In our fast-paced digital world, mastering keyboard shortcuts can significantly enhance your productivity. These simple shortcuts can save time and streamline your workflow. Let’s dive into some essential Windows keyboard shortcuts!
Quick note about the Windows key
On a windows-based keyboard or computer, you can usually find the ‘Windows’ (Win) key to the left of the spacebar, between Control (Ctrl) & Alt
1. Basic Navigation Shortcuts
- Windows Key (Win): Open or close the Start menu.
- Win + D: Show or hide the desktop.
- Alt + Tab: Switch between open applications.
- Win + L: Lock your computer quickly.
2. File and Folder Management
- Ctrl + C / Ctrl + X / Ctrl + V: Copy, cut, and paste files or text.
- Win + E: Open File Explorer.
- Ctrl + Z: Undo your last action.
- Ctrl + Y: Redo your last action (may not always work)
3. Text Editing and Formatting
- Ctrl + A: Select all text.
- Ctrl + B / Ctrl + I / Ctrl + U: Bold, italicize, or underline text.
- Ctrl + Arrow Keys: Move the cursor word by word.
- Ctrl + Shift + Arrow Keys: Select text word by word.
- Ctrl + Backspace: Delete preceding word
4. Web Browsing and Productivity
- Ctrl + T: Open a new browser tab.
- Ctrl + W: Close the current tab.
- Ctrl + Shift + T: Reopen the last closed tab.
- Ctrl + + (Plus Key): Zoom in (increase text and image size)
- Ctrl + – (Minus Key): Zoom out (decrease text and image size)
- Ctrl + 0 (Zero key): Reset zoom to default value
5. Application-Specific Shortcuts
- Ctrl + S: Save your work (applicable in most programs).
- Ctrl + P: Print the current document.
- F5: Refresh a webpage or file explorer window.
- Ctrl + F5: In a web browser, this will hard refresh your webpage, refreshing session cache
- Alt + F4: Close the active application.
Whether you’re writing an email, managing files, or browsing the web, these keyboard shortcuts will quickly become second nature.
