Windows-7 Keyboard Shortcuts to Increase Productivity

With all the less pleasant verdicts about Vista, Windows 7 is perhaps PC usersâl next best news. Codenamed Blackcomb, this new Microsoft operating system is surely a successor over it’s predecessor Windows XP and definitely Vista. With Microsoft to end their support for Windows XP in 2014, we figured Windows 7 will be completely taking over things in the next year or so.

If you are a Windows users it’s probably time for a change, or at least tryout this new operating system. Here are some shortcut keys to help improve your productivity and user experience with Windows 7.

General Windows 7 Shortcuts

Shortcut	Description
Win + UP Arrow	Maximize the current window
Win + Down Arrow	Restore down or minimize current windows
Win + Left Arrow	Dock the current window to the left half of the screen
Win + Right Arrrow	Dock the current window to the right half of the screen
Win + [number]	Activate and run the program pinned on Windows 7 Taskbar, running program won’t be affected
Win + Home	Minimize all but the current window
Win + Space	Makes all windows transparent so you can see through to the desktop
Win + Pause/Break	Open System Properties
Win + Tab	Flip Aero 3D [press Tab to cycle between Windows]
Win + B	Move focus to notification tray (the right-most portion of the taskbar)
Win + D	Show/Hide desktop
Win + E	Windows Explorer is launched
Win + F	Search
Win + G	Bring all gadgets on top and foreground
Win + L	Lock Computer
Win + M	Minimize all windows
Win + P	Open the projection menu (generally used for laptops connected to projectors)
Win + R	Run Command is launched.
Win + S	OneNote Screen Clipping Tool
Win + T	Show preview thumbnail of running applications in Windows Taskbar one by one without mouse over
Win + X	Mobility Center
Win + #	Quicklaunch
Win + =	Magnifier
Win + [+/-]	Enables the magnifier and zooms in/out
Win + Shift + Up Arrow	Maximize vertical size
Win + Shift + Down Arrow	Restore vertical size
Win + Shift + Left Arrow	Jump to left monitor
Win + Shift + Right Arrow	Jump to right monitor
Win + Shift + M	Undo all window minimization
Win + Shift + T	Cycles backwards
Win + Ctrl + F	Opens the Active Directory Find Computers dialog
Ctrl + Right Arrow	Move the cursor to the beginning of the next word
Ctrl + Left Arrow	Move the cursor to the beginning of the previous word
Ctrl + Up Arrow	Move the cursor to the beginning of the previous paragraph
Ctrl + Down Arrow	Move the cursor to the beginning of the next paragraph
Ctrl + Click	A pinned taskbar icon to cycle through the program’s open windows (e.g. IE)
Ctrl + Win + Tab	Persistent flip 3D
Ctrl + Shift with an arrow key	Select a block of text
Ctrl with any arrow key + Spacebar	Select multiple individual items in a window or on the desktop
Ctrl + Shift + Esc	Open Task Manager directly
Ctrl + Shift + N	Create new folder