10 fast keyboard shortcuts to boost your productivity

Keyboard shortcutsLooking to work faster? Try these handy keyboard shortcuts.

  • Lock your PC – Windows Key + L

When you are away from your computer, always lock it for security purposes. Just hit Windows Key plus L.

  • Highlight Text – Shift + Arrow

Hold down the Shift key as you move the cursor with the arrow keys. If you also hold down Ctrl, you can highlight whole words rather than individual characters.

  • Thesaurus Lookup in Word – Shift + F7

Highlight the word to look up then hit Shift plus F7 to show a comprehensive list of related terms in a window on the right side of the screen.

  • Bookmark a Webpage – Ctrl + D

Hit Ctrl plus D in your browser to pop up a dialog box to bookmark the current page, edit the name, and even select the folder to store it in.

  • Back in Web Browser – Alt + Left Arrow

Hit Alt plus Left Arrow to go back in your browser and Alt plus Right Arrow to go forward.

  • Restore Closed Browser Tab – Ctrl + Shift + T

Hit Ctrl plus Shift plus T in any of the major Windows web browsers to restore the last tab you closed.

  • Send an Email – Alt + S/Ctrl + Enter

Hit Alt plus S to send your email in Outlook or other desktop mail clients. Hit Ctrl plus Enter when using Gmail.

  • Close Any Windows App – Alt + F4

Close any Windows program (modern and desktop) with Alt plus F4. Ctrl plus W closes desktop applications only.

  • Minimize All Windows – Windows Key + M

Hit Windows Key plus M to minimize all of your windows so you can see everything on your desktop.

  • Windows Snap – Windows Key + Arrow

Hit Windows Key then Left Arrow to snap a window to the left side of the screen or Windows Key then Right Arrow to snap it to the right.