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Part 3 of the series on hotkeys and special techniques takes a look at web browsing. Many people now accomplish on the World Wide Web tasks that were once available only through application software installed on their computer. The web browser has become the platform for accomplishing routine and very specialized tasks. To maintain standardization, web browsers and web sites often use the same hotkeys as Windows. And yet some keystrokes and techniques are reserved for web browsing.
Changing the size of text on a web page: All modern computer displays are designed with an "optimum" screen resolution, and that resolution is usually very high, making text and icons small, but very sharp and crisp. Windows 7 recognizes this, and has a simple method of scaling everything larger than normal. However, scaling everything on your computer to be larger than normal can cause some web pages to loose their original layout. This is where a little known technique comes in very handy.
Ctrl + Mouse Wheel: While viewing a web page, hold the Control Key down and then move the mouse wheel. You will notice the text increase and decrease with a change in direction of the wheel. You will think, "Why hasn't someone shown me this before now?"
F5: Refresh or Reload: While you are at your computer's desktop (where all the icons reside after a restart), if you press F5 (the function key), this will refresh your desktop. This comes in handy if something looks odd on your desktop, and is certainly easier then restarting your computer. While web browsing, F5 performs a similar function, in that it instructs the web browser to reload the web page from the web server. This comes in handy when a web page does not load properly, or you know the page has been updated, but you are seeing the old version.
F11: Use the entire screen to show a web page (hide tool bars/task bars): The majority of your time web browsing, it is helpful to see your task bar along the bottom of the screen, and your tool bars along the top of the screen. However, there are times when you just need more vertical space for displaying the web page. Pressing F11 (the function key) gives you this extra display space. F11 is merely a toggle switch, so pressing F11 again will return your browser to its normal setting.
And finally...Have you ever copied text from a website and pasted it into a Word document? If so, you may have notices that some odd formatting exists for the pasted text, while other text in your Word document is normal. The Solution: An interim step is needed to "clean up" text before you paste it into a document. Copied text often contains unwanted formatting code. The "Notepad" application, although the simplest application on your computer, is a problem solver that should not be overlooked. Because Notepad is strictly a text editor, it does not accept formatting code, but only accepts simple text. So, when you copy text from a webpage, email, or other types of documents and paste it into Notepad, Notepad gives you just the text. Only three easy keystrokes remain: (1) Ctrl + A (select all), (2) Ctrl + C (copy), (3) Click into the Word document and press Ctrl + V (paste). The text has been placed into the Word document, and has assumed the formatting of the document.
Notepad is located in All Programs > Accessories. I recommend pinning Notepad to your task bar. Make a couple of setting changes in Notepad: (1) Set the font to Courier New, and (2) Set the format to Word Wrap. You only need to make these setting changes once; Notepad will remember the settings.
Reminders from Previous Tech Tips:
Ctrl + A (Control A): SELECT ALL
Ctrl + C (Control C): COPY
Ctrl + X (Control X): CUT
Ctrl + V (Control V): PASTE
Ctrl + Z: Undo
Ctrl + F: Find on page, or Find in document
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