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.
- [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] + [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.
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.
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.
- [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.
Can’t get enough? The following articles describe lots of additional keyboard tricks and shortcuts to make use of:
- The Essential Keyboard Shortcuts to whip your Windows
- How To Launch Any Windows App At The Touch Of A Button by Jorge
- Speed up Firefox Browsing with Keyboard Shortcuts
- The most Essential Keyboard Shortcuts for Firefox
- Some Cool Keyboard Tricks That Few People Know About by Tina
- The Essential Keyboard Shortcuts to Tame your Google Calendar
- The most Essential Keyboard Shortcuts for Google Reader
Which cool keyboard tricks did we miss and which ones are your favorites?
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Hide 38 Comments
*yawns*
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.
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.
“[Alt] + [Ctrl] + [Tag] + left/right/up/down arrow
Flip window.”
Don’t you mean “tab” and not “tag”
Good catch! It’s TAB indeed.
“[Alt] + [Ctrl] + [Tag] + left/right/up/down arrow
Flip window.”
Don’t you mean “tab” and not “tag”
Could this be made into a PDF? I would love to hand it out to some of my customers. Great article.
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.
“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!
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.
We use Cute PDF Pro – it is fantastic – I love the merge ability to add more than one PDF together and the price!
These are so useful. Thanks.
i like this win + tab shortcut
didn’t knew about the zoom shortcuts. thanks!
Win+G is absolutely a good keyboard shortcut
Good stuff! I knew most of these but a couple were new and helpful.
-Sean (Internetbeacon.com)
Hey I just discovered another:
[Alt] + [Ctrl] + left/right/up/down arrow flips everything to the left/right/upside down/normal o_O
tats not an OS function…. its only in some computers- actually a graphic display shortcut… mostly in intel graphics
Hey I just discovered another:
[Alt] + [Ctrl] + left/right/up/down arrow flips everything to the left/right/upside down/normal o_O
nice post. Today i come to know about some more hidden features.
Whats the WIN key?
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.
here is the image of the WIN key,
http://hacknmod.com/wp-content/old/pics/2232-1.jpg
windows *
Pretty cool stuff, should probably do work rather than play with these though lol.
Might make a great MUO Guide.
here is the image of the WIN key,
http://hacknmod.com/wp-content…
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.
Im a Graphic Artist. My hands are on CAD peripherals most of the time. That makes me a less professional computer user?
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.
Some of these shrtcts not workin in win7 ultimate. Try [Shift]+[alt]+[num lock] ………:)
Win+Shift+N creates a new folder, which is just absolutely incredibly useful
any such short cuts for mac
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”.
[Alt] + [Ctrl] + [Tag] + left/right/up/down arrow
Flip window.
Still not fixed. Should be Tab!
[Alt] + [Ctrl] + [Tag] + left/right/up/down arrow
Flip window.
Still not fixed. Should be Tab!
“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!
it is realy fantastic