• Home
• Prices
  • Coupon
• About Us
  • How It Started
  • Mission Statement
  • Why Choose Computer Wizard?
  • Business Practices
• Virus Corner
• Services
  • Hardware Repair
  • Software Problems
  • Networking
  • In-Shop Service
  • Remote Assistance
  • Business Solutions
  • Computer Hardware Recycling
• Service Area
• FAQ
• Refer A Friend
• Feedback
• Contact Us
  • Directions to Us
• CWI Articles
• Educational
• For Experts
• How-To
• Important
• News
• Service Announcements
• Success Stories
• Tips & Tricks

Some Navigation Tips for Windows Machines

Today computers are pretty complex machines with a lots of features.  Fortunately graphical user interfaces made it fairly easy for everyone to navigate. But there are some less known navigation ways that could make your getting around the computer easier and save you time. I’d like to list some here that I personally found useful.

Note: Many of these shortcuts work the same way on Macintosh computer, with the difference that instead of the CTRL  or Alt keys, you’d need to use the Command key.

• The Right Click: The right click with the mouse generally means to the computer “show me what options I have here”. It’s worthwhile (and very educational) to do right click on different spots and see what happens. Of course, practice some caution on selecting from the options that pop-up after a right click.
• CTRL+F: By holding down the Control (CTRL) key and then pressing the ‘F’ key, you get the “Search” option in most software, including your browser, Word, PDF reader, etc. This search is not an online kind of search but search on the document that you are on. It can be very useful when you are reading a long article or document.
• CTRL+mouse scroll wheel:   Hold down the CTRL key and move the scroll wheel up or down. You’ll find that in most programs it will do a “zoom in” and “zoom out” depending on the direction of the scrolling. In a web browser it changes the font size, or just magnifies the screen – depending on what browser you use.
• ALT+TAB: This one is probably one of the most useful features if you are a multitasker.  Hold down the ALT key and then press the  TAB key -> it will bring up the list of open windows represented by small icons. If you press the TAB key more times while still holding the ALT key then you can step through the open windows. If you just do a single ALT+TAB then it will switch to the most recently used window. This allows a real easy way to switch between two programs back and forth.
• Windows Key + D: If you ever have a situation when multiple windows covering up your desktop, then you know it could take a while to minimize them all to get to your icons. This key combination cuts through all that, it will take you to the desktop really quick by minimizing all open windows.  It won’t close any of them so it’s safe to use.
• CTRL+Z: This one is also a very useful to remember. It’s the most commonly used “Undo” key combination. Works in almost all editing software. If you accidentally (or not so) deleted something, or changed something then just press CTRL+Z and the action will be undone. The number of steps that you can go back depends on the software but one step is almost always possible.

And here are some for the more advanced users:

• Windows Key + Pause: This will bring up the Computer Properties page. It’s a shortcut for Control Panel -> System icon.  If you need to get to the Device Manager, or check out whether you have a 32bit or 64bit system then this shortcut can come handy.
• CTRL+SHIFT+ESC: This one is a direct shortcut to the Task Manager. While CTRL+ALT+Delete is also a way to this but in some setups it will take an additional step (click) to bring it up.  This combination will bring up the task manager directly on all windows versions.

Did you find this information useful?
Please consider donating.

cforms contact form by delicious:days