Have you ever wondered why we have a key on your keyboard with a WINDOW on it? It’s a really handy key giving you shortcuts to all sorts of actions.
There’s lots of clever short cuts you can use if you know how to utilize the keys.
My favourite is “Windows Key + Period (.) or semicolon(;)” which opens the emoji panel. This will brighten up emails especially to friends and family.
A colon “:” followed by a closing bracket “)” will give you a smiley face without having to use the emoji panel.
One of the most important key combinations when it comes to security is “Windows + L” which will lock your device. It’s most important when you are in a work environment where you have classified information on your computer. If you walk away to get yourself a cup of coffee, anyone can come and see what you’ve been working on if it’s not locked. When you come back, you just have to log in again with your password.
If you’re working on anything secretive and someone walks by who isn’t privy to that information, you can use “Windows key + D” to quickly hide the desktop and repeating the action with again bring it back.
It’s easy taking screenshots on a phone and tablet but did you know that you can do the same using the windows key on your computer? “Windows key + PrtScn” will capture a full screenshot in the “Screenshots” folder but if you only want to capture a part of the screen use “Windows key + Shift + S” and then Snip & Sketch. So convenient when writing proposals which need illustrations. The more you use these actions, the easier they will become.
“Windows key + A” will open the Action centre and repeating it will close it.
When you need to get to your Settings quickly, “Windows key + I” will get you there in a flash. And “Windows key + E” will quickly open file explorer.
If you want to create a new file on your desktop or File Explorer you can use “CTRL + Shift + N”. “F2” will rename a selected item.
Another key that has proven useful is the Ctrl key. “Ctrl + C” will copy selected items and “Ctrl + V” will paste the content. “Ctrl + X” will cut selected items to clipboard.
“Ctrl + Z” will undo an action and “Ctrl + Y” will redo the action.
“Alt + F4” will close an active window. If no window is present, then a shutdown box will appear.
Have you ever had a file with lots of items in it that need to be deleted? Rather the clicking “delete” multiple times, “Ctrl + A” will select all content and one “delete” will remove it all.
With all those scam emails coming through, “Shift + Delete” will get rid of them permanently, even skipping the recycle bin.
“Ctrl + D” will delete selected items from the Recycle Bin.
ESC, short for Escape, will close the current task.
I know this is a lot of information to digest but if you take the time to learn at least one a day, you will find working on your PC more efficient.
