Many hardcore computer users might consider themselves above learning 
new tricks, but there are always new ways to sharpen your skills on the PC 
and we bet that you will find at least one useful thing here that you didn't 
know before.
We've compiled some of the most handy computer tricks you should be 
taking advantage of. The ultimate goal is to help you become more productive 
by shaving valuable seconds off your workflow. Of course, you can always 
pass along these tips to your not-so-savvy friends and family members to help 
them become better PC users as well.
The original Tips & Tricks guide was published in 2013. We've since revised
the article, pulled some tips that are no longer relevant, and added many more
that we find to be must-haves on this list. The original guide was also very
Windows-centric, and it continues to be to an extent, however we've added a
lot of macOS equivalents and information relating to shortcuts generally used
by desktop power users.

General Tricks

Bring back a closed tab We have dedicated a section to web browsing further
down below, but this one is too useful to be missed.
Accidentally closed a tab?
Simply press Ctrl + Shift + T to reopen the most recently closed tab and get
back to what you were doing (Cmd + Shift + T on Macs).
Window snapping and multiple monitor control Pressing the
Windows Key + Arrow Keys will cause a window to quickly snap to each side
of either monitor. Alternatively, hitting Shift + Windows Key + Arrows will cause
the window to jump to the other monitor. While pressing Windows + P will
allow you to quickly set up a second display or projector.
As mentioned before, in macOS we favor leveraging the power of
Mission Control to handle virtual desktops, switching between apps, and
peaking at your desktop beautifully. Though Macs don't support window
snapping out of the box, a $0.99 app called Magnetcomes highly
recommended.
Password-protect files A simple way to lock down access to certain files is to
create an encrypted archive. Odds are you already have installed a copy of 7-Zip, WinRAR, or The Unarchiver (Mac) or some equivalent. Create a new
archive, select to encrypt its contents and password protect them.
Undo everywhere to fix those little mistakes Did you know you can undo
almost any action? Ctrl + Z is the ultimate hot key, and for sure you knew
about it already, however note that undo doesn't just apply to typing. If you
accidentally delete or move a file, you can hit Ctrl + Z to bring it right back
to where it was (Ctrl + Y will redo whatever you undid).
YouTube keyboard shortcuts If you thought using the spacebar to pause a
YouTube video was effective (except when focus is elsewhere and it
doesn't work), instead try using K for pausing, while J and L will step
backward/forward 10 seconds. M works for mute. Super handy.
Screenshot like you mean it Simply hitting print screen on your keyboard
is the easiest way to capture a screenshot. But Windows and macOS
provide several other ways to screenshot, many of which are better options.
But then, there's grabbing a screenshot and annotating. We love Monosnap
for doing just that thanks to its simplicity, speed, and cross-platform support.
Windows Power User Menu You can open a quick list of common power user
destinations in Windows by right clicking the bottom left of the start
button on Windows 8 and 10 which opens a context menu with shortcuts to
power options, the event viewer, device manager and so on. This menu is
also accessible by pressing the Windows key + X.
Easily extract images from a Word (.docx) file Change the file name from
.docx to .zip and open the file. The pictures will be in one of the directories.
Find/delete large files wasting space A handy tool called Space Sniffer can
be
used to easily find which files and folders are taking up the most space on
your drive. From there, you can delete them and open up a ton of storage
space. Other Windows alternatives (free) include WinDirStat and TreeSize.
On macOS you can use Finder or Siri to find large files with no third party
app, but we like to use GrandPerspective.
Delete the Windows.old folder. If you have plenty of free space and don't mind
the untidiness, you can simply ignore the folder and it should be deleted
automatically 30 days after the update. But if you are strapped for storage space,
you can use Windows' own tools to remove it with ease.
Command prompt here In the Windows File Explorer, type "cmd" into the
address bar and it will open the command prompt in that directory.
Reduce the number of programs running at startup If your PC is taking too
long to boot, it's probably because you have far too many programs running
at startup. It's easy to reduce these and it will make your PC launch
noticeably faster. Make sure you research what you are turning off as some
processes might be needed by third party programs you have installed.
  • Windows: Open the task manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc) and head to the 
  • startup tab to configure what programs you want to launch with your 
  • system.
  • Windows 7 and prior: Open run (Windows key + R) and enter msconfig 
  • to access a window with a similar startup section.
  • macOS: Go to System Preferences > Users & Groups > Select your 
  • user and click on the Login Items tab. You can remove or hide startup 
  • applications from here.
Windows hidden "god mode" folder Windows offers a centralized Control
Panel for all of the OS settings, making it easy for users to tweak everything
from desktop background to setting up a VPN. To enter this mode, create
a new folder with this exact name (copy and paste it): God Mode.
{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}. The folder icon will change
to a Control Panel-style icon, and you will be able to jump in and change all
kinds of settings.

Typing Tricks

Paste the plain text of what was copied When you copy text from any source,
programs will usually include any formatting that comes with it. To paste this
as plain text, press Ctrl + Shift + V instead of the standard Ctrl + V, and the
system will paste unformatted text. This also works on Mac: Cmd + Shift + V.
Note that many but not all programs follow this parameter, particularly
Microsoft programs like Word or Outlook don't, which is annoying. There
are a few alternatives that go beyond copying and pasting in Notepad:
1) Ctrl + Alt + V will show a 'paste special' dialog box. 2)Ctrl + Spacebar will
 remove formatting in already pasted text. 3) Download Puretext and choose
a hotkey to always paste plain text with it.
Delete an entire word Instead of deleting a single letter,
pressing Ctrl + Backspace will delete the entire word behind the cursor.
This makes deleting text quicker if you screw up a whole word.
Move cursor to beginning of the next or previous word Moving the cursor
around manually while typing is a great way to make your work take longer
than it needs to. To speed up the process, move the cursor around with
keyboard shortcuts. To move it to the beginning of the previous word, use Ctrl
+ Left Arrow. To move it to the beginning of the next word, use Ctrl +
Right Arrow. In macOS you can accomplish the same using the Option key.
To select words/paragraphs as you're going, hold Shift + Ctrl + Arrow
(up or down will select entire bodies of text).
Making sub and superscript text If you need to make sub or superscript text
(think exponents for superscript), press Ctrl + = for subscript and Ctrl + Shift +
= for superscript.
Use Windows' character map to identify and create foreign symbols Search
the Start menu for "character map" and you should find a utility that lets you
copy every character imaginable and even provides an Alt + Numpad code
for later use. For example, the euro sign (€) can be made with Alt + 0128.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Open the task manager directly If you want to bypass the interrupt that
happens when pressing Ctrl + Alt + Del and jump right to the task manager,
hitting Ctrl + Shift + Esc will launch it directly.
Use Spotlight Windows built-in search is not useless, but it certainly is
unreliable and slow. macOS' Spotlight on the other hand is brilliant. Hit Cmd
+ Spacebar to open an app by typing just the first 2-3 letters of its name,
search for files, or even do calculations.
Interrupt all processes Ctrl + Alt + Delete used to be a common PC shortcut,
and one almost all power users are familiar with. The important thing to note
is that it interrupts all processes, including the one that is bogging down your
system, which can mean the difference between needing to restart or not. In
macOS, you can also summon the Force Quit dialog box by using
Cmd + Shift + Esc.
Cycle through open windows Pressing Alt + Tab allows you to cycle through
currently open windows (Alt + Shift + Tab will cycle backwards). This makes
switching back and forth between running processes quick and painless.
In macOS the shortcut is Cmd + Tab.
Launch programs with your own hotkeys Right click the shortcut to any
application in Windows, head into the properties and in the shortcut tab you
should see a "shortcut key" field where you can type your preferred launch
combo. Also of note, if you click the "advanced" options in the shortcut tab,
you can set it to run as an Administrator, which is particularly useful for
creating a shortcut to an elevated Command Prompt. This could be set to
launch with the keys Ctrl + Alt + Numpad 1 for example.
Close the current program Typing Alt + F4 will close the program that is
running. This is useful as it saves you time mousing over the "X" and clicking.
People will often use this as a joke, telling you to press Alt + F4 to fix a
problem. Don't fall for it unless you want to close what you are doing.
Minimize all windows Sometimes you have a bunch of stuff running, and you
want it all to go away so you can get to the desktop. Simply pressing Windows
key + D will minimize everything you have up, which will save you some time
pressing the minimize button for each window. It should be noted that
Windows + M offers similar functionality, but there is no undoing, so
Windows + D is the more favorable approach. In macOS we favor leveraging
the power of Mission Control to handle virtual desktops, switching between
apps, and peaking at your desktop beautifully.
You can use the menu key on a keyboard to right click Not every keyboard
has the key (shown above), but many do. Pressing the button will right click
whatever you have in focus/selected in Windows.
Close the current window/tab Stick of moving all the way to that X button?
Press Ctrl + W and the current window will close. (Don't do it now, or you
will miss the rest of the tricks!)
Bring up the system information window This is so much quicker than
digging this out the traditional way... Just press Windows + Pause/Break
and the System Information panel will be ready to go. This might be the
only use for the Pause/Break key you will ever find, so enjoy it!
Use your keyboard to launch programs on the Windows taskbar Tapping
the Windows key + the number that corresponds to the position of the
program is a quick way to open them. For instance if Chrome were the
second icon on your taskbar and that's what you wanted to open, you'd
hit Windows key + 2.
Use your keyboard to navigate system tray icons Tapping the Windows
key + B will automatically select the system tray area at which point you
just have to highlight something with the arrow keys and hit enter to
open it.
Enable copy and paste in the Windows command prompt While you're
tinkering with the command prompt shortcut, if you right click it > head to
Properties > Options > and check the box next to "QuickEdit mode" you
will be able to select text with left click, copy with enter and paste with
right click.

Web Browsing Tricks

Jump to address bar There are a number of ways to jump right to the address
bar from anywhere in browser. Pressing Ctrl + L, F6, and Alt + D all
accomplish this goal.
Automatically add www. and .com to a URL You can shave off a couple of
seconds typing in a URL by simply click Ctrl + Enter after you type the name
of the site. Need .net instead of .com? Press Ctrl + Shift + Enter instead.
Cycle through open tabs Pressing Ctrl + Tab while in a browser will flip
between each one (Ctrl + Shift + Tab to go backwards). This can be much
faster than moving the mouse and clicking on a tab. Ctrl + Num
(1, 2, 3, 4, n..) will also take you to certain tab in that numeric order.
Ctrl + 9 always brings you to the very last tab, even if it's beyond the ninth
one.
Scroll through pages with the spacebar Tapping the spacebar on a website
will scroll down in full page chunks and hitting shift + space will take you
back up.
Instant image search (Chrome only) If you hold down the "S" key and right
click on an image, it will open an image search on a new tab.
Use private browsing The uses for not having cookies and history saved
are obvious for certain activities, you know, like shopping for gifts on a
shared computer (of course!). Pressing Ctrl + Shift + N will launch a new
private in Chrome, Ctrl + Shift + P will do it in Firefox and Internet Explorer.
Convert your browser into a notepad Type this into the address bar and you
can write notes. Alternatively, while not as fast. Use Google Keep or Gmail's
compose mail to write notes and have those saved on the cloud as you type
and go.
Icon-only bookmarks on your toolbar You can delete the name of your
bookmarks leaving only the icon so they take up less space on the toolbar.
In Chrome: right click the bookmark > edit > delete the name and save.
Use the scroll wheel Put your middle mouse button to use by clicking on links
to automatically open them in a new tab/window. Also if you use the scroll
wheel button on a tab, it will close it.
Copy links quicker Right click the link like usual but tap E on your keyboard to
copy the link.
Make content editable Bring up the console on Chrome or Firefox (right click,
Inspect). On the console enter the command document.designMode = "on" 
that will let you edit any text on the screen.
Zoom In, Reset Zoom Use the browser magnifier to adjust a website for more
comfortable reading. Ctrl/Cmd + (plus/minus sign) does the trick. To reset to
the default zoom level use Ctrl + 0.

File Management Tricks

Rename a file quickly Right-clicking and selecting rename is not very efficient.
Instead press F2 while a file is selected to change its name. To alter the name
of another file, type Tab without deselecting the current file. On Macs, hitting
Enter will rename (which may sound counter-intuitive to Windows users) while
Cmd + O is used to open.
Cloud backup important files If you're working on a critical project, make sure
you aren't backing up locally only. Services like Dropbox, Google Drive, or any of the other popular cloud storage solutions will do the legwork for you in the background. Of course, you can also throw the files on a thumb drive or external HDD to be extra safe, but backing up to the cloud can be done seamlessly.
Rename files sequentially in Windows or Mac You actually don't need to
download any programs to perform a batch file rename. Instead, you can select
all the files you want to change, right-click the first one in the list, select rename
(or use F2), and type in the name. This will automatically change all the other
files with the same root name with a suffix: (1), (2), and so on.
On Mac, you can do something similar. Select the files, then right click and an
option to rename the whole batch as a series will show up.
Select multiple files using the keyboard To select a bunch of files using your
keyboard, you can press Shift + Down Arrow to select a single file or Shift +
Page Down to select a large group of files at one time. Ctrl + A will select
everything.
Right click drag files and folders in Windows And you'll be presented with a
context menu containing options to move, copy, zip or create a shortcut.

Security Tips

Lock your computer if you get up Sick of your "friends" going onto your
computer at work or home and posting things on your Facebook/Twitter page
on your behalf? It's certainly an annoyance, but an easy one to prevent.
Windows + L will lock your system right away, requiring a password (if you've
set one) to log in again.
On macOS use Cmd + Option + Power to log off. On the latest revision of
macOS (High Sierra) a quicker option to simply lock the screen was added
which works using the shortcut Cmd + Ctrl + Q.
Scan suspicious files with VirusTotal If you're worried about a file being
infected, you can upload it to VirusTotal to have it checked by a few dozen
antivirus engines from the cloud. Often times someone has already uploaded
the same file, sparing you the wait.
See who is logged on to your router Software such as Wireless Network
Watcher makes this particularly easy and even has alarms for when someone
new appears. You can also do this by logging into your router (common router
 IP addresses) and checking for a list of wireless clients which should display
the name of the device, its currently assigned IP address and its MAC address.
Permanently remove deleted data so software such as Recuva can't undelete files/foldersOpen a command prompt and enter cipher /w:C: to wipe deleted
files from your C: drive (change the letter to target a different drive or folder).
If you need to go the extra mile and use a file shredder program, check out Eraser (Windows) and FileShredder (Mac).
Read installers Even major programs can install toolbars and other unwanted
pieces of software during installation. Take a few seconds to read each step
to make sure you are not agreeing to install something other than the program
you were actually seeking. Far too often people just push next over and over,
and end up with a browser covered in various search bars that just aren't
needed. In the worst of scenarios, these can have nefarious intentions.
Run programs on an infected PC Malware may prevent a computer from running
certain programs. Changing the name of the .exe file can often override this. If
that doesn't work, changing the extension to .com is another useful alternative,
and the program will still be able to run despite the extension change.

Other Third-Party App Tricks

Steam: Move games to another drive or partition Software such as
Steam Mover used to be required for this process and although these third party
solutions should still work, Steam now provides the ability to store games on
multiple drives: Go to Steam > Settings > Downloads > Steam Library Folders,
make a new Steam library folder on the new drive, then right click on an already
installed game in your Steam library > Properties > Local Files tab > Move install
folder... > Choose the directory > Move folder.
Repeat last command in Excel Pressing F4 in Excel repeats the last command.
A great example we found on Reddit: if you select a cell and highlight it yellow,
you can then highlight any other selected cells yellow by pressing F4.
Use Windows' Problem Steps Recorder This handy tool automatically records
any mouse clicks and takes screenshots for you. If you need tech assistance
with your computer, go to Start and search for "steps recorder". Use the tool
and by the time you are finished, you can send this information, neatly compiled automatically, to the person helping you with the issue. It will make the process
of finding the problem much easier for them, which means you will be able to get
your system up and running faster.
VLC: Fix unsynced audio and subtitles In the popular media player VLC, if your
audio loses sync with the video or subtitles, there is an easy way to fix this.
Simply pressing J or K will move the audio forward or backwards. Similarly, to
sync the subtitles you can press H or G.
Expand your text to full page width in Microsoft Word We don't see this feature
used quite enough and by default Word leaves a lot of unused space toward
the margins. Head to View > Zoom > and choose Text Width > OK. Now
whatever you're writing should fill out most of the Word page.
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Using these tips and tricks on a daily basis will most certainly make your time
on the computer more enjoyable, or at least more practical.
So, did you learn something that you didn't know before?
Please Leave the Comments.