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Let's face it. We're all under considerable pressure to get more done in less time. Since we spend much of the day in our Web browser, let's look at some ways to get things done faster using keyboard shortcuts and special mouse clicks.
Microsoft introduced tabbed browsing to Internet Explorer in version 7. With tabs, you can have multiple Web pages open at the same time in a single Internet Explorer (IE) window. In this article, I give you some useful tips and shortcuts for working with multiple tabs.
Some of the following tips work in other browsers, such as Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari, and Opera, but in this article I focus on Internet Explorer.
Tricks in the Address Bar (Alt+D)
The Address Bar is located at the top of the Internet Explorer window. It displays the address of the Web page you're on. You also can use the Address Bar to tell Internet Explorer where you want to go next.
Alt+D - brings your cursor to the Address Bar. Type in the address of the Web page you want to visit, and press Enter. (In older versions of IE, you can click the Go button instead.)
Omit the http:// - If a Web page address begins http://, leave it off! (Unless it's something different, like https:// or ftp://.)
Omit www. - If a Web page address starts with www.,you can usually leave it off. Once in a while, you may encounter a Web site that requires the www. but it's rare. Some Web page addresses don't begin with www. such as my.yahoo.com. In this case don't omit the "my."
Ctrl+Enter - Omit the .com at the end of the Web address and press Ctrl+Enter instead of Enter. IE fills in the rest for you. For example, to go to http://www.google.com, simply type google and press Ctrl+Enter. This shortcut does not work for Web page addresses that end in something other than .com, such as .org, .edu, .gov, and .net.
Tips for Tabs (Ctrl+T)
In Internet Explorer 7, you can use tabs instead of opening multiple browser windows A number of tabbing options are available in Tools > Internet Options > Settings in the Tabs section of the General tab. As you might expect, many shortcuts also exist that help you work with tabs.
Alt+Enter - after you type a Web page address in the Address Bar or a Web search in the Search Box, IE opens the results in a new tab, which leaves your current Web page intact. (You can combine this shortcut with the prior tip about using Ctrl+Enter in the Address Bar, by using Alt+Ctrl+Enter to have IE complete your address for you and open the results in a new tab.)
Ctrl+Click on a link in a Web page to open it in a new tab, while you continue to view your current page.
Shift+Ctrl+Click on a link opens the link in a new tab and takes you to that new tab
Middle-Click on a link opens the link in a new tab in the background. If you don't have a middle mouse button, try clicking the left and right buttons together
Ctrl+T - open a new tab, either blank or set to your home page, depending on your settings.
Ctrl+Tab - go to the next tab
Shift+Ctrl+Tab - go to the previous tab
Ctrl+W - close the current tab (or close Internet Explorer if it is the only tab). This shortcut is the same as clicking on the "x" on the right side of the tab.
Ctrl+F4 - close the current tab (same as Ctrl+W)
Ctrl+1 - go to the first tab
Ctrl+2 - go to the second tab, through Ctrl+8 for the eighth tab
Ctrl+9 - go to the last tab
Middle-Click on a tab to close it. If you don't have a middle mouse button, try clicking the left and right mouse buttons at the same time to perform the middle-click.
Ctrl+Q - a handy feature in IE7 that shows a Quick View of all your open tabs so you can choose which ones to view or close.
Ctrl+Alt+F4 - closes all of the other open tabs, leaving the one you're viewing alone
The Old Standards
The following shortcuts have existed in Internet Explorer for some time:
Ctrl+E - bring your cursor to the Search Bar
Ctrl+N - start a new window showing the current Web page
Ctrl+P - print the contents of the current tab
Ctrl+X - cut selected data to the Clipboard. This shortcut is useful when you are entering data on a Web form.
Ctrl+C - copy to the Clipboard. This shortcut is handy for copying data into another program or location.
Ctrl+V - paste from the Clipboard – useful for pasting data from one place to another.
Ctrl+A - select the contents of the entire page. This shortcut is used often before Ctrl+C to copy all of the contents of a page.
Ctrl+F - open a Find dialog box so you can search for text on a Web page
Esc - stop the loading of the current page.
F5 - press this function key to "refresh" the current page. You can use this shortcut if a page doesn't load correctly. Press F5 to try to reload it. If data are continually changing on the page, you also can press F5 to display the new contents.
Ctrl+F5 - force a page refresh and bypasses your "cache"
F11 - toggle Full Screen display mode. Press this function key to see as much of the contents of the Web page as possible. This shortcut is useful for reading the contents of an online newspaper article, for example. You can use F11 to exit Full Screen mode.
Alt+F4 - exit Internet Explorer
F1 - your best friend the Help key
Now Get to Work (or Play)!
When you are using Internet Explorer and want to get to your destination more quickly, these shortcuts will help you get there!
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