The other day, I mentioned Ctrl+Z to a client who had accidentally deleted a block of text in a Word Document we were working on together. Surprisingly, he wasn’t aware of that keyboard shortcut commands, which got me to thinking: what other shortcuts do I use regularly?
Rather than compiling an exhaustive list that could perhaps be too overwhelming to be useful, I gave it a little thought and here are the keyboard shortcuts I find myself using most regularly
The Basic 4
Here are four commands (plus a bonus) that I assume every Windows user already knows and uses:
Ctrl+X: Cut selected content
Ctrl+C: Copy selected content
Ctrl+V: Paste that content you cut or copied with the prior two shortcuts
Ctrl+F: Open the search bar to find text on a document or web page
…and a bonus “basic” shortcut:
Ctrl+Shift+V: hold the shift button down while pasting and you’ll paste plain, unformatted text
Shortcuts 101
If you know and use the Basic 4, you’re ready to move from Shortcuts 100 to Shortcuts 101:
Ctrl+A: Select all available content that’s in view
Ctrl+Z: Undo the previous action (this is the one our client was not familiar with)
Ctrl+Y: Redo the previous action
Ctrl+S: Save what you’re working on
Ctrl+O: Open a new file
Ctrl+P: Open the print dialog box
Ctrl+K: Insert a hyperlink into highlighted text… it beats fumbling through the top menu bar!
Shift+F7: use this shift feature to pop the thesaurus in Word
Don’t Forget the Browser
There are a lot of cool browser shortcuts if you care to search them online. Here are a few simple ones that I suspect could fit the browsing habits of a lot of people:
Ctrl+T: Open a new tab
Ctrl+Shift+T: Reopen the most recently closed tab
Ctrl+H: Pull up your web browsing history
Ctrl+J: View recent or active downloads
Alt+[Left or Right]: Go back or forward a page
Ctrl+[Mouse]: Adjust text size (scroll up with the mouse to increase the size)
Two More Worth Knowing
Windows Key + L: We’re about security here at KIT. Don’t walk away from your machine and just trust your screensaver to protect your data. Use this shortcut to lock your screen before stepping away.
Windows Key + M: Do you minimize files and pages one-by-one when you need to get to your desktop? Use this command to minimize all windows.
That’s it! Hopefully the list above can serve as a handy resource to those who may not be heavy users of these time-saving keyboard combos.
