Shortcut Keys in Microsoft Windows

Keyboard shortcuts can save time, and make the user experience so much better. You can also impress the heck out of people when you do something in the blink of an eye without a move of the mouse (They will probably think you are using some kind of voodoo magic). This is not a full list of shortcuts by any means, but it is a very useful list of common keyboard shortcuts.

Before playing with shortcuts, be sure to save any file you are working on, just in case you make a mistake of using the wrong shortcut at the wrong time. This moment is called an ‘ono’ second(this is the moment as you are clicking or doing something that cannot be undone, and it was completely unintentional). On another note, I cannot take credit for the ‘ono’ second term. Although I have experienced it before, credit has to go to Professor Tim Scott at Minnesota State University Mankato.

Okay on with the shortcuts…

General Shortcuts

Text Formatting Operations
CTRL+A = Select All
CTRL+B = Bold
CTRL+I = Italic
CTRL+U = Underline
In certain programs, you have the ability to cut, copy and paste
CTRL+X = Cut
CTRL+C = Copy
CTRL+V = Paste
Home = Start of line of text
End = End of line of text
Insert = Write over line of text. Special note: If you are experiencing a problem where you can’t add text and you are just writing over current text, chances are the insert key has been pressed.

File Operations Commands
CTRL+N = Create New File
CTRL+O = Open
CTRL+S = Save
CTRL+P = Print
CTRL+F = Find in text

Exit Commands
CTRL+W = Close Window
Alt+F4 = Exit Application

Undo Commands
CTRL+Z = Undo the last operation
CTRL+Y = Redo the last operation

Windows Logo Key Commands
Windows Logo Key: Opens the start menu
Windows Logo Key+R: Opens the windows run dialog box
Windows Logo Key+M: Minimizes all windows
SHIFT+Windows Logo Key+M: Undo minimize all windows
Windows Logo Key+F1: Displays Help
Windows Logo Key+E: Opens windows Explorer
Windows Logo Key+F: Opens find files or folders Search
Windows Logo Key+D: Minimizes everything and shows the desktop
CTRL+Windows Logo Key+F: Opens find computer
Windows Logo Key+TAB: Cycle through taskbar buttons
Windows Logo Key+Break: Opens system properties dialog box

Anyone, please feel free to add more via comment box if you feel I missed an important one.