New Keyboard Shortcuts for Windows 7

Posted on January 30, 2010 at 5:35 am

We love shortcuts! They make our lives easier and our computing more productive. For those of us whose hands ache from over using the mouse, shortcuts can add hours of pain-free computer time.

Along with the new window management features in Windows 7 comes shortcuts for those features to completely bypass the mouse. This makes the new features more user-friendly, and solidifies the hope that Microsoft really is listening to their customers. Well, at least the share our affection for shortcuts.

Windows Logo + Right Arrow: Sends the window to the right half of the screen. This is a new feature in Windows 7—usually, you must drag the window all the way to the very bottom right corner for Windows to recognize you want to dock this window on the right. This shortcut sends the window there with just a button click.

Windows Logo + Left Arrow: Sends the window the left half of the screen. When used with the shortcut above, you can see your windows side by side. This is great for comparing products online or fact checking with the internet in one window and a Word file in another.

Windows Logo + Home: Minimizes or restores everything but the current window. Windows 7 allows users to “shake” the current window to minimize all other windows. This shortcut takes the place of the awkward shaking.

Windows Logo + +: Hitting this shortcut will zoom in. Windows 7 has a magnifier that works with almost any window. This shortcut activates the magnifier.

Windows Logo + –: Conversely, this shortcut allows you to zoom out. It should be easy to remember—plus zooms in, minus zooms out.

Windows Logo + G: Displays gadgets in front of other windows. So, if you are making use of the gadgets and want to see what they are doing behind your current windows, just quickly hit this shortcut and the gadgets appear on top of your current windows.

Windows Logo + Up Arrow: Maximizes the current window.

Windows Logo + Down Arrow: Minimizes the current window.

For other little-known shortcuts for all Windows versions, check out Windows logo key shortcuts.

» Filed Under Windows 7

Comments

2 Responses to “New Keyboard Shortcuts for Windows 7”

FC said on : April 19th, 2010 at 8:58 pm

Here’s a complete list of Windows 7 hotkeys if anyone needs it.

Create Keyboard Hotkeys in Windows Says:

[...] built-in shortcuts for Windows saves us tons of precious time. For example, our previous article on Windows 7 keyboard shortcuts is useful, but what if we could make our own shortcuts for the Windows tasks we do the [...]
February 26th, 2010 at 5:29 am