{ Computer Shortcuts for Windows }

When I started graphic design around six years ago one of the first things I learned was how to use keyboard shortcuts for programs such as Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator and Adobe InDesign, little did I know that there are shortcuts for just computer in general. As the time passed I found that a lot of my friends and family members were unaware that some of the computer functions can be done with key shortcuts. In this post I will give you 20 of the most known computer key shortcuts that can make your life a lot easier.

Program Shortcuts

• Ctrl-a highlights everything in a folder or document
• Ctrl-c copies the selected item or text to the clipboard
• Ctrl- v pastes the content of the clipboard into the active program
• Ctrl-f opens the search in many programs. All web browsers and the majority of Office applications for instance support this. If not try F3
• Ctrl-s saves a document or web page in many programs, including Office and web browsers
• Ctrl-z undo the last action
• Ctrl-left arrow moves the cursor to the beginning of the previous word
• Ctrl- right arrow to the beginning of the next word
• Ctrl- Shift- left arrow or right arrow highlights the full previous or next word
• Ctrl- Backspace deletes the word on the left of the cursor
• Ctrl- Home moves the cursor to the top of the document
• Ctrl-End goes to the end of the document
• Esc cancels the current task

Window Shortcuts

• Ctrl-Shift-Esc opens the Windows Task Manager
• Ctrl- Shift-click on a taskbar icon to open the program with administrative privileges
• Shift-click on a taskbar icon to launch instance of the program
• Alt-Tab lets you switch between open programs and windows
• Alt-Shift- Tab walked through the listing backwards
• Alt-F4 close the active item or exits the active program
• Alt-Esc cycles through the list of open programs in the order they have been opened
• Windows-d displays the desktop
• Windows - m minimizes all windows to show the desktop
• Windows- Shift-m restores the window to their original position
• Windows-e opens My Computer in Windows Explorer
• Windows-r opens the run box to start programs from there