Five Must-Have Keyboard Shortcuts
by Ashley Graham-Wilcox
Showing my husband some travel options on my computer the other day, I clicked between screens and he gasped: “WHAT did you just do?!” For me, Alt + Tab to change between open windows is so second nature, I couldn’t believe he functions without it. After blowing his mind with a demonstration, it got me thinking: What else is hiding out there?!
Without a doubt, my favorite shortcuts — all of which were game changers to my work at one time or another — are as follows:
The aforementioned Alt + Tab (On a Mac: Cmd + Tab): Yes, I am the person with a 19,000 Unread Emails notification on my phone and at some point discovered that iPhone limits you to 500 open browser windows at a time, so trust me when I tell you that being able to visually click through every open window on my desktop is a life-saver.
Windows + . (That’s the Windows and period keys) (On a Mac: Cmd + Ctrl + Space): Once Instagram finally came around to allowing full functionality on the desktop/browser (and not just mobile app), keyboard access to emoji became essential.
Ctrl + Shift + V (On a Mac: Cmd + Shift + Option + V): I use this Paste without formatting function for almost all all website updates and graphic design projects and to avoid Microsoft Word and Excel trying to boss me around.
Ctrl + Shift + T (On a Mac: Cmd + Shift + T): For that Just-Clicked-Close-And-Really-Didn’t-Mean-To moment, this reopens your last closed browser tab. Warning: It does not save your place in the Taylor Swift Ticketmaster queue. (Similarly, do you ever have Copy regret, where you lost the best paragraph you’ve ever written because you accidentally copied something else before you pasted it? Fear no more: Windows + V shows you your clipboard history.)
Windows + Shift + S (On a Mac: Cmd + Shift + 4): For when you’re talking to Customer Service and they just can’t believe the bug you’re describing could actually be happening – or any other reason you might need a quick screen cap… When you press Windows + Shift + S, you’ll get a small pop-up allowing you to capture part or all of the screen to your clipboard.
Your turn: What shortcuts can’t you live without?
