0 Windows 7 Keyboard Shortcuts to Increase Productivity

Windows 7 Keyboard Shortcuts to Increase Productivity

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.

(Image source: Wikipedia)
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. Full list after jump.

General Windows 7 Shortcuts

• Win + Up – Maximize the current Window
• Win + Down – Restore down or minimize current Windows
• Win + Leftdow – Dock the current Window to the left half of the screen
• Win + Rightdow – 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 or 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 + + or - – Enables the magnifier and zooms in/out
• Win + Shift + Up – Maximize vertical size
• Win + Shift + Down – Restore vertical size
• Win + Shift + Leftdow – Jump to left monitor
• Win + Shift + Right – 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 – Move the cursor to the beginning of the next word
• Ctrl + Left – Move the cursor to the beginning of the previous word
• Ctrl + Up – Move the cursor to the beginning of the previous paragraph
• Ctrl + Down – 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 + arrow + 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

• Right Shift for eight seconds – Turn Filter Keys on and off
• Left Alt+left Shift+PRINTSCREEN (or PRTSCRN) – Turn High Contrast on or off
• Left Alt+left Shift+NUMLOCK – Turn Mouse Keys on or off
• Shift five times – Turn Sticky Keys on or off
• NUMLOCK for five seconds – Open the Ease of Access Center
• Win + U – Cycle through all open Windows

Windows Explorer

• Alt + Leftdow – Go back
• Alt + Right – Go forward
• Alt + Up – 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.)
• NUMLOCK + Asterisk (*) on numeric keypad – Display all subfolders under the selected folder
• NUMLOCK + Plus Sign (+) on numeric keypad – Display the contents of the selected folder
• NUMLOCK + Minus Sign (+) on numeric keypad – Collapse the selected folder

Taskbar Modifiers

• 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

Dialog Box

• 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

Photo Gallery

• Ctrl + F – Open the Fix pane
• Ctrl + P – Print the selected picture
• Ctrl + I – Open or close the Details pane
• Ctrl + . – Rotate the picture clockwise
• Ctrl + , – 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 + Leftdow – Go back
• Alt + Right – Go forward
• + – Zoom in or resize the picture thumbnail
• - – 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/ Out

• Win + Right + Enter – Shutdown
• Win + Right + Right + R – Restart
• Win + Right + Right + S – Sleep
• Win + Right + Right + W – Switch users