Windows Keyboard Shortcuts
Provided
by John Lortz (jlortz@shf.org) and the Senior
Health Foundation (www.shf.org)
Updated 12/27/00
Here are some of the more common keyboard shortcuts you can use when you are working with Windows. The shortcuts have been divided according to where you can use them. [NOTE: Some of Application Shortcuts may not work with certain programs]
As you read through the list of shortcut keys, when you see the names of keys separated by a plus (+) sign, it means to press and hold down the first key, and then press the second key. For example, if you see "Ctrl + Esc", it means to press and hold down the Ctrl key, and then while holding down the Ctrl key, press the Esc key, and then release them both.
Key Abbreviations:
| Alt | alternate key |
| Ctrl | control key |
| Esc | escape key |
| Del | delete key |
| Win | Windows key (not on all keyboards) |
| Shift | shift key |
| Enter | enter (return) key |
| menu Letter | the underlined letter in a pulldown menu |
| Pause/Break | the pause - break key |
| F# | function keys (example: F2) |
| Windows Desktop Shortcuts | |
| Display the Start Menu | Ctrl + Esc or Win |
| Toggle between running programs | Alt + Tab |
| Switch betwen running programs | Alt + Esc |
| Minimize all open windows | Win + M or Win + D |
| Restore all minimized windows | Win + D |
| Display the My Computer properties dialog box | Win + Pause/Break |
| Display the Find File dialog box | Win + F or F3 |
| Start Windows Explorer | Win + E |
| Display the Close Program (task manager) dialog box | Ctrl + Alt + Del (pressing these keys a second time will re-boot the computer) |
| Rename a selected Desktop icon | F2 |
| View a Desktop icon's properties | Alt + Enter |
| Bypass a CD-ROM's Autoplay feature | Shift (while inserting the CD-ROM) |
| Close a My Computer window and all its parrent windows | Shift (while clicking the "X", Close button) |
| Delete a selected Desktop icon without having it go to the Recycle Bin | Shift + Del |
| Copy a screen-shot to the clipboard | Print Screen |
| Display the Windows Startup Menu | F8 (before the Windows splash screen appears) |
| Shortcuts Inside an Application | |
|
Pulldown
an application menu
|
Alt
+ menu letter (then use the arrow keys to select the menu option, and
press Enter)
|
|
Pulldown
the application window "Control Menu"
|
Alt
+ Spacebar
|
|
Close
(quit) the current application
|
Alt
+ F4
|
|
Open
a help window
|
F1
|
|
Copy
the selected object or text
|
Ctrl
+ C
|
|
Cut
the selected object or text
|
Ctrl
+ X
|
|
Paste
an object or text on the clipboard
|
Ctrl
+ V
|
| Select all items on a page | Ctrl + A |
| Undo the last operation | Ctrl + Z |
| Move foward through text boxes | Tab |
| Move backward through text boxes | Shift + Tab |
| Save the current file or document | Ctrl + S |
| Start a New document | Ctrl + N |
| Open a document or file | Ctrl + O |
Copyright © 2000 John Lortz and the Senior Health Foundation