Most computer users have had limited experience with Hot-Keys. The concept of the hot-key is simple, encapsulate a function that is used often into a button combination that will allow a user to bypass the often tedious process of clicking on a desktop option with the mouse cursor.
THe most common hotkeys, and the only ones that most users know of are... You probably guessed it. COPY and PASTE. Of course while being the most well known, you can still work yourself into a frenzy while instructing someone on the use of an application, and wathing them cautiously... slowly... open dialogs to select copy and paste options with their mouse. It amazes me...
Hotkeys can speed up your day and make your life a more pleasant - you can keep your hands on the keyboard, where the real action is, and get some real work done... Unless your a mac user, which in that case you shoudl skip this document, sit back, and enjoy the colorful jelly show you paid too much for.
The Basics - with a twist...
| CTRL-C | Copy In most computer environments, there are built-in features that will allow you to store more than one copied block of text on a clipboard. This allows you to, for instance, cut or copy 5 lines, and paste them back in a different order - or into different application. |
| CTRL-X | Cut Consider that this also a quick way to delete something - if you ever find yourself hitting the backspace button more than a few times, you are not taking advantage of this option. |
| CTRL-V | Paste Well "C" and "X" make sense, so why the letter "V"? Because the letter P is on the other side of the keyboard! It's amazing how fast you can move with these three hotkeys and a well trained left hand. |
Ok, so you got that, but did you know that that are patterns that the computer looks for when dealing with blocks of text. Not rocket science, I'm talking about the pattern of a block of letters (ie: a word) vs letters seperated by a hyphen ( - ), or a block of text that has wrapped automatically at the end of a line vs. a line that ends with a line break.
CURSOR FIRST! and the SHIFT + (CURSOR) Rule
Try putting your cursor at the beginning of a line of text in any editor. Hold the SHIFT key and press the DOWN arrow. If you are one of the millions that is in the habit of highlighting blocks of text with your mouse, you may be excited about this option. An added (and extremely valuable) asset to this method is that you are guaranteed to copy the enire line (including the return at the end) which is often hard when highlighting with a mouse.
DOUBLE CLICK to Capture!
I see a lot of you double click on icons on the desktop, or when browsing throught he web. Realize that this is not necessary and in fact can only have un-desired effects - like opening something twice! However - there are many cases where a double click is required or useful, one of which is with highlighting. If you want to highlight a word, DOUBLE-CLICK on it!
CTRL+(ARROW) to Move Quickly!
In almost every environment you can utilize the CITRL-SHIFT combo to jump across words in a line. And Remember! Your computer doesn't see text the way you do. Top of the document is 0 and the bottom is 100. Each character on every word is part of a big congo line. This understanding makes it much easier to move through content quickly.
ALT + TAB = FAST!!
So sad how few people know this exists, and it is such a basic necessity. This combo will allow you to toggle between one application and another.While holding the ALT key down, you can keep pressing TAB to jump to the second or higher program in your list of more than one program. Hit it enough and you're back where you started!
CTRL + TAB = LOCALIZED !
If you are using a program that loads sub-elements into itself, like tabs in a web browser, the CTRL + TAB hotkey lets you move between them just like with ALT + TAB while staying focused on the parent application.
ALT + (LEFT / RIGHT ARROW) = HISTORY!
This combo will let you move forward and backward in the timeline when you working with applications that are keeping track of your steps, like a web browser as you move down a path that started when you first opened the browser. Unlike TABbing, you typically will need to move through each step one at a time.
Well this can go on forever and there are hot-keys to be pressed elsewhere... Here are some lists we've found to help you on your way.
- http://www.autohotkey.com/wiki/index.php?title=Standard_Windows_Hotkeys
- http://www.computerhope.com/ashort.htm
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.
Accessibility
Right Shift for eight seconds: Toggle FilterKeys on and off. FilterKeys must be enabled.
Left Alt + Left Shift + PrintScreen: Toggle High Contrast on and off. High Contrast must be enabled.
Left Alt + Left Shift + NumLock: Toggle MouseKeys on and off. MouseKeys must be enabled.
NumLock for five seconds: Toggle ToggleKeys on and off. ToggleKeys must be enabled.
Shift five times: Toggle StickyKeys on and off. StickyKeys must be enabled.
Microsoft Natural Keyboard with IntelliType Software Installed
Win + L: Log off Windows.
Win + P: Open Print Manager.
Win + C: Open control panel.
Win + V: Open clipboard.
Win + K: Open keyboard properties.
Win + I: Open mouse properties.
Win + A: Open Accessibility properties.
Win + Space: Displays the list of Microsoft IntelliType shortcut keys.
Win + S: Toggle CapsLock on and off.
Remote Desktop Connection Navigation
Ctrl + Alt + End: Open the NT Security dialog.
Alt + PageUp: Switch between programs.
Alt + PageDown: Switch between programs in reverse.
Alt + Insert: Cycle through the programs in most recently used order.
Alt + Home: Display start menu.
Ctrl + Alt + Break: Switch the client computer between a window and a full screen.
Alt + Delete: Display the Windows menu.
Ctrl + Alt + NumpadMinus: Place a snapshot of the entire client window area on the Terminal server clipboard and provide the same functionality as pressing Alt + PrintScreen on a local computer.
Ctrl + Alt + NumpadPlus: Place a snapshot of the active window in the client on the Terminal server clipboard and provide the same functionality as pressing PrintScreen on a local computer.
Mozilla Firefox 1.x
Ctrl + Tab or Ctrl + PageDown: Cycle through tabs.
Ctrl + Shift + Tab or Ctrl + PageUp: Cycle through tabs in reverse.
Ctrl + (1-9): Switch to tab corresponding to number.
Ctrl + N: New window.
Ctrl + T: New tab.
Ctrl + L or Alt + D or F6: Switch focus to location bar.
Ctrl + Enter: Open location in new tab.
Shift + Enter: Open location in new window.
Ctrl + K or Ctrl + E: Switch focus to search bar.
Ctrl + O: Open a local file.
Ctrl + W: Close tab, or window if there's only one tab open.
Ctrl + Shift + W: Close window.
Ctrl + S: Save page as a local file.
Ctrl + P: Print page.
Ctrl + F or F3: Open find toolbar.
Ctrl + G or F3: Find next...
Ctrl + Shift + G or Shift + F3: Find previous...
Ctrl + B or Ctrl + I: Open Bookmarks sidebar.
Ctrl + H: Open History sidebar.
Escape: Stop loading page.
Ctrl + R or F5: Reload current page.
Ctrl + Shift + R or Ctrl + F5: Reload current page; bypass cache.
Ctrl + U: View page source.
Ctrl + D: Bookmark current page.
Ctrl + NumpadPlus or Ctrl + Equals (+/=): Increase text size.
Ctrl + NumpadMinus or Ctrl + Minus: Decrease text size.
Ctrl + Numpad0 or Ctrl + 0: Set text size to default.
Alt + Left or Backspace: Back.
Alt + Right or Shift + Backspace: Forward.
Alt + Home: Open home page.
Ctrl + M: Open new message in integrated mail client.
Ctrl + J: Open Downloads dialog.
F6: Switch to next frame. You must have selected something on the page already, e.g. by use of Tab.
Shift + F6: Switch to previous frame.
Apostrophe ('): Find link as you type.
Slash (/): Find text as you type.
BBCode (This forum's posting)
While text is selected:
Alt + B: Format text in bold.
Alt + I: Format text in italics.
Alt + U: Format text as underlined.
Alt + Q: Format text as a quote.
Alt + C: Format text as code.
Alt + L: Format text as a list.
Alt + O: Format text as an ordered list.
Alt + P: Format url as a hotlinked image.
Alt + W: Format url as a hyperlink.
GMail
Must have "keyboard shortcuts" on in settings.
C: Compose new message.
Shift + C: Open new window to compose new message.
Slash (/): Switch focus to search box.
K: Switch focus to the next most recent email. Enter or "O" opens focused email.
J: Switch focus to the next oldest email.
N: Switch focus to the next message in the "conversation." Enter or "O" expands/collapses messages.
P: Switch focus to the previous message.
U: Takes you back to the inbox and checks for new mail.
Y: Various actions depending on current view:
Has no effect in "Sent" and "All Mail" views.
- Inbox: Archive email or message.
- Starred: Unstar email or message.
- Spam: Unmark as spam and move back to "Inbox."
- Trash: Move back to "Inbox."
- Any label: Remove the label.
X: "Check" an email. Various actions can be performed against all checked emails.
S: "Star" an email. Identical to the more familiar term, "flagging."
R: Reply to the email.
A: Reply to all recipients of the email.
F: Forward an email.
Shift + R: Reply to the email in a new window.
Shift + A: Reply to all recipients of the email in a new window.
Shift + F: Forward an email in a new window.
Shift + 1 (!): Mark an email as spam and remove it from the inbox.
G then I: Switch to "Inbox" view.
G then S: Switch to "Starred" view.
G then A: Switch to "All Mail" view.
G then C: Switch to "Contacts" view.
G then S: Switch to "Drafts" view.
