Despite the popularity of tablets and other smart devices, PC and laptops still continue to be the humble option for many. That being said many office goers will probably agree to the fact that, productivity and efficiency becomes a little challenging while using mouse. For example, if you want to select a page you will press the left button of the mouse and drag it from the first to the last sentence you wish to select or highlight. Whereas, by just pressing Ctrl+A from your keyboard you can select the entire page in seconds!
That’s not all, constantly operating the mouse can also affect you ergonomically causing strain on your wrist. Keeping all of these factors in view, here’s a list of some keyboard shortcuts for both Windows and Mac (Apple) OS that can help you toggle between tabs, zoom, switch to full screen mode, reload pages, bookmark, create files and more without having to use the mouse.
How to Use Keyboard Shortcuts to browse the Internet
When Internet has managed to make our lives so easier with access to some interesting and useful information at our finger tips why not make browsing that easier with some of the shortcuts used for browsing the internet in Windows and Mac (Apple) OS.
| Function | Windows | Mac |
| New Tab | Control (Ctrl)+Tab | Command (Cmd)+T |
| Reload a page in the current tab | Control (Ctrl)+R / F5 | Command (Cmd)+R |
| Address Bar | Control (Ctrl)+L | Command (Cmd)+L |
| Bookmark Manager | Control (Ctrl)+Shift+O | Command (Cmd)+Option+Left Arrow |
| Bookmark Current Page | Control (Ctrl)+Shift+D | Command (Cmd)+D |
| Display Bookmark Pages | Control (Ctrl)+Shift +B | Command (Cmd)+Shift+B |
| Access Tabs in Forward direction in same window | Control (Ctrl)+Tab | Command (Cmd)+Tab |
| Access Tabs in backward direction in the same window | Control (Ctrl)+shift+Tab | Command (Cmd)+Shift+Tab |
| Close Tab | Control (Ctrl)+W | Command (Cmd)+W |
| Reopen previous tab | Control (Ctrl)+W | Command (Cmd)+W |
| New Window | Control (Ctrl)+N / Control (Ctrl)+Shift+N | Command (Cmd)+N / Command (Cmd)+Shift+N |
| Incognito Window | Control (Ctrl)+Shift+N | Command (Cmd)+Shift+P |
| View History | Control (Ctrl)+H | Command (Cmd)+Y |
| View Downloads | Control (Ctrl)+J | Command (Cmd)+Option+L |
| Clear Browsing Data | Control (Ctrl)+Shift+Del | Command (Cmd)+Shift+Backspace |
| Access Multiple Tabs | Control (Ctrl)+1 to 9 for e.g. If you press Crtl+5 it will take you to the fifth tab | Command (Cmd)+1 to 9 for e.g. If you press Crtl+8 it will take you to the eighth tab. |
| To Jump to the top of the page | Home Key | Fn+Left arrow |
| To Access the end of the page | End Key | Fn+Right arrow |
| Zoom In | Control (Ctrl)+Plus Sign | Command (Cmd)+Plus Sign |
| Zoom Out | Control (Ctrl)+Minus Sign | Command (Cmd)+Minus Sign |
| Next Page | Alt+Right Arrow | Command (Cmd) + ] |
| Previous Page | Alt+Left Arrow | Command (Cmd) + [ |
How to Use Keyboard Shorts to Access Files & Folders
Folders and files makes accessing the data an easy task isn’t it? How about finding easier ways of accessing the files and folders like a pro?
| Function | Windows | Mac |
| Open a file or folder | Control (Ctrl)+O | Command (Cmd)+O |
| Create New Folder | Control (Ctrl)+Shift+N | Command (Cmd)+Shift+N |
| Delete folder | Control (Ctrl)+D | Command (Cmd)+D |
| Rename Folder or File | F2 | N/A |
| Close File or folder | Alt+F4 | N/A |
Generic shortcuts for Windows & Mac.
Apart from the above mentioned shortcuts, here are some shortcuts commands that you can for generic purpose like copy, cut, paste, find etc.
| Function | Windows | Mac |
| Cut | Control (Ctrl)+X | Command (Cmd)+X |
| Copy | Control (Ctrl)+C | Command (Cmd)+C |
| Paste | Control (Ctrl)+V | Command (Cmd)+V |
| Select All | Control (Ctrl)+A | Command (Cmd)+A |
| Save | Control (Ctrl)+S | Command (Cmd)+S |
| Undo | Control (Ctrl)+Z | Command (Cmd)+Z |
| Redo | Control (Ctrl)+Y | Command (Cmd)+Y |
| Close Current Tab | Control (Ctrl)+W | Command (Cmd)+W |
| Open Find Bar | Control (Ctrl)+F | Command (Cmd)+F |
| Show Desktop by minimizing the Windows | Windows Logo +D | Command (Cmd)+Alt+M / F11 |
| Refresh/Reload | F5 | Command (Cmd)+R |
| Full screen mode | F11 | Command (Cmd)+Control (Ctrl)+F / ESC |
| Control (Ctrl)+P | Command (Cmd)+P | |
| Quit | Alt+F4 | Command (Cmd)+Q |
| Print Screen/ Screenshot | Alt+PrintScreen/Control (Ctrl)+PrintScreen/Windows Logo+Printscreen | Command (Cmd)+Shift+3/Command (Cmd)+Shift+4 |
Although these shortcuts may seem to be a little baffling initially you will easily master the art with a few practice by using it in your daily routine. However, if you too got some shortcuts then do share them with us. Also, if you found the article interesting then do share it with your family and friends as well.
