I being a keyboard Junkie rarely use my mouse to navigate the computer (being a linux freak adds to that am also a command line junkie).

In this post I wanted to ask my readers which Keyboard keys they use frequently (Check out the tips at the end of the post for more useful shortcuts).

I am listing the keys I use regulalry to navigate my pc;

1. Windows Key + D – Show the desktop
2. Ctrl + Tab – Navigate across tabs, I use this in all tabbed application including windows explorer ( If you want to run a tabbed windows explorer, read this post about QTtabbar ^[1]).
3. Alt + Tab – Navigate through open applications in windows in forward mode
4. Alt + Tab + Shift – Navigate through open applications in windows in backward mode
5. F5 – Refresh a page loaded in your browser
6. Ctrl + F5 – Send a refresh to the server for updating a page
7. Ctrl + Home – Go to Start of a page or file
8. Ctrl + End – Go to end of a page or file
9. Alt + Enter – View the properties of a file in Windows Explorer
10. Windows Key + R – Open the run menu for Windows to run a application
11. Windows Key + Break – View Sysytem Properties for Windows
12. Windows Key + E – Open Windows Explorer
13. Windows Key + Print Screen – Take a screen shot of the current view
14. F6 – Go to the address bar of Windows Explorer or Internet Explorer or Firefox ( Ctrl + L also works for Firefox )
15. F2 – Rename a file or folder
16. F1 - Use the help menu for any open application (defaults to windows help if no application is in use)
17. Windows + F – Search for files using windows search
18. Ctrl + T – Open a new Tab (Works with Firefox, IE7, Netscape)

Can't Live Without These

1. Ctrl + A – Selects the entire page or file
2. Ctrl + C - Copy all the information selected
3. Ctrl + X – Paste all the information avialable in clipboard
4. Ctrl + O – Open a file
5. Ctrl + S  - Save a file
6. Ctrl + P - Print a file
7. Ctrl + Shift + P - View a print preview

Worth mentioning in file navigation for vi editor in Linux

1. Colon (:) + 1 – Go to first line of the file
2. Colon (:) + $ – Go to last line of the file
3. Colon (:) + n ( any numerical ) – Go to the line number you specify
4. Shift + Insert – Paste the text avilable in current clipboard
5. / + any text – Used to search for specific text where you replace any text with the text you want to search

Please let me know any other shortcut keys you use in your day to day life to navigate across your system.

If you like this article you may also want to see the list of shortcut keys for opening office and other applications in Windows ^[2], or head to the shorcut key lists for firefox and ie7 ^[3] and here is something more to check out the shortcut for typing in url in the browser address bar ^[4].

Looking forward to your comments.

Am trying to get a series of articles related to common computer usage, you can leave your suggestions in the comments or email me at tips@techie-buzz.com.