1. Win + Tab (similar to Alt + Tab)

Many of you know that you can press the “Alt + Tab” shortcut key to switch between windows, but perhaps a few of you don’t know that you can press the “Windows Logo + Tab” key (next to the “Alt” key) for a similar effect, only more aesthetically pleasing. Some may argue that this is slower than using the mouse, and while I still use my mouse, I’ve heard of people who have trained themselves to use this feature with much better timing than others would with a mouse. If not for speed, at least you can enjoy the beautiful switching effect when you use the “Win” key, which lives totally up to its name.

If you’re really bored, just hold down both keys continuously. You’ll see the screen just cycle between windows endlessly in a marching parade of dialogs and text. I confess I’ve done this numerous times while waiting for a press release.

2. Win and + / -

If you’re coming of age, you might be bothered by the inability to comfortably read unmagnified text in a window. In that case, perhaps you already know of the “Ctrl” and “plus” key combination. If you don’t, jot it down. This also comes useful. “Ctrl + Plus” magnifies the window you’re currently in, depending on whether the program recognizes that combination or not. You can’t magnify all windows with this combination, though. Use the “Windows Logo” key mentioned earlier in place of the “Ctrl” key to magnify your entire screen.

3. Win + T

This key performs the same function as “Win + Tab,” except that it scrolls through taskbar icons of open windows – a much less invasive version of window swapping. There’s not much else to say about this one.

4. Win + 1-9

If you know what ordinal number you want to swap to, combine the “Win” key with any of the numbers of your keyboard to switch to it immediately. Pressing “Win + 4,” for example, switches to the window to which the fourth icon on the taskbar belongs. This proves an advantage when you have certain windows open in a particular order. Otherwise, you might fare better with the “Win + Tab” or “Win + T” options.

5. Win + Spacebar

If you ever need to take a quick glimpse at your desktop, but you don’t need to switch to it, try this: Hold down the “Win” key and press the Spacebar. Don’t let go of the “Win” key, though. You’ll notice your desktop appearing behind all the windows you have open. Once you let go of the “Win” key, you’ll see your active window again. You might need to use this feature if you’re looking for the name of a file on your desktop, and you need to type the name in the window you currently have open. You never know when you’ll need to see other aspects of your desktop without switching. By the way, you can switch to your desktop very quickly by clicking the lower right corner of the screen, where a small vertical bar shows up on your taskbar, just right of the clock.

6. Shift + Win + Left/Right Arrow

Using multiple monitors? Try this key combination to switch a window between monitors. The left arrow in the key combination moves a window in the right monitor to the left monitor, and vice versa.

7. Win + M

The task of minimizing all your windows can be disheartening, at best. That’s why Microsoft included this key combination, which allows you to minimize all your windows at your whim.

8. Win + L

A powerful key combination, “Win + L” allows you to lock your computer at the flip of a dime. This discourages people from smearing their noses on what you have on your screen. After all, your business is not theirs.

The Grand Finale

These are eight really simple time-saving keyboard shortcuts that might actually save you some day from ever thinking of what you could have done to cherish every moment in your life. Time is something precious, more so if you approach a ripe old age or own a business. Now, for your next goal: putting your saved time to good use!

Photo Credit: flickr

Chrome Toolbox is a Google Chrome extension created by Google. It is an enhancement and quick access tool combined into one.

After the installation, you will see a new icon on the toolbar where you can click to reveal a dropdown menu containing various useful tools, including the mute tabs option.

The dropdown menu also allows you to save form data for the existing site and quickly fill it up next time you visit the same site. You also can get it to open closed tab and toggle Show Bookmarks Bar. (Note: Some of these features have long been available in the form of shortcut keys, but are now grouped together to provide a faster access)

Toolbar/Tab option

The option page is where you can find more interesting things.

You can activate the floating toolbar option for images and videos so that every time you hover your mouse over an image or video, you can magnify it, set it as wallpaper or open the video in a new standalone window. For the video, you even have the ability to pin it “always on top” of all other windows.

By default, when you close the last tab, the browser window will close too. With this extension, you can now configure it to open a new tab when the last tab is closed.

Quick Launch Bookmarks shortcut keys

If you have organized your bookmarks into various folders, here is where you can assign shortcut (Alt + #) to open the links in a specified folder all at once.

Shortcuts and menu

Google Chrome comes with plenty of keyboard shortcuts that you probably don’t even know their existence. This is where the Shortcuts and Menu option is useful. You can find all the keyboard shortcuts of the browser here. You can even compare the shortcuts with other browser and which one is the same and which is different.

For those keyboard shortcuts that you don’t use, you can also deactivate them.

Google Chrome is already well known for its speed and simplicity. With this extension, it is now even more user-friendly than before. What other features do you hope to see in the extension?

Note: The above extension was tested on a Windows machine. Some of the features are not available in the Linux version of Google Chrome.

Download Chrome Toolbox

Luckily, there is Spark, a free software that transforms you into a keyboard ninja.

Spark is not a new software. In fact, it was featured in our 100 free software for Mac. The best thing about Spark is the power it grants you to create your own hotkeys for any applications.

1. Download and install Spark

When you open Spark for the first time, it will prompt if you want to activate Spark during login and immediately. The best option is to enable both. Next, you will arrive at the dashboard, as shown in the screenshot below.

Spark allows you to create hotkeys either for all applications or just for a specific app. For All Applications, it means that your hotkey is applicable system wide. On the other hand, creating a hotkey for a specific app means that hotkey will only work within that app.

By default, all the hotkeys you created will work for all applications. To create a hotkey for a specific application, click on the “All applications Hotkeys” button at the center top of the Spark window. A new window will slide out from the left. Click on the + button to add your application to the list. Highlight the list and proceed to create your hotkey.

Creating a hotkey

You can create a hotkey for almost everything. You can get it to launch Application, run a AppleScript, Create new document, control iTunes, access the Menu item or even perform System task (like logout, shut down). The best of all, you can even create a snippet of text and bind it to a hotkey. Whenever you press that hotkey, the snippet of text get pasted into the document.

To create a hotkey (for example, hotkey to launch TextEdit):

• Double click on the Application entry (or go to File -> New Hotkey -> Application)
• Assign a hotkey and choose the TextEdit app
• Lastly click the create button

Once created, the hotkey will appear as an entry in the dashboard.

Backup your hotkeys

What use does it have if you can’t backup your hotkeys and use it on another Mac? In Spark, you can access the File ->Export to Web page or Backup Spark Library to backup your hotkeys.

Preferences

In the Preferences, this is where you can configure it to start during login, check for new update regularly etc.

Conclusion

Anyone who is crazy about raising productivity will definitely not give Spark a miss. Even though it is still in beta (apparently it has been in beta for years), it is fully functional and works as well as you expected it to be.

Grab your Spark now.

Image credit: DeclanTM

For writing or creating office document, press:

• F1 – Display Help
• F2 – Rename the selected item
• CTRL + C – Copy the selected item
• CTRL + V – paste the selected item
• CTRL + X – Cut the selected item
• CTRL + Z – Undo an action
• CTRL + Y – Redo an action
• 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 + SHIFT + Arrow – Select a block of text
• SHIFT + Any arrow key – Select text within a document
• CTRL + A – Select all items
• ALT + F4 – Close the current document
• ALT + SPACEBAR – Open the shortcut menu for the current document

In your sidebar:

• Windows logo key + SPACEBAR – Bring all gadgets to the front and select Sidebar
• Windows logo key + G – Cycle through Sidebar gadgets
• TAB – Cycle through Sidebar controls

In Photo Gallery:

• CTRL+ F – Open the Fix pane
• CTRL+ P – Print the selected picture
• CTRL+ I – Open or close the Details pane
• CTRL+PERIOD (.) – Rotate the picture clockwise
• CTRL+COMMA (,) – Rotate the picture counter-clockwise
• CTRL+ E – Search for an item
• ALT+LEFT ARROW – Go back
• ALT+RIGHT ARROW -Go forward
• PLUS SIGN (+) -Zoom in or resize the picture thumbnail
• MINUS SIGN (-) -Zoom out or resize the picture thumbnail
• CTRL+Mouse scroll wheel – Change the size of the picture thumbnail
• CTRL+B - Best fit

You can also set a shortcut key for your favorite application.

• Open a Windows Explorer and navigate to your favorite application. Right click on the application and select “create shortcut“.
• Right click the new shortcut and choose ‘Properties‘
• In the shortcut tabs, click on the shortcut key and press any character to denote the shortcut. It will be in the form of “Ctrl + Alt + the character you choose“.
• Press OK.

Done. You can now use the shortcut key to launch your favorite application in the desktop.