Ken's Korner Newsletter

March 2019

Shortcuts

How many of these helpful keystroke do you know?

Do you know any shortcuts?

Many people are not aware that Windows has a great number of quick keystrokes to perform a variety of tasks with just a keystroke. These shortcuts are built in and ready to use. Using the keyboard shortcuts on your computer can save a lot of time and effort.

But how many of these helpful keystroke do you know? Here is a partial list of shortcuts for Windows 10. For a complete list of all the shortcuts available in Windows 10 go to https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/12445/windows-keyboard-shortcuts.

General keyboard shortcuts:

Press this key	To do this
F1	Display Help
Ctrl + C (or Ctrl + Insert)	Copy the selected item
Ctrl + X	Cut the selected item
Ctrl + V (or Shift + Insert)	Paste the selected item
Ctrl + Z	Undo an action
Ctrl + Y	Redo an action
Delete (or Ctrl + D)	Delete the selected item and move it to the Recycle Bin
Shift + Delete	Delete the selected item without moving it to the Recycle Bin first
F2	Rename the selected item
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 + Down Arrow	Move the cursor to the beginning of the next paragraph
Ctrl + Up Arrow	Move the cursor to the beginning of the previous paragraph
Ctrl + Shift with an arrow key	Select a block of text
Shift with any arrow key	Select more than one item in a window or on the desktop, or select text within a document
Ctrl with any arrow key + Spacebar	Select multiple individual items in a window or on the desktop
Ctrl + A	Select all items in a document or window
F3	Search for a file or folder
Alt + Enter	Display properties for the selected item
Alt + F4	Close the active item, or exit the active program
Alt + Spacebar	Open the shortcut menu for the active window
Ctrl + F4	Close the active document (in programs that allow you to have multiple documents open simultaneously)
Alt + Tab	Switch between open items
Ctrl + Alt + Tab	Use the arrow keys to switch between open items
Ctrl + Mouse scroll wheel	Change the size of icons on the desktop
Windows logo key + Tab	Cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Aero Flip 3-D
Ctrl+Windows logo key + Tab	Use the arrow keys to cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Aero Flip 3-D
Windows logo key + L	Lock your PC.
Alt + Esc	Cycle through items in the order in which they were opened
F6	Cycle through screen elements in a window or on the desktop
F4	Display the address bar list in Windows Explorer
Shift + F10	Display the shortcut menu for the selected item
Ctrl + Esc	Open the Start menu
Alt + underlined letter	Display the corresponding menu
Alt + underlined letter	Perform the menu command (or other underlined command)
F10	Activate the menu bar in the active program
Right Arrow	Open the next menu to the right, or open a submenu
Left Arrow	Open the next menu to the left, or close a submenu
F5 (or Ctrl + R)	Refresh the active window
Alt + Up Arrow	View the folder one level up in Windows Explorer
Esc	Cancel the current task
Ctrl + Shift + Esc	Open Task Manager
Shift when you insert a CD	Prevent the CD from automatically playing
Left Alt + Shift	Switch the input language when multiple input languages are enabled
Ctrl+Shift	Switch the keyboard layout when multiple keyboard layouts are enabled
Right or Left Ctrl + Shift	Change the reading direction of text in right-to-left reading languages

For the people who like to do things themselves it is also possible to create your own custom shortcuts in Windows 10.

Method 1: Create a Desktop Shortcut

Open a command prompt window. You can get there by typing "cmd" into the Cortana / Search box and then right clicking on Command Prompt and selecting "Run as administrator."
Make sure you are in the root directory. Type “CD \” (without the quotes) and get the C:\> command prompt.
Type "explorer shell:AppsFolder" (without quotes) at the command prompt and hit Enter. A window with a list of all your apps appears.
Right click on an app and select Create shortcut. It may be easier to find your app if you change the view setting to "detailed list" so you can see all the icons in a single column.
Click Yes when asked if you want the shortcut on the desktop. A new shortcut icon appears on your desktop. (NOTE: You can stop right here is all you wanted to do is create a clickable icon on your desktop.)
Right click on the new shortcut icon and select Properties.
Enter a key combination in the Shortcut key field. The combination must be CTRL + ALT + a letter/number.
Click OK.

Make Windows do the work for you.

NOTE: Remember not to use the same key combination twice. Also note that some programs use CTRL + ALT + keyboard shortcuts that would also launch if you were in their windows. For example, in Photoshop Elements, CTRL + ALT + I will bring up the resize menu.

Method 2: Use the Start Menu

If you're creating a keyboard shortcut for a "desktop app," any application that installs via direct download rather than Windows Store alone, you can create the shortcut directly from the Start Menu. By using this method, you can avoid creating a separate shortcut icon on the desktop.

Open the Start Menu.
Navigate to the icon or tile for the app you want. If the app is not pinned as a tile, you can find it by clicking on the All apps and scrolling through the alphabetical list.
Right click and select Open file location. A window opens with a shortcut icon. If Open file location doesn't appear on the menu, this is a modern or universal app and you'll have to follow method 1 above
Right click on the shortcut icon and select Properties
Enter a key combination in the “Shortcut key” box. (As in Method 1 it must be Ctrl + Alt + letter/number.)
Click OK.

There are also shortcut keys built into UNIX and Apple operating systems. Here are some links for the people who are not Windows bound.

https://code.visualstudio.com/shortcuts/keyboard-shortcuts-linux.pdf

https://support.apple.com/guide/terminal/keyboard-shortcuts-trmlshtcts/mac

In Ubuntu UNIX just hold the Super key down to get the list of shortcuts. That's the Windows key to most people. (But in the world of UNIX they don't want to use the “W” word so they refer to it as the Super key, even though it has the Windows logo on it).

And remember always back it up!

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