Keyboard Shortcuts - Part 1

We often get asked about what various keys on the keyboard do. After all, if you're completely new to computers (as several of our customers are) the keyboard can be a daunting thing.

So we thought it would be a nice idea to show you a few interesting things you can do with those keys. Obviously we could just post a great big list, but who's going to read that in one go? Instead we'll post a few things every week or so. Some of them you may already know, but some of them may be of use. Give them a try; it's amazing what you can get your computer to do.

For now we'll just look at Windows, but Macs will have their day as well.

The commonest thing we get asked about are the Function Keys. These are the ones towards the top of your keyboard which are cryptically marked 'F1', 'F2', 'F3' and so on. There's a lot you can do with these, but we'll start with some simple uses. The tricky thing is that some keys do different things depending on what type of window you're just on your desktop.

F1 gives you access to Help, either for Windows or for whatever window you're currently in.

F2 puts you into rename mode if you have clicked on an icon or an item in one of your folders.

F3 brings up a box allowing you to enter search terms, either for the current window or for files on your computer if you;re on your desktop.

F4 repeats the last action if you are in Word. In Internet Explorer it opens up your address bar, listing the website addresses you've visited. See what we mean about different results depending on where you are?

F5 reloads or refreshes the current window; this works either in Windows Explorer (where it will reload the file list), or your favourite browser (where it will reload the current webpage).

F6 moves the cursor between different parts of your current window.

F7 opens the spell-checker in Word.

F8 is really only used when your computer is starting up to get you into Safe Mode. Best only used if you know what you;re doing.

F9 doesn't do anything in Windows itself, but may have use in certain programs.

F10 activates the Menu Bar ('File', 'Edit' and so on) for the current window. Once an item is selected, press the Down Arrow to display the menu you want.

F11 puts the current window into full-screen mode (no frames of menu bar). Press F11 again to return to a normal window.

F12 doesn't do anything in Windows but, again, may have uses in certain programs.

We hope that this is of some help. We'll be posting more keyboard shortcuts for you soon.