Secret Keyboard Combos That Will Change Your Life Fast

Be it at work or home, you spend a disproportionate amount of time at your keyboard. But like any great relationship, your keyboard still harnesses secrets after all of these years.

Built to simplify your life and make your computer experience more fluid, both Windows and Mac come with a set of straightforward tricks that will open up your computer experience.

Below, we’ve compiled our favorite shortcuts that will make you feel like a computer whiz.

Windows Keyboard:

 

Windows Key ⊞

Opens the Start Menu (in Windows 8.1, it opens the previous window).

Windows Key ⊞ + A

Opens the Action Center (in Windows 10).

Windows Key ⊞ + B

Selects the first icon in the Notification Area (you can then move between the icons using the arrow keys).

The Windows key is useful for all sorts of shortcuts

Windows Key ⊞ + Ctrl + B

Switches to a program indicating a new message in the Notification Area.

Windows Key ⊞ + M

Minimizes all of your open windows in one fell swoop. Great for getting a clear working computer space if you need a break from working.

Windows Key ⊞ + Shift + M

Brings up windows that were minimized.

Alt + Tab

Bops through the different programs you have open. Want to jump from the game you’re playing to Explorer, or from an article to your dictionary app? This is the easiest way to keep app-switching fluid.

Alt + F4

Closes a window in any program instantly.

Ctrl + Arrow Keys

In Microsoft Word, the left and right arrows allow you to move the cursor to the beginning of the previous word or the next word. The up and down arrows will do the same with paragraphs.

Shift + Delete

If you want to delete a file – and you don’t want to deal with it later in the Recycle Bin – this is the way to go.

Windows Key ⊞ + K

Opens up a new start menu.

Windows Key ⊞ + L

Changes user or locks down the workstation.

Windows Key ⊞+ O

Locks device angle and orientation.

Windows Key ⊞+ Q

Opens search for apps.

Windows Key ⊞ + R

Opens the ’Run dialog’ box.

Windows Key ⊞+ T

Brings up the taskbar.

Windows Key + U

Opens up the Utility Manager.

Windows Key + X

Opens the Windows Mobile Application Center

(Next: Keyboard combos for Mac!)

Mac OS X Keyboard

 

Command ⌘ + Up Arrow

Immediately moves to the top of the webpage.

Command ⌘ + Down Arrow

Immediately moves to the bottom of the webpage.

Command ⌘ + Semicolon

Shifts through misspelled words in any given document, great for fixing errors quickly.

Command ⌘ + 1 (2, 3)

Use this shortcut to conveniently cycle through any open tabs you have in your browser. Command ⌘ + 1 will take you to the first tab, Command ⌘ + 2 will take you to the second, etc.

Option + Delete

This keyboard shortcut deletes words one word at a time, as opposed to one letter at a time. This works all across OS X, whether you’re typing in TextEdit or even when typing a website into your browser’s URL bar.

Command ⌘ + H

Hides all windows that you have open on the current app. Your secret is safe with this.

Command ⌘ + Shift + T

Reopens the tab that you just closed on your browser or any tabs closed before that.

Command ⌘ + F3

This handy shortcut instantly removes all app windows from view and brings up your desktop. The ideal way to clear the clutter – and your mind.

Option + Shift + Volume Up/Volume Down

Pumps up the volume or drops it low in small increments.