General Shortcuts

ALT + F4 - Quit a program/Shut down

ALT + TAB - Hold down the ALT key and hit the Tab key to cycle through open windows

CTRL + ESCAPE - Display the Start menu

CTRL + X - Cut

CTRL + C - Copy

CTRL + V - Paste

CTRL + Z - Undo

CRTL + TAB - Navigate tabs on a tabbed screen

F1 - Help menu

SHIFT & Restart - To restart just Windows and not your whole computer, hold down the Shift key when you click the OK button on the shutdown screen

SHIFT + TAB - Tab backward through a form

 

 The F Keys

  At the top of your keyboard is a row of Function keys, F1 to F12 that work in most of the Windows' programs.

F1 - Opens Help for the displayed program, however, it doesn’t work on all programs. Windows Logo key and F1  opens Windows' Help.

  • F2 - Select an item that can be renamed like a file or shortcut. Press F2 and then type what you want to rename the object.
  • F3 - Brings up Search in Windows Explorer.
  • F4 - Drops down the Address bar in Internet Explorer showing your previous locations. Then you can to scroll down and select one.
  • Alt and F4 - Closes the displayed program.
  • F5 - Refreshes the view in Windows Explorer, Internet Explorer, and other programs.
  • F6 - Moves the cursor around the structure of a program. Pressing it may cycle you from window to window or from place to place within the program. In Windows Explorer it moves you from the left pane to the right pane and back, similar to what the Tab key does.
  • Alt and F6 - Switches between multiple windows in the same program.
  • F7 - Does not have any functionality in Windows and may be used in individual programs.
  • F8 - Accesses Safe Mode when pressed while the computer is starting which will start the computer with minimal drivers.
  • F9 - Does not have any functionality in Windows and may be used in individual programs.
  • F10 - Changes the focus to and from the menu. Pressing the Alt key will also do this. Once the focus is on the menu items, you can use the arrow keys to navigate to an item and the Enter key to select it.
  • Shift and F10 - Brings up the popup menu in Windows Explorer similar to right clicking on an item.
  • F11 - Switches between regular screen mode and full screen mode with more screen space and less tool bar controls.
  • F12 – This key may be used for individual programs.     F7, F9, and F12 are not used by Windows so you can assign these keys, or any key combination of keys, to run programs you use frequently. First find the shortcut for that program in the Start menu. If the program doesn’t have a shortcut, create one by Right clicking on the shortcut and from the popup menu select Properties.

The Properties dialog will open. Go to the Shortcut tab.

Place your curser in the Shortcut key text box and press the Function key or key combination you want to use to start the program.

The Function key name will appear in the box.

Click the Apply or the OK button then close the dialog box.

Now, whenever you press that Function key, or the key combination you chose, your program will start. Note: Using a Function key or key combination that is used by Windows will no longer work in Windows as it used to and will start your program instead.

To disable the new function, follow the above instructions and Delete the name of the shortcut key from the text box. 

 

Tip: Keyboard Shortcut for Repetitive Tasks
F4 – In Microsoft Word press this key to repeat your last action such as formatting, line spacing, font and text color changes, indenting, etc.

 

Move Text with the F2 Key 

1. Highlight the text to be moved.

2. Hit the F2 key.

3. Use the arrow keys or the Page Up/Page Down keys to move the cursor to the new location

4. Hit the Enter key.

Hitting the Esc key will remove the F2 effect

 

  Letter Accents

Have the Num Lock key activated so you need to use the numbers on the numeric keypad to the right of your keyboard. The numbers located above the letters will not work.

Place your cursor at the location where you want to insert the accented letter.
Press and hold down the Alt key
On the numeric keypad, enter the number one of the codes below

     129 gives ü
     130 gives é
     133 gives à
     135 gives ç
     138 gives è
     148 gives ö
     160 gives á
     164 gives ñ
Release the Alt key and your symbol will appear.
 
 

Window Key Shortcuts

The Windows key can be used in conjunction with other keys to act as a keyboard shortcut for faster access to menu commands. Now, while the Alt key tends to open program menus (for example, Alt + F opens the File menu and Alt + E opens the Edit menu) and the Ctrl key performs actual operations (such as Ctrl + C will copy and Ctrl + V will paste), the Windows key will open various Windows tools.

Win key + R will open the Start menu's Run box.
Win key + F will open the Start menu's Find window.
Win key + E will quickly launch Explorer.
Win key + Pause/Break will open the System Properties window.
Win key + M will Minimize all open windows.
Win key + Shift + M will undo the minimize of all open windows.
Win key + D will switch between minimizing all open programs and showing them all.
Win key + Tab will cycle through items on the taskbar.

The Windows key by itself will open the Start menu.

You can also open programs or folders on your desktop by pressing the Windows key + the first letter of the program/folder/shortcut + Enter. Sounds kind of tedious, but if you're in a bind with your mouse, it can come in quite handy! 


Home/End Keys

Use the Home key to go to the beginning of the line you're currently working on. Use the End key to take you to end of the current line.

To get to the beginning your document quickly, press Ctrl + Home. If you want to get to the end, click Ctrl + End.

  

Arrow Keys

If you hold down your Ctrl key with the arrow key you move one word at a time.

If you use the up and down arrows to go from line to line, hold down the Ctrl key too will make your cursor go from paragraph to paragraph.

Hold down the Shift + Ctrl  key will select text as you use your arrow key. 


Page Up/Page Down

Page Up and Page Down buttons in MS Word is the quick way to go through a document.

Ctrl + Page Down will move you to the top of the next page in your document.

Ctrl + Page Up will move you to the top of the previous page in your document.

 

Customized Highlighting

Alt + click, hold and drag will allow you to highlight any shape of rectangle you wish. Once you release the mouse button, you'll be able to copy, cut, format and whatever else you need to do.

 

Highlighting With the Shift Key

Shift + left or right arrow will highlight one letter.

  • Shift + Ctrl + left or right arrow will highlight one word.

  • Shift + up or down arrow will highlight one line of text.

  • Shift + Ctrl + up or down arrow will highlight one paragraph at a time, starting from the cursor's current location.

  • In MS Excel: Shift + arrow will highlight one cell at a time or, if used in a combination, blocks of cells.

  • Shift + Home will highlight from the cursor to the beginning of the line.

  • Shift + Ctrl + Home will highlight from the cursor to the top of the document.

  • Shift + End will highlight from the cursor to the end of the line.

  • Shift + Ctrl + End will highlight from the cursor to the end of the document.

  • Shift + Page Up or Page Down will highlight one screen.

 

 

Need special characters? This website has a great list.  Tip Sheet on Special Characters

 

Typing international accent marks and diacritics: Theory, charts and tips for Qwerty keyboards.
Foreign Language Characters

 

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