Favorite Windows keyboard shortcuts [closed]

StackOverflow https://stackoverflow.com/questions/52676

  •  09-06-2019
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Question

I'm a keyboard junkie. I love having a key sequence to do everything. What are your favorite keyboard shortcuts?

I'll start by naming a couple of mine:

1 - Alt-Space to access the windows menu for the current window

2 - F2 to rename a file in Windows Explorer

Was it helpful?

Solution

Win + 1 .. 9 -- Start quick launch shortcut at that index (Windows Vista).

Ctrl + Scroll Lock, Scroll Lock -- Crash your computer: Windows feature lets you generate a memory dump file by using the keyboard

@gabr -- Win + D is show desktop, Win + M minimizes all windows. Hitting Win + D twice brings everything back as it has only shown the desktop window in front of the other windows.

OTHER TIPS

Win + Pause/Break to bring up computer information and to access environment variables under the Advanced tab.

Win + R to go straight to the run box (though I barely use this anymore since I started with Launchy).

Of course Alt + Tab but also Alt + Shift + Tab for going backwards.

Oh, and personally, I hate Ctrl + F4 for closing tabs - too much of a pinky stretch.

Oh and try Win + Tab on Windows 7 (with Aero on).

  • Alt-F4 to close a program.
  • WindowsKey + L to lock my workstation
  • Ctr-Shift-Ins to copy text from a textbox
  • Alt-Print Screen to capture a shot of just a window
  • WindowsKey + R to open the "Run" dialog (XP Pro only- does something else on XP Home)
  • Win-D to minimize all applications
  • Ctrl-Shift-Esc to open Task Manager

Win-L to lock the computer..

To maximize a window: Alt+Space, X
To restore a window: Alt+Space, R
To minimize a window: Alt+Space, N
To close a window: Alt+Space, C

I try to stick to my keyboard as well. I frequently use...

  • Win+L to Lock my system
  • Alt+F4 to close a program
  • Win+R to launch from the Run Window (Used for frequent programs instead of going through QuickLaunch)
  • F2 to rename a file
  • Win+D to go to Desktop
  • Alt+Tab and Alt+Tab+Shift to cycle through open programs

Visual Studio

  • Alt, D (debug), P (process), W (webdev process)
  • Alt, T (Tools), P (process), W (webdev process) for VS 2008
  • Alt, M, O to collapse to definitions
  • F5 to launch
  • F9, F10, and F11 for stepping through debugger
  • Alt+K, D to format a document
  • Alt+K, C to comment
  • Alt+K, U to uncomment

Browser

  • Alt+W to close tab
  • F6 to focus on the address bar

How is this not here?

+Pause to System Information. Then the system PATH variable is only 2 clicks away (Advanced system settings,Environment Variables...)

  • F4 in windows explorer to access the location bar trivially.
  • Menu key (next to the right-hand windows key) + W + F to create a new folder in explorer.
  1. Win + E to open an Windows Explorer reference
  2. Win + R from the Run box
  3. Ctrl + Esc to open the start menu

And, of course, Alt + F4 to close things.

A few basic keyboard shortcuts for clipboard operations, text selection, and navigation that work in most Windows programs:

Clipboard

  • Ctrl+X - Clipboard Cut
  • Ctrl+C - Clipboard Copy
  • Ctrl+V - Clipboard Paste

Selecting Text

  • Ctrl+A - Select All (in the current field or document)
  • Shift+[navigate with ▲/▼, Home/End, or Pg Up/Pg Dn] - Select text between the caret's previous and new positions. Continue to hold Shift and navigate to select more text.

Navigation

  • Ctrl+left arrow / Ctrl+right arrow - Move the caret to the previous/next word
  • Ctrl+Home / Ctrl+End - Go to beginning/end of the current field or document

Bonus Tip!

  • Before submitting a web form where you've entered a lot of text into a text field (for example, an email in a web-based mail client -- or a new question or answer on Stack Overflow!), do a quick Ctrl+A, Ctrl+C on the field. That way, if something goes wrong with the submit (even if the browser crashes), you haven't lost your work -- you have a copy of it sitting on the clipboard.

Ctrl+Shift+Esc to go straight to the task manager without any intermediate dialogs.

In calc, F5, F6, F7, F8 cycle between Hex, Dec, Oct, Bin mode.

I use the free AutoHotKey, then I define my own shortcuts:

  • dobule tap F4 quickly => Close active Windows (like Alt+F4 but with one finger only)
  • double tap Right Alt quickly => Find and Run Robot task manager
  • F12 => open Find and Run Robot Locate32 plugin (I use it like a very lightweight desktop search)
  • Ctrl+Up / Down in a command window => scroll back / forward command line like the mouse wheel
  • Ctrl+w in a command windows => close window

etc.

For when you have a window stuck under an appbar and can't get at that window's system menu to move it:

alt-spacebar -> M -> arrow keys -> return

On Windows Vista, if you bring up the Start menu and search for a program, pressing Ctrl+Shift+Enter will run the selected program as Administrator. So to open an Administrator command prompt:

Windows key, type "cmd", Ctrl+Shift+Enter

My personal favourite is WinKey, U, Enter - shuts Windows down! ;-)

win+M to minimise all. Useful for quick trips to the desktop.

  1. +[type name of program] to launch a program in Vista
  2. +E for explorer
  3. +F for find
  4. Alt+Tab to swap between programs
  5. Ctrl+Tab to swawp between tabs

Not really a 'Windows' shortcut, but the Ctrl+Alt+numpad and Ctrl+Alt+[arrows] to move and resize windows and move them to another monitor using WinSplit Revolution are absolutely great. I would never use large or multiple monitors without them.

  1. Ctrl + Shift + ESC : Run Task Manager
  2. Ctrl/Shift + Insert : Copy/Paste
  3. Shift + Delete : Cut (text)
  4. Win + L : Lock System
  5. Win + R : Run
  6. Ctrl + Pause Break : Break Loop (Programming)
  7. Ctrl + Tab : Tab Change
  • Win+Pause/Break for System Properties
  • Win+E: open windows explorer
  • Win+F: find
  • Win+R: run
  • Win+M: minimize all windows
  • Win+Shift+M: restore all windows
  • Alt+F4: close program
  • Alt+Tab: switch between tasks
  • Ctrl+Alt+Del: task manager

Repeat Ctrl + Alt + Del Twice!

Many say that Win-D minimises all applications. Not true. It simply shows the desktop. Use Win-M to minimise all open windows. Use Win-Shift-M to restore them to their previous state.

By the way, did you notice that the Sift key can be combined with most of the usual shortcuts? e.g. Alt+Tab : cycle through applications 1->2->3->4->...1 Add Shift to the shortcut and you will be cycling in the opposite direction 1<-2<-3<-4<- ...1

Control+Tab to switch between Tabs in most Windows applications (sadly not in Eclipse) - you can already guess what Ctr+Shift+Tab will do. Especially handy in Firefox, IE, etc... where you have more than one Tab open and try going to the previous one. Very handy.

And one more tip, this is soooo handy, I love it. Only found out about it a couple of weeks ago:

FireFox users: tired of rightclick->Open Link in New Tab?

Click a link with MIDDLE mouse button and it will open in a new tab (depends on your Tabs settings in Tools->Options but by default would work). The magical thing about this is that it works even for the browser's Back button! Also when you type a search term into the Google box (usually in top right corner) and middle-click the search button, the search results are opened in a new tab. Closing tabs is also much easier with the middle mouse button (of course you can do Ctrl+W but sometimes the mouse is simply in your hand). You don't have to click the tab's red button to close it. Simply middle-click anywhere on the tab and it will be closed.

EDIT I just tried the middle button in IE 7 and seems to work just like it does in FF, except for the Back-button and Search widget.

Ctrl + Shift + Esc -> Open Task Manager

Ctrl + W -> closes windows in MDIs where Ctrl+F4 doesn't work

Those and the Win + Number is Vista are used constantly.

Also a nice trick is Win + Tab -> cycles through program groups on task bar in Windows Xp and Server 2003. (i.e. same as Vista without the previews).

Alt + f4 Alt + tab ctrl + tab win + tab ctrl + x ctrl + v ctrl + c alt + r alt + e alt + d ctrl + space (VS IDE)

It's not a keyboard shortcut, but my favourite trick is to bind the large thumb button on the rat to move window, the smaller thumb button to resize. That way, windows can be moved and resized very easily and naturally. You can probably to that in windows too.

As for keyboard tricks, I use right ctrl+keypad to pick (one of nine) virtual screens. Very quick and natural.

In any dialog with tabs, Ctrl-Page Up/Down to cycle between the tabs.

Not really an answer, but a hint for a good source to look from - if no one cited it above wikipedia has all ( for the most important OS's) - not the best

I don't have favorites among keyboard shortcuts -- they are all utility entities to me...

Except for +L, which means another coffee break!

Windows
Windows right click key, next to the right alt can be very useful.

For the noobs,
tab and shift-tab to cycle through inputs
alt-tab and alt-shift-tab to cycle through the windows
ctrl-tab and alt-shift-tab to cycle through the tabs
ctrl-printscreen to snapshot the entire screen
and alt-printscreen to snapshot the current window
for some dialog windows ctrl-c will copy the message

Console
 alt-space then e,p to paste in windows console
alt-space then e,k to mark in console
tab and shifttab to cycle autocomplete in console

Visual Studio
 ctrl-shift-f Search in files
ctrl-f Search page
F12 Goto definition of the current word
F2 Rename selected text
F4 Open properties tab for selected
Highlight section and tab or shifttab Indent a block of text
ctrl-k,d Format Document
ctrl-k,c Comment out highlighted text
ctrl-k,u,c Un-comment highlighted text
ctrl-m,o Collapse to definitions
ctrl-m,m Toggle open and close the current method/function
ctrl-alt,l Open solution pane
ctrl-alt,o Open output pane and
of course ctrl-space for intellisense

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