CONSIDERING HOW MUCH time we spend on our computers typing, it’s worth knowing the many keyboard shortcuts there are at your disposal.

Chances are you already know the basics, but what about capturing screenshots, hiding all of your windows or deleting words quickly?

If you aren’t familiar with them, of you would like to refresh your memory, here are a pick of the more useful shortcuts out there.

(For Mac users, you can usually replace Ctrl with Cmd in most cases, but specific commands can be found further below)

General actions

The ones that will get you started (and you may already know about).

Ctrl + C: Copy.
Ctrl + X: Cut.
Ctrl + V: Paste.
Ctrl + Shift + V: Paste as plain text (Removes formatting)
Ctrl + Z: Undo.
Ctrl + B: Bold.
Ctrl + U: Underline.
Ctrl + I: Italics.

Ctrl + Esc: Open Start Menu (Windows only).
Alt + F4: Close selected window/programme.
Alt + F6: Switches between windows of the same programme.
Win + D: Clears desktop (Minimises all windows).
Alt + F4: Brings up shut down/reset window.
(Mac) Shift + Cmd + 3: Captures screenshot of desktop and saves.
(Mac) Shift + Cmd + 4: Allows you to capture part of screen (press space bar to capture entire window.

Files

Drag file + hold down Ctrl: copies file in new location.
Drag file + hold down Ctrl + Shift: Creates shortcut for said file.
Select file + F2: Rename file.
Select file + Alt + Enter: Open up properties for said file.

Browser

Certain shortcuts will vary somewhat between different browsers, otherwise these will work.

Ctrl + F: Search for word.
Ctrl + T: Opens new tab.
Ctrl + Shift + T : Opens last tab you closed.
Ctrl + Shift + N: Opens last window you closed.
Ctrl + N: Open new window.
Ctrl + Shift + N: Open Incognito/Private Browsing window

Shift + Tab: Move down between commands.
Ctrl + Shift +Tab: Move up between commands.
Ctrl + H: Bring up history.
Ctrl + W: Close current tab.
Ctrl + Tab: Goes to next tab.
Backspace: Return to previous page.

Ctrl + Plus/Minus sign: Zoom in/out.
Ctrl + D: Bookmark page.

Typing

Ctrl + Backspace: Delete whole word instead of letter.
Home: Goes to start of line.
End: Goes to end of line.
Ctrl + Home: Goes to start of document.
Ctrl + End: Goes to end of document.

Mac Users

Some of the more unique shortcuts available to those with a Mac.

Cmd + W: Close current tab.
Shift + Cmd + 3: Captures screenshot of desktop.
Shift + Cmd + 4: Allows you to capture part of screen (press space bar to capture entire window).
Cmd + Option + M: Minimises all windows.
Option + Backspace: Deletes entire words.

Option + Shift + F11/F12: Lower/Raises volume by smaller amounts.
Ctrl + Cmd + D: Provides definition for highlighted word.
Ctrl + Cmd + V: Pastes text without original formatting.
Ctrl + Option + Command + Eject/Power: Shut down Mac instantly.

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