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Keyboard shortcuts let you speed up your daily web and computer

activities while taking the strain off your mouse-clicking wrist. WayneWilliams presents a bumper collection of time-saving tricks

BEST web & PCkeyboard shortcuts

100

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WEB & PC SHORTCUTS

Most of the following keyboard

shortcuts are universal and will

work in and across most Windows

programs, as well as the different

versions of Microsoft’s operating

system. You’ll probably know some

of these but it’s always handy to bereminded of their usefulness.

F1Get help

If you need

help in

Windows, or

assistance

with a

particular

program, hit

this key to

bring up the

relevant

support

option. The

results vary

depending on what program you’re

using because some software doesn’t

have dedicated help pages. If pressing

F1 doesn’t do anything, make sure the

Function lock on the keyboard is on.

F2Rename items

Trying to rename items can often lead

to launching them instead. Select a file

or folder, press the F2 key and you’ll be

able to rename that item instantly.

F5Refresh your viewRefreshes the currently selected

window or web page. Useful, for

example, if you’ve added a file to a

folder but the view hasn’t updated for

some reason.

F10Open menu options

This function key activates the menu bar

options. Press F10 followed by any

underlined letter (T for Tools for

example) to open that menu. Alt does

the same thing.

Shift+F10View right-click menuSelect a file or folder, and press this

keyboard combination to view the

context menu. It’s the keyboard

equivalent of right-clicking an item.

Ctrl+CCopy content

Along with Ctrl+V, this shortcut is oneof the most useful to know. Select

anything – some text or a file on the

Desktop for example – and hit these two

buttons to copy the content to the

Windows clipboard.

Ctrl+XCut contentThis works in the same way as Ctrl+C

except it moves the selected item to the

clipboard instead of copying it.

Ctrl+VPaste contentUsed in conjunction with Ctrl+C/Ctrl+X,

this shortcut will paste the copied

content to wherever your cursor is

positioned.

Ctrl+ZUndo actionWhen you make a mistake in an

application, this keyboard combination

will undo the last action. Keep hitting Z

while holding down the Control key and

consecutive actions will continue to

undo.

Ctrl+YRedo actionIf you undo an action using Ctrl+Z but

then change your mind, press these

buttons to replace what you’ve undone.

Ctrl+ASelect all

This shortcut will select all the items in

a folder, or all the text/graphics in a

document or on a web page.

Alt+TabSwitch between windows

Hold down Alt and hit the Tab key to

open the Windows program switcher.

With Alt still pressed, keep tapping Tab

to move through the list of open

windows. Let go of the keys when you

reach the application you want.

Ctrl+Windows key+TabSwitch between windows in 3DFlip 3D is an alternative task switcher

available in Windows 7 and Vista

ESSENTIALWINDOWSSHORTCUTS

ost of the following keyboard

shortcuts are universal and will

ork in and across most Windows

programs, as well as the different

ersions of Microsoft’s operating

system. You’ll probably know some

of these but it’s always handy to bereminded of their usefulness.

F1Get help

you need

hel in

example, if you’ve added a file to a

older but the view hasn’t updated

me reas n.

Open menu options

ESSENTIALWINDOWSSHORTCUTS

Performing common web and PC tasks with your

keyboard instead of your mouse can save you a

surprising amount of time. There are handy keyboard

shortcuts available for everything from editing content to

controlling programs and navigating web pages. For

example, you can use shortcuts to save half-written

messages in Gmail, add links to Word documents and

bookmark interesting websites.

Aside from helping you get things done faster and more

efficiently, keyboard shortcuts can also significantly reduce

the number of mouse-clicks you need to make, so you’re less

likely to develop repetitive strain injury (RSI). In this feature,

we present 100 of the most useful web, PC and Mac

shortcuts to save you time and effort when performing tasks

at your computer. We also show you how to create your own

shortcuts in our Mini Workshop on page 27.



ADVANCEDWINDOWSSHORTCUTS

(provided you’re running Aero). Tap Tab

to flick through the open windows in 3D.

Ctrl+Alt+DelRestart WindowsKnown as the three-fingered salute, this

shortcut can be used to restart

Windows, launch the Task Manager, lockthe computer, switch users and change

your password.

Alt+F4Close programThis shortcut saves you having to move

your mouse to click the red ‘x’ in the

top-right corner of the window.

Ctrl+F4Close windowUseful if you have several different

documents open in a program and want

to close one of them.

Shift+DeleteDelete file permanentlyBypass the Recycle Bin by holding down

Shift when you delete an unwanted file

or folder.

Alt+F6Switch between programwindowsLets you switch between multiple

windows in the same program. If you

have more than one instance of your

web browser open, for example.

Alt+EnterView PropertiesSelect a file or folder and then use this

combination to open the Properties box

for it.

Windows key+RLaunch RunOpens the Run box, which lets you

launch system features such as the

Registry Editor (by typing in ‘regedit’

– without the quotes) and the System

Configuration Utility (by typing in

‘msconfig’ – without the quotes).

Windows key+ELaunch Windows ExplorerIf your keyboard has a Windows key,

pressing this combination will launch

Windows Explorer.

Windows key+DView DesktopA useful shortcut for when you need

quick access to the Desktop. Press it

once and Windows will instantly

minimise all the open programs and

folders. Press it again to restore them.

There are shortcuts for most

Windows tasks, including plenty

you may not even be aware of.

Here are some of the lesser-known

time-savers.

Ctrl+Shift+EscClose programsThe Windows Task Manager gives you

access to some useful information and

lets you

close

unresponsiveprograms.

You can

launch it by

right-clicking

the Taskbar

and

selecting

Start Task

Manager, but

this keyboard combination is a much

quicker alternative.

Shift x5Turn on Sticky KeysPress the Shift key five times in quick

succession to activate the Sticky Keys

function. This feature is designed to

make it easier to use the keyboard with

one hand because key combinations

can be entered one key at a time, rather

than being held down simultaneously.

Alt+Windows key+EnterLaunch Windows Media CenterPress these three keys together to

launch the Windows Media Center in

Vista or Windows 7. Press Alt+F4 to

close the program and return to your

Desktop.

Alt+Shift+Num Lock Turn on Mouse Keys

Mouse Keys lets you control your mouse

pointer using the numeric keypad on

your keyboard. You can toggle the

feature on or off using this shortcut.

Windows key+Shift+Left/RightMove between monitorsThis is a useful shortcut for anyone

running dual monitors in Windows 7 or

Vista. Select a window and press the

shortcut to move it from one screen to

the other.

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WEB & PC SHORTCUTS

WEBBROWSERSHORTCUTS

Most of the following browser

shortcuts will work in Internet

Explorer, Firefox and Chrome and

can significantly speed up your

online tasks.

Ctrl+TOpen tabOpens a new tab in your browser.

Ctrl+WClose tabAutomatically closes the current tab.

Ctrl+Shift+T

Reopen tabIf you close a tab by mistake, use this

shortcut to open it again.

Ctrl+Alt+F4Close all but one tabThis Internet Explorer-only shortcut

closes all open tabs with the exception

of the one you’re viewing.

Ctrl+TabSwitch tabJump from one open tab to another

without needing to click each one

individually.

Ctrl+1-9Select tab 1 to 9Hold down Ctrl and press the relevant

number to jump to a specific open tab.

For example, Ctrl+3 will open the third

tab from the left.

Ctrl+Shift+QView tab listDisplays your open tabs in a list – useful

if you’ve got so many open that you can

no longer see which pages they contain.

Ctrl+FFind

If you’re looking for a word or phrase on

a web page, this shortcut calls up the

Find box. Enter your search term to find

instances of it on the page. The same

shortcut also works in Microsoft Office.

Alt+NFind nextOnce you’ve found a searched-for word

with Find, this shortcut skips through

every instance of it on the page. This

only works in Firefox.

Ctrl+LAddress bar/OpenMoves the focus to the address bar in

Firefox and Chrome and highlights the

current URL. In Internet Explorer, it will

display the Open box.

Ctrl+IView bookmarks

Opens your Bookmarks in Firefox and

Favorites in Internet Explorer. There is

no equivalent shortcut in Chrome.

Ctrl+HView HistoryOpens your browsing history so you can

access sites you’ve visited previously.

Ctrl+DBookmark pageLets you bookmark the web page you

are viewing.

SpaceScroll down

Press Space on a website to scroll downthe screen one page at a time. Press

Shift+Space to scroll upwards.

Ctrl+EnterComplete web addressType a website’s name into the Address

bar and hit the keyboard combo. This

adds ‘http://www’ to the start of the

address and ‘.com’ to the end of it. For

another variation, try Ctrl+Shift+Enter.

This will add a preset (and possibly

different) suffix. You can change the

suffix in Firefox using the add-on URL

suffix (http://bit.ly/url257 ).

Ctrl++ZoomHold down Ctrl and press the ‘+’ key to

zoom in. Press ‘-’ to zoom out again.

Ctrl+Shift+PBrowse in PrivateTurns on In Private Browsing in IE and

Private Browsing in Firefox. This stops

the browser storing your web activities.

Ctrl+F5

Hard refreshThis causes your browser to reload a

page and download all the elements

again instead of simply pulling them

from the cache. This means you get the

most recent version of the page, with the

latest content, rather than a stored one.

EscStopStops the current page from loading

and freezes animated GIFs so you don’t

have to wait for every element of the

page to load when you only want to

check a certain part.

Alt+HomeGo HomeLoads your choice of browser

homepage in the current tab.

Ctrl+JView downloads or feedsOpens the download manager in Firefox

and Chrome, or the RSS web feeds list

in Internet Explorer.

F7Launch Caret BrowsingTurns on Caret Browsing in Firefox and

Internet Explorer (not Chrome). This

means that instead of browsing web

pages with your mouse, you can place a

cursor on the web page and navigate

around the text using the arrow keys on

your keyboard. It’s particularly useful if

you suffer from usability issues because

it takes the pressure off your wrist.



Google’s webmail service

(http://mail.google.com) supports

keyboard shortcuts. You can turn

them on or off by going to Settings,

checking Keyboard Shortcuts

under the General tab and clicking

Save Changes.

CComposePress the C key while in any mailbox to

open the Compose Mail window.

Shift+CCompose in new window

Use this shortcut to open the Compose

Mail box in a new window. You’ll need to

allow pop-ups for Gmail for this work.

RReplyWhen you’ve finished reading a

message, hit the R key to reply to

the sender.

AReply to allIf you’d prefer to reply to all, hit the

letter A instead and your message will

be addressed to everyone in the thread.

FForwardYou can forward a message to someone

by pressing F and then entering the

recipients’ addresses in the To: box.

/ SearchTo find a message in your Inbox, hit

the forward-slash key to jump to the

search bar and then start typing a

sender’s name, or part of the message

subject or content.

!Send to Spam folderIf a piece of junk mail makes it through

to your Inbox, select it and hit the

exclamation mark key to move it to the

spam folder.

SStar conversation

To star a conversation for later viewing,select it and press S. If you have the

Superstars Labs feature enabled (you

can find this in the Labs section),

repeatedly tapping the key will cycle

through the available star icons.

YRemove from viewSelect one or more emails and press Y

to archive them (this removes them

from your Inbox, but they’ll still be

accessible in All Mail). The shortcut can

also be used to remove a star when

you’re in the Starred mailbox.

MMuteThis mutes a conversation. It will archive

the thread and prevent future replies

appearing in the Inbox unless expressly

sent to you.

+Mark If you’re using the Priority Inbox feature,

you can use this shortcut to mark any

email as important.

-Unmark Similarly, if Gmail promotes an

insignificant message in Priority Inbox,

you can demote its standing using the

minus key.

#DeleteSelect a message and hit hash to delete

it. The key can also be used to remove

unwanted contacts.

G+SGo to Starred

Press G and then S to go to the Starred

mailbox. This will show all the messages

you’ve marked with a star.

G+CGo to ContactsThis will display your saved contacts.

You’ll be able to import, export or edit

them.

Tab+EnterSend messageOnce you’ve composed a message,

press these two keys in sequence to

send it.

?View shortcutsThere are loads more shortcuts for

Gmail. To see them all, hit the question-

mark button (shift+/) and they’ll appear

in a smart overlay window.

GOOGLEREADERSHORTCUTS

Google’s RSS reader (www.google

.co.uk/reader) also supports

keyboard shortcuts. The following

shortcuts make using the service,

and sharing items with friends,

much easier.

J/K Navigate itemsThese keys step you through items one

at a time. J takes you to older stories

and K up to newer ones.

EEmail itemWhen you see a story you like, press this

key to email the summary and link to

your friends. Just enter their addresses

and an optional note.

Shift+SShare itemYou can share an item that interests

you through Reader. Anyone who is

following you will be able to see and

comment on it. You’ll be able to add

a comment of your own too.

GMAILSHORTCUTS

Shift+DAnnotate and shareThis combination lets you add a note to

a story and optionally add it to your

shared items (with or without tags).

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13 January 2011 27

WEB & PC SHORTCUTS

$ %&' ()!

#

1Windows lets you assign

shortcuts to your favourite

programs, folders and web

pages, so you can launch

and open them using your

keyboard. To begin, we’ll

show you how to do this with

any program shortcut on

your Desktop, but the steps

will also work with items in

the Start menu. Right-click

a shortcut and select

Properties. 1

3Click Apply and then OK.

Now, when you press

that keyboard combination,

the program will start. Toopen a folder using your

keyboard, first create a

shortcut to it on your

Desktop. Right-click the

original folder and select

‘Send to’, 1 ‘Desktop (create

shortcut)’. 2 Right-click the

new shortcut, select

Properties and repeat Step 2.

2The window should open

on the Shortcut tab. 1

Click inside the ‘Shortcut key’

box 2 and press any letter

on the keyboard. Make it

something that relates to the

program you’re launching –

C for CCleaner, for example.

The rest of the shortcut will

be automatically filled in for

you, avoiding potential

conflicts with existing

combinations.

4To create a shortcut to a

website, right-click your

Desktop and select New,

Shortcut. The CreateShortcut wizard will open.

Enter the URL of the site 1

and click Next. Give the new

shortcut a name, then

right-click it and select

Properties. Click the Web

Document tab 2 and enter

the shortcut key you want

to use. 3

MINI WORKSHOP ❘ Create your own keyboard shortcuts



The following keyboard shortcuts

work in the Microsoft Office (http://

office.microsoft.com) programs Word

and Excel. Some will also work in

OpenOffice.org (www.openoffice.org).

Ctrl+NOpen newCreates a blank document in a new

window. This will use your default

template settings.

Ctrl+OOpen savedLets you open a previously saved

document. Automatically opens the lastfolder you saved to.

Ctrl+SSaveSaves the document you have open.

If it hasn’t been saved before, you’ll

be prompted to enter a name for the

file. This keyboard shortcut also works

in Gmail.

Ctrl+BBoldSelect some text and then press this key

combination to bold it. Press it again to

remove the formatting.

Ctrl+IItaliciseSelect some text and then press this key

combination to italicise it.

Ctrl+UUnderlineSelect some text and then press this key

combination to underline it.

Ctrl+K Insert link

Use this keyboard combination to post a

hyperlink into a Word document. You

can choose the text to display.

Shift+F3Change caseSelect one or more words and use this

shortcut to change the case, cycling

through sentence, upper and lower case.

Ctrl+[ or ]Change sizeSelect some text and use this keyboard

combination to increase or decrease the

size of it in one-point steps.

Ctrl+Shift+EView changesTurns on the revision marks feature so

you can see what changes have been

made to a document.

Ctrl+PPrint

Opens the print window. This shortcut

also works in web browsers and any

other program with a print feature.

Shift+End then DeleteDelete sectionA handy shortcut you can use to delete

part of a line of text. Position your

cursor at the point you want to keep

and press Shift+End to select the

unwanted section, and then hit Delete

(or Backspace) to remove it.

F7Spell check

Hit this function key and Word will run a

spelling and grammar check using the

default dictionary.

Shift+F7Use the thesaurus

Select a word and then press these two

keys to look it up in the program’s

built-in thesaurus.

Ctrl+SpaceRemove formattingSelect some text and use this shortcut to

remove any formatting from it (bold,

italics, hyperlinks and so on). The text willalso revert back to the default typeface.

Alt+Ctrl+SSplit windowSplits the window so you can view

different parts of a long document or

complicated spreadsheet at the same

time. To remove the split window, press

Alt+Shift+C.

Ctrl+;Insert date

Select a blank cell in Excel and press

this keyboard combination to insert the

current date.

Ctrl+Shift+;Insert timeAs with the above shortcut, select a

blank cell and press this keyboard

combination to enter the urrent time.

Ctrl+9Hide dataYou can hide rows of data in Excel if you

want to keep them private from anyone

nearby with this simple keyboard

shortcut. Just click on a cell in the row,

and press the key combo. The data will

still be there, just hidden.

Ctrl+Shift+9Unhide dataOnce you’ve hidden a row, you may

want to see it again at some point.

Click and drag to select the rows either

side of the hidden one (you can select

as many rows as you like, which is useful

if you can’t remember exactly where the

hidden one is), then hit this shortcut.

OFFICESHORTCUTS

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Many of these Windows shortcuts

will work on Macs – just use the

Apple key (Command) instead of

Ctrl. but there are also plenty of

keyboard shortcuts specific to OS X.

Apple+Shift +Option+DeleteEmpty TrashIf you want to empty the Trash, use this

keyboard combination and it will clear

out your unwanted files without

prompting you for confirmation first.

Apple+Shift+Option+EscForce quit

If you’re having problems with amisbehaving application that refuses to

go quietly, use this keyboard shortcut to

force it to quit, no confirmation required.

The following shortcuts are all for

Ubuntu – the most popular version

of Linux for home users – but they

will work in other distros of the

open-source operating system, too.

Alt+F1Launch Applications

Apple+Option+YView photo slideshowYou can view photos on your hard disk

in a full-screen slideshow by selecting

them and hitting this shortcut. You’ll

need to be running OS X 10.5 or later.

Apple+Shift+UOpen UtilitiesUse this handy shortcut to open the

Hit this key combination to open the

Applications menu, which gives you

access to all your programs, games and

multimedia.

Ctrl+Alt+TOpen terminal window

Hit this key combination to bring up

the Linux console so you can enter

commands.

Ctrl+Alt+Left/Right

Navigate workspacesThis handy shortcut lets you quickly

Utilities folder. This contains such useful

tools as screen-grabbing program Grab,

voice-control tool Voiceover Utility and

Activity Monitor.

Apple+Shift+Option+Q

Log outYou can initiate an immediate force

log-out using this keyboard combo.

You won’t need to confirm the action.

step your way through the four available

workspaces.

Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Left/RightMove windowMoves the selected window one

workspace to the left or right.

Alt+F10Maximise windowThis shortcut maximises an open

window. You can restore it to its originalsize by pressing Alt+F5. }

MAC OS X SHORTCUTS

LINUX SHORTCUTS

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