This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.
If you fancy yourself a PC power user, you know how valuable it is to keep your hands on the keyboard. Constantly switching between typing and mousing can really slow you down when you’re powering through that TPS report.
Lucky for you, the wizards at Microsoft have built some time-saving (if little-known) keyboard shortcuts into their operating systems over the years, with some really handy ones gracing Windows 7 and most modern web browsers.
If you’re aiming to speed up your workflow and impress your colleagues at the same time, check out these little gems.
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Cut through large swaths of text with this handy trick.
Similarly, you can highlight entire words in your text without pecking at those arrow keys.
Bulldoze terrible sentences more efficiently with this shortcut.
Don’t reach for that mouse. Instead of click-dragging the cursor, snap right or left with this fancy method.
Keep this macro in mind if you tend to browse Facebook at the office.
If you really want to test the glitz of Windows 7, give this combo a try. Its usefulness will be discussed later.
Stepping away from the screen for a light lunch? Lock that puppy down with one swift stroke, especially if it’sApril Fool’s Day.
Applications acting up on you? Need to check your system’s resources? Skip the clicking and get into the Task Manager with this shortcut.
Trimming down screengrabs can be a pain, especially if you have a lot of desktop real estate. This shortcut lets you capture only the window in which you’re working.
Forgo that right-clicking nonsense and give this file-renaming trick a shot. It also works great if you’ve selected multiple files or folders.
This one works in a variety of applications, including browsers, word processors and Photoshop, among others.
When you’re ready to return to the normal view, strike this keyboard combo.
This one may be common, but it’s worth mentioning if it will save you from clicking among a mess of browser tabs.
This one can be a life-saver, especially if you accidentally close a webpage you’d been searching diligently for.
If you need to navigate the web quickly, this combo will get you moving in two keystrokes.
Which time-saving macros do you use at your desk? Share them with the class in the comments below.
Keyboard images courtesy of chromatix d-sign.
Tips via Reddit.
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