Category: Taking Ctrl

For the keyboard shortcuts mini series.

Taking Ctrl: Arrange Windows

The Problem

When working on one screen it can be quite fiddly to view windows side by side.

The Solution

A quick way to manage how windows are arranged on screen is to use the Windows key + the directional arrows (the ones on the number pad work too).

Windows + left/right will move your current window to that side of the screen. Keep tapping the direction arrow to move it across further, or to the next monitor along in a multi-monitor setup.

Windows + up makes your current window full screen, while Windows + down will stop it being full screen.

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Taking Ctrl: Insert a Link

The Method

Highlight the text you want to make into a link and then…

  • Windows: Ctrl + K
  • Mac: Command + K

Applications

Ctrl/Command +K will insert a hyperlink in:

  • Excel, Word, PowerPoint
  • Outlook – within the message body and also searches the address book for names typed in the address fields
  • Rich Content Editors, including Canvas, MLE and WordPress

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Taking Ctrl: Snipping Tool

What is it?

A snipping tool allows users to capture a portion of their screen. This can be very useful if you need to share information, create instructional images, report bugs or issues, or save visual content for reference.

The Method

Mac: Shift + Command + 4
Creates a thumbnail in the corner of your screen, click it to edit or wait for the screenshot to be saved to your desktop.

Windows: Windows + Shift + S
Opens a quick snipping tool and saves the resulting snip to the clipboard.

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Taking Ctrl: Incognito Mode

The Problem

You’d like to quickly open an incognito browser window in Google Chrome. Usually you would click on the three dots on the top right and click New incognito window.

The Solution

Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge

Windows: CTRL + Shift + N

Mac: Command+Shift+N

Firefox

Windows: Ctrl-Shift-P

Mac: Command-Shift-P

Safari

Mac: Command+Shift+N

The Result

A new incognito window opens instantly. You can browse the web without Chrome recording every page and activity in its history.

Taking Ctrl: Reopen Closed Tabs

The Problem

You’ve closed some tabs in your browser, but you want them back. How can you do this quickly?

The Solution

The following works for Chrome, Safari, and Firefox.

Windows: Ctrl+Shift+T

Mac: Command+Shift+T

The Result

If you key that shortcut once, it’ll bring up the last tab you closed. Hit it again, and it’ll bring up the one before that. And so on.

Taking Ctrl: Lock your Computer

The Problem

Locking your computer is good practice when you have to leave it to go somewhere. If you’re in a hurry you want a quick way of doing this.

The Method

  • Windows: Windows key + L
  • Mac: Control + Command + Q

The Result

This quick shortcut locks your computer much faster than going through the menu to do so, and very important in shared spaces. Pressing this key combo will instantly lock your computer and show the login screen.

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Taking Ctrl: Undo and Redo

The Problem

Maybe you have deleted a lot of text and changed your mind, or decided you wanted it after all. Maybe you undid some of your work but changed your mind. How can you get it back without starting from scratch? You can use Undo to reverse your last action, or Redo to put it back. You can undo and redo up to 20 of your last actions in Microsoft applications.  All actions must be undone or redone in the order they were done.

The Method

UNDO

Windows: Ctrl + Z
Mac: Command + Z

REDO

Windows
Microsoft and other software: Ctrl + Y
Adobe Software: Ctrl + Shift + Z

Mac
All software: Command + Shift + Z

The Result

Your text is restored without you having to type it all in again. Whatever action you previously undid you can redo (there are exceptions though, and the Undo and Redo commands will be unavailable if the previous actions cannot be undone or repeated, e.g. clicking a command on the File tab in Microsoft applications.)

Taking Ctrl: Paste text without Formatting

The Problem

I often copy and paste bits of text from one place to another, but don’t necessarily want the formatting that comes with the text. Just using Ctrl + V, or selecting ‘paste’ brings that formatting across. This means that text might look ‘odd’ when pasting it into another document, or something like a Canvas page.

The Method

  • Windows: Ctrl + Shift + V
  • Mac: Option + Shift + Command + V

The Solution

This means you just keep the characters, meaning your pasted text looks the same as the rest. This works in lots of desktop applications.

Microsoft Applications

To do this in Word, right-click and select ‘paste without formatting’ as below.

Try it today!

How did you do that so fast? Introducing Taking Ctrl

Introducing a new series – Taking Ctrl – a guide to keyboard shortcuts that can save you time!

Many of the tasks we do using the computer have a ready keyboard shortcut to speed up the task, though we might not always know what these are. We have asked the FMS TEL team to share their favourite keyboard shortcuts in this series. This is the team at their most geeky – enjoy, and see how much time you can save!

Our first keyboard shortcut is Windows key + E. This opens up your file explorer – much faster than looking for that icon.