DON'S FREEWARE CORNER - DEC 2016
TIPS AND SHORTCUTS FOR WINDOWS 10 AND BROWSERS
©2016 Donald R. Snow - page last updated 2016-12-30.
These Freeware Corner notes are published in TAGGology, our Utah
Valley Technology and Genealogy Group (UVTAGG) monthly newsletter. They
are also posted on my Freeware Corner Notes page on http://uvtagg.org/classes/dons/dons-classes.html
where the links are active and there may be corrections and additions
and other related notes and articles.
ABSTRACT
These tips and keyboard shortcuts are for Windows 10, the current
version of Microsoft Windows, but most also work for Windows 8, 7, and
XP. The browser tips work for browsers such as CHROME, FIREFOX, EDGE
(Microsoft's browser in Windows 10), and INTERNET EXPLORER (Microsoft's
browser in Windows 8, 7, and XP). Some of these tips are for the file
management programs FILE EXPLORER (Windows 10) and WINDOWS EXPLORER
(Windows 8, 7, and XP).
- KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS
You probably already use some of these shortcuts, but there may also
be a few new ones here for you. The ones considered here don't form
a complete list and you can find additional ones on websites such as
http://www.customguide.com/free-computer-training/
and https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=48716
. I printed these two web lists to pdf (an option in Windows 10) and
then from the pdfs I printed two-page hard copies and put them in
sheet protectors in a binder to refer to. If you are not using
Windows 10, there are freeware programs that will print things to
pdf (see below).
- LEFT CLICK VS RIGHT CLICK
In Windows clicking the left mouse button usually performs an
operation and the right button opens a menu. The right-click menu is
called the Context Menu and includes Copy, Paste, Delete, Rename,
and more. It also includes programs you may have installed on your
computer. For example, if you have installed EVERNOTE (freeware or
commercial versions), one of the options in the Context Menu will be
"Send To EVERNOTE" and clicking on this option will copy the
highlighted file or folder there. But the important thing to
remember about left and right clicking is that, in general, "left
click performs an operation" and "right click opens a menu".
- MOVE, COPY AND PASTE, OR CREATE A SHORTCUT
To move, copy and paste, or form a shortcut for a file or folder,
open the folder it is in with FILE EXPLORER, so you can see the name
of the item you want to work on. Right click on the name and drag
the cursor to where you want to move, copy, or make a shortcut for
it. When you release your right click, you see the options of Copy,
Move, Create a Shortcut, or Cancel, so left click the one you want.
If you left click the original file or folder and drag it, the whole
file or folder is moved to wherever you drag-and-drop it, which you
may not want to do.
- HIGHLIGHT A GROUP
To highlight several files or folders hold down the CTRL key while
clicking on each one. This allows highlighting more than one file or
folder and these can be in a sequence, i.e. one after the other, or
not. If you want to highlight a whole sequence of files or folders,
you can do this more easily by highlighting the first one, then
holding down the CTRL key while clicking on the last one. You get
all the files or folders highlighted in between so you can copy,
move, delete, or rename them all. This works in any Windows program
and is a very useful on many occasions.
- PRINT TO PDF WINDOWS 10
has a built-in "Print To PDF" option. When you click Print in any
WINDOWS 10 program, you see the options of which printer or program
to use and one of them is Print To PDF. This sends the print
information directly to a pdf file and not to hard copy. For any
version of Windows there are also several freeware programs that
will do this, e.g. http://www.cutepdf.com/Products/CutePDF/writer.asp
and http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/doro_pdf_writer.html
. There is an entire Freeware Corner article that I wrote about PDF
PRINTERS on my webpage. I usually leave my default printer set as
Print To PDF, so I can see exactly what the hard copy will look like
without wasting paper. When it is just the way I want, I save it by
printing to pdf, and then print that pdf to hard copy. That way I
always have the file to print additional copies, if I ever need
them. I am finding that I print less and less to hard copy now and
more and more to pdf, so I use less paper and the pdfs are easier to
find and work with.
- ALT-TAB TO SWITCH BETWEEN PROGRAMS
If you have several programs open, holding down the ALT key and
pressing TAB cycles through them all and you see a box around the
one that is active. Stop when the box surrounds the one you want to
use and that program becomes the active one.
- PROGRAM ICONS ON THE TASKBAR
When a program is opened, you see its icon on the taskbar (bar
across the bottom of the screen) with it underlined. Clicking on the
icon maximizes or minimizes the open program. To put a program icon
on the taskbar so you can open it again later, even after you close
the program, right click the icon on the taskbar and select Pin To
Taskbar. Clicking on this icon will now open the program whenever
you want, and when the program is open, the icon is underlined.
- SIZE AND VISIBILITY OF THE CURSOR
The size of the cursor can be changed by clicking on the WINDOWS 10
icon (small slanted window in lower left corner of screen) >
Settings (small gear wheel icon) > Ease of Access > Mouse >
Pointer Size. I set my cursor to be Large, so it is easier to see. I
also set the cursor thickness to be a little wider; you do this
under Other Options. Under Settings > Devices > Mouse and
Touchpad > Additional Mouse Options > Pointer Options, I set
the cursor to move with the mouse speed I want and I set it to show
long pointer trails, so as I move the cursor, it shows the trails
and my poor eyesight can find it more easily. There is also an
option to show the location of the pointer by putting concentric
circles around it, when you click the CTRL key.
- SEARCH BOX
Clicking on the WINDOWS 10 icon (small slanted window in lower left
corner of screen ) opens a menu of options and programs including a
search box just above the WINDOWS 10 icon. Typing in any word or
phrase there gives you a list of all programs with that word or
phrase in the title. For example, type in "settings" and you see all
programs with that in their title somewhere. You see the first few
results and a link to click to see more results. It also has an
option to Search The Internet for that word or phrase with whatever
browser and search engine you have set as your defaults.
- SETTING THE DEFAULT PROGRAMS
The Default Programs are the ones that open files automatically when
you click on the file title. For example, you can set your default
browser, the default programs for email, pdfs, photos, documents,
text, music, or any other type file. File types are indicated by the
file extensions, e.g. the 3 or 4 characters after the dot in the
title such as .html, .doc, .jpg, etc. To set the default programs
click on the Window 10 icon (small slanted window in lower left
corner of screen) > Settings > System > Default Apps and
set whichever programs you want to be your defaults. Any program you
want to set as a default must be installed on your computer; for
example, if you want to set CHROME as your default browser, you must
download and install it first. To see what type the files are, I
find it helpful to always show the file extensions by FILE EXPLORER
> View > and put a check in File Name Extensions. Otherwise,
the extensions are not shown at the ends of file names.
- WINDOWS-E TO OPEN FILE EXPLORER
The WINDOWS key is the one on the left side of the keyboard with the
Microsoft Window logo on it. Holding it down and pressing E opens
the FILE EXPLORER program without having to use your mouse to click
on the File Folder icon on the taskbar. Each time you press this
combination it opens another copy of FILE EXPLORER and this is
helpful to see two or more directories open at once to compare them
or drag-and-drop between them. Clicking on the File Folder icon on
the taskbar opens FILE EXPLORER, but that just allows a single copy
of it.
- CTRL-ALT-DEL TO GET YOUR COMPUTER'S ATTENTION
To stop a program when it is taking too long or you think it is in a
loop, and the ESC key doesn't work, hold down CTRL-ALT-DEL, all
three keys at once. This gets your computer's attention and shows a
menu. Click on TASK MANAGER and you see a list of all programs
running and their information and you can stop any or all of them.
- CTRL-CLICK TO OPEN A LINK WHILE KEEPING YOUR PLACE IN THE OLD PAGE
In browsers or other programs where there are links to other
websites holding down the CTRL key while clicking the link makes the
link open in a new window, so you keep your place in the original
program. This makes it very easy to get back to where you were
without having to use the back arrow key and scrolling through the
old program to get back to where you came from.
- FORM A DESKTOP ICON FOR A WEBSITE
When you find a website that you want to have an icon for, drag the
small icon that is in front of the website's address in your browser
over to your desktop or down to your taskbar. This forms an icon
there that will open that particular browser and go immediately to
that webpage.
- VIEWING THE FILE CONTENTS IN THE PREVIEW PANE OF FILE EXPLORER
In FILE EXPLORER and WINDOWS EXPLORER there is an option to show the
Preview Pane. In FILE EXPLORER it is in View and in WINDOWS EXPLORER
it is in the 9-dot-square icon in the upper right corner. Then, when
highlighting a file title, you see what's in the file in the Preview
Pane to the right. This helps you when working on, renaming, moving,
or deleting files without having to open them first. The Preview
Pane shows the file as if you had opened it in the default program
for that type of file. You can even scroll through all pages of a
pdf, for example, without opening it in your pdf program. This helps
greatly in file management and renaming since you don't have to open
the file in another program first.
- CONCLUSIONS
These are just a few of the tips and keyboard shortcuts that WINDOWS
10 and browsers have. The "cheat-sheets" mentioned above list many
more and I will probably write later FREEWARE CORNER articles on
additional ones.