Useful Shortcuts For Windows 10

I have to say now that I have used Windows 10 for about 6 weeks, things seem to be working out nicely. The updates installed without a problem and the problems I had have just about all been solved. It now seems to be running smoothly. There is one thing I don’t like about it and it is the fact everything I do is known by Microsoft. It is said even if all the controls are turned off which allow forwarding of information to Microsoft, information is still sent. I have decided since so many different companies and agencies already have my information, there is no sense worrying about protecting it, because it is impossible. I can’t help but think that one day we will hear that Microsoft was hacked and all our info was taken from them. Until laws are enacted to protect us and better security installed on websites and in companies, that is going to be our fate. There is also the problem of hardware hacks where devices we buy already are setup by someone to steal our data.

Getting back to Windows 10 I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly the bugs I found were able to be fixed, both by the installed updates and by me getting a better understanding of what was causing them. I am not a fan of the new start menu. It certainly is an improvement over no start menu, but I like classic shell much better, so I use it for my start menu. It is a nice piece of free software. This does not mean the Microsoft start menu is no longer available. I can look at it and use it any time I want by holding down the Shift Key and the Windows Key at the same time. Once the keys are released the Microsoft start menu comes up. It is nice to know key combinations, because they can come in very handy at times. I realize most of us do not have time to memorize them, so a good idea is to save a document with them listed.

One very handy set of keyboard shortcuts works very well if Snap windows is turned on.  The first thing you have to do is go to settings/System/Multitasking and turn on all the 3 setting for Snap. Once you do this you can now move open windows around using the arrow and Windows Keys. Holding down the Windows and Left Arrow Key moves the Window to the left at half screen size. You can continue to move any selected windows this way. A second window can be sent to the right half of the screen by holding down the Windows Key and Right Arrow Key. The Windows and Up Arrow Key will make the selected window ¼ the size of the screen. Holding down the Windows Key and Up Arrow Keys again for the same window will make it fill the entire screen. If this window is still open and you hold down the Windows Key and the Down Arrow Key the windows will go back to ½ screen size. Holding down those keys again makes the Window ¼ screen size but moves it to the bottom corner. Experiment with screens using these keys. It is very helpful for moving and copying files when you have the source and destination open and next to each other on the same screen using this method.

Do you have a few windows open but some are covered and you can’t remember what was going on? Don’t worry it happens to all of us. You can use the Task View icon or if you don’t want that on your Task Bar you can hold down the Windows Key and the Tab Key. This will reveal all open Windows and when you release the keys and then press them again, everything goes back to the way it was. There are key combinations for many different operations, but for the average person some will never be used such as the Virtual Desktop. You can have different desktops using Windows 10, but I won’t go into that here.

One important set of key combinations for the average person allows you to copy then paste text and pictures into documents, picture viewers and even web browsers. Everyone should know about these. If you hold down the Control Key and the C Key after highlighting what you want to copy, it will be added to the clipboard buffer. When you move the cursor to where you want to paste this, you just hold down the Control Key and the V Key and you items will be inserted. You can even copy entire documents this way along with web pages and such. To highlight all the text and pictures in an entire document hold down the Control Key and the A Key. To un-highlight press the Left Mouse Button.  Some web browsers allow you to page down using the Space Bar.

If you do a lot of writing you can highlight the word appearing before the cursor by holding the Control, Shift and Left Arrow Key. To highlight the word to the right of the cursor hold down the control, shift and right arrow key. If you want to highlight from you cursor position to the end of a line hold down the Shift, Home and End Keys. The Shift and the Page Up Keys move the cursor up one screen but this can be tricky depending on the size of the text and such. You may get more or less than a screen. Shift and Page Down Keys do the same in reverse. If you place your cursor at the start of a document and press the Control, Shift, Home and End Keys, this will highlight your entire document. I suggest holding down the Control and A Keys instead. It highlights the entire document from anywhere in it.

Most of you will never use the Command Prompt Window so I won’t go into keyboard shortcuts for it. The Up and Down Arrow Keys can scroll through a document just like the Scroll Bar. Pressing the Left Arrow Key will go up an article one line at a time and pressing the Right Arrow Key will go down one line at a time. If you want to scroll up a page at a time hold down the Control and Page Up Keys. To scroll down a page at a time hold down the Control and Page Down Keys. If you are working on a document and want to remember to fix a certain paragraph you can hold down the Control Key and the M Key. This will indent the entire paragraph so you can spot it later, make corrections and then return it to its original settings. To search a document hold down the Control and F Keys. This opens a search window. A cool way to switch between open windows is by holding down the Alt and Tab keys.

I think I have covered the most useful key shortcuts for the average person. Windows 10 is pretty flexible and while a lot of the shortcuts were carried over, new ones have been added.