Did you know your computer has a dark side?
Or that you can instantly bring back windows you accidentally closed?
Learn this trick and more in 25 Windows Keyboard secrets you didn’t know!
#25.
“Double Delete”- If you have ever wanted to bypass the easily forgettable and annoying
task of essentially re-deleting what you already deleted by emptying your recycling bin--you
are in luck!
All you have to do to permanently delete something without sending it to the bin is hold down
shift while you press delete.
Though this might not be advisable all the time, because once its gone...its gone!
spell #24.
“Mark It!”- To make sure that you don’t forget the obnoxiously obscure website name
of your favorite food-blogger or have instant access to the websites you visit most bookmarks
are an essential tool.
Pressing two simple keys can make this so much faster and easier.
To instantly bookmark a page all you have to do is hold down CONTROL and the D-key.
#23.
“Zoom Zoom”- If you feel like getting up close and personal with an article you
are reading (or have just plain bad eyes) or that ghastly picture your co-worker just
sent you is distracting you by taking up your entire computer screen fear not!
There is a simple trick to zooming in and out on your screen without trying to find
the sometimes tiny zoom icon.
If you hold CONTROL and scroll the wheel of your mouse you can swiftly and smoothly zoom
in or out.
#22.
“Plain Paste”- You might have experienced this scenario: You want to copy and paste
a line of text from the internet or another project into the current word processing document
you’re working on, but when you do the text pastes as a different font or different color
and is just plain aggravating in its appearance.
Well, worry no more because there is a shortcut that converts this text to fit the document
you want to past it in.
You probably already know that the hotkey for pasting is CONTROL plus V and all you
have to do to format the text accordingly is add the SHIFT key and presto!
It appears in plain text!
#21.
“Revive Page”- One of the most annoying things that can happen while you are working
or even just cruising the internet is when you accidentally close a page that you needed
and completely forget the site you were on.
Yes you could go to the history section of your browser and click precious seconds of
your life away or you could instantly revive the lost page by holding down CONTROL, SHIFT
and the T-Key.
#20.
“Get Back”-Another simple way to save the time you would normally use to sluggishly
drag your cursor up to the top screen and clicking a button is replacing clicking the
back arrow with the hotkey combo of ALT and the Back Arrow.
This quickly shoots you backwards in browsing history and helps to avoid mouse-muscle cramps.
#19.
“Instant Address”-To avoid the hassle of having to go up to the address bar and
double click the webpage name in order to delete it, modify it or replace it you can
use the super-cool trick of holding CONTROL and the L-key at the same time.
This instantly highlights the address bar!
On some computers you can do the same thing by merely pressing F6.
#18.
“Spell Check”- Coming up against a deadline and need to shave off any second you can in
order to that writing project through on time?
Good news you can help to expedite the editing process by pressing the F7-key which will
open up the grammar and spelling check function.
As for instantly identifying wrong uses of the various forms of the word ‘there’,
sadly you are still on your own.
#17.
“Desktop Now’- When one is chugging away at work, juggling many different tasks at
once or just plain getting sucked down into the rabbit hole that is the internet, it is
easy to be bogged down by layers and layers of different programs and windows.
To avoid having an anxiety attack by trying to sift through these you can go back to square
one and take a deep breath by holding the windows key and pressing ‘D’.
This will bring you back to the sanctuary that is your desktop.
#16.
“Up, Down, Side-to-Side”-- If you want to make your browser screen dance like it’s
doing the electric slide or simply need a quick way to get that pesky page out of your
face this hotkey will be one of your favorites.
If you hold down the Windows key and then press the arrow key left or right you can
make the browser minimize to the side you want.
This can be useful if you are writing a research paper and need to type while surfing the web.
It allows you to bounce back and forth between the two or have them both easy to read next
to each other.
If you hit the other arrow keys you can rotate where the page is located on your computer
screen.
#15.
“Files and Folders”- One of the most useful tools you can learn to use on a computer is
navigating the files and folders section.
To easily open this up without having to click the icon or search through your hard-drive
you can press the Windows button and the E-key.
#14.
“Name Change”- Once you are inside of your files and folders section or trying to
label your documents, songs or other files there is a much easier way to rename these
things than the method you are probably using.
The common long way to do this is to right click the highlighted file and then scroll
to the rename function but you can easily avoid this tedium by hitting the F2 key.
#13.
“Speed Settings”- Whether you are looking to maximize and customize your computer to
fit your own particular awesomeness, change your background to that crazy cool pic of
your dog wearing sunglasses or are just looking to change the date and time--you can do this
incredibly easily without digging and clicking.
All you have to do is hold the windows key and hold the letter ‘I’.
This will open up the setting on your computer.
#12.
“Screenshot”--Sometimes you may find yourself wanting to capture the awesomeness of a hilarious
tweet you posted to have and hold for eternity or sometimes you might be a private detective
and stumble across vital information for a case on a wikipedia page.
Well, instead of going through the rigamarole of copy and pasting, or finding a way to email
it to yourself, you can take a screenshot by tapping on two buttons.
To take a screenshot hold down the windows button and then press PRINT SCREEN and everything
on your screen will be captured and saved to your photo folder.
#11.
“Front and Back”- To avoid the common problem that a web address into the address
bar and hitting enter, then having it take you to a search engine instead of just taking
you to the address, Microsoft came up with one of the niftiest hotkeys.
Let’s say you want to to go to straight to Youtube with as little typing as possible.
"Once you use the address bar shortcuts we told you about earlier, type the website name,
for example: youtube, then hit CONTROL and ENTER to automatically add "www" and seal
it with a ‘.com’.
Now you are flying!"
#10.
“Quick Close”- If you work at an office and have ever been looking at memes or cat
videos when you should be working and need a quick way to cover-up the evidence when
the boss or one of his or her henchman walk by then it is essential that you memorize
the shortcut for closing your browser.
All you have to do is hold down Alt and press F4.
#9.
“Talk to Me”- The virtual assistant feature that is Cortana on Windows has been a godsend
for instantly-accessing everything within your computer’s power.
To summon this virtual butler in a moment’s notice there is a fabulously useful hotkey.
If you want Cortana now and can’t wait another second just hold down windows and then press
the C-key and ‘poof’ she will appear.
#8.
“Searching for Search Bar”-- In most of the latest versions of Windows, Microsoft
has conveniently placed a search bar for everything on the computer right there in plain sight
on the lower left part of the screen.
Now you could go grandpa and while twirling your ear-hairs and sucking on a Werther’s
Original use your mouse or cursor pad to click on this search bar...Or…
You could embrace the future and use a hotkey while sipping your Acai and Dragonfruit smoothie
out of your chrome drink helmet.
To jump to the search bar just hold the windows key and press ‘S’.
Then praise the Gods of Technology!
#7.
“Fast Flip”- Want to up your productivity or just be able to surf the web at an even
faster rate?
Well you can quickly flip through all of the open windows on your browser or open programs
by holding down ALT and TAB.
Pretty handy for the easily distracted and dynamic multi-taskers.
#6.
“The Shadow Windows”-- If your eyes aren’t what they used to be or you want to feel like
you are living a double life as a hacker then we have a keyboard trick that is right up
your alley.
Windows has a setting that is called ‘High Contrast Mode’ which basically flips the
colors of your desktop and programs.
If you enable it backgrounds will turn from white to black and text will turn from black
to white and slightly enlarge.
This is designed to help the visually impaired read the text easier but it has the additional
effect of making your computer look like one you would see on CSI.
Plus a lot of computers make cool beeping sounds when you activate it.
The quick way to do this is by holding down SHIFT, ALT and PRINT or PRINTSCREEN at the
same time.
These colors and contrasts can also be changed in your computer’s settings.
#5.
“Rotation Game”--Although this one is only available on some of the more high-powered
computers and really doesn’t serve any useful purpose, it nevertheless is pretty cool to
know how to do.
On certain computers you can rotate the entire screen by holding down three keys.
Hold down CONTROL and ALT and then press the arrow keys and spin the screen to your heart’s
desire.
Though it can be fun to do this to a friend or family member’s computer just to mess
with their head, that’s really about all you can do with it.
#4.
“Daily Glance”- The Daily glance is a remarkably Windows feature.
It serves as a hub for all news related headlines and articles.
It gives you instant access to weather, sports, pop-culture and everything else that’s going
on in the world that day.
You can also use it as a virtual appointment book by setting reminders and leaving notes
for yourself.
If you are an investor or just a fan of Wall Street you can also easily access all the
stock information via the daily glance.
So to easily open and close this function and make sure that you are consuming information
and planning your day in the most efficient way possible, press the Windows key and hold
down the letter ‘S’!
#3.
“Maximize Me Cap’n”- If you want a fast way to maximize or minimize your browser window
look no further than this awesome shortcut.
Instead of having to drag your cursor up to the top right of your computer screen everytime
you want to hide the page you are looking at all you have to do is hold the Windows
key and then press the down arrow twice.
If you just want to minimize hit it once.
If you want to maximize hold the windows button down and hit the up arrow.
Now you have the power to grow or shrink your browser at will.
#2.
“Lock it Up”- Imagine you are a secret agent set-up on your computer at the local
Starbucks working on some top secret information, when suddenly that Venti Caramel Macchiato
catches up to you and you have to run to the commode.
But how do you make sure that the Russian Agent posing as a barista doesn’t sneak
pictures with his bowtie camera while you are away?
Well rest easy, you can instantly lock your computer by holding down the windows button
and pressing the L-Key.
Yes, this is an outlandish scenario, but you can probably see that being able to quickly
lock everything could come in handy, even if you aren’t James Bond.
#1.
“Knockout”- Done working for the day and you just can’t find the energy to drag the
cursor over to the toolbar and perform the arduous task that is signing off for the day?
Don’t you wish you could say ‘go to sleep!’
and the computer would oblige?
Well with this shortcut you don’t even have to speak.
To open up the shutdown and restart tab without wasting clicks all you have to do is hold
the windows button and then press x.
Then you can choose from pressing ‘I’ to sign out of windows.
Press ‘U’ for instant shutdown.
Press ‘R’ to restart.
‘H’ to Hibernate and ‘S’ to Sleep.
What hotkey or shortcut on your computer do you find yourself using the most?