Shortcuts to Increase Windows 7 Keyboard Productivity

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With all the less pleasant verdicts about Vista, Windows 7 is perhaps PC users’ next best news. Codenamed Blackcomb, this new Microsoft operating system is surely a successor over it’s predecessor Windows XP and definitely Vista. With Microsoft to end their support for Windows XP in 2014, we figured Windows 7 will be completely taking over things in the next year or so.

If you are a Windows users it’s probably time for a change, or at least tryout this new operating system. Here are some shortcut keys to help improve your productivity and user experience with Windows 7.

General Windows 7 Shortcuts

windows-7-logo

Shortcut


Description


Win + UP Arrow

Maximize the current window

Win + Down Arrow

Restore down or minimize current windows

Win + Left Arrow

Dock the current window to the left half of the screen

Win + Right Arrrow

Dock the current window to the right half of the screen

Win + [number]

Activate and run the program pinned on Windows 7 Taskbar, running program won’t be affected

Win + Home

Minimize all but the current window

Win + Space

Makes all windows transparent so you can see through to the desktop

Win + Pause/Break

Open System Properties

Win + Tab

Flip Aero 3D [press Tab to cycle between Windows]

Win + B

Move focus to notification tray (the right-most portion of the taskbar)

Win + D

Show/Hide desktop

Win + E

Windows Explorer is launched

Win + F

Search

Win + G

Bring all gadgets on top and foreground

Win + L

Lock Computer

Win + M

Minimize all windows

Win + P

Open the projection menu (generally used for laptops connected to projectors)

Win + R

Run Command is launched.

Win + S

OneNote Screen Clipping Tool

Win + T

Show preview thumbnail of running applications in Windows Taskbar one by one without mouse over

Win + X

Mobility Center

Win + #

Quicklaunch

Win + =

Magnifier

Win + [+/-]

Enables the magnifier and zooms in/out

Win + Shift + Up Arrow

Maximize vertical size

Win + Shift + Down Arrow

Restore vertical size

Win + Shift + Left Arrow

Jump to left monitor

Win + Shift + Right Arrow

Jump to right monitor

Win + Shift + M

Undo all window minimization

Win + Shift + T

Cycles backwards

Win + Ctrl + F

Opens the Active Directory Find Computers dialog

Ctrl + Right Arrow

Move the cursor to the beginning of the next word

Ctrl + Left Arrow

Move the cursor to the beginning of the previous word

Ctrl + Up Arrow

Move the cursor to the beginning of the previous paragraph

Ctrl + Down Arrow

Move the cursor to the beginning of the next paragraph

Ctrl + Click

A pinned taskbar icon to cycle through the program’s open windows (e.g. IE)

Ctrl + Win + Tab

Persistent flip 3D

Ctrl + Shift with an arrow key

Select a block of text

Ctrl with any arrow key + Spacebar

Select multiple individual items in a window or on the desktop

Ctrl + Shift + Esc

Open Task Manager directly

Ctrl + Shift + N

Create new folder

Shortcuts for Ease of Access

ease-of-access-center

Shortcut


Description


Right SHIFT for eight seconds

Turn Filter Keys on and off

Left ALT+left SHIFT+PRINT SCREEN (or PRTSCRN)

Turn High Contrast on or off

Left ALT+left SHIFT+NUM LOCK

Turn Mouse Keys on or off

SHIFT five times

Turn Sticky Keys on or off

NUM LOCK for five seconds

Open the Ease of Access Center

Win + U

Cycle through all open windows

For: Windows Explorer

Shortcut


Description


Alt + Left Arrow

Go back

Alt + Right Arrow

Go forward

Alt + Up Arrow

Go up a directory

Alt + Enter

Open the Properties window of the current selection

Alt + Spacebar

Open the shortcut menu for the active window

Alt + F4

Close the active window

Alt + Tab

Switch to previous active window

Alt + Esc

Cycle through all open windows

Alt + D

Move focus to address bar

Alt + P

Show/hide the preview panel

Ctrl + N

Open a new window

Ctrl + Mousewheel

Change the view type (extra large, small, list view, detail, etc.)

Num Lock + Asterisk (*) on numeric keypad

Display all subfolders under the selected folder

Num Lock + Plus Sign (+) on numeric keypad

Display the contents of the selected folder

Num Lock + Minus Sign (+) on numeric keypad

Collapse the selected folder

For: Taskbar Modifiers

Shortcut


Description


Shift + Click on icon

Open a new instance

Middle click on icon

Open a new instance

Ctrl + Shift + Click on icon

Open a new instance with Admin privileges

For: Dialog Box

dialog_box

Shortcut

Description

Ctrl + Tab

Move forward through tabs

Ctrl + Shift + Tab

Move back through tabs

Shift + Tab

Move back through options

Tab

Move forward through options

Alt + underlined letter

Perform the command (or select the option) that goes with that letter

Enter

Replaces clicking the mouse for many selected commands

Spacebar

Select or clear the check box if the active option is a check box

Arrow keys

Select a button if the active option is a group of option buttons

Backspace

Open a folder one level up if a folder is selected in the Save As or Open dialog box

For: Photo Gallery

photo_gallery

Shortcut

Description


Ctrl + F

Open the Fix pane

Ctrl + P

Print the selected picture

Ctrl + I

Open or close the Details pane

Ctrl + Period (.)

Rotate the picture clockwise

Ctrl + Comma (,)

Rotate the picture counter-clockwise

Ctrl + Mouse scroll wheel

Change the size of the picture thumbnail

Ctrl + B

Best fit

Ctrl + E

Search for an item

Alt + Left Arrow

Go back

Alt + Right Arrow

Go forward

Plus Sign (+)

Zoom in or resize the picture thumbnail

Minus Sign (-)

Zoom out or resize the picture thumbnail

Shift + Delete

Permanently delete the selected item

Enter

View the selected picture at a larger size

Logging In And Out Windows 7

Logging_in_out

Shortcut


Description


Win + Right Arrow + Enter

Shutdown

Win + Right Arrow + Right Arrow + R

Restart

Win + Right Arrow + Right Arrow + S

Sleep

Win + Right Arrow + Right Arrow + W

Switch users

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This entry was posted on Thursday, July 30th, 2009 at 10:52 and is filed under Tools.

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