Bring back a closed tab We have dedicated a section to web browsing further down below, but this one is too useful to be missed. Accidentally closed a tab? Simply press Ctrl + Shift + T to reopen the most recently closed tab and get back to what you were doing (Cmd + Shift + T on Macs).
Window snapping and multiple monitor control Pressing the Windows Key + Arrow Keys will cause a window to quickly snap to each side of either monitor. Alternatively, hitting Shift + Windows Key + Arrows will cause the window to jump to the other monitor. While pressing Windows + P will allow you to quickly set up a second display or projector.
In macOS we favor leveraging the power of Mission Control to handle virtual desktops, switching between apps, and peaking at your desktop beautifully. Though Macs don’t support window snapping out of the box, a $0.99 app called Magnet comes highly recommended.
Password-protect files A simple way to lock down access to certain files is to create an encrypted archive. Odds are you already have installed a copy of 7-Zip, WinRAR, or The Unarchiver (Mac) or some equivalent. Create a new archive, select to encrypt its contents and password protect them.
Undo everywhere to fix those little mistakes Did you know you can undo almost any action? Ctrl + Z is the ultimate hot key, and for sure you knew about it already, however note that undo doesn’t just apply to typing. If you accidentally delete or move a file, you can hit Ctrl + Z to bring it right back to where it was (Ctrl + Y will redo whatever you undid).
YouTube keyboard shortcuts If you thought using the spacebar to pause a YouTube video was effective (except when focus is elsewhere and it doesn’t work), instead try using K for pausing, while J and L will step backward/forward 10 seconds. M works for mute. Very handy.
Find your Wi-Fi password In Windows, go to the “Network and Sharing Center.” Right click on the Wi-Fi network connection icon > Wireless Properties. Click on Show Characters box to show your Wi-Fi password.
In macOS all passwords are stored in the Keychain app. Use Spotlight to find “Keychain Access.” Open the app and find your Wi-Fi network name in the list of saved credentials. Double click it and then click the box to show your password (it will require your OS level password).
Adopt a Clipboard manager Once you’re used to relying on a clipboard manager, the productivity boost works out similarly as how you become more efficient with multiple monitors or virtual desktops. We have an article dedicated to this, but in short, for Windows try ClipClip. For macOS use Flycut.
Screenshot like you mean it Simply hitting print screen on your keyboard is the easiest way to capture a screenshot. But Windows and macOS provide several other ways to screenshot, many of which are better options. But then, there’s grabbing a screenshot and annotating. We love Monosnap for doing just that thanks to its simplicity, speed, and cross-platform support and snipping tool.
Grab a photo from your phone How often have you found yourself wanting to take a picture and move that immediately to your workflow in your PC.
Mac users Apple simplified this for macOS/iPhone owners with Continuity Camera. In any supported app, simply go to the top menu: select Edit > Insert From Your iPhone or iPad > “Take Photo” or “Scan Document.” This will activate the camera on your iPhone, take a photo and it will automatically show up on your desktop.
Windows Microsoft developed a side project to do the same with iOS and Android phones, though it’s unfortunately not well maintained. Two good alternatives are AirDroid and Portal, or simply sync with Dropbox or Google Photos.
Windows Power User Menu You can open a quick list of common power user destinations in Windows by right clicking the bottom left of the start button on Windows 8 and 10 which opens a context menu with shortcuts to power options, the event viewer, device manager and so on. This menu is also accessible by pressing the Windows key + X.
Easily extract images from a Word (.docx) file Change the file name from .docx to .zip and open the file. The pictures will be in one of the directories.
Enable ‘Night Mode’ on all your devices If you often work at night or simply like to read on a screen before going to sleep, this can be a game changer. We recommend using F.lux on both Mac and Windows, although both operating systems have some support for this already built-in. Same goes for your mobile devices.
Find/delete large files wasting space A handy tool called Space Sniffer can be used to easily find which files and folders are taking up the most space on your drive. From there, you can delete them and open up a ton of storage space. Other Windows alternatives (free) include WinDirStat and TreeSize. On macOS you can use Finder or Siri to find large files with no third party app, but we like to use GrandPerspective.
Delete the Windows.old folder. If you have plenty of free space and don’t mind the untidiness, you can simply ignore the folder and it should be deleted automatically 30 days after the update. But if you are strapped for storage space, you can use Windows’ own tools to remove it with ease.
Command prompt here In the Windows File Explorer, type “cmd” into the address bar and it will open the command prompt in that directory.