I originally posted this at http://www.318.com/TechJournal

10 Essential Keyboard Shortcuts for Microsoft Windows Users to Get More from their PCs

Keyboards: We all use them. Those of us that work for Three18 happen to use ours for anywhere between 6 and 18 hours a day, hopefully not more. With that kind of time, we’ve learned to be especially crafty in our pursuit to be as efficient as possible. We don’t know all the keyboard shortcuts, but we do know a bunch. Here are a few shortcuts that will have you keyboard jockeying like a pro in no time.

10 & 9: Ctrl-Tab and Alt-Tab. These 2 gems will cycle you through tabs in a window and through all open windows, respectively.

8: Ctrl-Alt-Delete. This well known keystroke combination will give you access to a plethora of information about your computer. Your task manager, current login, change password dialogue, are just a few. Explore this one, there’s more here than you think.

7: Just type! In any explorer window, or open folder you can jump to the file you’re looking for without using the scroll bars or buttons. It’s far more efficient than the scroll and read technique, just type the first few letters and you’ll jump right to it.

6: Windows-r: This combination will have the same effect as Clicking ‘Start’ and ‘Run’, leaving you with an open Run dialogue.

5: Alt-Enter: Instead of Right-clicking and choosing ‘Properties’, use this. It’s especially handy if you already have your right hand on the keyboard. Perhaps because you just used tip #7?

4: Hold Shift while inserting a CD/DVD: Need something off a disc, but don’t want to wait for the autoplay? Hold shift, and it will disable autoplay while mounting the disc.

3: Esc: In almost any window that has a ‘Cancel’ button, Esc is mapped to it.

2: Windows-m: If you’ve used a Mac for any length of time, you’ve probably used the Apple-H command to hide all windows. Here’s your Windows equivalent.

1: Hold Shift while closing a window: Open folders cascading out of control? The keystroke Alt-Shift-F4 or just holding Shift and clicking on the X to close your current window will also close all its parent windows.