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Useful Computer Tips & Tricks
Posted July 10, 2019
by Curt Price
Here are some quick and useful tips for computer users (which you probably are...seeing as how you're likely reading this on some sort of computer).
Use these now...thank us later.
Open a Recently Closed Tab
- If you want to get back a tab you closed, just press "Control" (or "Command" on Mac), plus "Shift," plus "T," and it will magically reappear.
Window Snapping
- If you click the "Windows" key, plus one of the arrows (right, left, up, down), your current window will move to that side of the screen.
Similarly, "Windows," plus "Shift," plus one of the arrows will move your window into whatever monitor is that way (right, for example).
Unfortunately for Mac users, this only works for Windows machines.
Screenshot PART Of Your Screen
- If you only need to screenshot part of the screen, there's a simple way to do it for both Windows and Macs.
For Mac: "Command," plus "Shift," plus "4" brings up the tool. Then you just drag the area you want.
For Windows: Just go to "Start" and then "Snipping Tool."
Notepad in a Browser
- Enter the following line of text into the URL field in your web browser and turn your browser into a notepad.
data:text/html, <html contenteditable>
Easily Batch Rename Files
- Highlight all of the files you wish to rename, then right click on the first one and name it "disney-photos" (or whatever you want to call them) and hit 'Enter'. This will rename all files to "disney-photos(1)", "disney-photos(2)", etc.
Quickly Lock Your PC
- On a Windows machine, hit "Windows," plus "L" to lock your computer.
On a Mac click "Command," plus "Option," plus "Eject." (Or "Power" if your computer doesn't have an optical drive.)
Password Protect Files
- By using a zipping (archiving) app such as 7-Zip (www.7-zip.org) you can compress & archive files into one neat and tidy file and also set a password on that file. To be extra secure, you can also choose to encrypt the file names.
Clear Your Browser Cache in Seconds
- Quickly clear your web browser cache by pressing "Control," plus "Shift," plus "R." This will also refresh your page. This comes in handy if you are having browser issues, or you're having trouble seeing updated links on web pages.
Reverse Search an Image in Chrome
- In Google Chrome, if you press "S" while you right click on an image it will do a reverse Google search. That means you'll be able to see where that photo exists online and where it potentially originated.
