Keyboard Shortcut Tricks To Speed Up Your Computing Experience

When speed counts, the keyboard is still king. Almost all the actions and commands you can perform with a mouse you can perform faster using combinations of keys on your keyboard. These simple keyboard shortcuts can get you where you want to go faster than several clicks of a mouse. You’ll work faster on spreadsheets and similar documents, too, because you won’t lose your place switching back and forth between mouse and keys.

Here are some of the most useful keyboard shortcuts:

Copy.	CTRL+C
Cut.	CTRL+X
Paste.	CTRL+V
Undo.	CTRL+Z
Delete.	DELETE
Delete selected item permanently without placing the item in the Recycle Bin.	SHIFT+DELETE
Copy selected item.	CTRL while dragging an item
Create shortcut to selected item.	CTRL+SHIFT while dragging an item
Rename selected item.	F2
Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next word.	CTRL+RIGHT ARROW
Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous word.	CTRL+LEFT ARROW
Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next paragraph.	CTRL+DOWN ARROW
Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous paragraph.	CTRL+UP ARROW
Highlight a block of text.	CTRL+SHIFT with any of the arrow keys
Select more than one item in a window or on the desktop, or select text within a document.	SHIFT with any of the arrow keys
Select all.	CTRL+A
Search for a file or folder.	F3
View properties for the selected item.	ALT+ENTER
Close the active item, or quit the active program.	ALT+F4
Opens the shortcut menu for the active window.	ALT+SPACEBAR
Close the active document in programs that allow you to have multiple documents open simultaneously.	CTRL+F4
Switch between open items.	ALT+TAB
Cycle through items in the order they were opened.	ALT+ESC
Cycle through screen elements in a window or on the desktop.	F6
Display the Address bar list in My Computer or Windows Explorer.	F4
Display the shortcut menu for the selected item.	SHIFT+F10
Display the System menu for the active window.	ALT+SPACEBAR
Display the Start menu.	CTRL+ESC
Display the corresponding menu.	ALT+Underlined letter in a menu name
Carry out the corresponding command.	Underlined letter in a command name on an open menu
Activate the menu bar in the active program.	F10
Open the next menu to the right, or open a submenu.	RIGHT ARROW
Open the next menu to the left, or close a submenu.	LEFT ARROW
Refresh the active window.	F5
View the folder one level up in My Computer or Windows Explorer.	BACKSPACE
Cancel the current task.	ESC
SHIFT when you insert a CD into the CD-ROM drive	Prevent the CD from automatically playing.