Okay, I admit that the title looks like some spam advertisement, but it is true. I have seen hundreds and hundreds of people working with their computers, and my God, they were ineffective.

Being effective while writing a paper with Word, running a program, or whatever job you are doing with the computer is crucial. You can save hours of work if you implement these small changes I'm suggesting. The core of the problem is that usually, most people are using the mouse excessively.

Alone, there is no problem with using the mouse, but there is almost always a keyboard command to serve as a substitute. It takes much less time to use these commands, and these seconds add up, trust me. So, enjoy my compilation of keyboard shortcuts! Some of them may seem obvious to you, but remember, this is for everyone, not just you :)


General Windows shortcuts
These work in almost all environments, i.e. browsers, text editors and what not.

• Windows button + R: Run interface comes up
• F1: Help
• Alt+F4: Close active application / Shutdown computer if nothing is active
• Alt+Esc: Minimizes current application
• Alt+Tab: Switch between running tasks
• Delete: Deletes the selected file (Puts it into the Recycle Bin)
• Shift+Delete: Deletes the selected file permanently
• Windows button: Brings up the Start menu
• Ctrl+A: Select everything
• Ctrl+C: Copy a File
• Ctrl+V: Paste a File
• Ctrl+X: Cut a File (It will be replaced, not copied, when you paste it)
• Alt+Enter: Properties
• Windows button+E: Open Explorer
• Windows button+D: Minimize everything and show the desktop (very useful)
• Shift+F10: Right-click menu anywhere
• Shift while inserting a CD/DVD: No autoplay
• Windows button+F: Find files
• Enter: When a pop-up window comes up with a yes-no question or a single OK button, just hit Enter instead of clicking it. Please.

Microsoft Word (Most formatting stuff also works in blog interfaces):

• Tab: Indent
• Home: Jump to the beginning of the line
• End: Jump to the end of the line
• Page up/Page down: Scroll between pages
• Delete: Deletes what's after the cursor, character by character
• Ctrl+U: Underline
• Ctrl+B: Embolden
• Ctrl+I: Italicize
• Shift+Arrows: Select stuff character by character
• Ctrl+Arrows: Jump between words
• Ctrl+Shift+Arrows: Select stuff word by word
• Ctrl+Mouse Wheel: Zoom in/out
• Ctrl+F: Search
• Ctrl+S: Save
• Ctrl+P: Print
• Ctrl+A: Select everything
• Shift+Caps Lock+F8: Insert an ironic joke into your document!

Browsers

• Ctrl+T: New tab
• Ctrl+W: Close tab
• Ctrl+F: Search
• F6: Select the whole address bar

Image editors

• Most of the above
• Use the arrow keys to move something more precisely.

These are the key shortcuts that I regularly use, and they can speed up your work a lot if you get used to them. I might have missed a few, because when you are trying to make a list from your knowledge, it suddenly becomes a lot harder. Therefore, I may update this list a bit over time :)