Transcript for:
Essential Keyboard Shortcuts for Efficiency

So, your computer mouse has finally decided to go kaput on ya? Hey, don't sweat it. Even if you're far from being a tech wizard, you can still use your keyboard to do pretty much everything your mouse can.

Plus, faulty mouse or not, hotkeys just save you so much time. That being said, here are some of the best ones. Number 14. Highlight everything in one click.

If you're working in a word processing program and you need to highlight all the text in the document, then just press Ctrl plus A. For Mac users, the shortcut is Command plus A. This can also be super handy when you decide to empty your recycle bin or a certain folder.

Instead of clicking on all those files one by one, or even just clicking and dragging, this hotkey will select them all at once. Number 13. Open a new window or document immediately. How many times have you been in the situation when you were typing or reading something in Word, but suddenly realized that you need a new document?

Of course, you don't want to close the current one, but it's also such a waste of time moving your cursor all the way up to the File tab just to open a new document. So, just do it in a jiffy. Hit Ctrl plus N or Command plus N on a Mac, and a new Word document will show up immediately. Actually, this shortcut opens up a new window in almost any program you're working in, like Chrome. Number 12. Change the font style to bold.

I know, I know, for most computer-savvy peeps this sounds so basic. But you'd be surprised by how many people don't know this hotkey, especially newbies to the computing scene. Pressing Ctrl plus B makes the highlighted text bold in any text editing program. If you're on a Mac, then use Command instead of Control.

Number 11. Open your history in a new tab. Pro users usually know where to find the history page in Chrome, and if you don't, it's in the top right corner. But if you want to save time, you can hit Ctrl plus H if you have Windows, or Command plus Y on a Mac.

Now you can get access to the list of websites you've visited and find out how many times you've been to YouTube this week. Number 10. Clear out your history in Chrome. If you share your computer with someone, then you probably do it pretty often.

Yep, I'm talking about deleting the history. To do it quick and easy, press Ctrl plus Shift plus Delete when you're on the history page. There!

Now no one will ever know you're partial to memes. Especially during work hours, huh? On a Mac, use Command plus Shift plus Delete. A box will pop up where you can choose whether you want to delete the whole list or only for some particular period.

Number 9 Go incognito! One more trick for those who have to share a computer with their family, friends, or coworkers and feel like covering their tracks in Chrome history. Clicking CTRL plus SHIFT plus N will enable incognito mode.

Now you can, for example, shop online and buy presents for your loved ones without them knowing. Nothing's going to spoil your surprises. Mac users will need to press COMMAND plus SHIFT plus N. Number 8 Save the current web page as a bookmark.

This one will definitely save you time because you'll be able to open up your favorite site in just one click. Just press Ctrl plus D and the page you're on will be bookmarked. For Mac users, it's Command plus D. Let's see if it actually works.

Go ahead and try right now. Awesome! Now you can just click on the bookmark to this video and this list of shortcuts will always be at your fingertips.

Number 7 Jump to a specific tab. More often than not, when you're doing your best to find some important information online, you end up having a lot of open tabs. There's a cool way to navigate through them without using your mouse.

Just push CTRL plus a number key. So, let's say you want to see the first tab. That'll be CTRL plus 1. For the second tab, it's CTRL plus 2, and so on. This only works if you have less than 9 current tabs, though.

If you press CTRL plus 9, It'll take you to the last open tab no matter how many of them you have in the browser window. To use it on macOS, just swap control with command. Number 6. Quit an unresponsive program. The program you're working in just froze, and it's not responding to anything. Ugh.

You're clicking, crying, cursing. Yep, all computer users have been there. But there are a few ways to fix this problem.

One of them is to use Control plus Shift plus Escape. This will bring up the Task Manager window. Now you can select the program causing all that fuss and press End Task.

If you are on a Mac, then try Command plus Alt plus Escape. Number 5. Restore a closed tab. If I had a dime for every tab I accidentally closed, well, I'd be in Bora Bora sipping on mimosas.

Ah, if only. Okay, enough pointless dreaming. It's better to get your closed tabs back in the blink of an eye.

On Windows, hit Ctrl plus Shift plus T. Mac users, you need Command plus Shift plus T. Number 4. Highlight more effectively.

You know how when you're using the click-drag method to highlight a text, you end up cutting off a letter or word or even grabbing way more than you need? Yeah, it's a pain. So, to highlight more precisely, hold shift and the left or right arrow to go backward or forward while working in Word. If you want to use it on a webpage, then you have to highlight at least something first to mark a starting point for the arrow keys. Number 3. Screenshot a chosen part of your screen.

This is hands down my favorite hotkey, and it will be yours too, I know it! In most cases when you take a screenshot, you don't actually need the whole image of your screen, but just a part of it. Pushing the Windows key plus Shift plus S will turn your whole screen gray.

Don't panic, it's supposed to do that. Now you can click and drag exactly what portion you want as your screenshot. Once you've selected the area you need, it'll get copied to your clipboard. You can then paste it into an image editor or open Paint and save the screenshot there.

For Mac users, the shortcut is Command plus Shift plus 4, and the screenshot gets saved straight to your desktop. Number 2. Open the Downloads page in a new tab If you're anything like me, then you also download tons of stuff from the internet… and then forget the names of the files, so finding them afterwards is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Luckily, Chrome stores all your downloads. To get to that list, use Ctrl plus J and it'll pop up in a new tab.

This combo does the same in Firefox and Internet Explorer. As for macOS, it'll be Ctrl plus Shift plus J. Number 1. Search for a particular word on a webpage. Let's say you're on Apple's or Microsoft's official site and you're looking through their long list of keyboard shortcuts. but you're looking for one in particular that you heard about in a Bright Side video and just can't remember the combo.

All you remember is that it pulls up your browser history in a new tab. Well, you can search for keywords on the page by hitting Ctrl plus F or Command plus F for Mac. A small search box will pop up where you can type in history or whatever you happen to be looking for on a certain page. If there's more than one match, just click the next and previous icons to search through them.

Or you know, bookmark this video so you never lose this list in the first place. Just saying. What computer shortcuts can you not live without?

Let everybody know in the comments. Remember to give this video a like, share it with your friends, and click subscribe to always stay on the Bright Side of life.