Windows Hotkeys
Ctrl + Escape or
Win: Display
start menu.
Shift + F10 or
AppsKey: Display
context menu.
Win + E: Open
Windows Explorer.
Win + R: Open Run
dialog.
Win + M: Minimize
all windows.
Win + Shift + M:
Undo minimize all windows.
Win + D: Toggle
minimize all windows.
Win + B (XP
only): Activate system tray.
Arrow keys select,
Enter double-clicks, and AppsKey or Shift + F10
right-clicks.
Win + L (XP
Only): Locks keyboard.
Similar to Lock Workstation.
Win + F or
F3: Open Find
dialog. (All Files) F3
may not work in some applications which use F3 for their
own find dialogs.
Win + Control + F:
Open Find dialog. (Computers)
Win + U: Open
Utility Manager.
Win + F1: Open
Windows help.
Win + Pause: Open
System Properties dialog.
Win + Tab: Cycle
through taskbar buttons.
Enter clicks, AppsKey
or Shift + F10 right-clicks.
Win + Shift + Tab:
Cycle through taskbar buttons in reverse.
Alt + Tab:
Display CoolSwitch.
More commonly known as the AltTab dialog.
Alt + Shift + Tab:
Display CoolSwitch; go in reverse.
Alt + Escape:
Send active window to the bottom of the z-order.
Alt + Shift + Escape:
Activate the window at the bottom of the z-order.
Alt + F4: Close
active window; or, if all windows are closed, open
shutdown dialog.
Shift while a CD
is loading: Bypass AutoPlay.
Ctrl + Alt + Delete
or Ctrl + Alt +
NumpadDel (Both NumLock states): Invoke the Task
Manager or NT Security dialog.
Ctrl + Shift + Escape
(XP Only): Invoke the task manager.
On earlier OSes, acts
like Ctrl + Escape.
F6:
Cycle through screen elements.
Testing on this was
inconclusive; I'd appreciate someone doing extensive
testing on this under various circumstances, and posting
the results.
Printscreen: Copy
screenshot of current screen to clipboard.
Alt + Printscreen:
Copy screenshot of current active window to clipboard.
Generic
Ctrl + C or
Ctrl + Insert:
Copy.
Ctrl + X or
Shift + Delete:
Cut.
Ctrl + V or
Shift + Insert:
Paste/Move.
Ctrl + N: New...
File, Tab, Entry, etc.
Ctrl + S: Save.
Ctrl + O: Open...
Ctrl + P: Print.
Ctrl + Z: Undo.
Ctrl + A: Select
all.
Ctrl + F: Find...
Ctrl + F4: Close
tab or child window.
F1: Open help.
F11: Toggle full
screen mode.
Alt or
F10: Activate
menu bar.
Alt + Space:
Display system menu.
Same as clicking the icon on the titlebar.
Escape: Remove
focus from current control/menu, or close dialog box.
Generic Navigation
Tab: Forward one
item.
Shift + Tab:
Backward one item.
Ctrl + Tab: Cycle
through tabs/child windows.
Ctrl + Shift + Tab:
Cycle backwards through tabs/child windows.
Enter: If a
button's selected, click it, otherwise, click default
button.
Space: Toggle
items such as radio buttons or checkboxes.
Alt + (Letter):
Activate item corresponding to (Letter).
(Letter) is the
underlined letter on the item's name.
Ctrl + Left: Move
cursor to the beginning of previous word.
Ctrl + Right:
Move cursor to the beginning of next word.
Ctrl + Up: Move
cursor to beginning of previous paragraph.
This and all subsequent
Up/Down hotkeys in this section have only been known to
work in RichEdit controls.
Ctrl + Down: Move
cursor to beginning of next paragraph.
Shift + Left:
Highlight one character to the left.
Shift + Right:
Highlight one character to the right.
Shift + Up:
Highlight from current cursor position, to one line up.
Shift + Down:
Highlight from current cursor position, to one line
down.
Ctrl + Shift + Left:
Highlight to beginning of previous word.
Ctrl + Shift + Right:
Highlight to beginning of next word.
Ctrl + Shift + Up:
Highlight to beginning of previous paragraph.
Ctrl + Shift + Down:
Highlight to beginning of next paragraph.
Home: Move cursor
to top of a scrollable control.
End: Move cursor
to bottom of a scrollable control.
Generic File Browser
Arrow Keys:
Navigate.
Shift + Arrow Keys:
Select multiple items.
Ctrl + Arrow Keys:
Change focus without changing selection. "Focus" is the
object that will run on Enter. Space toggles selection
of the focused item.
(Letter): Select
first found item that begins with (Letter).
BackSpace: Go up
one level to the parent directory.
Alt + Left: Go
back one folder.
Alt + Right: Go
forward one folder.
Enter: Activate
(Double-click) selected item(s).
Alt + Enter: View
properties for selected item.
F2: Rename
selected item(s).
F7: New folder.
Ctrl + NumpadPlus:
In a Details view, resizes all columns to fit the
longest item in each one.
Delete: Delete
selected item(s).
Shift + Delete:
Delete selected item(s); bypass Recycle Bin.
Ctrl while
dragging item(s): Copy.
Ctrl + Shift
while dragging item(s): Create shortcut(s).
In tree pane, if any:
Left: Collapse
the current selection if expanded, or select the parent
folder.
Right: Expand the
current selection if collapsed, or select the first
subfolder.
NumpadAsterisk:
Expand currently selected directory and all
subdirectories. No
undo.
NumpadPlus:
Expand currently selected directory.
NumpadMinus:
Collapse currently selected directory.
Accessibility
Right
Shift for eight seconds: Toggle FilterKeys on and
off. FilterKeys must be
enabled.
Left Alt
+ Left Shift + PrintScreen: Toggle High Contrast
on and off. High
Contrast must be enabled.
Left Alt
+ Left Shift + NumLock: Toggle MouseKeys on and
off. MouseKeys must be
enabled.
NumLock
for five seconds: Toggle ToggleKeys on and off.
ToggleKeys must be
enabled.
Shift five times:
Toggle StickyKeys on and off.
StickyKeys must be
enabled.
Microsoft Natural Keyboard with IntelliType Software
Installed
Win + L:
Log off Windows.
Win + P:
Open Print Manager.
Win + C:
Open control panel.
Win + V:
Open clipboard.
Win + K:
Open keyboard properties.
Win + I:
Open mouse properties.
Win + A:
Open Accessibility properties.
Win +
Space: Displays the list of Microsoft IntelliType
shortcut keys.
Win + S:
Toggle CapsLock on and off.
Remote Desktop Connection Navigation
Ctrl +
Alt + End: Open the NT Security dialog.
Alt +
PageUp: Switch between programs.
Alt +
PageDown: Switch between programs in reverse.
Alt +
Insert: Cycle through the programs in most
recently used order.
Alt +
Home: Display start menu.
Ctrl +
Alt + Break: Switch the client computer between a
window and a full screen.
Alt +
Delete: Display the Windows menu.
Ctrl +
Alt + NumpadMinus: Place a snapshot of the entire
client window area on the Terminal server clipboard and
provide the same functionality as pressing Alt +
PrintScreen on a local computer.
Ctrl +
Alt + NumpadPlus: Place a snapshot of the active
window in the client on the Terminal server clipboard
and provide the same functionality as pressing
PrintScreen on a local computer.
Mozilla Firefox 1.x
Ctrl + Tab or
Ctrl + PageDown:
Cycle through tabs.
Ctrl + Shift + Tab
or Ctrl + PageUp:
Cycle through tabs in reverse.
Ctrl + (1-9):
Switch to tab corresponding to number.
Ctrl + N: New
window.
Ctrl + T: New
tab.
Ctrl + L or
Alt + D or
F6: Switch focus
to location bar.
Ctrl + Enter:
Open location in new tab.
Shift + Enter:
Open location in new window.
Ctrl + K or
Ctrl + E: Switch
focus to search bar.
Ctrl + O: Open a
local file.
Ctrl + W: Close
tab, or window if there's only one tab open.
Ctrl + Shift + W:
Close window.
Ctrl + S: Save
page as a local file.
Ctrl + P: Print
page.
Ctrl + F or
F3: Open find
toolbar.
Ctrl + G or
F3: Find next...
Ctrl + Shift + G
or Shift + F3:
Find previous...
Ctrl + B or
Ctrl + I: Open
Bookmarks sidebar.
Ctrl + H: Open
History sidebar.
Escape: Stop
loading page.
Ctrl + R or
F5: Reload
current page.
Ctrl + Shift + R
or Ctrl + F5:
Reload current page; bypass cache.
Ctrl + U: View
page source.
Ctrl + D:
Bookmark current page.
Ctrl + NumpadPlus
or Ctrl + Equals
(+/=): Increase text size.
Ctrl + NumpadMinus
or Ctrl + Minus:
Decrease text size.
Ctrl + Numpad0 or
Ctrl + 0: Set
text size to default.
Alt + Left or
Backspace: Back.
Alt + Right or
Shift + Backspace:
Forward.
Alt + Home: Open
home page.
Ctrl + M: Open
new message in integrated mail client.
Ctrl + J: Open
Downloads dialog.
F6: Switch to
next frame. You must
have selected something on the page already, e.g. by use
of Tab.
Shift + F6:
Switch to previous frame.
Apostrophe ('):
Find link as you type.
Slash (/): Find
text as you type.
BBCode (This forum's posting)
While text is selected:
Alt + B: Format
text in bold.
Alt + I: Format
text in italics.
Alt + U: Format
text as underlined.
Alt + Q: Format
text as a quote.
Alt + C: Format
text as code.
Alt + L: Format
text as a list.
Alt + O: Format
text as an ordered list.
Alt + P: Format
url as a hotlinked image.
Alt + W: Format
url as a hyperlink.
GMail
Must have "keyboard
shortcuts" on in settings.
C: Compose new
message.
Shift + C: Open
new window to compose new message.
Slash (/): Switch
focus to search box.
K: Switch focus
to the next most recent email.
Enter or "O" opens
focused email.
J: Switch focus
to the next oldest email.
N: Switch focus
to the next message in the "conversation."
Enter or "O"
expands/collapses messages.
P: Switch focus
to the previous message.
U: Takes you back
to the inbox and checks for new mail.
Y: Various
actions depending on current view:
Has no effect in "Sent"
and "All Mail" views.
-
Inbox:
Archive email or message.
-
Starred: Unstar email or message.
-
Spam:
Unmark as spam and move back to "Inbox."
-
Trash:
Move back to "Inbox."
-
Any
label: Remove the label.
X: "Check" an
email. Various actions can be performed against all
checked emails.
S: "Star" an
email. Identical to the
more familiar term, "flagging."
R: Reply to the
email.
A: Reply to all
recipients of the email.
F: Forward an
email.
Shift + R: Reply
to the email in a new window.
Shift + A: Reply
to all recipients of the email in a new window.
Shift + F:
Forward an email in a new window.
Shift + 1 (!):
Mark an email as spam and remove it from the inbox.
G then
I: Switch to
"Inbox" view.
G then
S: Switch to
"Starred" view.
G then
A: Switch to "All
Mail" view.
G then
C: Switch to
"Contacts" view.
G then
S: Switch to
"Drafts" view.