In windows 7 there are several great shortcuts that can make you day in front of the computer better, and here are some of them than I use often … and some of them I just know of.
Windows + Arrow
You can move the active window around on the screen.
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Windows + Left Arrow
Will dock the window to the left |
Windows + Right Arrow
Will dock the window to the right |
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Windows + Arrow up
Will maximize the window to the current screen. |
Windows + Arrow Down
(do it again and it will minimize) |
Windows + Shift + Arrow up
Like the shortcuts above, hitting these keys will stretch the active window vertically. Pressing Windows + Down will restore it to the previously size.
Alt + P
When you are in a explorer and want to preview things. Pressing Alt + P will bring up a preview window in the left part of the Explorer window. It can be used on all types of documents … but there is a startup time for them and depending on the time of document the first preview can take some time show.
Windows + + ( plus key ) and Windows + – ( minus key )
Brings up the magnifier, so if you are showing something on a projector on a daily basis this is great. Consider you are showing how a program works, instead of lowering the resolution to something like 800x600 … you can just quickly zoom in on it.
You can of cause zoom out again using the other shortcut – Windows + – ( minus key )
Windows + P
Will manage multiple monitor setup more easily or if you just connected a projector. Pressing the key P again while holding down the Windows key will loop over the available options.
Windows + [number]
Here in my Taskbar i have:
- visionapp Remote Desktop 2010
- Visual Studio 2008
- Firefox ( of cause )
- Messenger
- Total Commander
- Windows Explorer
- Photo Viewer
Pressing Windows + 7 and this will bring up the Photo Viewer if there were only one instance. Here i got 2 so it lets to toggle between them. If there are no instance running of the program it will start one for you.
Ctrl + Click
Holding down Ctrl while clicking a program icon in the taskbar will toggle between the instances. For example like in the above, that would toggle between the 2 instances of the Photo viewer. Here used with two instances of the Windows Explorer started.
Ctrl + Shift + Click
This will start the program clicked on with full administrative rights on the system. While not very useful I, it can be used as pinned programs to the Taskbar, would require more clicks, so it saves a little time :-)
Conclusion
These are some of the best shortcuts I have found to date, but there are still more I guess … so in the future I will update this blog post if I find any.
You you got any that you think is missing, please to post them as comments or contact me, and I will add them.
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