For instance typing discussny and pressing Ctrl + Enter will bring you here. :)
Shift + Enter: In Internet explorer & Firefox automatically adds www. before and .net to the end of a word. For instance typing sourceforge and pressing Shift + Enter will bring you here. :)
There you have it folks, I hope these keyboard shortcuts save you some time. Add any of your favorite time saves to this thread. :)