25 Cool Windows 7 Keyboard Tricks That Will Impress Your Friends

cool keyboard tricks Anyone working professionally with a computer has their hands on the keyboard most of the time. Reaching for the mouse can be an annoying disturbance and personally I often turn over my mouse in such situations. An easy solution is to simply keep the hands on the keyboard and complete as many tasks as possible with keyboard shortcuts only.

Apart from making you work more efficiently and faster, you can also impress your friends or colleagues by being able to work without a mouse. This article describes some cool Windows 7 keyboard tricks to get you started. In the end you might never want to take your hands off the keyboard again.

For your convenience, more keyboard shortcut resources are attached at the bottom.

Note that some of these shortcuts will only work if Windows Aero is enabled. If Aero effects are disabled on your computer, it might not be powerful enough to support resource intensive graphical features. The visual effects may also have been disabled to increase overall performance. If you wish to enable Aero nevertheless, have a look at my recent article explaining How To Enable and Troubleshoot Aero Effects in Windows 7.

Aero Shortcuts

[Windows] + [Spacebar] (Aero Peek)
Make all open windows transparent to view gadgets and icons on desktop.

cool keyboard tricks

[Windows] + [D] (Aero Peek)
Show or hide the desktop.
[Windows] + [Home] (Aero Shake)
Minimize all but selected window. Reverse by clicking the key combination again.
[Windows] + left arrow OR [Windows] + right arrow (Aero Snap)
Dock selected window to the left or right half of your screen.
[Windows] + up arrow OR [Windows] + down arrow (Aero Snap)
Maximized and restores the selected window.
[Windows] + [SHIFT] + up arrow OR [Windows] + [SHIFT] + down arrow (Aero Snap)
Maximizes and restores selected window in vertical dimension only.
[Windows] + [Tab] (Aero Flip)
Launch 3D representation of open windows and click [Tab] key again to flip through them.

Windows & Taskbar

[Alt] + [Ctrl] + [Tag] + left/right/up/down arrow
Flip window.
[Alt] + [Tab]
Cycle through open windows.

windows 7 keyboard tricks

[Windows] + [T] OR [Windows] + [SHIFT] + [T]
Move focus to front or back of taskbar. Press [T] again while holding the [Windows] key to cycle through items in the taskbar from left to right or, with [SHIFT] button held too, from right to left.
[Windows] + [B]
Puts focus on the ‘show hidden icons’ button on the system tray.
[Windows] + [1] THROUGH [Windows] + [9]
Launch first through ninth icon on taskbar, including items pinned to taskbar.
[Windows] + [SHIFT] + [1] THROUGH [Windows] + [SHIFT] + [9]
Starts new instance of respective taskbar icon.
[Windows] + [Ctrl] + [1] THROUGH [Windows] + [Ctrl] + [9]
Cycles through multiple instances of the respective icon.
[Windows] + [Alt] + [1] THROUGH [Windows] + [Alt] + [9]
Opens jump list for respective icon.

fun keyboard tricks

Multiple Monitors

[Windows] + [SHIFT] + right arrow OR [Windows] + [SHIFT] + left arrow
Move selected window from one monitor to another. They will remain in the same relative location.
[Windows] + [P]
Select presentation display mode.

fun keyboard tricks

Magnifier

[Windows] + [+] OR [Windows] + [-]
Activates Windows Magnifier to zoom in or out of screen.
[Ctrl] + [Alt] + [D]
Switch to docked mode.
[Ctrl] + [Alt] + [L]
Switch to lense mode.

fun keyboard tricks windows

[Ctrl] + [Alt] + [F]
Switch from docked or lens mode back to full screen mode.
[Ctrl] + [Alt] + [I]
Invert colors.
[Windows] + [Esc]
Exist magnifier views.

Other

[Windows] + [G]
Cycle through desktop gadgets.
[Windows] + [X]
Launches Windows Mobility Center. Especially useful if you’re working on a laptop.

windows keyboard tricks

Can’t get enough? The following articles describe lots of additional keyboard tricks and shortcuts to make use of:

Which cool keyboard tricks did we miss and which ones are your favorites?

Tagged: keyboard • shortcuts • windows tips

Tina Sieber

Tina is a freelance writer, editor, natural scientist, and cosmopolitan with a strong interest in sustainability. She has been writing for MakeUseOf since late 2007 and also is the Editor for MakeUseOf Answers.

Similar Stuff

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Nenene

*yawns*
Nenene

*yawns*
RungHee

Oh wow, I never thought about it that way before. Makes sense.

http://www.complete-privacy.es.tc
http://www.pcmichiana.com Craig Chamberlin

Pretty cool stuff, I probably wont become efficient in many of them but it’s funny how they make most of these shortcuts that people who use Windows 7 for months don’t even know exists.

Odds are if someone became proficient in using them they’d probably be way more productive… lol, I’m probably too lazy for such a skill.
Craig Chamberlin

Pretty cool stuff, I probably wont become efficient in many of them but it’s funny how they make most of these shortcuts that people who use Windows 7 for months don’t even know exists.

Odds are if someone became proficient in using them they’d probably be way more productive… lol, I’m probably too lazy for such a skill.
John Doe

“[Alt] + [Ctrl] + [Tag] + left/right/up/down arrow
Flip window.”

Don’t you mean “tab” and not “tag”

http://www.makeuseof.com/answers Tina

Good catch! It’s TAB indeed.

John Doe

“[Alt] + [Ctrl] + [Tag] + left/right/up/down arrow
Flip window.”

Don’t you mean “tab” and not “tag”
Rebeccadoremus

Could this be made into a PDF? I would love to hand it out to some of my customers. Great article.

http://www.makeuseof.com/answers Tina

Thank you for the feedback, Rebecca. If you have installed an PDF printer on your computer you can ‘print’ or rather save the article as PDF.

http://www.ericastjohn.com Erica Ann

“If you have installed an PDF printer on your computer you can ‘print’ or rather save the article as PDF.”

That is a good tip in itself. This is a tip that many people who have this ability with their OS do not even realize!

ITGuy

Install CutePDF Writer its free; http://www.cutepdf.com/.
You can then print the article to a PDF file.

You might want to highlight what you want and print selection so you don’t print all the comments as well.

http://www.123contracting.co.uk Accountants

We use Cute PDF Pro – it is fantastic – I love the merge ability to add more than one PDF together and the price!

Rebeccadoremus

Could this be made into a PDF? I would love to hand it out to some of my customers. Great article.
Tina

Good catch! It’s TAB indeed.
Tina

Thank you for the feedback, Rebecca. If you have installed an PDF printer on your computer you can ‘print’ or rather save the article as PDF.
Alan

These are so useful. Thanks.
Alan

These are so useful. Thanks.
http://www.infiq.in/ Anand

i like this win + tab shortcut
Anand

i like this win + tab shortcut
http://www.facebook.com/andrei.iulian Andrei Iulian

didn’t knew about the zoom shortcuts. thanks!
Andrei Iulian

didn’t knew about the zoom shortcuts. thanks!
Christian Tian

Win+G is absolutely a good keyboard shortcut
Christian Tian

Win+G is absolutely a good keyboard shortcut
Sean

Good stuff! I knew most of these but a couple were new and helpful.

-Sean (Internetbeacon.com)
LulaV14

Hey I just discovered another:
[Alt] + [Ctrl] + left/right/up/down arrow flips everything to the left/right/upside down/normal o_O

john

tats not an OS function…. its only in some computers- actually a graphic display shortcut… mostly in intel graphics

LulaV14

Hey I just discovered another:
[Alt] + [Ctrl] + left/right/up/down arrow flips everything to the left/right/upside down/normal o_O
http://www.anilkukadiya.com anil kukadiya

nice post. Today i come to know about some more hidden features.
anil kukadiya

nice post. Today i come to know about some more hidden features.
Pcradylady

Whats the WIN key?

http://www.markoneill.org Mark O’Neill

The Windows key. On your keyboard, look at the bottom row to the left of the space bar. Second from the left is a key with a Microsoft logo on it. That’s the Win key.
http://www.makeuseof.com/ Aibek

here is the image of the WIN key,
http://hacknmod.com/wp-content/old/pics/2232-1.jpg
Meowmixmeow

windows *

Pcradylady

Whats the WIN key?
Mark O’Neill

The Windows key. On your keyboard, look at the bottom row to the left of the space bar. Second from the left is a key with a Microsoft logo on it. That’s the Win key.
http://www.yours4freenow.co.uk Free iPhone

Pretty cool stuff, should probably do work rather than play with these though lol.
Free iPhone

Pretty cool stuff, should probably do work rather than play with these though lol.
MT C

Might make a great MUO Guide.
MT C

Might make a great MUO Guide.
Aibek

here is the image of the WIN key,
http://hacknmod.com/wp-content…
ITGuy

Install CutePDF Writer its free; http://www.cutepdf.com/.
You can then print the article to a PDF file.

You might want to highlight what you want and print selection so you don’t print all the comments as well.
http://twitter.com/hnmAck hnmAck

Im a Graphic Artist. My hands are on CAD peripherals most of the time. That makes me a less professional computer user?
hnmAck

Im a Graphic Artist. My hands are on CAD peripherals most of the time. That makes me a less professional computer user?
garybear

Great Tips. I have also overlooked the Windows key. Agree that MS does not inform users enough. I have been using Ctrl + C for copy and + V for paste (etc.) for years.
garybear

Great Tips. I have also overlooked the Windows key. Agree that MS does not inform users enough. I have been using Ctrl + C for copy and + V for paste (etc.) for years.
Sumit 91iiitm

Some of these shrtcts not workin in win7 ultimate. Try [Shift]+[alt]+[num lock] ………:)
Sumit 91iiitm

Some of these shrtcts not workin in win7 ultimate. Try [Shift]+[alt]+[num lock] ………:)
Anonymous

Win+Shift+N creates a new folder, which is just absolutely incredibly useful
C0080900V

Win+Shift+N creates a new folder, which is just absolutely incredibly useful
Gulzae

any such short cuts for mac
Gulzae

any such short cuts for mac
emcoffey3

Not sure if this applies to Windows 7, but in Windows Server 2008: [Shift] + Right-click on a taskbar item gives you the “classic” context menu instead of the simplified menu with just “close window” and “pin to taskbar”.
emcoffey3

Not sure if this applies to Windows 7, but in Windows Server 2008: [Shift] + Right-click on a taskbar item gives you the “classic” context menu instead of the simplified menu with just “close window” and “pin to taskbar”.
http://versatile1.wordpress.com/ Versatile

[Alt] + [Ctrl] + [Tag] + left/right/up/down arrow
Flip window.

Still not fixed. Should be Tab!
Versatile

[Alt] + [Ctrl] + [Tag] + left/right/up/down arrow
Flip window.

Still not fixed. Should be Tab!
Erica Ann

“If you have installed an PDF printer on your computer you can ‘print’ or rather save the article as PDF.”

That is a good tip in itself. This is a tip that many people who have this ability with their OS do not even realize!
M Asadmanesh86

it is realy fantastic
M Asadmanesh86

it is realy fantastic
Meowmixmeow

windows *
Accountants

We use Cute PDF Pro – it is fantastic – I love the merge ability to add more than one PDF together and the price!
john

tats not an OS function…. its only in some computers- actually a graphic display shortcut… mostly in intel graphics