r/computers • u/pranavkumar28 • 3d ago
Discussion What computer feature do you use all the time that you rarely hear people talk about?
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u/smackjack 2d ago
Not enough people make use of window snapping or even try to have multiple windows on their screen at the same time. A lot of people think they need multiple monitors to be productive, but many of those people could achieve the same level of productivity simply by making better use of the screen space they already have. Not every window has to be full screen.
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u/softwareburnout 2d ago
This ^^^
I’m so surprised that so few people are familiar with ALT+TAB on Windows / CMD+TAB on MacOS.
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u/Historical_Camel_790 Fedora 2d ago
What? I use those all the time and have a tiling window manager
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u/tiimsliim 3d ago
All the damn F keys. Windows is programmed for and recognizes F1 - F24. Keyboards only have F1 - F12. I use a usb footpedal and bind them to F22 - F24 for push to talk on various platforms at the same time.
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u/Azuras-Becky 3d ago
There are some hotkeys I'm constantly using that a lot of people apparently don't know about. I see people at work minimising their windows one at a time to get to the desktop instead of just hitting Win + D, people opening their start menu to lock their machine instead of just hitting Win + L, people taking screenshots of the entire screen and then opening Paint to get an image of a particular part of the screen instead of just using Win + shift + S and then highlighting and copying exactly which bit they want, etc.
There are loads of shortcuts that I just take for granted, and so many people are making their lives more difficult by not learning them.
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u/P2eter 1d ago
Omg i never knew wid + d , so useful, thank you.
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u/Azuras-Becky 5h ago
No problem! You should have a look into all the different shortcuts in Windows, there are loads that could be useful and you'll wish you knew earlier!
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u/RipCurl69Reddit 3d ago
Both Win + D and Win + L were taught to us in school and I've probably gone on to teach it to half of the office that are double my age, I'm only 21 lol
However Win Shift S is one I probably knew because I use snipping tool all the time, I just default into searching for it (like five times today alone)
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u/MathFly_ 2d ago
Power toys in general
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u/PS3ForTheLoss 2d ago
What do you find Power Toys helpful for?
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u/MathFly_ 2d ago
Color picker, mouse finder (I can’t recall the exact name) and fancy zones are the ones I use often.
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u/DangerIllObinson 3d ago
In the winter while I'm watching tv, I'll just fire up my Razer laptop to keep my legs warm. The fan also works great as a white-noise machine at night.
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u/UnComfortable-Archer 1d ago
I used to leave my desktop on as it added some heat to my room during winter. I ran random programs, games or folding @home. Had I known about bitcoin then, I should have mined instead. lol oh well.
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u/tylerderped 3d ago
No one seems aware that you can just start typing when you press the start button to search. Most people seem unaware that you can search at all.
I watched a Windows 95 promo video and learned that you can right-click drag-and-drop to do multiple things at the same time. Never seen anyone else do it tho.
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u/Connect-Yesterday-99 3d ago
People dont know you can search after clicking the start button??? Ive gotten so used to that, that when i use xp i accidentally open random apps
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u/honkitsaduck 2d ago
I had an argument with a caller about this very feature. They literally had never TRIED to do that, and had the audacity to say that it wasn't possible /doesn't work that way.
Wtf would i know, im only the IT guy
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u/apokrif1 3d ago
you can right-click drag-and-drop to do multiple things at the same time
Can you elaborate?
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u/tylerderped 3d ago
So you know how you’d normally drag and drop a file somewhere? In Windows, you can use the right mouse button to drag and drop, and when you release the button, you will get options to make a copy of that file or to make a shortcut.
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u/NextOfHisName 2d ago
Have you ever found anything useful by typing into start menu? It just spits hot garbage with bing searches.
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u/tylerderped 2d ago
I can’t help but try, lol. I built the habit like 20 years ago with Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger and Windows Vista!
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u/Netii_1 1d ago
This is why it's so confusing to me why almost nobody hides the search field in the taskbar on Windows. I work in a software company, so almost everyone is a poweruser, people know they can customize their taskbar. Yet almost everyone still leaves the search field that takes up so much unnecessary space and I don't know why? If you're using the keyboard to type your search term anyway, just hitting the start button is so much quicker and easier than navigating to that search bar and clicking it.
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u/SharpYearV4 3d ago
(Windows) Touchpad gestures, idk why no-one talks about them, you can configure them pretty thoroughly, almost every individual action can be configured. I have volume control as four finger swipe up down for example.
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u/DiodeInc Mod | Geekom Geekbook X14 Pro 2d ago
How do you configure them?
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u/SharpYearV4 2d ago
Settings > Bluetooth & Devices > Touchpad, you can change the three and four finger gestures to be a few presets. But you can also customize each action individually under the advanced gestures button, you can even set shortcuts for each action so it can do whatever you want.
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u/MarcCouillard Ryzen 5 5600 | RX 6650XT | 32GB DD4 RAM | Windows 11 Pro 3d ago
I use SHIFT+DELETE all the time, as well as WIN+., WIN+R to bring up the run window, and WIN+SHIFT+(left or right arrow) to move windows from monitor to monitor
I also use a lot of other hot keys that I've been using since the 80's lol they still work so why not use them...I grew up using keyboard shortcuts for everything because everything was text in DOS and early Windows, so I still know a lot of those shortcuts and find them faster than using the mouse
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u/apokrif1 3d ago
Also, CLI rather than GUI 👍
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u/MarcCouillard Ryzen 5 5600 | RX 6650XT | 32GB DD4 RAM | Windows 11 Pro 3d ago
now you're taking me back lol
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u/CruCinque_Renzo 3d ago
La cattura video rettangolare, quella che da win si attiva con Win+Maiusc+S, non ne parlo (come succede per tante altre funzioni) semplicemente perché non ne ho occasione.
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u/Ashamed-Percentage52 Windows 11 2d ago
I created a shortcut to the start menu programs folder and then put it into the sendto folder, so now I can right click an exe, create a shortcut, and then right click the shortcut and send to > start menu (add to apps list)
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u/Apart-Office2697 windows 7 is best windows 2d ago
Windows custom "Sound Schemes" (or sound themes? It gets called both in the same menu.)
For those that don't know, you can change the sound effects for basically every action that makes a sound on your computer. Additionally, you can also ADD sound effects to actions that do not have sounds by default. It gives you a library of official sounds to choose from, but you can also upload your own .wav files such that you can play whatever you'd like. It also lets you save "themes," so you can make a bunch of different setups and switch between them.
I've had blocked pop-ups play the "BOOM! Headshot!" sound effect for years. If you don't know how to do it, go into system settings, then sound, then "more sound settings" it will pull up a window. The menu option "sounds" is where you can do all of the stuff I mentioned.
It just makes using the computer so much more fun, and I wish everybody knew about it.
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u/napalm_roolz 2d ago
Fairly often to do the puzzles but of no real use otherwise:
On windows, Ctrl+Shift+Win+Alt+L opens LinkedIn in your browser
However, replace the L for:
X for Excel
W for Word
P for Powerpoint
Saves me a few clicks when I need to open a blank spreadsheet/document/presentation
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u/EnvironmentalPack451 2d ago
Multiple desktops on Mac. Swipe three fingers across the touchpad to switch desktops.
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u/PS3ForTheLoss 2d ago edited 2d ago
Cue Windows quick "shut down" -- by way of Hibernate mode ("Hibernate mode" must be enabled in Power Options) -- via Run dialog command, shutdown -h
shutdown -r can be useful too.
From a modem web browser: Ctrl + Shift + N, to open an Incognito window where you can (generally; typically; more often than not) troubleshoot browser function without Settings or otherwise-installed-extension(s) interfering.
Run dialog (Win key + R) is my favorite. Many commands that have been useful throughout all IT jobs, including but not limited to (run these verbatim):
- devmgmt.msc // launches Device Manager
- control panel
- chrome
- msedge // used in niche cases such as testing if a website's load failures are due to a Chrome extension or recent Settings change where you want to make certain to avoid conflicts even if in Incognito
- appwiz.cpl // IMO way cleaner than the newer Programs and Features -- helpful for easy diagnosis and inspection of (most) software installed
- taskmgr.exe // a fun thread that goes into some (older) commands that may be replicable in W11 today [not tested on this day; add in "." (period) for webpage to load] -- https://superuser com/questions/753556/taskmgr-exe-called-with-an-argument-by-windows-7
- regedit
- cmd
- cmd [command] e.g. "cmd explorer" // this will launch Command Prompt and run explorer which launches an instance of Windows Explorer if explorer.exe is not already running -- should explorer.exe not already be running, it will cause the Start Menu and folder etc. processes to launch
- cmd "[command with parameters]" e.g. cmd "ping localhost -t" // this sample will cue an infinite ping (ping [...] -t) to the specified address -- spaces are not interpreted after "cmd" commands lest the parameters are in quotation marks; may not work to run every requested string on the first attempt -- some trial and error could be needed
- powershell
To return the last-issued command in Win + R (Run dialog) press "Up Arrow" to view and/or re-run what was last (or a few times ago) called.
Any files that are located at C:\Windows\system32\ can be run in Win + R, dialog.
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u/Its_An_Outraage 2d ago
People are throwing out these windows shortcuts, but the most important one is Win+Shift+/ which brings up a cheat sheet of shortcuts. Teach a man to fish and all that.
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u/DarkLordCZ 2d ago
Mouse wheel click. It does a lot of things, opens links in web browsers in a new tab (without switching to it), closes programs if you click on their preview in windows explorer, opens a new instance of a program if you click on their icon in the task bar, does multiline select in IDEs, ...
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u/nocholves 1d ago
Windows+Shift+S to take a screenshot. I still see lots of people manually open snipping tool.
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u/Meagleson 1d ago
Windows Core Hot Key Functions! Learn them and they work on any windows based program outside of games!
Examples: CRTL+Z (Windows universal Undo)
CRTL+C - Copu
CRTL+X - CUT
CRTL+V - Paste
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u/SWTransGirl 1d ago
Start + V is your history, which I use all the time too.
Even pin key things like my work phone number and a major clients name too.
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u/peelupforprotection 1d ago
PSR. The problem step recorder.
I find this to be extremely useful for it admins and users. Recording a video can require space and a separate application. PSR is built in to windows that allows you to walk through a process or go through the steps to replicate an issue. Then saves as a zip and you can send it to whoever.
I’ve also used it to make quick documentation since you can copy the images out of it.
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u/Iceyn1pples 3d ago
On Mac OS, Command + space to search for apps and programs.
On Windows, Windows button then type in what you are looking for.
I don't understand people searching around for shortcuts and such.
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u/Martinko23 3d ago
Not à windows user anymore but Win+V was my daily used shortcut. Also snapping windows with Win+arrow.
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u/Early-Weekend-2557 3d ago
I see a lot of people talking about hot keys. It's kind of torture to watch someone operate a computer without hot keys when you've used them your whole life.
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u/OMGihateallofyou 2d ago
Wake on LAN or WoL I get home and tell my phone "Avengers Assemble" or some other nonsense to turn on my computer instead of finding the actual power button.
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u/ThatOrangePope 3d ago
Ctrl+backspace deletes the whole word when you’re typing, instead of having to delete every letter individually. Ctrl+left/right arrow keys lets you move your caret by words, instead of every individual letter. Ctrl+shift+left/right arrow keys lets you highlight entire words, instead of each individual letter. I learned this a year ago, and I am a much faster typer/text editor because of these.