Windows OS Keyboard Shortcuts

Have you ever hit a button on your computer and it completely freaks out? It's happened to all of us. Or a friend presses a couple buttons on your computer and magic happens before your eyes. I hear it all the time... "How did you do that and how did you KNOW that?"

It's just a matter of "the more you use the computer, the more you will learn". In any profession there are tips and tricks that are learned ONLY with experience. (Ask any nurse if she knows a trick about getting patients to behave...)

This is a list of common computer shortcuts - certainly not ALL of them, but some of the shortcuts I use on a regular basis.

Windows:
Locate the Windows Logo key to the left of your space bar.  Try these as you read them.

Pressing it alone opens the start menu
+ M, will minimize all opens windows
+ Shift M, will open them all again
+ D, will toggle from minimize to show
+ F, opens the computer's search system
+ E, opens the computer's file system
+ F1, opens Windows Help


And then there are the mystery F keys (Function keys) at the top of your keyboard.

These are hard to remember, but if you make a point to use them it's worth the effort.
F1 - opens the Help system
F2 - renames a selected item
F3 - Search for a file or folder
F4 - Expand the Address Bar in Windows Explorer (file system)
F5 - Refresh Windows Explorer (file system)
F10 - selects a main menu item without clicking (Alt does this, too.)
F11 - throws you into Full Screen if on the internet; pressing it again brings it back

And the handy ALT key tops off the trick list.

Alt + left or right arrow will go back or forward a browser page
Alt alone will activate the main menu items without clicking, then pressing the underlined letter of the menu item will open the list.
Alt + Enter, opens the properies of a selected icon on the desktop
Alt + Esc, will cycle through programs
Alt + F4, shutdown current program (Don't press it yet! You will shutdown your internet! Yikes!)
And finally after all your open programs are closed, pressing Alt + F4 one last time will throw you into the shutdown screen of your system.  (Better than "Start.... click Arrow... Shutdown.... Shutdown)
Alt + Prt Scr, captures the screen image of the active window.  Places it on the clipboard waiting for you to paste it somewhere (probably MS Word or WordPad).
Alt + Tab (one of my favorites), cycles through all open programs (instead of clicking on the taskbar).