Developer’s Alarm: 200+ Hotkeys To Boost Your Productivity

12 min read
Coding, Productivity, Shortcuts, Time management
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Vitaly Friedman loves beautiful content and doesn’t like to give in easily. When he is not writing, he’s most probably running front-end & UX … More about Vitaly ↬

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There is nothing more valuable than the time we need to get things done. Over a long period of time time-saving techniques and solutions can turn out to be real life-savers. The more you use them, the more essential they become.

Besides, using them in your favourite software applications, you can drastically increase your productivity, enhance your time-managment and improve both your professional skills and the quality of your work.

One of such time-saving features are Hotkeys (or keyboard shortcuts), which offer a powerful tool to get the result instantly - with a single keys combination. We’ve collected the most useful of them - for the most popular applications out there. Some shortcuts are trivial and well-known, but hopefully not all of them.

This post covers the most useful keyboard shortcuts for essential software applications users and web-developers can/should use on a daily basis - OS, Browsers, Music Players, Communication Tools, File Management and Coding. You will also find references to related resources - there you’ll find more specific shortcuts for your needs. See also:

https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/05/20-time-saving-tips-to-improve-designers-workflow-part-1/

Please note…

Please note that a global hotkey can be used only by one application at a time. Some defined hotkeys might not work properly used with different active application windows.
Mac OS users should use Cmd instead of Ctrl and Option instead of Alt.

Developer's Alarm: 200+ Hotkeys To Boost Your Productivity

Windows & Windows-Applications

1	Switches between minimizing all open programs and showing them all.	Win + D
2	Opens the Run Window	Win + R
3	Open System Properties	Win + Break/Pause
4	Copy the selected item	CTRL while dragging an item
5	Select / highlight a block of text	CTRL+SHIFT with arrow key
6	Browse through windows in the order that they had been opened	Alt + Esc
7	Copy the file	CTRL + C
8	Paste the file	CTRL + V
9	Cut the file	CTRL + X
10	Undo	CTRL + Z
11	Reverse last Undo action if possible	CTRL + Y
12	Open Utility Manager	Win + U
13	Open Windows Exporer	Win + E
14	Open Context Menu	Shift + F10
15	Navigate tabs on a tabbed screen	Ctrl + Tab

Use more global hotkeys in Windows: Windows keyboard shortcuts
Use global hotkeys in Mac OS: Mac OS X keyboard shortcuts
Use global hotkeys in Linux: Linux Keyboard Shortcuts You Should Know About

Browsers: Firefox & Co. (Eng version)

16	Remove CSS styles	Alt + V + Y + N (or CTRL + Shift + S with Web Developer’s Toolbar)
17	Restore CSS styles	Alt + V + Y + B
18	View the source code	Ctrl + U
19	View the source code of a selected code fragment	Select the section, Shift + F10 and select “Show source code”
20	Start DOM Inspector	Ctrl + Shift + I
21	Start Firebug	F12
22	Add bookmarks	Ctrl + D
23	Bookmarks	Ctrl + B
24	History	Ctrl + H
25	Reopen Previously Closed Tab	CTRL+SHIFT+T
26	Bookmark all tabs	CTRL+SHIFT+D
27	Back	Alt + Left Arrow
28	Forward	Alt + Right Arrow
29	Go one page back in your history	Backspace
30	Add a keyword to a bookmark	Go to your bookmarks much faster by giving them keywords. Right-click the bookmark and then select Properties. Put a short keyword in the keyword field, save it, and now you can type that keyword in the address bar and it will go to that bookmark. [Add Shortcuts]
31	Jump to Address Bar	Ctrl + L or F6
32	Go To Homepage	Alt + Home
33	Decrease Text Size	Ctrl + -
34	Increase Text Size	Ctrl + +
35	Go To Homepage	Alt + Home
36	Quick Search	/
37	Jump to Search Bar	Ctrl + K
38	Navigate in the tab history	ALT + Left Arrow (back), ALT + Right Arrow (forward)
39	Open New Tab	Ctrl + T (keyboard), Double Click on Tab Bar (mouse)
40	Close Current Tab	Ctrl + W (keyboard), Middle Click on Tab (mouse)
41	Jump To Next Tab	Ctrl + Page up or CTRL + Tab
42	Jump To Previous Tab	Ctrl + Page Dn or Ctrl + Shift + Tab
43	Open link in a new tab	Ctrl + Left mouse click
43	Select a Tab	Ctrl + [1 - 9]
45	Move to a next link	Tab
46	Move to a previous link	Shift + Tab
47	Display all previous text entered in a text box and/or available options on drop down menu.	Alt + Down arrow

Browsers: Internet Explorer 7

48	Open link in new background tab	CTRL+left mouse button or middle mouse button
49	Open link in new foreground tab	CTRL+SHIFT+left mouse button or CTRL+SHIFT+middle mouse button
50	Open Quick Tab View	CTRL+Q
51	View list of opened tabs	CTRL+SHIFT+Q
52	Select the Address bar	Alt + D
53	Open the website address that is typed in the Address Bar in new tab	Alt + Enter
54	Jump to Search Bar	Ctrl + E
55	Open New Tab	Ctrl + T (keyboard), Double Click on Tab Bar (mouse)
56	Close Current Tab	Ctrl + W (keyboard), Middle Click on Tab (mouse)
57	Jump To Next Tab	Ctrl + Tab
58	Jump To Previous Tab	Ctrl + Shift + Tab
59	Select a Tab	Ctrl + [1 - 9]
60	Open feeds	CTRL+J
61	Move to a next link	Tab
62	Move to a previous link	Shift + Tab

Use global hotkeys with Safari: Safari Hotkeys
Use (even more) global hotkeys with IE 7: MSIE 7 Hotkeys

Music Player: Winamp

To enable Winamp Global Hotkeys select the option Main Windows -> Options > Preferences > Global Hotkeys. You can define your personal hotkeys.

63	Turn volume up	CTRL + ALT + Arrow up
64	Turn volume down	CTRL + ALT + Arrow down
65	Play, Restart or Unpause	Winamp window: x
66	Pause	CTRL + ALT + Home (Winamp window: c)
67	Play	CTRL + ALT + Insert (Winamp window: x)
68	Stop	CTRL + ALT + End (Winamp window: v)
69	Previous track	CTRL + ALT + PgUp (Winamp window: z)
70	Next track	CTRL + ALT + PgDn (Winamp window: b)
71	Rewind 5 seconds	CTRL + ALT + Arrow Left (Winamp window: Arrow Left)
72	Fast Forward 5 seconds	CTRL + ALT + Arrow Right (Winamp window: Arrow Right)
73	Toggle repeat	r
74	Toggle shuffle	s
75	Add file	l
76	Add directory	Shift + l
77	Randomize playlist	CTRL + Shift + r

You can use further Winamp shortcuts: Winamp Global Hotkeys
Control iTunes using keyboard shortcuts: Hotkeys for iTunes
Control Last.FM using keyboard shortcuts: Autohotkey Script for Last.FM

Communication: Thunderbird

You can define your own global hotkeys within Skype: Main Window -> Tools -> Options -> Hotkeys.
More global hotkeys for Microsoft Office Outlook: Keyboard shortcuts for Outlook
Use keyboard shortcuts for Thunderbird: All hotkeys: Mozilla Thunderbird Hotkeys

78	Go to next message	F
79	Go to next unread message	N
80	Go to previous unread message	B
81	Increase text size	Ctrl + +
82	Decrease text size	CTRL + -
83	Mark message as Read/Unread	M
84	Mark as junk	J
85	Mark as not junk	SHIFT + J
86	View message source	CTRL + U
87	Compose a new message	CTRL + M, CTRL + N, Cmd + Shift + M (Mac)
88	Reply to a message	Ctrl + R
89	Get new message for current account	CTRL+T
90	Get new messages for all accounts	CTRL+SHIFT+T
91	Open a received message	CTRL + O
92	Send a message now	CTRL + Enter/Return

Communication: Google Mail

93	Compose a new message	c, + c allows you to compose a message in a new window.
94	Reply to a message	r, + r allows you to reply to a message in a new window.
95	Forward a message	f, + f allows you to reply to a message in a new window.
96	Go to inbox	g then i
97	Puts your cursor in the search box	/
98	Move to the next message	n
99	Move to the previous message	p
100	Report spam	!

File Management: Total Commander

101	Activate left menu or deactivate menu	F10
102	Compare file lists	SHIFT+F2
103	Create new text file and load into editor	SHIFT + F4
104	Copy files (with rename) in the same directory	SHIFT + F5
105	Rename files in the same directory	SHIFT + F6
106	Minimizes Total Commander to an icon	SHIFT + Esc
107	Go to previous/next dir of already visited dirs	ALT+left/right
108	Open history list of already visited dirs	ALT + Arrow Down
109	Select all	CTRL+NUM +, CTRL + A
110	Deselect all	CTRL+NUM -
111	Change to parent directory (cd ..)	CTRL+PgUp or Backspace
112	Jump to the root directory (most European keyboards)	CTRL+
113	Jump to the root directory (US keyboard)	F7
114	Sort by name	CTRL+F3
115	Sort by extension	CTRL+F4
116	Sort by date/time	CTRL+F5
117	Sort by size	CTRL+F6
118	Show all files	CTRL+F10
119	Show only programs	CTRL + F11
120	Show user defined files	CTRL + F12
121	Show file properties	ALT+ENTER
122	Directory branch: Show contents of current dir and all subdirs in one list	CTRL + B
123	Open directory hotlist (’bookmarks’)	CTRL + D
124	Connect to FTP server	CTRL + F (Disconnect: CTRL + SHIFT + F)
125	Multi-Rename-Tool	CTRL + M
126	Copy current path to cmd line	CTRL + P
127	Quick view panel instead of file window	CTRL + Q
128	Open new folder tab and activate it	CTRL + T (CTRL + SHIFT + T, open new folder, but don’t activate it)
129	Exchange directories	CTRL + U
130	Exchange directories and tabs	CTRL + SHIFT + U
131	Open dir under cursor in new tab	CTRL + Arrow Up
132	Jump to next tab	CTRL + TAB
133	Jump to previous tab	CTRL+SHIFT+TAB
134	Jump to a file/location	CTRL+ALT+Letter(s)

Use Global Keys with Windows Explorer:

Wordpress

135	bold	Alt + Shift + B
136	italic	Alt + Shift + I
137	blockquote	Alt + Shift + Q
138	Unordered list (ul)	Alt + Shift + U
139	Ordered list (ol)	Alt + Shift + O
140	List Item (li)	Alt + Shift + L
141	code	Alt + Shift + C
142	ins	Alt + Shift + S
143	del	Alt + Shift + D
144	link	Alt + Shift + A
145	more (Read More tag)	Alt + Shift + T
146	Publish an article	Alt + Shift + P

Communication: Microsoft Office Outlook

147	Switch to Mail	CTRL + 1
148	Switch to Calendar	CTRL + 2
149	Switch to Contacts	Ctrl + 3
150	Switch to Tasks	Ctrl + 4
151	Switch to Notes	Ctrl + 5
152	Create an appointment	CTRL+SHIFT+A
153	Create a contact	CTRL+SHIFT+C
154	Create a journal entry	CTRL+SHIFT+J
155	Create a meeting request	CTRL+SHIFT+Q
156	Create a message	CTRL+SHIFT+M
157	Create a note	CTRL+SHIFT+N
158	Create a task	CTRL + SHIFT + K
159	Check spelling	F7
160	Forward the mail	CTRL + F
161	Search the text	F4
162	Switch to Inbox	CTRL+SHIFT+I
163	Switch to Outbox	CTRL+SHIFT+O
164	Send	Alt + S
165	Reply to a message	Ctrl + SHIFT + R
166	Check for new mail	CTRL+M or F9
167	Compose a new message	CTRL + N
168	Open a received message	CTRL + O
169	Mark as read	CTRL + Q

You can define your own global hotkeys within Skype: Main Window -> Tools -> Options -> Hotkeys.

Communication: ICQ

You can define your own global hotkeys within Skype: Main Window -> Tools -> Options -> Hotkeys.

170	Simulate Double Clicking on System Tray	CTRL + SHIFT + I
171	Activate and Deactivate User Window	CTRL + SHIFT + A
172	Close ICQ	Control + Shift + I and then Alt + F4
173	Send a URL to a contact	Control + Shift + F6
174	Change status	Alt + S + <PgDn>
175	Receive incoming message	Control + Shift + I
176	Select a buddy	Insert + <Character>

Image Management: ACDSee Viewer

177	Decrease the magnification of the current image (zoom out)	- (minus sign)
178	Increase the magnification of the current image (zoom in)	+
179	Copy the current item to a folder	ALT + C
180	Move the current item to a folder	ALT + M
181	Rename the current item to a folder	ALT + R
182	Show the properties pane	Alt + Enter
183	Display or hide the status bar	b
184	Display or hide the menu bar	Ctrl + Shift + M
185	Open the current image in the default editing application	CTRL + E
186	Open the Convert File dialog box	CTRL + F
187	Copy the selected portion of an image to the clipboard	Ctrl + Insert
188	Open the Rotate/Flip Images dialog box	CTRL + J
189	Opens the current image in Edit Mode, and activate the Adjust Exposure tool	Ctrl + L
190	Open the current image in Edit Mode, and activate the Resize tool	CTRL+R
191	Clear the current selection	CTRL+Q
192	Save an image	CTRL + S
193	Close the viewer windows	CTRL + W
194	Rotate the current image 90-degrees clockwise	Ctrl + Alt + <right arrow>
195	Change the image color depth to Black and White	Ctrl + Shift + 1
196	Open the batch image processing menu	CTRL + Alt + B
197	Opens the current file in the default system application	Shift + E

Use Global Hotkeys in Irfanview: Irfanview

Coding: Ultraedit

198	Toggle Word Wrap	CTRL + W
199	Insert current time/date	F7
200	Find matching brace (,[,{ or },],)	CTRL + B
201	Reformat Paragraph	CTRL + T
202	Tag list	CTRL + F8
203	Convert selected text to lower case	CTRL + F5
204	Convert selected text to upper case	Alt + F5
205	Invoke the spelling checker	CTRL + K
206	Toggle column/block mode	ALT + C
207	Set bookmark	CTRL + F2
208	Go to next bookmark	F2
209	Insert user-defined template	Alt+0-9 or Shift+Alt+0-9
210	Scroll up one line keeping cursor in view	CTRL + Up
211	Scroll down one line keeping cursor in view	CTRL + Down
212	Display function list	F8
213	Go to next paragraph	Alt + Right
214	Go to previous paragraph	Alt + Left

Bookmarklets

If you’ve used them once you’ll never be able to work without them. Bookmarklets (or Favelets) are tiny Javascript-Snippets, which are stored within a bookmark and add particular functionalities to the browser you’re using.

We have collected the most useful of them. And listed them in a comprehensive post Bookmarklets, Favelets and Snippets. You might be willing to check them out.

Explore more on