Got yourself a shiny new Windows 7 Beta install? Here’s a little cheat sheet I made up for some of the handy new hotkey combinations, many of which I’ve become quite dependent on!
General
Win+Up |
Maximize |
Win+Down |
Restore / Minimize |
Win+Left |
Snap to left |
Win+Right |
Snap to right |
Win+Shift+Left |
Jump to left monitor |
Win+Shift+Right |
Jump to right monitor |
Win+Home |
Minimize / Restore all other windows |
Win+T |
Focus the first taskbar entry Pressing again will cycle through them, you can can arrow around. Win+Shift+T cycles backwards. |
Win+Space |
Peek at the desktop |
Win+G |
Bring gadgets to the top of the Z-order |
Win+P |
External display options (mirror, extend desktop, etc) |
Win+X |
Mobility Center (same as Vista, but still handy!) |
Win+# (# = a number key) |
Launches a new instance of the application in the Nth slot on the taskbar. Example: Win+1 launches first pinned app, Win+2 launches second, etc. |
Win + + Win + - (plus or minus key) |
Zoom in or out. |
Windows Explorer
Alt+P |
Show/hide Preview Pane |
Taskbar modifiers
Shift + Click on icon |
Open a new instance |
Middle click on icon |
Open a new instance |
Ctrl + Shift + Click on icon |
Open a new instance with Admin privileges |
Shift + Right-click on icon |
Show window menu (Restore / Minimize / Move / etc) Note: Normally you can just right-click on the window thumbnail to get this menu |
Shift + Right-click on grouped icon |
Menu with Restore All / Minimize All / Close All, etc. |
Ctrl + Click on grouped icon |
Cycle between the windows (or tabs) in the group |
Note that this list focuses on stuff that’s specific to Windows 7. For a complete list of Windows Vista hotkeys (which should be largely unchanged except where noted above), visit this page on Microsoft.com or look in the Windows Help file.
If there’s something you think I should add, post a comment!