Once you've got the basic keyboard shortcuts down, learn these to save even more time.
Move the cursors: Quickly jump the cursor to the beginning or end of your word, paragraph, or document.
- CTRL+Right Arrow: Move the cursor to the beginning of the next word
- CTRL+Left Arrow: Move the cursor back to the beginning of the previous word
- CTRL+Down Arrow: Move the cursor to the beginning of the next paragraph
- CTRL+Up Arrow: Move the cursor back to the beginning of the previous paragraph
- CTRL+Home: Go to the start of a document
- CTRL+End: Go to the end of a document
Move windows: One of Windows 7's best features, you can snap a window to the left or right of the screen and fit half of the screen exactly, or quickly maximize the window to full screen. Hit the Windows button and arrows to activate.
- WIN+Right Arrow: Resize the window to half of the display and dock it to the right.
- WIN+Left Arrow: Resize the window to half of the display and dock it to the left.
- WIN+Up Arrow: Maximize the window to full screen.
- WIN+Down Arrow: Minimize the window or restore it if it is maximized.
- WIN+Shift+Right/Left Arrow: Move the window to an external monitor on the left or right.
Function keys: Press one of these keys at the top of your keyboard to quickly perform an action
- F1: Open the Help page or window
- F2: Rename an object (e.g., file in Windows Explorer)
- F3: Find
- F4: Shows the address bar in Windows Explorer
- F5: Refreshes the page
- F6: Moves to a different panel or screen element in a window or the desktop
Take a screenshot: Useful for pasting an image of your desktop or a certain program and sending to tech support
- ALT+Print Screen: Capture a screenshot of a window
- CTRL+Print Screen: Capture the entire screen/desktop
Working with Windows: Windows system shortcuts
- CTRL+ALT+Delete: Bring up the Windows Task Manager
- ALT+Tab: Show open applications so you can quickly jump to a different one
- WIN+D: Show your desktop
- WIN+L: Lock your computer
- CTRL+Shift+N: Create a new folder
- Shift+Delete: Delete an item immediately, without placing it in the recycle bin
- ALT+Enter or ALT+Double-click: Go to the properties screen for files or folders (much faster than right-clicking and selecting "Properties")
