Keyboard Shortcuts
For years I have been perplexed by the people that use their mouse for absolutely everything when are a number of perfectly good keyboard shortcuts that will do the job in a fraction of the time. The only reason I can think of for why they don't use the shortcuts is that they simply don't realise that there is another way. Why else would you hunt around for an item on a menu bar if you can quickly hit a key and achieve the same effect?
Funnily enough, now that Microsoft have hidden or moved all my commonly used menus in Windows Vista I find myself relying on these short cuts a great deal more than I used to. I'm sure that trying to convey these to you in a list format probably isn't going to make this one of the most exciting Click articles that I've ever written but I do know that it's one of the most useful.
The shortcut keys require you to press two keys at the same time. These keys are usually some combination of the ALT, CTRL, Windows, Shift and Tab keys, which are all located on the left hand side of a standard keyboard. I have split the following list into sections for ease of use, but they should be the same on all recent versions of Windows.
General
Alt+Enter View properties for the selected item
Alt+Esc Cycle through windows in the order they were opened
Alt+F4 Close the active window
Alt+Spacebar : Open the shortcut menu for the active window
Alt+Tab : Switch between open windows
Shift+Insert Hold this down whilst inserting a CD and it WON'T autoboot
End : Display the bottom of the active window or move to the end of the line if you are typing
Home : Display the top of the active window or move to the begining of the line if you are typing
Windows key Displays the start menu
Windows key+D : Minimizes all windows
Windows key + E : Opens a new Explorer window
Windows key + F : Displays the find all files box
Windows key + L : Locks your computer
Windows key + R : Displays the Run command box
Explorer
Shift+Delete : Delete the selected item permanently without placing the item in the recycle bin
Left arrow Collapse the current selection if it is expanded, or select the parent folder
Right arrow : Expand the current selection if it is collapsed, or select the first sub folder
Clipboard
Ctrl+C Copy an item to the clipboard
Ctrl+X Cut an item to the clipboard
Ctrl+V Paste an item from the clipboard
Internet Browsing
F11 : Full screen mode
Ctrl+Mouse forward Zoom in
Ctrl+Mouse backward Zoom out
Ctrl+0 : Reset zoom level
Alt+Home : Go to homepage
Ctrl+T Open a new tab
Ctrl+Tab Switch between tabs
Ctrl+W Close tab
Alt+D : Go straight to the address bar
Alt+Left : Go back to the previously viewed page
Alt+Right : Navigate forward through viewed pages
Navigating to menu options within programs is also easy when using keyboard short-cuts. To select the edit menu press 'Alt+E' together, for the file menu press 'Alt+F' and so on then once the menu option has been opened you can navigate around them using the cursor keys then select an option with the enter key.
I did say that this wouldn't be Shakespeare but cut out the list above, have a play around, and I promise you'll find at least some of these key combinations useful. Once you've used them a couple of times it will then become second nature to hit the keyboard shortcut rather than relying solely on your mouse.
About the Author
Chris Holgate is a director and copyrighter of the online Ink and Toner website Refresh Cartridges http://www.refreshcartridges.co.uk He writes a weekly article of all things tech related.
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