Getting familiar with or mastering the keyboard shortcuts helps you get the work done faster and increases your productivity. If you rely entirely on Windows 7 for all your business and personal work, then knowing these shortcuts is essential. Hundreds of shortcuts are available for Windows 7, but it’s difficult to remember all of them. Hence, you might want to check out some important and frequently used Keyboard Shortcuts.
General Shortcuts for Windows 7
Function |
Key Combination |
To Maximize the current Window | Windows + Up arrow |
Move focus to the notification tray | Windows + Down arrow |
Minimize the current Window | Windows + Home |
Open System Properties | Windows + Pause or Break |
Turn the Mouse Keys on and off | Windows + B |
Windows Explorer is launched | Windows + E |
Bring all gadgets on top and foreground | Windows + G |
Open the projection menu | Windows + P |
Cycle through taskbar programs | Windows + T |
Opens the Active Directory Find Computers dialog | Windows + Ctrl + F |
Opens a pinned taskbar icon to cycle through the program’s open on Windows | Ctrl + Click |
Select multiple individual items in a Window or on the desktop | Ctrl + Arrow + Spacebar |
Open Task Manager directly | Ctrl + Shift + Esc |
Drag an item and create a shortcut for that item in the same folder | Left-Alt + left-Shift + Num Lock |
Drag an item and creates a shortcut for that item in the same folder | Ctrl + Shift + Click |
Turns Sticky Keys on or off | Press Shift 5 times |
Turns Filter Keys on or off | Hold down right Shift for 8 seconds |
Turns ToggleKeys on or off | Hold down Num Lock for 5 seconds |
Open a new instance of a program | Windows + Shift + Click |
Shortcuts for Windows Explorer
- Alt + Up arrow key: To navigate up one folder level
- Shift + F10: Opens the contextual or “right click” menu for any file/folder
- Alt + Enter: Opens the file properties to view file size, sharing settings, creation date, etc.
- F6: Cycles through the objects in the current window.
- Windows + Shift + ← (Left Arrow): Move the current window to the left monitor (used with dual monitors)
- Windows + Shift + →(right Arrow): Move the current window to the right monitor (useful with dual monitors)
Login and Log out shortcut keys:
- Win + Right arrow (->) + Enter: To Shut down your Windows 7
- Win + Right arrow (->) + Right arrow (->) + R: To restart the system
- Win + Right arrow (->) + Right arrow (->) + S: Sleep
- Win + Right arrow (->) + Right arrow (->) + W: To Switch users
Other important shortcuts:
Alt + Space: This combination will open the Windows system menu that is used to maximize (x), minimize (n), close (c), or move (m) the window. This shortcut can also be helpful with a window that doesn’t close with the Alt+F4 shortcut, like the command window.
Alt + Tab: If you have opened many windows and are unsure which one you need, press Alt + Tab to get a quick thumbnail view of all open windows. After which, press the Tab key multiple times by holding down the Alt key until you get to the window you want.
Shift + Delete: This key combination is used to permanently delete the files or any folders from your Windows 7 rather than sending them to the Recycle Bin.
While using this option (Shift + Delete), be careful and select only those unwanted files to delete. If you apply these keys to your important files, your files will be deleted permanently from your Windows 7 systems, and you cannot even find them in your recycle bin. However, using Remo File Recovery software, you can get back those deleted files quickly unless new files overwrite the files. The tool can efficiently undelete all your files from Windows 7, Windows XP, Vista, Windows 8, and other Windows OS versions. Moreover, this tool comes in handy for raw file system recovery on Windows 7 after formatting the system. Learn more about it by visiting the given link.
Above mentioned are the essential shortcuts that are helpful to speed up your work. Beginning, you might find these keys challenging to remember, but once you master them, you can use your Windows 7 more efficiently and quickly. Try applying these keys when you use Windows 7; you will learn the difference.