More Assorted Windows Tips, in GIF Form

A very brief collection of some of my favorite lesser-known quick tricks in Windows.

Quickly Size Details Columns to Fit

Double-click the column heading divider line to automatically size that column wide enough to accommodate all the text in that column. Or hold Ctrl and type a + to size all columns to fit at once. You can also reach these options by right-clicking any displayed column header.

Use the Taskbar With Your Keyboard

Your taskbar has keyboard shortcuts based on the icon position. For example, pressing Win and 2 will “press” the 2nd icon. Include the Ctrl key and it’ll cycle between open instances of that app. Include Shift and it’ll launch another copy of it (similar to shift+clicking or ctrl+clicking links in websites).

Send the Current App to the Back (not minimize)

Press Alt+Escape to send the current window to the back of the z-order stack. Useful if you are done working with an app but want to keep it semi-visible and just bring other things on top of it. In this example, the green app is on top before I press Alt-Escape and send it to the very back of the stack.

Drag to Create a Shortcut

In the old days browsers would show a cute favicon instead of just a 🔒 symbol on the URL bar, but that 🔒 can still be dragged all the same. Drag it out to your desktop and drop it for a desktop shortcut, or drop it on your bookmarks toolbar in your browser (press Ctrl+Shift+B to show it).

More tips

For more, check out my entire tip archive.