Useful keyboard shortcuts for windows

In my experience, the only people who don’t love keyboard shortcuts are those who have never used them. Or those who don’t know anything about them. The computer mouse has made keyboards rather redundant for many people. Frankly speaking though, I’d rather relegate the keyboard to tiny corner of my PC experience.

However, until a software is created to totally eliminate the use of a keyboard, it would always be useful for programmers, coders, secretaries, online content providers, etc; people that actually have to type in  words and numbers with the keyboard. And that is where keyboard shortcuts can be very handy. There is a certain satisfaction, when you are using the keyboard, to be derived from not having to constantly switch to using your mouse to execute some important tasks.

The keyboard shortcuts below would show you some awesome ways to execute tasks on your PC. I use them a lot. And if you didn’t know about them before, this is your lucky day.

Instantly Lock your Desktop

This is very useful if your PC has a password. So, you want to leave your PC for a while to do something else like grab a quick lunch? And perhaps you don’t want prying eyes to peek at the stuff your are doing? And at the same time you don’t want to log out because you’d be coming back in a jiffy? Hitting Windows Logo Key + L key instantly locks and put your computer on standby.

Instantly Open Magnifier

To make small texts larger, or increase the size of a window to see stuff better, you have to magnify it. The normal way is to go through the Magnifier tool hidden in the programs menu. To access it immediately, the magic keys or keyboard shortcut is Windows Logo key + ( + or – ) key. The minus key takes it back to the default size. You can see how this can be useful. Zoom any open active window on your desktop instantly with these keys combination.

To remove the magnifier symbol, just click on the magnifying glass icon, then click close.

Create a New Folder Instantly

So you want to create a new folder on your desktop? It is easy with just a few clicks. Just right click an empty space on your desktop, scroll down to New and click Folder. But it is easier still with the following key combination on your keyboard. The magic key-combination are shift + ctrl + N, and instantly a new folder is created on your desktop. The  name ‘New folder‘ is already highlighted so you can type in your preferred name.

Wished the process came complete with the preferred folder name. Well, there is a limit to what softwares can do I guess.

Recycle Files

To delete items in a folder from your system and move them to the recycle bin usually involves 3 clicks. To do it instantly, the keyboard combination keys are shift key + delete.

When an item is highlighted in a folder,  instead of right-clicking and then clicking delete in the new menu that opens up, hitting shift + delete would instantly bring out the delete confirmation dial up box.

Minimize Windows in one Step

Sometimes you discover you need to minimize your Windows in a hurry. Perhaps because you don’t want an approaching nosy colleague to have an idea what you are working on or starring at, doing it instantly is just a combination-keys tap away: Windows logo key + M are your magic keys.

Hitting Windows Logo + M would leave you starring at an innocent desktop no matter the number of Windows you had open at that time.

View And Select Multiple Windows

Talking about saving the best for last. This is my absolute favorite. Mainly because of the graphics and animation involved. If you have multiple windows open, to view and select them, the normal way is to go to the task bar and click open the one you desire.

This alternative is really cool though. A combination of Windows Logo + tap keys would bring out all the windows in a cascading menu. Holding on to the keys would scroll through all the windows until you get to your desired window. And if you are not comfortable with the scrolling speed, you can scroll through the windows by releasing and tapping the  key repeatedly until you get to your desired window.

Another way is to use Alt key + tap key combination. Releasing and hitting the tap key repeatedly would scroll through and select your desired window for you. Try it. It would be fun.

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