The keyboard of your laptop is not just a regular keyboard. It has function keys in it. Function key is a key on a computer or keyboard that can be programmed to cause an operating system that can perform certain actions. These function keys are arranged at the top of your keyboard numbered from F1 to F-12. These keys provide some interesting shortcuts for common computer functions and you can use them every day while you are computing.
With the combination of other keys such as CTRL key, the ALT key, and the SHIFT key these keys can do wonders. Then there are some other shortcut keys that are commonly used. Following are the keys and the functions that they perform:
Table Of Contents
Shortcut Keys and Their Descriptions
Alt + F: It shows the file menu options in the current program
Alt + E: this combination can edit the options in the current program
Ctrl + A: it is used to select all the text.
Ctrl + X: it is used to cut
Shift + Del: this combination is used to cut the selected item
Ctrl + C: this combination is used to copy the selected item
Ctrl + Ins: this is also used to copy the selected item
Ctrl + V: this combination is used to paste the selected item
Ctrl + Home: this combination takes you to the beginning of the document
End: it takes you to the end of the current line
Ctrl + End: this combination takes you to the end of the document
Apart from these keys, the F series is known to be very popular and it performs various functions on their own or when used as a combination.
F1
This key is mostly used as the help key in laptops. If you press this key almost every program will open the help screen. If you press the Windows key + F1 then it will open the Microsoft Windows help and support centre.
F2
This key is commonly used to rename a highlighted icon or file.
if you press Alt + Ctrl + F2 it opens a new document in Microsoft Word.
if you press Ctrl + F2 it displays the print preview window in Microsoft Word.
F3
This key often opens the search feature for many programs including Microsoft Windows.
If you press Shift + F3 it will change the text in Microsoft Word from upper to lower case or a capital letter at the beginning of every word.
F4
It is responsible for opening the find window. By pressing the Alt + F4 the window that you are currently working on will get closed.
By pressing the combination Ctrl + F4, the open window within the current active window in Microsoft Windows will get closed.
Keyboard Function Keys – F5
By pressing the F5 key, the page or document window will get refreshed or reloaded. This is a very handy shortcut. This key is also used to start a slideshow in PowerPoint.
F6
This key is often used to move the cursor to the Address bar of the browsers such as Mozilla Firefox or Internet Explorer.
The combination Ctrl + Shift + F6 opens to another open Microsoft Word document.
F7
This key is commonly used to spell check can grammar check a document in Microsoft program such as word, outlook etc.
the combination Shift + F7 runs a Thesaurus check on the word that you have highlighted.
it also turns on Caret browsing in Mozilla Firefox.
F8
The F8 key is used to access the safe mode. When your computer is going through a boot process you can press this key to access the safe mode.
F9
This key opens the Measurements toolbar in Quark 5.0.
F10
F10 is the key that is used to activate the menu bar in many programs. it can be used to highlight the first menu choice and then you can use the arrow keys to move around the menus. The combination Shift + F10 is the same as right-clicking on a highlighted icon, file, or Internet link.
Conclusion
These are some of the keys that are very compatible and helpful if you remember their functions. Once you start using them you forget to use the mouse and do everything with your keyboard.