Coolest Windows 7 Tips and Tricks – Shortcut Keys

ALT + P

This opens a preview pane at the right side of explorer. Next time when you have to view some picture or movie or any other file, you don’t have to open it, just select the file and press ALT+P and see the preview.


Windows Key + Up

This combination maximized the current window. You can press it to Make window maximized. It works the same as double clicking the Title Bar

Windows Key + Down

This combination of keys, when pressed, restores the windows if it is maximized or minimizes it if not maximized. This combination should be used with Windows Key + Up to minimize, restore, and maximize any window.

Windows + Shift + Up and Windows + Shift + Down

This Key Combination makes the window Vertically maximum (Up) and back to its original place(Down). In doing so, the width of the windows remains the same. Only the height is changed.

Windows Key + +(Plus) and Windows Key+ -(Minus)

This combination of keys launches the built-in magnifier program and zooms in or out (depend on + or -) the screen. You can further play with this magnifier tools and use it for your own needs.

Windows Key + Left and Windows Key + Right

These are my favorite Shortcut Keys. The combination shift the opened windows to left or right of the screen. The windows then takes exactly half of the screen. Keep pressing Windows Key + Left and your window will go to left of the screen, then right of the screen, and then back to its original place.

Windows Key + Home

There is a cool feature in Windows 7 that makes using windows easy and increase productivity by hiding all other windows and letting only one window shown. This feature is called Jitter. Using mouse you can select your windows and give it a nudge (moving mouse left and right while mouse key is pressed). This hides all other windows and keep your window opened. Repeat the same again and all other windows will appear.

Alternatively, you can use Windows Key + Home to do the same. Press it to hide all other windows, press it again to show them.

ATL + Tab and Windows Key + Tab

Since long, windows is coming with these shortcut keys that come in very handy when switching between windows. The ALT+TAB key shows all the opened programs and you can switch between the windows. Press ALT (Keep Pressing) and press Tab until you find your desired program. Release the ALT key when your desired program is selected. The program windows will appear on the top.

Since Windows Vista, Microsoft introduced another such feature that you can use by pressing (keep pressing) Windows Key and Pressing Tab. This feature is much cooler and lets your switch between open Programs.

Windows Key + T and Windows Key + [Number]

Windows + T is a wonder full shortcut key that lets you toggle between the programs listed in Taskbar. Press Windows Key (Keep Pressing) and Press T to move from one icon to another. The icons in Taskbar can be opened programs as well as Tabbed Programs. Windows Key + T toggle between all the icons on Taskbar and opens any program for you.


Similarly, Windows Key + [Number ] (1,2,3,…) can open the program listed at that number. If the program is tabbed, a new instance of it will be launched and if the program is running, its window will be minimized / maximized.

Windows Key + E

There is always a need to open Explorer window. But is one of its instance is running, and you click on it, the same windows appears on screen. To open a new instance of Explorer, you can either Press Shift + Click or Middle Key of your Mouse or you can simply use Windows Key + E.

Windows Key+ P and Windows Key+ shift + [Left, Right]

If you have multiple monitors attached to you system you can easily switch between them using these Keys. Windows Key + P open the Panel from where you can select different settings for your multiple Displays. Also, you can use Window Key + Shift + Left to change between multiple screens.

Windows Key+ Space

Another cool feature of Windows 7 is its Peek feature. The right most button on your Taskbar is the Show Desktop / Peek button. Just hover your mouse over it and it will show your desktop by hiding all the open windows. The peek feature can also be accessed using Windows Key + Space. Press Windows Key(keep pressing) and press space to Peek at the desktop.

Windows Key + G

Gadgets are a nice addition to windows plate form since the days of Vista. There are dozen of Gadgets out there for Weather, Calender, RSS Feeds, and much more. Unfortunately, the Show Desktop button shows the Desktop with out Gadgets. Thus there is not easy way to access gadgets in time of need. But there is a trick to peek at your gadgets even if you have a dozen windows opened. Press Windows Key + G and all your gadgets will show on the top of every thing.

Windows Key + X

Mobility Center is not new to Windows. It was there in Vista too. But it is a cool feature and many of us would like to access it. Press Windows Key + X and the mobility center will appear.

Ctrl + Alt + [Left, Right, Up, Down]

Last but not the least. This is a cool feature that changes the orientation of your screen. Just give it a try and see for your self.

Coolest Windows 7 Tips and Tricks – Taskbar Shortcuts and Tweaks

In windows 7, the Taskbar not only hosts icons for open programs but also shortcuts to those programs. The background jobs are still there but hidden. The start menu has been redefined, keeping in mind the usability of both beginners and expert users.

Windows 7 Taskbar Perks

Shift + Click

It opens new instance of the program. i.e. Whenever I click on explorer, a new explorer window will be opened every time.

Middle Click

It does the same as Shift + Click. The Middle Click button on your mouse is the button that you use to scroll pages UP and Down. It is the very button that you use to open Hyper links in new Tabs.

Ctrl + Shift + Click

This does the same as Shift + Click but instead of just opening the new Instance of program, it opens the program in Administrator Mode.

Ctrl + Click

This is very handy if you have multiple instances of the same program running. You can easily toggle between open instances of a program using this combination.

Shift + Right Click

This combination shows the context menu that usually appears when you click an icon in explorer. The context menu shows commands such as Open, Open with.. and so on.

But if you do not like the new Taskbar (even with all those perks) and want to use the old one, we have just the thing for you.

Get Windows Vista Taskbar back

Right-click on the Taskbar and choose the properties dialog. Select the “small icons” checkbox and under the “Taskbar buttons” setting, choose “combine when taskbar is full“. You’ll have the same looks as with Windows Vista

Get Quick Launch toolbar back on TaskBar

Right-click the Taskbar, choose Toolbars >> New Toolbar

In the folder selection dialog, enter %userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch and hit OK

Turn off the “lock the Taskbar” setting by right clicking on Taskbar and selecting “lock the Taskbar“.

Right-click on the divider and make sure that “Show text” and “Show title” are disabled and the view is set to “small icons“.

Use the dividers to rearrange the toolbar ordering to choice, and then lock the Taskbar again.

Thx: http://www.tecrux.com/2010/07/29/coolest-windows-7-tips-and-trick-taskbar-shortcuts-and-tweaks/

beautiful themes and Wallpapers hidden in windows 7

There are a few beautiful themes and Wallpapers hidden in windows 7 that you can use. The idea by Microsoft was to Install only that theme which matches your location i.e. if you live in USA United States theme is installed automatically. The other themes that are there and not installed by default are Australia, South Africa, Canada, and United Kingdom. The themes contain 1920 x 1200 resolution wallpapers from the respective countries. Just open explorer and type

C:\Windows\Globalization\MCT
in the address bar , hit enter. It will open the folders containing Wallpapers and themes.

Thx: http://www.tecrux.com/2010/07/28/coolest-windows-7-tips-and-tricks-hidden-perks/

Snipping Tool

Another tool in windows called Snipping Tool that you can use to take snap shot of any thing on the screen.
You can find it in Start >> Accessories >> Snipping Tool

Thx: http://www.tecrux.com/2010/07/28/coolest-windows-7-tips-and-tricks-hidden-perks/

Windows 7 Tips and Tricks – Hidden Perks

During testing of Windows 7, the engineers working on the Operating System wrote a program to document movements made by mouse in order to debug the Operating System. The program is still in Windows 7 but it is hidden from public. You can access it using command psr.exe. Just click on Start, type psr.exe and hit enter. The following Toolbar will appear.

Press record and go on with whatever work you want to record doing. The program will save it in a .mhtml file that you can later use for presenting, teaching, etc. This tool also allows you to add comments. With this tool, it is very easy to make presentation and show it to people who want step by step procedure to do any work.

Thx to http://www.tecrux.com/2010/07/28/coolest-windows-7-tips-and-tricks-hidden-perks/