Top 10 Keyboard shortcuts everyone must know

In our previous articles we talked about how to be more productive and efficient using your IT gadgets and equipment. To talk more about efficiency, this week we will show you how to work faster and do more using your keyboard.

Using keyboard shortcuts can greatly increase your productivity and help keep you focused. Instead of shifting your right hand between your keyboard and your mouse to do some basic tasks like copying texts from one document to the other, keeping both your hands on the keyboard and using the equivalent shortcut command eliminates both the time spent positioning your hand and unnecessary wrist movement.

Here are the top 10 keyboard shortcuts we recommend everyone must memorize and use when working on your PC.

Shift + Arrow keys

This shortcut allows you to highlight texts from the current cursor position. Another variation for this shortcut is Shift + Ctrl + Arrow keys which will enable you to highlight whole words or paragraphs. On this note, try pressing the Ctrl + Arrow keys and see what happens.

Ctrl + C or Ctrl + Insert

Copies the highlighted text or selected item.

Ctrl + V or Shift + Insert

Pastes the recent text or object that is in the clipboard.

Ctrl + Z and Ctrl + Y

Undo and Redo changes. You can also press this combination several times to undo or redo multiple changes.

Ctrl + Backspace

Deletes a full word at a time instead of a single character. No need to highlight the word.

Ctrl + F

Opens the Find window in any program to find a specific text on the current page.

Alt + Tab

Quickly switch between open programs. Another variation for this shortcut is Alt + Shift + Tab which has the same effect except that the options move backwards. For Windows Vista and 7 users, you can also use the Windows key + Tab to switch between open programs using full screenshots.

Ctrl + S

While working on a file in almost any application, this shortcut will save that file. You must use this shortcut frequently anytime you are working on anything important.

Ctrl + Home or Ctrl + End

Moves the cursor to the beginning or end of a document.

Ctrl + P

Opens the Print window in almost any application allowing you to print the current file or page being viewed.

We hope this week’s article will help you be more efficient and maximize the use of your keyboard. If you have other insights that you may want to share, feel free to post them.

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