These days it is increasingly difficult to do anything without having at least some knowledge of how computers work. In almost every field, from medicine and education to hospitality and even sports, there isn’t a single area where IT or technical knowledge won’t help you. Whether it’s something as simple as knowing how to google things with the right keywords or using Microsoft Office to something more complicated like changing your DNS servers, all of these things are critical to making your life easier regardless of what your primary field of work is,
For this reason, today we are going to go over some of the most obvious and quickest short cuts and tips that you can use to speed up your work flow and get things done faster. Of course, if you are even a little tech savvy, many of these things will already be pretty obvious to you, but there are a lot of people out there that don’t know even one of these. And if you know anyone like that (your grandma?), then make sure that you send this list to them. It could help make their life significantly easier. These are 25 useful computer tricks that everyone should know!
Featured Image: pixabay
Ctrl + 0 resets the view in your browser.
Image: orse via Flickr Don't just click through the installer by pressing next for everything. That's how you end up with all those toolbars.
If you have to call IT, make sure you can tell them exactly what you did. If the error message has cryptic looking numbers in it, write them down!
Image: wikipedia Back up even if you think you don't need to.
Don't run your computer 24 hours a day. At the very least, turn it off once a week. Memory leaks are painful (for non-nerds - your computer will run more slowly).
In Excel, F4 repeats the last command.
Image: wikipedia Google is your friend. Most IT problems can be at least partially solved with it.
Image: pixabay CTRL + TAB cycles through your browser tabs.
Don't you hate when you press spacebar and instead of the youtube video pausing, you scroll halfway down the page? Use K instead. J and L skip backwards and forward.
CTRL + SHIFT + T opens the last tab you closed in Chrome.
In Windows file explorer, if you shift + right click you can open the command prompt of whatever directory you are in (you can also just type "cmd" into the address bar)
Image: pixabay Windows key + L locks your computer if you need to walk away for a bit.
Image: pexels CTRL + F searches the page. You'd be surprised how many people don't know this.
Image: pixabay Taking the battery out can solve quite a few issues.
Image: wikipedia Deactivating start up programs can massively improve the performance of your computer.
Image: youtube There is software out there (f.lux is free) that will adjust your screen in low light. It eliminates the blue wavelengths that make it hard to fall asleep.
Image: wikipedia Do you need some help working with Windows 10? Check out 25 Useful Tips, Tricks, and Hacks To Master Windows 10.
This is a bit of an anti-trick, but turn off your computer and go for a walk every now and then. Sitting for hours at a time is really bad for your long term health.
Image: wikipedia lmgtfy.com can be your best friend when someone keeps asking you questions that they could easily google in 2 seconds.
Image: lmgtfy.com Never trust links in emails. Never.
Image: pixabay Remember how we said not to use spacebar for youtube? Well, it can be useful when you're reading an article. It scrolls down the page by one screen length. SHIFT + SPACEBAR scrolls up.
Image: wikipedia If you ask for computer help and someone says to press ALT + F4 (or COMMAND + Q on Mac), don't do it.
Triple clicking selects the paragraph.
Image: pixabay For older users - you don't need to type the "www" anymore.
CTRL + L highlights the entire address bar in your browser.
Image: wikipedia In youtube, you can loop videos by right clicking and selecting "loop."
Image: pixabay Concerned about computer viruses? Take a look at 25 Interesing Facts About Computer Virsues You Really Should Know.
