Power keyboard shortcuts
Power keyboard shortcuts
3:02

Power keyboard shortcuts

Culture
>> Molly Wood: Hi. I'm Molly Wood from CNET.com here with some advanced Windows keyboard shortcuts. Now, I'm hoping that you already know the basics like control S to save or control P to print, control Z to undo, things like that, but these tips will take you out of novice territory, and turn you into a keyboard wizard in Windows xp and Vista. ^M00:00:18 [ Music ] ^M00:00:28 >> Molly Wood: Now, let's start by building on those basics. So you already know control Z undoes something that you just did. Well, control Y undoes your undo. It's good if you can't make up your mind. You probably also know control F opens the find dialogue while control H takes you straight to find and replace. Here's some navigation tips which work great in Word. Control plus the up or down arrow moves you up or down one paragraph. Add shift like control, shift, up arrow, and you highlight the entire paragraph above you. Control, shift, down arrow gets you the whole paragraph below. Similarly, control plus a side arrow takes you over to the next word or the previous word, and control shift right or left arrow highlights that entire word. Shift plus the up or down arrow highlights an entire line, and shift plus a right or left arrow will highlight just one letter. OK. Now, let's have some fun with the Windows key. Windows plus the letter D minimizes all your open windows and displays the desktop. D for desktop, get it? Windows M just minimizes all windows. I actually prefer Windows D because if you press it again, Windows D, then all your windows come back up. Windows plus L locks your workstation. This is super handy. Windows R brings up the run dialogue, which is also handy if you want to navigate to network folders or launch Windows apps like Excel or WinWord. OK. So how about some of those F keys? What do those do? Well, if you want to rename a file or folder, highlight it, and then hit F2. Nice. And as for alt, alt D will select your address bar in pretty much any browser. And alt plus print screen takes a screen shot of your open window. Actually, on some keyboards, you might need to press function, alt, print screen. Also, you can use alt escape to cycle through open windows. It's not much different from alt tab for application switching, but it doesn't bring up the app switcher icon so it's a little cleaner. And finally, if you hit the wrong combination of keys, and you break something, control, shift, escape brings up the task manager. There you go, and I have one more shortcut for you. All these keyboard shortcuts and many more are spelled out at our Real Deal podcast page or realdeal.cnet.com. Alright. Get those fingers off the mouse. For cnet.com, I'm Molly Wood, and you're welcome. ^M00:02:57 [ Music ]

Up Next

Tips and Tricks for the AirPods Pro 2
airpods-pro-2

Up Next

Tips and Tricks for the AirPods Pro 2

How to Watch the Solar Eclipse Safely From Your Phone
screenshot-2024-04-03-at-15-47-11.png

How to Watch the Solar Eclipse Safely From Your Phone

Windows 11 Tips and Hidden Features
240311-site-windows-11-hidden-tips-and-tricks-v2

Windows 11 Tips and Hidden Features

Vision Pro App Walkthrough -- VisionOS 1.0.3
VisionOS 1.0.3

Vision Pro App Walkthrough -- VisionOS 1.0.3

Tips and Tricks for the Galaxy S24 Ultra
240216-site-galaxy-s24-ultra-tips-and-hidden-features-2

Tips and Tricks for the Galaxy S24 Ultra

TikTok Is Now on the Apple Vision Pro
tiktok-on-vision-pro-clean

TikTok Is Now on the Apple Vision Pro

Get Your TV Ready for the Big Game: Super Bowl Setup Tips
superbowl-tv-settings-thumb1

Get Your TV Ready for the Big Game: Super Bowl Setup Tips

How to Use a Quest 3 Like the Vision Pro
240202-site-spatial-computing-on-meta-quest-3

How to Use a Quest 3 Like the Vision Pro

How to Make a GPT in ChatGPT-4
howto-createyourowngpt-clean

How to Make a GPT in ChatGPT-4

Tips and Tricks for the Galaxy Watch 6
231120-site-tips-tricks-and-hidden-features-v2

Tips and Tricks for the Galaxy Watch 6

Tech Shows

The Apple Core
apple-core-w

The Apple Core

Alphabet City
alphabet-city-w

Alphabet City

CNET Top 5
cnet-top-5-w

CNET Top 5

The Daily Charge
dc-site-1color-logo.png

The Daily Charge

What the Future
what-the-future-w

What the Future

Tech Today
tech-today-w

Tech Today

Latest News All latest news

Battle of the Humanoid Robots: MenteeBot Is Ready
240423-yt-menteebot-ai-robot-v08

Battle of the Humanoid Robots: MenteeBot Is Ready

What to Expect at Apple's May 7 iPad Event
240423-yt-apple-ipad-ipad-pro-pencil-v02

What to Expect at Apple's May 7 iPad Event

Did a Week With the Apple Watch Make Me Use My iPhone Less?
240419-site-does-having-an-apple-watch-make-me-use-my-iphone-less-4

Did a Week With the Apple Watch Make Me Use My iPhone Less?

How Google Tests the Cameras in Its Pixel Phones
240417-site-google-pixel-lab-exclusive-1

How Google Tests the Cameras in Its Pixel Phones

Boston Dynamics' New Electric Atlas vs. Tesla's Optimus
240419-wtf-atlas-vs-optimus-v04

Boston Dynamics' New Electric Atlas vs. Tesla's Optimus

What is the Fediverse?
240418-fediverse-winged

What is the Fediverse?

Most Popular All most popular

First Look at TSA's Self-Screening Tech (in VR!)
innovation

First Look at TSA's Self-Screening Tech (in VR!)

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Review: More AI at a Higher Cost
240123-site-samsung-galaxy-s24-ultra-review-4

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Review: More AI at a Higher Cost

'Circle to Search' Lets Users Google From Any Screen
circlesearchpic

'Circle to Search' Lets Users Google From Any Screen

Asus Put Two 14-inch OLEDs in a Laptop, Unleashes First OLED ROG Gaming Laptop
asus-preces-00-00-25-11-still003

Asus Put Two 14-inch OLEDs in a Laptop, Unleashes First OLED ROG Gaming Laptop

Samsung Galaxy Ring: First Impressions
samsung-galaxy-ring-clean

Samsung Galaxy Ring: First Impressions

Best of Show: The Coolest Gadgets of CES 2024
240111-site-best-of-ces-2024-1

Best of Show: The Coolest Gadgets of CES 2024

Latest Products All latest products

Battle of the Humanoid Robots: MenteeBot Is Ready
240423-yt-menteebot-ai-robot-v08

Battle of the Humanoid Robots: MenteeBot Is Ready

2025 Audi Q6, SQ6 E-Tron: Audi's Newest EV Is Its Most Compelling
cnet-audiq6

2025 Audi Q6, SQ6 E-Tron: Audi's Newest EV Is Its Most Compelling

Hands-On with Ford's Free Tesla Charging Adapter
pic3

Hands-On with Ford's Free Tesla Charging Adapter

Nuro R3 is an Adorable Self-Driving Snack Bar
240320-site-nuro-r3-first-look-v1

Nuro R3 is an Adorable Self-Driving Snack Bar

First Look: The $349 Nothing Phone 2A Aims to Brighten Your Day
240304-site-nothing-phone-2-first-look-v3

First Look: The $349 Nothing Phone 2A Aims to Brighten Your Day

Best of MWC 2024: Bendable Screens, AI Wearables and More
240229-site-best-of-show-at-mwc

Best of MWC 2024: Bendable Screens, AI Wearables and More

Latest How To All how to videos

Tips and Tricks for the AirPods Pro 2
airpods-pro-2

Tips and Tricks for the AirPods Pro 2

How to Watch the Solar Eclipse Safely From Your Phone
screenshot-2024-04-03-at-15-47-11.png

How to Watch the Solar Eclipse Safely From Your Phone

Windows 11 Tips and Hidden Features
240311-site-windows-11-hidden-tips-and-tricks-v2

Windows 11 Tips and Hidden Features

Vision Pro App Walkthrough -- VisionOS 1.0.3
VisionOS 1.0.3

Vision Pro App Walkthrough -- VisionOS 1.0.3

Tips and Tricks for the Galaxy S24 Ultra
240216-site-galaxy-s24-ultra-tips-and-hidden-features-2

Tips and Tricks for the Galaxy S24 Ultra

TikTok Is Now on the Apple Vision Pro
tiktok-on-vision-pro-clean

TikTok Is Now on the Apple Vision Pro