or the Alt or the ones called F1 etc for that matter?

Have a look at your keyboard and you’ll see, up at the top, a row of keys numbered F1 to F12. Now have a look at the bottom, either side of the space bar (the big one at the bottom) and you’ll find some called “Ctrl” and “Alt”.

Ever wondered why they’re there or what they do? Believe it or not they are actually very useful - if you know the secret combinations!

Let’s start with an easy one first. Press the F1 key and Windows Help will open just like magic. 

Now, unless you actually want some help, let’s get rind of it.

Make sure the Help window is selected (make sure it’s the top Window) and press, and hold down, the Alt key and then press the F4 key (so that both keys are pressed at the same time). Wow, Windows Help has now disappeared!

OK so now we know that F1 opens Windows Help and Alt+F4 closes the top Window (or program). (Don’t forget, the + sign means use two keys together as above.) What next?

Ever had a number of Windows (programs) open at the same time and wanted to move between them? Then use Alt+Tab. Hold Alt down and press the Tab key to move through the list of open Windows. Let go of all the keys when you reach the Window you want.

Ever wanted to copy and paste something from one place to another? Highlight whatever you’re copying by clicking the mouse at one end of the thing to be copied, holding the mouse button down and “dragging” to the other end. Now copy it by pressing Ctrl+C. Don’t worry, there’s nothing to see but it is now copied.

To paste the copied thing go to where you want to put it and press the Ctrl+V keys and, hey presto, it appears like magic!

Want to select everything on the screen all at once? Easy! Press Ctrl+A together. This can now be copied and pasted using the above instructions.

Alternatively it can be Cut (deleted-ish) just as easy. Select what you want to Cut and then press Ctrl+X and it’s gone (ish). Why only “ish”? If you then Paste (Ctrl+V) then it re-appears again! Yes, Cut actually means copy it then delete, not a straight, gone forever, delete.

What if you Cut or Paste something you didn’t really mean to, or you’ve just done something else that you didn’t really want to? No bother, press Ctrl+Z to undo the last action.

Oh no! You’ve now just undone something you actually needed. So what, press Ctrl+Y and it’s back again!

And here’s one last on for this week. Press Ctrl+P and the printer window opens!

OK, so these mystery keys aren’t quite so useless then and next week there’s more.