Category: Windows

This little gem is another one of those keystroke combinations I use EVERY day!

If you currently click on open programs in your task bar to display them, “Alt+Tab” is a great keyboard shortcut for you!

“Alt+Tab” is the is the more common name for Windows “Task Switcher” which is used to switch (or toggle) between open programs without using the mouse. Here are two ways you can use “Alt+Tab” to help you when working with multiple programs:

1. Pressing and releasing the “Alt+Tab” keyboard combination will alternate between the two most recently used (and currently open) programs.

2. Pressing and holding the “Alt” key, while continuously (and slowly) tapping the “Tab” key will display a floating menu showing all open programs. The tasks are displayed showing the most recently used programs at the front of the list.

Each tap of the tab key will advance the selection to the next program in the menu. When the “Alt” and “Tab” keys are released, Windows will display the program selected at the time the keys were released.

A more advanced version of this functionality, named Windows Flip, is built into Windows Vista.

Show Desktop [Windows+D] and Minimize All [Windows+M]

What do these handy little keystrokes do? Well, if you press either one of them right now, the window you are reading right now will be minimized and . . .

Did you minimize the screen and have to open this window again? Welcome Back!

Maybe you stayed with me all along, mumbling, “Windows+D? What’s that?”

Either way, I’m referring to the “Windows” key, usually located on the bottom left of your keyboard, between the “Ctrl” and “Alt” keys. It looks like a little flying window. It often appears on the bottom right of your keyboard as well.

[Windows+M] is “Minimize All” and it minimizes all the windows which support the “Minimize” command. You can minimize a window by:

1. Clicking the system menu of any software program (usually the program’s icon, to the left or above “File” in it’s menu) and selecting “Minimize.”

2. Click the “Minimize” button on the right side of a program’s title bar. (It looks like an underscore and is usually the third from the right. The X is the farthest to the right. Hover the mouse over the buttons and you may see a “tool tip” indicating what each one does.)

So, the [Windows+M] keyboard combination “Minimize All” is the same as going to each open window and clicking the Minimize button.

Note: If a window doesn’t have a Minimize button, then it is still displayed. Minimize All won’t minimize windows like dialog boxes, some Control Panel windows or an application which has an open dialog box.

However, “Show Desktop” manages to get a few more windows out of your way than “Minimize All.” Enter [Windows+D] when you want to minimize everything on screen, even Control Panel and Properties dialog boxes. This shortcut leaves nothing but the desktop showing.

There’s one more difference between the two shortcuts: Like the Show Desktop icon, [Windows+D] serves as a toggle. Press it once to minimize everything, then press it again to restore everything as it was.

Check them out! Press and hold the “Windows” key and tap the “D” key. (Don’t forget to tap it again to come back!)