We are all looking for that elusive extra hour in the day. What if we told you that you can get some of that time back by learning some simple keyboard shortcuts for the functions you use most often on your computer? It’s true. According to a study by Brainscape, keyboard shortcuts can save you close to 64 hours. That’s 8 days in a year!

16 Best Keyboard Shortcuts For Mac Users

1) Open Spotlight – Cmd (⌘) + Spacebar: This shortcut brings up Spotlight, which allows you to search for anything on your Mac – from applications to documents.

2) Close Your Active Window – Cmd (⌘) + W: This shortcut closes the currently active window.

3) Quit Your Current Application – Cmd (⌘) + Q: This shortcut quits the currently active application.

4) Cycle Through Open Applications – Option + Tab: This shortcut cycles through open windows within the currently active application. Give it a try. This is one we find particularly helpful.

5) Hide Your Current Application – Cmd (⌘) + H: This shortcut hides the currently active application.

6) Minimize Your Active Window – Cmd (⌘) + M: This shortcut minimizes the currently active window to the Dock.

7) Cycle Through Open Windows – Cmd (⌘) + `: This shortcut cycles through open windows within the currently active application (this is different from option+tab, which cycles through all open applications).

8) Create A New Document Or Window – Cmd (⌘) + N: This shortcut creates a new document or window within the currently active application.

9) Save Your Document Or File – Cmd (⌘) + S: This shortcut saves the current document or file.

10) Create A New Document Or File – Cmd (⌘) + O: This shortcut opens a new document or file.

11) Print – Cmd (⌘) + P: This shortcut prints the current document or file.

12) Undo – Cmd (⌘) + Z: This shortcut undoes the last action.

13) Redo – Cmd (⌘) + Shift + Z: This shortcut redoes the last undone action.

14) Select All – Cmd (⌘) + A: This shortcut selects all items in the current document or window.

15) Force Quit Application – Option + Cmd (⌘) + ESC: If an application stops working, or freezes. This will force quit the running application.

16) Minimize All Windows – Cmd (⌘) + Option: Ever want to push everything off your desk for a clean workspace? Difficult in real life but not on a computer. This shortcut will minimize all of your applications and windows. Nothing will be closed, only shrunk and out of the way. To minimize everything but what you are working on, use Cmd (⌘) + Option + H

*Bonus – Create A Custom Shortcut On Mac

Keyboard shortcuts are great but what if you have a function you do multiple times a day and there are no shortcuts for that? That’s fine on Mac because you can create your own custom keyboard shortcut.

Creating a custom keyboard shortcut on Mac is easy. Here’s how:

1. Open System Preferences and select Keyboard.
2. Select the Shortcuts tab and then select App Shortcuts in the left sidebar.
3. Click the + sign to add a new shortcut.
4. In the Application dropdown, select the application you want to create a shortcut for.
5. In the Menu Title field, type the exact name of the menu command you want to create a shortcut for. For example, if you want to create a shortcut for the Save As command in Microsoft Word, you would type “Save As” in this field.
6. In the Keyboard Shortcut field, type the shortcut you want to use. For example, if you wanted to use the key combination Shift+Command+S for the Save As command, you would type that in this field.
7. Click Add and then close System Preferences.

Now whenever you press the keyboard shortcut you created, it will perform the corresponding action in the application you selected. This can be a huge time saver if you have certain tasks that you perform multiple times a day. Give it a try and see how much time you can save!

16 Best Keyboard Shortcuts For PC Users

1) Copy – Ctrl + C: One of the most basic and commonly used keyboard shortcuts, this one allows you to quickly copy any selected text or data. Simply highlight the desired information and hit Ctrl + C to copy it.  Please note this not only works for copying/pasting text in a document but you can also copy and paste full documents or files while in Windows Explorer.

2) Paste – Ctrl + V: The counterpart to the copy shortcut, this one lets you paste whatever has been copied into another location. Just hit Ctrl + V where you want the information to appear.

3) Undo – Ctrl + Z: We all make mistakes from time to time, whether it’s a typo or incorrect information. Luckily, you can usually undo your last action by hitting Ctrl + Z. This shortcut is a lifesaver!

4) Redo – Ctrl + Y: Sometimes, you may accidentally undo something you didn’t mean to with the Ctrl + Z shortcut. In that case, you can hit Ctrl + Y to redo the last action.

5) Rename – F2: Trying to rename a file or folder in Windows can be a bit tedious, but if you use the F2 shortcut, it will be much easier. Simply select the item you want to rename and hit F2 to open the rename box.

6) Find – Ctrl + F: Have you ever been trying to find a certain word or phrase in a document but couldn’t seem to locate it? The Ctrl + F shortcut allows you to quickly search for anything within the document. Simply hit Ctrl + F and a search bar will appear. Type in the word or phrase you’re looking for and hit Enter.

7) Home – This shortcut allows you to quickly jump to the beginning of a line of text. Simply hit the Home key on your keyboard and you’ll be taken to the beginning of the current line.

8) End – Just as the Home shortcut takes you to the beginning of a line, the End shortcut will take you to the end of a line. Hit End on your keyboard and you’ll be taken to the end of the current line.

9) Page Up/Page Down – These shortcuts are great for quickly scrolling through long documents or web pages. The Page Up key will take you up one page, while the Page Down key will take you down one page.

10) Beginning/End – Ctrl + Home/Ctrl + End: These shortcuts function similarly to the Page Up and Page Down keys, but instead of scrolling by page, they scroll to the beginning or end of a document. Hit Ctrl + Home to go to the beginning of a document, or Ctrl + End to go to the end.

11) Switch Between Programs – Alt + Tab: This shortcut is a great way to quickly switch between open programs. Simply hit Alt + Tab and a list of open programs will appear. Keep hitting Tab to cycle through the list until you find the program you’re looking for, then let go of the keys to switch to that program.

12) Select Text – Shift + Arrow Keys: This shortcut is a great way to select text quickly. Simply hold down the Shift key and use the arrow keys to highlight the text you want to select.

13) Select All – Ctrl + A: This shortcut allows you to quickly select all of the text in a document. Simply hit Ctrl + A and all of the text will be selected.

14) Print Screen – PrtScn: This shortcut allows you to quickly take a screenshot of your entire screen. Simply hit the PrtScn key and a screenshot will be saved to your clipboard. You can then paste it into an image editing program and save it as a file. This can be application specific but does work with the majority of Windows applications

15) Save – Ctrl + S: This shortcut allows you to quickly save the current document or file you’re working on. Simply hit Ctrl + S and the file will be saved.

16) Minimize All Windows – Windows key + D: This shortcut will minimize all of your applications and windows. Nothing will be closed, only shrunk and out of the way.

*Bonus – Creating A Custom Keyboard Shortcut On PC

PC users shouldn’t fear, there is a way to create a custom keyboard shortcut there as well. To create a custom keyboard shortcut on PC:

1. Right-click the desktop shortcut or executable file for the program you want to create a keyboard shortcut for.
2. Select “Properties” from the drop-down menu.
3. In the Properties window, select the “Shortcut” tab.
4. In the “Shortcut key” text field, type in a keyboard shortcut that you would like to use for the program. For example, if you wanted to use the keyboard shortcut “Ctrl+Alt+P” for a program, you would type that into the text field.
5. Once you have typed in your desired keyboard shortcut, click “OK” to save the changes.

Now, every time you use the keyboard shortcut that you created, the program will launch! This can be a huge time-saver if there are certain programs that you use frequently throughout the day. Give it a try and see how much easier your life becomes!

Learning these keyboard shortcuts can save you a lot of time throughout the day – try them out and see for yourself! 

Here at Murph Consulting, we combine IT expertise with human-to-human support. Our Help Desk with a Heart  is here to help you with your IT needs. Let us know how we can help. Contact us today at 917-924-4084.