Speed Up Using Shortcuts (Windows)

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.

Keyboard shortcuts

Basic Shortcuts
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 Print Screen	Select area and print screen of selected area

Browser Shortcuts
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 Ctrl + F4 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 Shortcuts
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 Shortcuts
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 clear 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

1. 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.
2. Use Tabs for autocompletion in the Terminal, especially when your folder/file names are long/foreign.
3. When inputing text in multiple input boxes, use Tabs instead of moving the mouse to proceed to the next input.
4. Use aliases to execute long/complex commands
   Eg. alias nrs=npm run start (Executes npm run start with nrs)
   Eg. alias gps=git push (Executes git push with gps)
5. 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 :)

Sources

1. Keyboard shortcuts for a Developer
2. 10 Essential Keyboard Shortcuts For Programmers
3. Powershell Key Combinations
4. Windows vs. Mac: 70+ Common and Helpful Keyboard Shortcuts
5. Visual Studio Code - Keyboard Shortcuts for Windows
6. What is Windows Terminal?
7. Typing Techniques – 5 Skills to Master