Every so often, I run across a little trick that makes me wish I had known about it all along. These are often very simple shortcuts, key combinations, tricks, or even manipulation of software that was meant to do something else entirely. We’re not talking hacking here, but simply ways to increase your enjoyment and speed while surfing the web. One rule I learned long ago when dealing with PC’s, and specifically Windows, is that there are 3 ways to do everything. You may know one way, or maybe even two to accomplish something, but one day you’ll see someone who knows a different, possibly easier way to accomplish the same thing. Could one of these tricks be that third?
Captcha This!
You know those insanely annoying fuzzy, jumbled, downright tough to read words that you have to type on some web pages? They were implemented to make sure that you are indeed a person, and not some automated program designed to pollute our internet with ads for viagra and other “amazing” drugs that we apparently all need to know about. Well, there’s a trick for those.
TRICK: Only type letters and leave out spaces. That’s right, for most of these jumbled messes, you don’t need to type numbers, spaces, special characters or anything else you see. This trick probably won’t work if the mess is numbers only.
Zooming Around the Interweb
Do you have a hard time with the text on some pages, but not others? Do you ever run across web pages that seem to be magnified about a zillion times? Instead of grabbing the mouse and playing easter-egg hunt with your menu options to find the zoom function, try this little trick.
TRICK: To Zoom In, Press” CTRL” + “+” (that’s the control key and the plus sign at the same time), to Zoom Out, Press “CTRL” + “-” (control and the minus sign)
Refreshing, Isn’t It?
Ever try to buy tickets on ticketmaster.com? Have you spent any time at all on ebay trying to win an auction? If you have ever needed to refresh a page over and over, or simply don’t want to use the mouse to find the icon for refresh, just use a keyboard shortcut.
TRICK: Pressing F5 (above your numbers on the keyboard) will refresh. Also, pressing “CTRL” + “R” does the same thing. So much easier.
My Computer, My Files
No matter what job I have ever had, I spent a lot of time accessing the “My Computer” area of the PC to find files, photos, documents, etc. Until I learned this trick, I spent a lot of time minimizing windows and trying to remember where that icon was on my desktop. In the event I ever used another person’s workstation, I wasted time looking for that icon, since they put it in the wrong place. No more!
TRICK: Press “WINDOWS” + “E” (that is the windows emblem key and the letter “E”) to open up a fresh “My Computer” window
Enjoy these tips and tricks? Have some favorites of your own? Share them with all the readers by commenting below. We would all appreciate it.
Tags: captcha, CTRL, keyboard combinations, keys, my computer, refresh, shortcuts, surfing, tips, tricks, web, zoom
