Use the below Windows 7 keyboard shortcuts to make the most of your Windows 7 experience.
Windows key and the arrow keys
Pressing
the Windows key and Left or Right arrow keys will dock the
window your viewing to the left or right-hand side of the screen.
Pressing the Windows key and the Up arrow will maximize a window and
pressing the Windows key and the Down arrow will resize and then
minimize the window.
Use Shift:
To stretch a window vertically, press the Windows key +
Shift + the Up arrow. If you have multiple monitors use the
Windows key + Shift + the Left or Right arrow keys to move the
window to another monitor.
Windows key and plus and minus keys
If
you ever need to zoom in or out of what is being displayed on your
screen press the Windows key and the + (plus) or - (minus) keys.
Pressing the plus zooms in and once zoomed in the minus will zoom
out.
Clear all background programs
If
you are not viewing a window in full screen and have other windows
open in the background clear all background open windows by pressing
the Windows key + the Home key.
Use the Windows 7 search
Find and run anything in Windows by using the Windows 7
search box. Click the Start orb or press then Windows key
and type the name of the program you wish to run or file you wish
to edit. Windows 7 will usually do a good job at finding an exact
match and simply pressing enter will execute that program or open
that file. If more than one match is found, use the up and down
arrow keys to select the file you wish to open and then press Enter.
Running as administrator:
Some programs may require administrator mode in order to function
properly. You can run any program as administrator from the
search box by typing the name of the program you want to run and
then instead of pressing Enter to run the program press
Ctrl+Shift+Enter to run as administrator. If you want to click
and run a program as administrator hold down the Ctrl+Shift and then
click the icon.
Take full advantage of the Taskbar
Pin programs to the Taskbar
All programs can be pinned to the Taskbar
and allow easy access to your favorite programs without having to
use the Start Menu. To Pin a program to the Taskbar right-click
on the program or shortcut to the program and in the menu choose
the Pin to Taskbar option. Alternatively you can also drag the icon to the Taskbar.
If you want to remove a pinned program, right-click on the Taskbar icon and click Unpin this program from the Taskbar. Alternatively you can also drag the icon off of the task bar and then click Unpin this program from the Taskbar.
Move the icons and pinned programs
Any
pinned or opened program on the Taskbar can be moved and arranged.
Left-click on any icon on the Taskbar and drag it to the location you
want it to remain.
Windows key and a number
Pressing
the Windows key and a number on the top row of your keyboard will
open the Window corresponding to the open program on your
Taskbar. For example, in the below picture of the Windows 7 Taskbar,
Firefox i the first icon, Control panel is the second icon, and Adobe
Photoshop is the third icon. If the Windows key + 3 was pressed,
Adobe Photoshop would become the active window. To make it even
easier arrange your icons (as mentioned above) from left to right
by most frequently opened.
Pin your favorite folder
If you frequently access the same folder (e.g. your favorites,
my documents, Dropbox, etc.) pin the folder to the Windows
Explorer icon on the Taskbar. To do this drag your favorite folder
to the Taskbar until you see Pin to Windows Explorer. Once
pinned, right-click the Explorer icon to access that folder under
the Pinned section.
Open a second instance
If
you want to open a second instance or window of a program that is
already open, press and hold the Shift key and then click the
program icon on the Taskbar.
Get to the Desktop
Click the Desktop button on the far right edge of the Taskbar to get to the Desktop.
Customize the Notification area
Windows Vista and Windows 7 allow the Windows
Notification area (aka Systray) to be modified. By default, many
of the icons shown in the past are now hidden and give Windows a
much cleaner look. Customize this area to make icons show or not
show by clicking on the up arrow next to the icons and selecting Customize,
as shown in the picture to the right. Once in Customize you can
choose what programs show, don't show, or only show notifications.
Improve the quality of your text
Use
the Windows ClearType Text Tuner to improve the overall quality
of all text you read on your screen. To start the ClearType Text
Tuner click the Start Orb and type cttune.exe and press Enter.
Enable and disable Windows 7 features
Turn on and off Windows features by clicking Start, typing features and press enter. In the Programs and Features window on the left-hand column click Turn Windows features on or off and in the Windows Features box check or uncheck the features you want enabled or disabled.
Use the Reliability and Performance Monitor
View the reliability history of your computer by using the Reliability Monitor. Click the Start orb and type reliability
and press enter for View Reliability History. In the Reliability
Monitor, you'll be able to view the overall reliability of your
computer and be able to identify any past problems your computer
has had.
If you want to view the
performance of your computer in real time use the Performance
Monitor. Click the Start orb and type performance and press enter
for the Performance Monitor. In the Performance Monitor, you can
view your computers performance in real time or view a log of your
systems performance.
Re-enable underlined keyboard shortcuts
By
default, Windows 7 has the underlines for keyboard shortcuts like
those shown in the picture to the right disabled. To re-enable
these underlines in all Windows programs follow the below steps.- Open the Control Panel
- In the Control Panel click Ease of Access
- In Ease of Access click Change how your keyboard works
- Finally, check the Underline keyboard shortcuts and access keys and then click Ok.
Rename multiple files at once
To
change the name of multiple files at once highlight all the files
you wish to rename in Windows Explorer and press the F2 key.
Type in the new name you wish to use for all files and press
enter. Once done all files will be renamed to the name entered
followed by a unique number.
Install Windows Essentials
Install
missing Windows software by installing the free Windows
Essentials software package that includes: Windows Live Family Safety,
Windows Live Mail, Windows Live Messenger, SkyDrive for Windows,
Windows Movie Maker, Windows Photo Gallery, Windows Live Writer, and
Microsoft Outlook Hotmail Connector.
