There may be more than one shortcut to perform an action, so look through all of them to see which ones you like best! (Note: it is almost impossible to organize shortcuts. We ordered them by the primary action performed and then alphabetically)
- This is one you'll use last (at the end of the day), so we're putting it first:
Don't feel right about clicking Start to shut down your system? With the focus on your desktop (click a blank area once to be sure), press Alt-F4. It's the same as selecting Start, Shut Down.
Windows Shortcut keys - With Windows 8 moving towards a touch user interface, those of us with non-touch monitors need to navigate easily. Learning these Windows shortcuts can allow keyboard/mouse users to move around more easily, and you can use them on all Windows versions. The two sections below can help you with that.
Windows system key shortcuts
- Delete item permanently: SHIFT+DELETE
- Lock the computer (without using CTRL+ALT+DELETE): Windows Logo+L
- Open Start menu: CTRL+ESC
- Quit program: ALT+F4
- Switch between open programs: ALT+TAB
General keyboard-only commands
- Activate menu bar options: F10
- Closes the current window: ALT+F4
- Closes the current Multiple Document Interface (MDI) window: CTRL+F4
- Display the main window's System menu (to restore, move, resize, minimize, maximize, or close the window): ALT+SPACE
- Open a shortcut menu for the selected item (same as right-clicking an object): SHIFT+F10
- Open the Start menu (use ARROW keys to select an item): CTRL+ESC
- Open a drop-down list box: ALT+DOWN ARROW
- Open the menu: ALT+underlined letter in menu item
- Open Windows Task Manager: CTRL+SHIFT+ESC
- Press and hold down the SHIFT key while you insert a CD-ROM to bypass the automatic-run feature: SHIFT
- Selects the Start button (press TAB to select the taskbar, or press SHIFT+F10 for a context menu): CTRL+ESC
- Start Windows Help: F1
- Switch to another running program (hold down the ALT key and press the TAB key to view the task-switching window): ALT+TAB
- Switch between multiple windows in the same program (for example, when the Notepad Find dialog box is displayed, ALT+F6 switches between the Find dialog box and the main Notepad window): ALT+F6
- Switch to the next child window of a Multiple Document Interface (MDI) program: CTRL+TAB
Basic formatting (works in almost all programs)
- Bold: Ctrl-B
- Italic: Ctrl-I
- Underline: Ctrl-U
- Undo: Ctrl-Z
- Bypass the CD-ROM AutoRun feature: Hold down the Shift key while you insert the disk (for about 10 seconds). This is an invaluable tool when you have to remove a disk during installation (to read the CD key, for example), then reinsert the disk.
- Close active window: Alt-spacebar, C
- Close active window: Alt-F4
- Copy: Ctrl-C
- Cut: Ctrl-X
- Delete selected objects without sending them to the Recycle Bin: Shift-Delete
- Display Start menu: Ctrl-Esc
- Display Close Program dialog box: Ctrl-Alt-Del
- Find a File (from the Desktop): Windows-F or F3
- Go to Quick Launch toolbar and launch a program: Ctrl-Esc, Esc, Tab, select icon with arrow keys, Enter
- Maximize active window: Alt-spacebar, X
- Minimize active window: Alt-spacebar, N
- Minimize open windows: Ctrl-Esc, Esc, Tab, Shift-F10, M
- Minimize all open windows: Windows-M (Shift-Windows-M to undo this command)
- Minimize all open windows and show the Desktop: Windows-D (repeat to undo this command) (note: does not work in Win95)
- Move within the Windows Desktop and select items: Tab, Arrow, Enter
- Open Find: Windows-F or F3
- Open Help: Windows-F1
- Open the Run window: Windows-R
- Open the Start Menu: Ctrl-Esc or Windows key
- Open Windows Explorer: Windows-E
- Open the System Properties dialog box: Windows-Break
- Paste: Ctrl-V
- Rename the selected object: F2
- Restore active window: Alt-spacebar, R
- Right-mouse-click selected item: Shift-F10
- Right-mouse-click Start button: Ctrl-Esc, Esc, Shift-F10
- Rotate through dialog box tabs: Ctrl-Tab
- Rotate through dialog box tabs in reverse: Ctrl-Shift-Tab
- Run Find again (in many but not all Windows utilities: F3
- Select menu command: Alt-[underlined letter]
- Switch among open windows (hold Alt and continue to press Tab): Alt-Tab or Windows-Tab
- Switch to Taskbar's "next" open window: Alt-Esc
- Switch to the next window of a multiple-document-interface program: Ctrl-Tab
- Switch from window to window within the same program (does not work with all programs): Alt-F6
- Switch focus to menu commands (in any Explorer window): Ctrl-F10
- Shift focus to Desktop icons: Ctrl-Esc, Esc, Tab, Tab
- Toggle between the menu bar and the main window in a program: F10 or Alt
- Undo: Ctrl-Z
- View the Properties dialog for a selected object: Alt-Enter
- Windows key to open the Start Menu
- Windows-E to open Windows Explorer
- Windows-F to open Find
- Windows-M to minimize all open windows (Shift-Windows-M to undo this command)
- Windows-R to open the Run window
- Windows-F1 to open Help
- Windows-Tab to cycle through the Taskbar buttons
- Windows-Break to open the System Properties dialog box
For Left-Handers
If you're a left-handed mouse user, you probably find it difficult reaching all the way over to the left side of the keyboard to reach the commonly used Cut, Copy, and Paste shortcuts--Ctrl-X, Ctrl-C, and Ctrl-V, respectively. (It's either that or pick your left hand up off the mouse.) But what would you say if we told you there are equivalents on the right side of your keyboard? Many applications support the following CUA (common user access) commands (Quicken in particular):
- Shift-Delete: Cut
- Ctrl-Insert: Copy
- Shift-Insert: Paste
- Alt-Backspace: Undo
(Tip: Just be sure not to use Shift-Delete outside of an application. Remember, it's the Windows command for deleting an item without sending it to the Recycle Bin.)
Word Tips
- Expand an autotext entry: F3
- Change the case of letters: Shift-F3
- Repeat your last action (formatting, typing, and so on): F4
- Repeats the previous find command: Shift-F4
- Jump to the last change you made in the document: Shift-F5
- Toggle between the document and the task pane or other Word panes, such as the reviewing or footnote panes: F6
- Cycle through open document windows: Ctrl-F6
- Check spelling: F7
- Update fields: F9
- Open the Save-As dialog box: F12
- Increase font size: Ctrl-Shift-> (greater-than sign)
- Decrease font size: Ctrl-Shift-< (less-than sign)
(Both of the above depend on the current size and change by various increments) - Increase font size by one point: Ctrl-] (right square bracket)
- Decrease font size by one point: Ctrl-[ (left square bracket)
Excel Tips
- Edit or create a comment in the current cell: Shift-F2
- Move a comment that's being edited: Esc, Arrow keys
- Close a comment that's being edited: Esc,Esc
- Fill a selected range: (Type the data) then Ctrl-Enter
- Copy the value from the cell above the current cell: Ctrl-Shift-" (quotation mark)
- Copy the formula from the cell above the current cell: Ctrl-' (apostrophe)
Common Browser Shortcuts
Alt-left arrow Same as clicking on Back Alt-right arrow Same as clicking on Forward Ctrl-B Opens the Favorites or Bookmarks window Ctrl-D Creates a new favorite or bookmark Ctrl-F Opens the Find dialog box Ctrl-H Opens History Ctrl-N Opens a new browser window Ctrl-O Opens a URL window Esc Same as clicking on Stop space bar Scrolls down a page one screen length Shift-space bar Scrolls up a page one screen length
E-mail: F1 Computer Services