While we wish life outside technology offered this sort of efficiency, it’s nice to know that these quick keys are there when we need them. They won’t solve all of your woes this semester, but they may create a little more time to make them easier to handle.

Find what you are looking for, instantly.

Want to know when an internet article mentions a certain concept or name? Hit CTRL + F. This Find function will not only tell you how many times the word or name occurs, but it will also highlight them throughout the document. Use the F3 key to toggle in between mentions. Want to find something in your files? Use the WINDOWS + E quick key to search File Explorer.

Want to use this quick key to find something more valuable? Give it a whirl. Click CTRL + F and type “sanity” in the field. <--See? Win.

Go back in time.

I’m guessing you already know the ever-useful CTRL + Z quick key to recover previous material and undo the most recent change.

Add to the time traveling ability while also eliminating the minutes (hours?) you spend moving your hand down to the trackpad or mouse to hit the back button on your web browser by using the CTRL + LEFT ARROW instead. Use the time you’ve saved to close the 13 tabs you aren’t using (and CTRL + SHIFT + T to open them all again).

Improve your vocabulary.

We all want to keep our conversations and papers engrossing, succinct, and perspicacious, which is why it’s nice that a thesaurus is just a SHIFT + F7 away.

Be in two (or more) places at once.

When you want to output your screen to a projector, broadcast to a wireless display or connect to one or more external monitors, you can find all of your options with the WINDOWS + P command. It will bring up an interface screen that will provide you with display options, all at the click of a button.

Start over.

We all need a do-over button once in a while, and your Windows machine has several to choose from. CTRL + R will refresh your browser. CTRL + ALT + DELETE will restart your computer. There’s also the handy power button quick-key for when you really feel like shutting down.

Want to learn how to save time with your educational technology in other ways? We can help with that.

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We love Chromebooks for how they hit the ground running (and continue running even if they hit the ground). They are one of the fastest ways for students to power up, log on, and get going. And, with this list of Chrome-specific keyboard shortcuts, they are about to get even faster.

Keyboard shortcuts are a time-honored way of eliminating the use of the mouse or trackpad. By holding certain keys together, you can do anything from take a screenshot, lock your Chromebook screen, adjust your screen zoom, switch browser tabs, and more—all without moving your hand from the keyboard. You’ve used shortcuts before if you’ve ever done a Ctrl+X to cut, Ctrl+C to copy, and Ctrl+V to paste; these standard text-editing shortcuts are also accepted by Chromebooks, as well as Ctrl+Z to undo and more.

There are some shortcuts, however, that are unique to the Chromebook, and we’ve listed our favorites below.

Ctrl + Shift + L locks your Chromebook’s screen.
Ctrl + Shift + Q pressed once will log you out of your Chromebook. Press it twice to quit.
Alt + E will open the Chromebook browser menu when the application is open and focused.
Alt + 1-8 will activate the Chrome OS taskbar (the “shelf”). It works from left to right, so Alt + 1 will launch the first application from the left, Alt + 2 will launch the second one, and so forth.
Press Ctrl + Switcher/F5 when you want to take a screenshot and save it to your Downloads folder.
Ctrl + Shift + Switcher/F5 will also take a screenshot, but you’ll need to use your cursor to click and drag which part you’d like to capture.
Shift + Esc to summon the Task Manager.
Press Ctrl + Switcher/F5 when you want to take a screenshot and save it to your Downloads folder.
Ctrl + Shift + Switcher/F5 will also take a screenshot, but you’ll need to use your cursor to click and drag which part you’d like to capture.
Ctrl + Shift and + or – to increase (+) or decrease (-) the screen scale by controlling its zoom.
Use Ctrl + Shift and ) to instantly reset the scale of the screen to the default setting.]
When things go sideways, your screen should, too. Use Ctrl + Shift + Refresh/F3 to turn your screen 90 degrees.
Ctrl + Immersive Mode/F4 is used to configure display settings when an external monitor is connected.

Browser And Tab Management

If you’re like most of us at Arey Jones, you enjoy browser tabs like potato chips; you can never have just one. Here are a handful of ways to manage your browser with just a few keystrokes. (Hint: These are standard browser shortcuts that work on almost any computer and Chromebook).

Ctrl + 1-9 will activate your tabs in order (for example, Ctrl + 1 will open the first tab, Ctrl +2 opens the second, etc).
Ctrl + T opens a fresh tab.
Ctrl + W closes the current one.
Ctrl + L (our favorite) will automatically highlight the location bar so you can instantly add a search term or web address.

If the above are hard to remember, then only learn this one: “Ctrl + Alt + ?”, which opens a Chromebook keyboard shortcut cheat sheet to use at any time.

Want to create your own keyboard shortcuts for Chrome? Try out the Shortcut Manager extension that was created by a Google employee. It’s a little complicated for the novice user, but it will allow you to assign custom keyboard shortcuts, so nothing comes between you and your Chromebook experience.

Do you have a keyboard shortcut you couldn’t live without? Let us know!