Fun little fact – 90% of people don’t know how to use CTRL-F to help find something.
Dan Russell - Google
Windows 7 or newer has an extensive list of conveniences that help computer users navigate and work with the software. Shortcut keys allow for easier access to regularly accessed tasks like copying and pasting, while combination key shortcuts allow for navigation improvements, in particular when multi-tasking with lots of open windows or arranging work.
This knowledge base is split in to 3 easy to follow sections that provide basic, useful and advanced ways to work with Windows. Many of the shortcut keys will be available to first party applications like Word, Excel and the Office suite, as well as third party programs like Adobe or online forms.
Basic Windows Shortcuts
Basic shortcuts that everyone should be comfortable using. lot of the shortcuts in this knowledgebase are useful, but none as useful as the core shortcuts below.
CTRL+C = Copy
CTRL+X = Cut
CTRL+V = Paste
CTRL+Z = Undo
CTRL+B = Bold
CTRL+U = Underline
CTRL+I = Italic
CTRL+P = Print
CTRL+F = Find (very useful if looking for a keyword on a website)
CTRL+S = Save (note, this does not work on all applications, so make sure to save with mouse!)
CTRL+Mouse Wheel Up/Down = Increase or decrease the zoom or size of a page. Ideal for browsing the internet or altering perspective of a document.
Useful Windows Navigation
Tabbing
Hold ALT then press TAB. This brings up the tabbing screen, which horizontally stacks other windows you have opened, in the order you last worked on them. Pressing TAB a second time, will bring you to the last window you had open prior to the one you are working on.
Practice this by having multiple windows open, and then quickly hold down ALT and press TAB twice. You will notice you shift quickly between applications, saving a lot of mouse overs. Perfect when completing online forms and having to get information from another document. Pressing and holding ALT+SHIFT and then TAB allows reverse navigation.
For a slightly more fancy way of doing this, you can now use TAB = Mostly used for spacing and formatting in office documents, however it is very useful when completing forms with multiple text boxes.
Test on our online contact us form for example. http://www.f8-it.com/contact-us
Advanced Windows 7 or newer shortcuts
⌘ Win+← or → to align the window to the corresponding side of the screen, maximizing it vertically. Also known as snapping.
Try it on this website. Then open a second document and press the opposite keyboard key. Makes multi-tasking so much easier. Also possible with a mouse, by left clicking and holding on the top of an active window, then drag it to the furthest most right or left hand side. A small outline will appear showing an exactly 50% resized.
⌘ Win+P toggles between the devices plugged in to laptop or PC graphics card. Ideally for presentations and laptop users switching between display outputs.
This will only work if you have multiple displays, such as a laptop monitor and projector plugged in ⌘ Win+⇧ Shift+← or → to move the window to the next or previous monitor, if multiple monitors are used
