The Computer Keys to Success – Beyond Ctrl Z

There are no shortcuts in life, but there are shortcuts on your computer. If you spend most of your work life behind a laptop furiously typing out word documents and scrolling through the web, your days are made up of hundreds, if not thousands, of tiny clicks and button presses. On their own these micro-actions are insignificant, but over the course of days, weeks and years they add up and can be big time sinks. In this blog I share four of my favourite keyboard shortcuts that go beyond the classic ctrl c, v, x and z – master these and you’ll start feeling like a real tech wizard!

*note – I use a Windows laptop but all of these can be translated onto Mac

Alt + Tab

This is by far my most used. Alt + tab allows you to instantly switch between your open windows. You can use it to quickly alternate between your most recent window OR keep alt held down and pick the window you like. It’s especially helpful if you only have a single monitor, such as when using a laptop.

Ctrl + Tab (in web browsers like Chrome)

If you are the type of person to have a bajillion tabs open, boy do I have the keyboard shortcut for you. Ctrl + tab is similar to alt + tab except it’s specifically for cycling through tabs on your web browser. Throw in a shift (ctrl + shift + tab) and you can even cycle backwards.

Up (in Slack)

You’ve just sent a Slack message only to realise that there is a glaring typo – oh no! You’ve made the dreaded “there-their” error! How do you rapidly edit it before your colleagues see and the crushing weight their judgement destroys you? Easy! Just press the up arrow to edit your most recent post.

Space (while muted on Zoom)

This one is for all the Zoomers – no not Gen Z, although they can benefit too – I mean anyone who uses Zoom for video calls. The unofficial laws of Zoom etiquette dictate that you be on mute when you are not speaking. If you’re like me, you may have had the experience of fumbling around trying to unmute yourself so that you can answer a question. Introducing the spacebar. Hold that thing down and you’ll be unmuted instantly, free to answer questions to your heart’s content. And when you release it, you’ll be safely back on mute. This one has the added benefit of making you feel like you’re paging an assistant and there’s power in that for some reason. Give it a go!

Those are my four favourite shortcuts. Of course, to get the most of them you must practice until they become automatic. But if you can do that, you’ll be in control and enter a great space!