ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Keyboard tricks you might not know

Updated on June 1, 2010

main shortcut keys

What style of computer user are you? I have long used mouse clicks to get around but here's a short hub on some real neat little tricks you may not know about.

The plus sign (+) just means '"in combination with" in the following - do not press it!

CTRL + F What happens? You should see a box drop down from the top of your browser. Type in words (letter strings - combinations of letters) whatever you're looking for in a page will be highlighted.

Very useful when looking through css source code to find particular style attributes on a page.

Of course for non-web developers helps relocate a word or phrase in a page. Try it!

Some browsers (SAFARI) will even tell you how many matches were found.

Oops! Shouldn't of done that moments:

ESC stops the operation - for example you've written an email and forgotton to add a vital detail - instead of trying to get your mouse to the (X) in time just press ESC

Also stops loading of a page in your browser and will close an open window. Very useful!

CTRL + Y redo the changes you just made

I'D LIKE A COPY OF WHAT"S ON THE MONITOR IN FRONT of ME

Find a key with "Print Screen" or Prnt Scrn written on it. Press it. What happens?

Seemingly nothing but actually what you were staring at when you pressed this button is now in your clipboard and can be pasted. Check it out!

Open the image editor that comes with windows (or any editor on your computer).

What's an image editor ?  You'll find one pre-installed with your operating system (windows).

Do this to find it:

Start->All Programs ->Accessories ->Paint->Edit ->Paste

You should be looking now at the image that was displayed on your monitor when you pressed print screen.

Variation

Alt + Print Screen - takes a snap of the active window only (not whole monitor view)

SELECT COPY PASTE

You probably know these already but just in case:

CTRL + A You should see everything in view selected. Equivalent to "Select All"

CTRL + C copies your selection to the clipboard.

CTRL + V pastes what's in the clipboard

CTRL + X cuts out a selection and places in the clipboard

REFRESH browser

F5 Useful if page load seems to get stuck, pressing this key should fix it.

HOME and END keys

These are quicker than scrolling with the mouse and a lot less tiresome. Try it!

How did you find that?

Home takes you to the TOP of the page. Also takes you to the beginning of the current line cursor is flickering in (when editing).

END takes you to the BOTTOM. Also takes you to the beginning of the current line cursor is flickering in (when editing).

F1 Get BROWSER HELP

If you want to learn more about the browser and the ins and outs of using it - press the F1 key to open a help window.

Well that's it. Just a short hub. If you try any of the above and get different results let me know along with the browser you are using (Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Opera, Safari, Firefox etc...)

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)