In the realm of computer wizardry, there are often small tips, tricks, and hacks to improve our moment-to-moment productivity. Knowing some of these shortcuts will help you maintain momentum while coding, writing notes, or performing other tasks on your PC.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Important Shortcuts
| Command | Keyboard Shortcut | Uses |
|---|---|---|
| Copy | Ctrl + C | Copy files, folders, sections of code, etc |
| Paste | Ctrl + V | Paste something you’ve copied |
| Cut | Ctrl + X | Cut files, folders, sections of code, etc |
| Screenshot (windows PC) | Windows logo key + Shift + S | For taking screenshots on a Windows PC |
| Undo | Ctrl + Z | Undo the last action performed in an application |
| Redo | Ctrl + Y | Redo the last undone action |
| Save | Ctrl + S | Almost universal shortcut for saving the current file |
| Find | Ctrl + F | To find text, in almost any application |
Other common shortcuts
| Command | Keyboard Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Rename a file | Click on file name, then F2 |
| Screenshot (full screens) | Print Screen button |
| Select a range of files or text | Shift + Click, or Shift + ⇅ |
Text Editor
| Command | Keyboard Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Move to end/beginning of a word | Ctrl + ⇆ |
| Select a range of text | Shift + ⇅ |
Windows Specific
| Command | Keyboard Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Task Manager | Ctrl + Shift + Esc |
| Windows Security | Ctrl + Alt + Del |
Visual Studio
There are an absolutely insane number of Visual Studio shortcuts. Here are a few of my favorites:
| Command | Keyboard Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Move a line of text up/down, or current selection | Alt + ⇅ |
| Multi-cursor, type on multiple lines at once | Ctrl + Shift + ⇅ |
| Duplicate (line of text, or current selection) | Ctrl + D |
| Cut (line of text, or current selection) | Ctrl + C, or Ctrl + L |
If you’d like to see them all, here’s the full list for VS 2022
(if you happen to have VS 2019, you can find those shortcuts here)
For debugging shortcuts, visit Technique 2: Using the MSVC Debugger