All that Computer Keyboard short cuts will help you everyday detailed
Most of us use computers on a daily basis even though smartphone is taking over majority of our tasks. There are areas of Computer usage today still not replaced by smartphones like workplace computer tasks, coding/server management, photo/video editing among them. So those who needs fast paced computer work or progress of work, they have most likely been using short cuts to make their work easy and quick. Many of them are useful for highly skilled computer specialists though there are some simple ones useful for everybody using PC/Laptop. Here we are going to details most of them. There are some single key keyboard short cuts already implemented in most of the keyboards, but many short cuts are using key combinations like Alt+Ctrl etc. Lets have a look at them one by one.
Common keyboard short cuts:-
Windows key : This key is usually located on bottom row between left Alt and Ctrl keys with Windows icon on it. When you press it it will bring up the start menu over left corner of screen. There are some combinations to use with Windows key which will be detailed in Windows short cuts below.
Ctrl+C : Probably the most commonly used short cut in many applications to copy the selected text which can be pasted on to another application like MS word. You have to highlight the text you want to copy and then use the short cut to copy it to the clipboard.
Ctrl+V : Once we use the above Ctrl+C short cut to copy a selected area of text then the next step will be to paste it on to some blank area of an application like Word or text writing area of another application like Internet Browser. We can use Ctrl+V for this purpose. Highlight the curser of mouse on the new application by clicking on the spot you want to paste, then use the short cut to paste the copied text.
Ctrl+S : This is another commonly used keybaord short cut which save the text file or word document or any work you have been doing in applications like photoshop.
Ctrl+A : This short cut will select all the text in the opened application and then easy to copy if you want to export all the texts rather than using the mouse to highlight the all the texts.
Ctrl+X : This will cut the highlighted text and leave the space blank and the cut text will be on clipboard and can be pasted onto another area or to different application like word document.
Keyboard short cuts for Windows OS:-
Windows key + R : It will open Run menu where you can open either command prompt (by typing and entering 'cmd') or windows configuration file (by typing and entering 'msconfig') etc.
Windows key + E : It will get you Windows Explorer and from there you can browse the files and folders in the hard disk.
ALT + Tab : It will help to switch between windows if you have opened multiple applications rather than going minimizing and clicking on the other application.
ALT + Space + X : Maximize window if the current opened window is in downsized state.
CTRL + Shift + Esc : This will pop up the Task Manager.
Windows key + Break : It will take you the current System properties. Break key is usually located on far top right corner of keyboard.
Windows key + F : This short cut will open Search from start menu and you can type in the application name or something to find and search. in Windows 10 you can search in to internet and has Cortana (voice assistant) for voice command searching.
Windows key + D : It will minimize or Hide/Display all windows opened.
Windows OS short cuts : There are many short cuts you can use to get Windows OS (like Windows 10, Windows 7, Windows XP etc) settings or start menu or open explorer etc. See below for details of such short cuts
While booting windows press F12 repeatedly to get into Boot menu and if you have pressed F8 it will take you to boot options.
Alt + Esc — Switch between running applications
Ctrl + Esc — Open Program Menu
Ctrl + F4 — Close active document or group windows (does not work with some applications)
Alt + F4 — Quit active application or close current window
Alt + [-] — Open Control menu for active document
Ctrl + Left. + Right. arrow — Move cursor forward or back one word
Ctrl + Up + Down arrow — Move cursor forward or back one paragraph
F1 — Open Help for active application
Windows + M — Minimize all open windows
Shift+Windows + M — Undo minimize all open windows
Windows + F1 — Open Windows Help
Windows + Tab — Cycle through the Taskbar buttons
Windows + Break — Open the System Properties dialog box
System Commands:- Type the following commands in your Run Box (Windows Key + R) or Start Run to get into the specific windows settings
msconfig - Windows configuration settings like start up applications , boot options, enabling and disabling start up services etc
devmgmt.msc — Device Manager
msinfo32 — System Information
cleanmgr — Disk Cleanup
ntbackup — Backup or Restore Wizard (Windows Backup Utility)
mmc — Microsoft Management Console
msaccess — Microsoft Access (If Installed)
calc — Calculator
msmsgs — Windows Messenger
mspaint — Microsoft Paint
rstrui — System Restore
control — Opens the Control Panel
control printers — Opens the Printers Dialog
cmd — Command Prompt
iexplore + "web address" — Internet Explorer
compmgmt.msc — Computer Management
dhcpmgmt.msc — DHCP Management
dnsmgmt.msc — DNS Management
services.msc — Services
eventvwr — Event Viewer
dsa.msc — Active Directory Users and Computers
dssite.msc — Active Directory Sites and Services
Microsoft Word:- It makes life lot easier if you know these short cuts in Word application and if you are a regular word user.
F1 key — Get help or use the Office assistant
SHIFT and F1 Key — Context sensitive help
F2 Key — Move text or image
SHIFT + F2 Key — Copy text
F3 Key — Insert an autotext entry
SHIFT + F3 Key — Change the case of the selected text
F4 Key — Perform last action again
SHIFT + F4 Key — Perform a Find or Go to action again
F5 Key — Displays the Go to dialogue box. You can also get to Find and Replace from here
SHIFT + F5 Key — Move to a previous revision
F6 Key — Go to the next frame or pane
F7 Key — Launch the Spell checker
SHIFT + F7 Key — Launch the Thesaurus
F8 Key — Extend the current selection
SHIFT + F8 Key — Shrink the current selection
F9 Key — Update the selected fields
SHIFT + F9 Key — Switch between a field code and its result
F10 Key — Activate the menu bar
SHIFT + F10 Key — Display a Shortcut Menu (same as right-clicking)
F11 Key — Go to the next field
SHIFT + F11 Key — Go to the previous field
F12 Key — Save file As, equivalent to tools menu
SHIFT + F12 Key — Save document, equivalent to tools menu
CTRL and ENTER — Insert Page Break
CTRL and F2 — Show Print preview
CTRL and F4 — Closes the active document window
CTRL and F6 — Opens the next document window
CTRL and A — Selects all in the current document
CTRL and B — Bold text
CTRL and C — Copies the item or text to the Clipboard and can be pasted using CTRL and V
CTRL and D — Displays the Font dialogue box
CTRL and E — Centre Alignment
CTRL and F — Displays the Find dialog box, to search the current document
CTRL and G — Displays the Go to dialog box, to go to a specific location in the current document
CTRL and H — Displays the Replace dialogue box
CTRL and I — Italic text
CTRL and J — Full Justification
CTRL and K — Create Hyperlink
CTRL and L — Left Alignment
CTRL and M — Tab
CTRL and N — Creates a new document
CTRL and O — Displays the Open File dialogue box
CTRL and P — Displays the Print dialog box
CTRL and R — Right Alignment
CTRL and S — Displays the Save dialog box
CTRL and U — Underline text
CTRL and V — Pastes the copied item or text from the Clipboard into the current position in the document
CTRL and X — Cuts the item or text selected to the Clipboard
CTRL and Y — Redo the last undone action
CTRL and Z — Undoes the last action
Microsoft Excel shortcuts:- The following shortcuts are for Excel application in windows.
F2 — Edit the selected cell
F5 — Go to a specific cell. For example, C6
F7 — Spell check selected text and/or document
F11 — Create chart
Ctrl + Shift + — Enter the current time
Ctrl + — Enter the current date
Alt + Shift + F1 — Insert New Worksheet
Shift + F3 — Open the Excel formula window
Shift + F5 — Bring up search box
Ctrl + A — Select all contents of the worksheet
Ctrl + B — Bold highlighted selection
Ctrl + I — Italic highlighted selection
Ctrl + K — Insert link
Ctrl + U — Underline highlighted selection
Ctrl + 5 — Strikethrough highlighted selection
Ctrl + P — Bring up the print dialog box to begin printing
Ctrl + Z — Undo last action
Ctrl + F6 — Switch between open workbooks / windows
Ctrl + F9 — Minimize current window
Ctrl + F10 — Maximize currently selected window
Ctrl + Page up — Move between Excel work sheets in the same Excel document
Ctrl + Page down — Move between Excel work sheets in the same Excel document
Ctrl + Tab — Move between Two or more open Excel files
Alt + = — Create a formula to add all of the above cells
Ctrl + Shift + % — Format number in percentage format
Ctrl + Shift + ^ — Format number in scientific format
Ctrl + Shift + @ — Format number in time format
Ctrl + ' — Insert the value of the above cell into cell currently selected
Ctrl + Shift + ! — Format number in comma format
Ctrl + Shift + $ — Format number in currency format
Ctrl + Shift + # — Format number in date format
Ctrl + Arrow key — Move to next section of text
Ctrl + Space — Select entire column
Shift + Space — Select entire row
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