Care Partner Support

Common Keyboard Shortcuts 

There are tons of keyboard shortcuts that can differ between programs and devices. I have hand tailored a few that I personally find useful and I believe you will as well. 

Ctrl + A--Selects all text. 

This will highlight everything in the current program/window you have open.  

This can be useful if you want to copy the contents of an entire folder or delete a poorly written email and start over. 

Ctrl + X--Cuts the selected item. 

When used on a selected or highlighted item, be it file or a typed sentence, it will make a copy to be pasted somewhere else and remove the original.  

This can be useful if trying to reorganize your folders or move files. 

Ctrl + C--Copy the selected item. 

When used on a selected or highlighted item, be it file or a typed sentence, it will make a copy to be pasted somewhere else and keep the original. 

This can be used to copy selections of text from webpages or documents to place in emails or new documentation. 

Ctrl + V--Paste the selected item. 

When used in combination with Ctrl + X or Ctrl + C it will place a copy of the selected or highlighted item in a new location 

Alt + Tab -- Switch between open applications. 

This shortcut is a multitaskers dream. It will allow you to quickly switch between programs opened on your computer. It has a memory of the order in which you have last used each program and will switch between them in that order. So, if you are browsing a webpage for ideas and want to quickly share the ideas over teams you can easily Alt + Tab between the two programs. 

Ctrl + Alt + Del -- Reboot/Windows task manager. 

This shortcut is (hopefully) rarely needed to be used outside of logging into your computer. If you find programs have frozen and are not responding. This can sometimes be used to close the program. You will quite often see us in IT use this shortcut when dealing with unruly programs. 

F5 -- Refresh contents 

Sometimes webpages do not load properly, this quick shortcut will tell the webpage to reload.  

Alt + F4 -- Close current open program. 

This is another shortcut you can try to use when a program has frozen and is not responding. It is not as effective as using Ctrl+Alt+Delete but is simpler to use. 

Shift + Del -- Delete programs/files permanently. 

When deleting file typically they get sent to your computers trash can where they are still available to be recovered until you manually empty your trash can. If you press Shift + Del over a selected file it will not send them to the trash can and will instead permanently delete the file. 

Ctrl + Z – undo last action 

This is shortcut and fix many of your “oops” moments. It will try and undo the last action you did on your computer. If you accidentally deleted an entire email that took you hours to type, this shortcut will try and bring it back. It is important to use this shortcut as soon as possible after the mistake.  

WINKEY + L -- Lock the computer 

It is important to never leave a computer unattended that has been signed into our network. This quick shortcut will lock your computer if you need to quickly get away. 

Ctrl + Mouse Wheel – Adjust font size of text / Zoom 

This shortcut is one of the most common I show residents and care partners who are struggling to see small text on their computers. By holding down Ctrl and using your mouse scroll wheel you can adjust the size of the text, or in some cases adjust the zoom of the page. 

Ctrl + F - Find a Keyword on your Page