MS Windows Tricks

Shortcuts in Windows

Alt-Tab: Switches between active programs – Hold down ALT and continue to press TAB until you reach desired program.  Holding ALT and hitting TAB once will change to last program.  Continuing this process and letting go will allow quick back-forth switch from two programs.

Hot Keys:  Make quick shortcuts to commonly used programs.  Go to START, ALL PROGRAMS, find desired program you wish to make a “hot-key” to quick start the program.  For example, navigate to the Microsoft Word program.  RIGHT-CLICK on the Word Symbol.  LEFT-CLICK on properties.  LEFT-CLICK in the “Shortcut Key” section.  All hot-keys will start when you hold down CONTROL-ALT-BUTTON (any letter you desire).  Now that you have clicked in the “shortcut key” section.  Hold down CONTROL-ALT and hit the key you want.  For me, I choose W for Word.  Now you see that the “shortcut key” section says “Ctrl + Alt + W”.  Click “OK” and it will exit out.  Now, whenever you hit CONTROL-ALT-W at the same time, Microsoft Word will start.  Many keyboards will make fancy buttons for hotkeys.  However, this makes you move your hands away from the normal typing position and slows you down.  Below is a list of Hotkeys I program for all of my computers:

CONTROL-ALT-“Button”:

C – Calculator

X – Excel

S – SPSS

R – PleaseRead

P – PowerPoint

N – Notepad

Below is all encompassing list of all built-in Hotkeys and Shortcuts in windows:

HotKeys:

Ctrl + Escape or Win: Display start menu.
Shift + F10 or AppsKey: Display context menu.
Win + E: Open Windows Explorer.
Win + R: Open Run dialog.
Win + M: Minimize all windows.
Win + Shift + M: Undo minimize all windows.
Win + D: Toggle minimize all windows.
Win + B (XP only): Activate system tray. Arrow keys select, Enter double-clicks, and AppsKey or Shift + F10 right-clicks.
Win + L (XP Only): Locks keyboard. Similar to Lock Workstation.
Win + F or F3: Open Find dialog. (All Files) F3 may not work in some applications which use F3 for their own find dialogs.
Win + Control + F: Open Find dialog. (Computers)
Win + U: Open Utility Manager.
Win + F1: Open Windows help.
Win + Pause: Open System Properties dialog.
Win + Tab: Cycle through taskbar buttons. Enter clicks, AppsKey or Shift + F10 right-clicks.
Win + Shift + Tab: Cycle through taskbar buttons in reverse.
Alt + Tab: Display CoolSwitch. More commonly known as the AltTab dialog.
Alt + Shift + Tab: Display CoolSwitch; go in reverse.
Alt + Escape: Send active window to the bottom of the z-order.
Alt + Shift + Escape: Activate the window at the bottom of the z-order.
Alt + F4: Close active window; or, if all windows are closed, open shutdown dialog.
Shift while a CD is loading: Bypass AutoPlay.
Ctrl + Alt + Delete or Ctrl + Alt + NumpadDel (Both NumLock states): Invoke the Task Manager or NT Security dialog.
Ctrl + Shift + Escape (XP Only): Invoke the task manager. On earlier OSes, acts like Ctrl + Escape.
Printscreen: Copy screenshot of current screen to clipboard.
Alt + Printscreen: Copy screenshot of current active window to clipboard.
Ctrl + Alt + Down Arrow: Invert screen. Untested on OSes other than XP.
Ctrl + Alt + Up Arrow: Undo inversion.

Generic
Ctrl + C or Ctrl + Insert: Copy.
Ctrl + X or Shift + Delete: Cut.
Ctrl + V or Shift + Insert: Paste/Move.
Ctrl + N: New... File, Tab, Entry, etc.
Ctrl + S: Save.
Ctrl + O: Open...
Ctrl + P: Print.
Ctrl + Z: Undo.
Ctrl + A: Select all.
Ctrl + F: Find...
Ctrl + F4: Close tab or child window.
F1: Open help.
F11: Toggle full screen mode.
Alt or F10: Activate menu bar.
Alt + Space: Display system menu. Same as clicking the icon on the titlebar.
Escape: Remove focus from current control/menu, or close dialog box.

Generic Navigation
Tab: Forward one item.
Shift + Tab: Backward one item.
Ctrl + Tab: Cycle through tabs/child windows.
Ctrl + Shift + Tab: Cycle backwards through tabs/child windows.
Enter: If a button's selected, click it, otherwise, click default button.
Space: Toggle items such as radio buttons or checkboxes.
Alt + (Letter): Activate item corresponding to (Letter). (Letter) is the underlined letter on the item's name.
Ctrl + Left: Move cursor to the beginning of previous word.
Ctrl + Right: Move cursor to the beginning of next word.
Ctrl + Up: Move cursor to beginning of previous paragraph. This and all subsequent Up/Down hotkeys in this section have only been known to work in RichEdit controls.
Ctrl + Down: Move cursor to beginning of next paragraph.
Shift + Left: Highlight one character to the left.
Shift + Right: Highlight one character to the right.
Shift + Up: Highlight from current cursor position, to one line up.
Shift + Down: Highlight from current cursor position, to one line down.
Ctrl + Shift + Left: Highlight to beginning of previous word.
Ctrl + Shift + Right: Highlight to beginning of next word.
Ctrl + Shift + Up: Highlight to beginning of previous paragraph.
Ctrl + Shift + Down: Highlight to beginning of next paragraph.
Home: Move cursor to top of a scrollable control.
End: Move cursor to bottom of a scrollable control.

Generic File Browser
Arrow Keys: Navigate.
Shift + Arrow Keys: Select multiple items.
Ctrl + Arrow Keys: Change focus without changing selection. "Focus" is the object that will run on Enter. Space toggles selection of the focused item.
(Letter): Select first found item that begins with (Letter).
BackSpace: Go up one level to the parent directory.
Alt + Left: Go back one folder.
Alt + Right: Go forward one folder.
Enter: Activate (Double-click) selected item(s).
Alt + Enter: View properties for selected item.
F2: Rename selected item(s).
F7: New folder.
Ctrl + NumpadPlus: In a Details view, resizes all columns to fit the longest item in each one.
Delete: Delete selected item(s).
Shift + Delete: Delete selected item(s); bypass Recycle Bin.
Ctrl while dragging item(s): Copy.
Ctrl + Shift while dragging item(s): Create shortcut(s).
In tree pane, if any:
Left: Collapse the current selection if expanded, or select the parent folder.
Right: Expand the current selection if collapsed, or select the first subfolder.
NumpadAsterisk: Expand currently selected directory and all subdirectories. No undo.
NumpadPlus: Expand currently selected directory.
NumpadMinus: Collapse currently selected directory.