Windows 7 Keyboard Shortcuts

Window Management

• Win+Left Arrow and Win+Right Arrow: Dock a window to the left or right half of the screen.
• Win+Shift+Left Arrow and Win+Shift+Right Arrow: Move a window from one monitor to another, keeping them in the same relative location to the monitor’s top-left origin.
• Win+Up Arrow and Win+Down Arrow: Maximizes and restores/minimizes a window.
• Win+Shift+Up Arrow and Win+Shift+Down Arrow: Maximizes and restores the vertical size of a window.
• Win+Home: Minimize all the non-active background windows, keeping the window you’re using in its current position. (Press Win+Home again to restore the windows to their original locations.)
• Win+(plus key) and Win+(minus key): Zoom in or out using Windows Magnifer.
• Win+E: Opens Windows Explorer.
• Win+U: Opens the Ease of Access Center.
• Win+D: Show/hide the desktop.
• Win+F: Opens the Search Results window.
• Win+L: Locks the computer.
• Win+B: Sets focus to the “Show hidden icons” button on the task bar.
• Win+M: Minimizes all windows.
• Win+Ctrl+F: Opens the Active Directory Find Computers dialog.

Taskbar

• Win+Space: Use “Aero Peek” to see any gadgets or icons you’ve got on your desktop.
• Win+R: Opens the Run dialog.
• Win+T: Move the focus to the first taskbar. (Pressing again will cycle through them.)
• Win+Shift+T: Move the focus to the last taskbar. (Pressing again will cycle through them.)
• Ctrl+(mouse click on a single application icon in the task bar): Toggle through each of the open windows in order. The best example of this is Internet Explorer. If you have five tabs open in a single IE instance, holding the Ctrl key while repeatedly clicking on the single IE icon in the task bar will toggle through each of the five tabs in order.
• Ctrl+Shift+(mouse click on an application icon in the task bar): Launch that application with full administrative rights. You can also use Ctrl+Shift+Enter for commands from the search bar for the same action.
• Shift+(mouse click on an application icon in the task bar): Launch a new instance of the application rather than switching to the existing application. (You can also middle-click with the third mouse button or scroll wheel.)
• Win+1 .. Win+5: Launch a new instance of the any of the first five icons on the task bar. (By the way, the icons can be reordered to suit your needs by simply dragging them around and can be pinned shortcuts or running applications.)
• Shift+(right mouse click on an application icon in the task bar): Show the Window menu. (You get different menus depending on whether the application is running or has multiple instances open.

Windows Explorer

• Ctrl+(mouse scroll wheel): Change the view/zoom in Windows Explorer. (This is the same as clicking the Views button or selecting one of the view options from the button’s dropdown list.)
• Shift+(right mouse click on any folder or file): Displays an expanded context menu:
  (The additional Open options only appear for folders but the “Copy as path” option appears for both folders and files.)
• Alt+P: Show/hide the preview pane.

Miscellaneous

• Win+P: Display the project options, which you can then use the arrow keys (or keep hitting Win+P) to switch to the different options.
  Win+X: Open the Windows Mobility Center.
• Win+G: Bring gadgets to the top of the Z-order. (Sets the focus to a gadget.)

5 Great New Features Of Windows 7

1. Opening multiple Instances of the same program

Want to open multiple instances of the same program? Maybe a second command prompt or another application that can be opened in multiple instances? Instead of opening the program again the usual way you can simply press the SHIFT key and left-click on the first instance in the Windows Taskbar to open a second one.

2. Problem Steps Recorder

If you ever had to do phone support you know how hard it can be to understand what the user on the other end of the phone did and wants. The Problem Steps Recorder is a sweet little tool in Windows 7 that can be used by the user to record his steps.



All that the user needs to do is start the recorder by entering psr in the Start Menu box and click on Start Record in the program interface. Screenshots will be taken from user actions. It is possible to add comments at any time if the user feels so. The whole recording will be saved as a zip file containing a slideshow of the actions.

3. Pin Favorite Folders

Want to add a favorite folders to Windows Explorer to be able to access them faster? Just drag and drop the folder to the favorites menu. It will remain there until you delete it with the delete key again.

4. Moving Windows and such

Windows 7 introduces several new keyboard shortcuts for window management. Some useful ones are:

[Windows Shift Left Arrow] or [Windows Shift Right Arrow] to move windows from one computer monitor to another.
[Windows Left Arrow] or [Windows Right Arrow] to dock windows to the left or right side
[Windows Up Arrow] to maximize a window
[Windows Down Arrow] to restore or minimize windows
[Windows Home] to minimize all windows but the active one

5. Shortcuts to start pinned taskbar items

Pressing [Win Number] will start a new instance of a pinned taskbar item. You should also note that the items can be dragged and dropped into different positions easily.