3 Handiest Of 77 Windows Vista Keyboard Shortcuts

Go 'up' a level: Alt+Up Arrow

Go 'back': Alt+Left Arrow

Go 'forward': Alt+Right Arrow

Windows key

Opens or closes the Start menu

Windows + D

Displays your desktop

Windows + E

Opens the Computer window

Windows + F

Opens the Search window

Ctrl + Windows + F

Searches for computers (if you're on a network)

Windows + L

Locks your computer or switches users

Windows + M

Minimizes all windows

Shift + Windows + M

Restores minimized windows

Windows + R

Opens the Run dialog box

Windows + T

Cycles through programs on the Taskbar

Windows + U

Opens the Ease of Access Center

Ctrl + A

Selects everything in a window

Ctrl + C

Copies selected items

Ctrl + X

Cuts selected items

Ctrl + V

Pastes cut or copied items

Ctrl + Y

Redoes an action

Ctrl + Z

Undoes an action

F1

Displays Help

F2

Highlights the label of a selected item for editing

F3

Opens the Search window

Ctrl + F4

Closes the current document

Alt + F4

Closes the current item or program

F5

Refreshes a window

F6

Cycles through elements in a window or on the desktop

F10

Activates a program's menu bar

Shift + Windows + F10

Displays the shortcut menu for a selected item

Delete

Deletes selected items to the Recycle Bin

Shift + Delete

Deletes selected items permanently

Alt + Enter

Displays the properties of a selected item

Ctrl + Esc

Opens the Start menu

Alt + Esc

Cycles through items in the order you opened them

Ctrl + Shift + Esc

Opens the Windows Task Manager

Left Alt + Left Shift + Num Lock

Turns the Mouse Keys feature on or off

Hold for five seconds + Num Lock

Turns the Toggle Keys feature on or off

Windows + Pause

Displays the System Properties dialog box

Left Alt + Left Shift + Print Screen

Turns the High Contrast feature on or off

Right Shift for 8 seconds

Turns the Filter Keys feature on and off

Press Shift five times

Turns the Sticky Keys feature on or off

Alt + Spacebar

Opens the shortcut menu for the current window

Alt + Tab

Switches between open items

Windows + Tab

Cycles through open items with Flip 3-D

Ctrl + Alt + Tab

Displays open items (use the arrow keys to switch between them)

Ctrl + Windows + Tab

Displays open items with Flip 3-D (use the arrow keys to cycle through them)

Alt + D

Moves to the Address bar

F4

Displays the Address bar drop-down list

Ctrl + N

Opens a new window

F11

Maximizes/minimizes the current window

Left arrow

Collapses a selection or selects its parent folder

Alt + Left arrow

Shows the previous folder

Right arrow

Displays the current selection or selects its first subfolder

Alt + Right arrow

Shows the next folder

Asterisk (keypad)

Displays subfolders within a selected folder

End

Displays the bottom of the current window

Home

Displays the top of the current window

Minus Sign (keypad)

Collapses the selected folder

Plus Sign (keypad)

Displays the contents of the selected folder

In the Vista Sidebar

Windows + G

Cycles through gadgets

Windows + Spacebar

Brings all gadgets to the front; selects Sidebar

Tab

Cycles through Sidebar controls

In a dialog box

F1

Displays Help

F4

Displays items in a drop-down list

Backspace

In Save As or Open dialog, opens a folder one level up from a selected folder

Enter

Works like a mouse click for some selected options

Spacebar

Selects or deselects an active check box

Tab

Moves forward through dialog box options

Ctrl + Tab

Hops from tab to tab

Shift + Tab

Moves backward through dialog box options

Ctrl + Shift + Tab

Hops backward from tab to tab

In Vista Help

Alt + A

Displays the customer support page

Alt + C

Displays the Help And Support Contents

Ctrl + F

Opens Find dialog box for the current topic

Alt + N

Displays the connection settings menu

Ctrl + P

Prints a help topic

F3

Moves to the Search box

F10

Displays Options menu

Alt + Home

Displays the Help And Support home page