The complete guide to Windows 7 Shortcut Keys

There's been a lot of talk recently about use use of shortcut keys in Windows 8, primarily because 90+% of the people who will be using that OS for the next few year won't have access to a touch screen.

What this has brought home though is just how many people still reply on the old shortcut keys, and I'm not just talking about Ctrl+X/C/V here.

With this in mind I thought I'd publish here the definitive list of all Windows 7 shortcut keys as taken from my Microsoft Press book, Troubleshooting Windows 7 Inside Out.

General Shortcut Keys

To do this	Press this key
Copy selected icon(s)	CTRL+C
Cut selected icons(s)	CTRL+X
Paste cut or copied text or item(s) to current folder	CTRL+V
Undo your most recent action	CTRL+Z
Delete selected icon(s) to Recycle Bin	DELETE or DEL
Delete selected icons(s) without moving to Recycle Bin	SHIFT+DELETE
Rename selected icon(s)	F2
Extend selection through additional icons	SHIFT+any arrow key
Select all items in a document or window	CTRL+A
Search for a file or folder	F3
Display properties for selected icon	ALT+ENTER
Close program in the active window	ALT+F4
Open the shortcut menu for the active window	ALT+SPACEBAR
Close the active document in multiple document program	CTRL+F4
Show Flip 3D	~WS+TAB
Switch between open programs	ALT+TAB
Cycle through open programs in the order they were opened	ALT+ESC
Cycle through screen elements on the desktop or in a window	F6
Display the shortcut menu for the selected item	SHIFT+F10
Open/close the Start menu	CTRL+ESC or ~WS
Open menu or perform menu command	ALT+underlined letter
View menu bar in active program	F10 or Alt
Move left or right in menu bar	¬ and ®
Move up or down in menu	­ and ¯
Select highlighted menu command	ENTER
Refresh the active window	F5
View the folder one level up Windows Explorer	BACKSPACE
Cancel the current task	ESC
Open Task Manager	CTRL+SHIFT+ESC
Copy dragged item to destination	CTRL+drag
Move dragged item to destination	CTRL+SHIFT+drag

Dialog Box Keyboard Shortcuts

Description	Key
Choose option with underlined letter	ALT+letter
Select a button if the active option is a group of option buttons	Arrow keys
Open a folder one level up if a folder is selected in the Save As or Open dialog box	BACKSPACE
Go to previous tab	CTRL+SHIFT+TAB
Go to next tab	CTRL+TAB
Same as clicking OK	ENTER
Same as clicking Cancel	ESC
Help	F1 key
Display the items in the active list	F4 key
Move to previous option	SHIFT+TAB
Select or deselect the check box	SPACEBAR
Move to next option	TAB

Windows Explorer Keyboard Shortcuts

Description	Key
Collapse the selected folder	– on numeric keypad
Display all the subfolders under selected folder	* on numeric keypad
Select or collapse parent folder	¬
Expand current folder or move to next subfolder	¯
Display the contents of the selected folder	+ on numeric keypad
Display the bottom of the active window	END
Display the top of the active window	HOME
Open selected folder in new instance	SHIFT+Double-Click

Ease of Access Keyboard Shortcuts

Description	Key
Open Ease ofAccessCenter	~WS+U
Switch the MouseKeys either on or off	LEFT ALT+LEFT SHIFT+NUM LOCK
Switch High Contrast either on or off	LEFT ALT+LEFT SHIFT+PRINT SCREEN
Switch the ToggleKeys either on or off	NUM LOCK for five seconds
Switch FilterKeys either on or off	RIGHT SHIFT for eight seconds
Switch the StickyKeys either on or off	SHIFT five times

Windows Help Shortcut Keys

To do this	Press this key
Open Windows Help and Support	F1 or ~WS+F1
Display the Table of Contents	ALT+C
Display the Connection Settings menu	ALT+N
Display the Options menu	F10
Move back to the previously viewed topic	ALT+¬
Move forward to the next (previously viewed) topic	ALT+¯
Display the customer support page	ALT+A
Display the Help home page	ALT+HOME
Move to the beginning of a topic	HOME
Move to the end of a topic	END
Search the current topic	CTRL+F
Print a topic	CTRL+P
Move to the Search box	F3

Microsoft Natural Keyboard Shortcuts

Description	Key
Display or hide the Start menu	~WS
Lock the computer	~WS+L
Display the System Properties dialog box	~WS+BREAK
Show the desktop	~WS+D
Open Computer folder	~WS+E
Search for file or folder	~WS+F
Search for computers	CTRL+~WS+F
Display Windows Help	~WS+F1
Minimize all the windows	~WS+M
Restore all minimized windows	~WS+SHIFT+M
Open the Run dialog box	~WS+R
Show Flip 3D	~WS+TAB
Open Ease ofAccessCenter	~WS+U
OpenWindowsMobility Center	~WS+X

Text Navigation and Editing Shortcuts

Description	Key
Move cursor down one line	¯®
Move cursor left one character	¬
Move cursor right one character	®¯
Move cursor up one line	­
Delete character to left of cursor	BACKSPACE
Move cursor to start of next paragraph	CTRL+¯®
Move cursor to start of previous paragraph	CTRL+­
Move cursor to start of previous word	CTRL+¬
Move cursor to start of next word	CTRL+®¯
Select all	CTRL+A
Copy to Clipboard	CTRL+C
Copy the selected text to destination	CTRL+drag
Select to end of paragraph	CTRL+SHIFT+®
Select to end of word	CTRL+SHIFT+Æ
Select to beginning of word	CTRL+SHIFT+¬
Select to beginning of paragraph	CTRL+SHIFT+­
Select to end of document	CTRL+SHIFT+END
Select to top of document	CTRL+SHIFT+HOME
Paste Clipboard contents to cursor position	CTRL+V
Cut to Clipboard	CTRL+X
Undo last action	CTRL+Z
Delete selected text or character at cursor	DEL
Cancel the current task	ESC
Select to character in line above	SHIFT+­
Select to character in line below	SHIFT+¯®
Select character to left	SHIFT+¬
Select character to right	SHIFT+®¯
Select from cursor to here	SHIFT+Click
Select to end of line	SHIFT+END
Select to beginning of line	SHIFT+HOME
Select text down one screen	SHIFT+PAGE DOWN
Select text up one screen	SHIFT+PAGE UP

Windows Character Map Shortcut Keys

Key	Description
­	Move up one row
¯	Move down one row
¬	Move to the left or to the end of the previous line
®	Move to the right or to the beginning of the next line
CTRL+END	Move to the last character
CTRL+HOME	Move to the first character
END	Move to the end of the line
HOME	Move to the beginning of the line
PAGE DOWN	Move down one screen at a time
PAGE UP	Move up one screen at a time
SPACEBAR	Switch between Enlarged and Normal modes

Microsoft Internet Explorer Shortcuts

To do this	Press this
Add “www.” to the beginning and “.com” to the end of text in address bar	CTRL+ENTER
Add the current page to favorites	CTRL+D
Click the Information bar	SPACEBAR
Close current tab (or the current window if tabbed browsing is disabled)	CTRL+W
Close other tabs	CTRL+ALT+F4
Close Print Preview	ALT+C
Close the current window (if you have only one tab open)	CTRL+W
Copy selection to Clipboard	CTRL+C
Display a list of addresses you’ve typed	F4
Display a shortcut menu for a link	SHIFT+F10
Display first page to be printed	ALT+HOME
Display last page to be printed	ALT+END
Display next page to be printed	ALT+¯
Display previous page to be printed	ALT+¬
Display zoom percentages	ALT+Z
Find on this page	CTRL+F
Go to home page	ALT+HOME
Go to selected link	ENTER
Go to the next page	ALT+¯
Go to the previous page	ALT+¬ or BACKSPACE
Go to the Toolbar Search box	CTRL+E
Help	F1
Move back through the items on a Web page, the address bar, or the links bar	SHIFT+TAB
Move back through the list of AutoComplete matches	®
Move backward between frames (if tabbed browsing is disabled)	CTRL+SHIFT+TAB
Move focus to the Information bar	ALT+N
Move forward through frames and browser elements (if tabbed browsing is disabled)	CTRL+TAB or F6
Move forward through the items on a Web page, the address bar, or the links bar	TAB
Move forward through the list of AutoComplete matches	¯
Move selected item down in the Favorites list in the Organize Favorites dialog box	ALT+¯
Move selected item up in the Favorites list in the Organize Favorites dialog box	ALT+­
Move the cursor left to the next punctuation in the address bar	CTRL+¬
Move the cursor right to the next punctuation in the address bar	CTRL+®
Move to the beginning of the page	HOME
Move to the end of the page	END
Open a new tab in the foreground	CTRL+T
Open a new tab in the foreground from the address bar	ALT+ENTER
Open a new Web site or page	CTRL+O
Open a new window	CTRL+N
Open Favorites	CTRL+I
Open Feeds	CTRL+J
Open History	CTRL+H
Open links in a new background tab	CTRL+click
Open links in a new foreground tab	CTRL+SHIFT+click
Open search query in a new tab	ALT+ENTER
Open the Organize Favorites	CTRL+B
Page Setup	ALT+U
Paste Clipboard contents	CTRL+V
Print the current page or active frame	CTRL+P
Refresh the current Web page	F5
Refresh the current Web page regardless of timestamp	CTRL+F5
Save the current page	CTRL+S
Scroll down a line	¯
Scroll down a page	PAGE DOWN
Scroll up a line	­
Scroll up a page	PAGE UP
Select all items on the current Web page	CTRL+A
Select frames to print in framed Web site	ALT+F
Select the text in the address bar	ALT+D
Set printing options and print the page	ALT+P
Stop downloading a page	ESC
Switch between tabs	CTRL+TAB or CTRL+SHIFT+TAB
Switch to a specific tab number	CTRL+n (where n is a number between 1 and 8)
Switch to the last tab	CTRL+9
Toggle between full-screen and regular views	F11
Toggle Quick Tabs on or off	CTRL+Q
Type the number of the page you want displayed	ALT+A
Zoom in	ALT+PLUS SIGN
Zoom in 10 percent	CTRL+PLUS SIGN
Zoom out	ALT+MINUS SIGN
Zoom out 10 percent	CTRL+MINUS SIGN
Zoom to 100 percent	CTRL+0

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