Windows Shortcuts

Please refer to this post if you are a Mac user.

In this post, I will be sharing why and how I ditched the mouse and started utilising keyboard shortcuts.

Why avoid the mouse?

As a software engineer, efficiency is of the essence, especially when one is dealing with many tasks in his bucket or meeting tight deadlines. For any typing setup, majority of the time is spent moving between the keyboard and mouse. Fortunately for us, we can save this precious time by mastering keyboard shortcuts that can perform the same functions/tasks. Not only do you become more productive, you also get to look really cool (somewhat) and experience what it is like to feel like an experienced hacker (sortof).

It will require some practice to master and apply them properly. But rest assured, once you overcome this steep learning curve, you will witness your productivity drastically increase overtime. Below is a compilation of shortcuts that I have learnt and frequently use on Web browsers, Terminals and VSCode.

Glossary of Shortcuts

Basic

Alt + F4                             Close active window                                                 
Alt + Tab                            Toggle applications/View all applications from desktop              
Alt + Shift                          Change Language/Keyboard                                            
Alt + Shift + Up/Down                Move current line above/below it                                    
Ctrl + A                             Select all                                                          
Ctrl + C                             Copy                                                                
Ctrl + F                             Find keyword                                                        
Ctrl + H                             Replace keyword                                                     
Ctrl + S                             Save                                                                
Ctrl + V                             Paste                                                               
Ctrl + X                             Cut                                                                 
Ctrl + Z                             Undo                                                                
Ctrl + Shift + Z                     Redo                                                                
F11                                  Fullscreen                                                          
Ctrl + Left/Right                    Move cursor to the start/end of words                               
Ctrl + Home/End                      Move cursor to start/end of document                                
Home/End                             Move cursor to start/end of line                                    
Shift + Up/Down                      Select characters above/below the line                              
Shift + Left/Right                   Select characters left/right of the cursor                          
Shift + Home/End                     Select all characters left/right of the cursor                      
Shift + Page Up/Page Down            Select all characters from cursor to the top/bottom of the document 
Windows                              Show Start Menu                                                     
Windows + `Type your search`         System search                                                       
Windows + D                          Show/hide desktop                                                   
Windows + E                          Open File Explorer                                                  
Windows + Alt + R                    Screen recording                                                    
Windows + Print Screen               Print full screen                                                   
Windows + Shift + S OR Print Screen  Select area and print screen of selected area

Browser

Alt + D                            Move cursor to address bar                
Alt + Left/Right                   Navigate to previous/next page in history 
Ctrl + D                           Bookmark current tab                      
Ctrl + R                           Reload page                               
Ctrl + T                           Open new tab                              
Alt + F4 OR Ctrl + F4 OR Ctrl + W  Close active tab                          
Ctrl + Shift + T                   Open recently closed tab                  
Ctrl + Shift + W                   Close all active windows                  
Ctrl + Tab                         Toggle between tabs                       
F12                                Open web console

VSCode

Alt + Left/Right                       Toggle tabs                                                  
Alt + Shift + Up/Down                  Copy and paste current line above/below it                   
Ctrl + L                               Select line                                                  
Ctrl + P                               Search for file                                              
Ctrl + N                               Work on a new file                                           
Ctrl + W                               Close active tab                                             
Ctrl + \                               Split code editor/Command Prompt                             
Ctrl + /                               Comment line of code                                         
Ctrl + `                               Open/Close Command Prompt in code editor                     
Ctrl + Alt + Up/Down                   Add cursors to multiple lines at the same horizontal positon 
Ctrl + Shift + `                       Open new Command Prompt in code editor                       
Ctrl + Shift + F                       Find keyword in directory                                    
Ctrl + Shift + K                       Delete line                                                  
Ctrl + Shift + P                       Open command palette                                         
(Ctrl + K) + V                         Preview Markdown file on the side                            
Ctrl + Shift + Left/Right              Select words to the left/right of the cursor                 
`Select keyword` + (Ctrl + D)          Add cursor to all found keywords one at a time               
`Select keyword` + (Ctrl + Shift + L)  Add cursor to all found keywords

Powershell/Command Prompt

Alt + Enter                          Fullscreen                             
Home                                 Move cursor to start of line           
End                                  Move cursor to end of line             
Backspace                            Clear character before cursor position 
Delete                               Clear character after cursor position  
Ctrl + Home                          Clear line before cursor position      
Ctrl + End                           Clear line after cursor position       
Esc OR `clear` OR `cls`              Clear screen                           
Ctrl + Backspace                     Delete previous word                   
Ctrl + C                             Cancel program                         
Ctrl + Z                             Stop program                           
Ctrl + Left/Right                    Move cursor between words              
`history`                            Show history of commands               
Up/Down                              Cycle history of commands

Other ways to shortcut your workflow

Learn to touch-type, which incorporates all your fingers to access the keys on your keyboard optimally. With sufficient practice, you will be able to master typing without glancing on the keys, saving time as a result.
Use Tabs for autocompletion in the Terminal, especially when your folder/file names are long/foreign.
When inputing text in multiple input boxes, use Tabs instead of moving the mouse to proceed to the next input.
Use aliases to execute long/complex commands
- alias nrs=npm run start (Executes npm run start with nrs)
- alias gps=git push (Executes git push with gps)
Broadcast input to multiple Terminal tabs in the same session if the same executions need to be done on multiple replica servers (You will need to install Windows Terminal for this)

Conclusion

Ever since I started learning and using these shortcuts, it was excruciating to realise the amount of time wasted performing repetitive work (Eg. Editing the same variable names repeatedly; Highlighting a block of text; Deleting characters one by one using Backspace). To anyone who is using a computer, ditch the mouse and give these shortcuts a shot. Afterwards, you can reward yourself with a nice coffee break :)