--- title: "Explorer Tips and tricks for the keyboard junkie" url: "https://osherove.com/blog/2003/3/5/explorer-tips-and-tricks-for-the-keyboard-junkie.md" canonical: "https://osherove.com/blog/2003/3/5/explorer-tips-and-tricks-for-the-keyboard-junkie.html" published: "2003-03-05T11:50:00" updated: "2003-03-05T11:50:00" tags: [".Net Original", ".Net Quotations", "Tips & Tricks"] author: "Roy Osherove" description: "Windows Trick o' the Day I knew this trick existed, but I couldn't remember it. If you to drill down through your directory structure all the time, this is a real time saver. In Windows Explorer, you can highlight a…" usage: "Licensed under CC BY 4.0 — reuse, quote and adapt with attribution (Roy Osherove, link to the original page)." license: "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" --- # Explorer Tips and tricks for the keyboard junkie By Roy Osherove March 5, 2003 In [.Net Original](https://osherove.com/blog/category/net-original), [.Net Quotations](https://osherove.com/blog/category/net-quotations), [Tips & Tricks](https://osherove.com/blog/category/tips-tricks) **Historical article** · Originally published March 5, 2003; technical details may be outdated. > [_Windows Trick o' the Day_](http://www.raibledesigns.com/page/rd/20030227#windows_trick_o_the_day) > > _I knew this trick existed, but I couldn't remember it. If you to drill down through your directory structure all the time, this is a real time saver. In Windows Explorer, you can highlight a folder and full expand it (and it's children) using the \* key on your far right keypad. Using the - key will contract all folders. Other good Windows tricks I know are using the Win Key (that's the one with the Windows logo on it). Win+r = run, Win+e = explorer and Win+d = desktop. And last but not least, in Win2K+ right-click >> Properties on My Computer will get you to System Properties. If you have other good tips for Red Hat 8, OS X or Windows - please share!_ > > _\[via_ [_Raible_](http://www.raibledesigns.com/page/rd/20030227#windows_trick_o_the_day)_\]_ > > Here are some more: > > \* **Win+m** = see desktop > > \* **CTRL-Shift+Esc** : Open the win task manager > > \* **Alt+Space**: Open the window system menu (Top left corner menu) > > (I use a combination of the **upper two + 'n'** to quickly open and minimize my Task manager. I like to keep an eye on the CPU as i work.I  Just choose Options-Hide when minimized to see it only in the tray area...) > > \* **Alt+PrintScreen** : Capture the Active window not the whole screen > > \* here's a neat little one : When you are typing a URL (or any address) in the explorer window,use **CTRL+BackSpace** to Delete the last hirarchy word(up until the previous slash.. > > \* **Alt+Down** : Open the active combo dropdown > > \* How to email a document through explorer without using the mouse: > > There is a "**context menu" key** on most new keyboard which is usually to the right of the right-side windows key(with a small arrow and menu picture on it". this does a right-click on the active document in explorer. > > \* If your really into working exclusivley with the keyboard, i recomment [Hot Keyboard Pro](http://www.hot-keyboard.com/) (There is also a light version free) that can automate practically anything, including mouse and keytrokes... > > \* About using Explorer: I've long stopped using windows explorer and am using [Total Commander](http://www.ghisler.com/). A relic of the old DOS days, this is a two-paned file manager that was ported to windows(A-la Norton commander style) and is one of the best selling file managers out there. Granted - it's not pretty, but it is a keyboard junkie's heaven , and there is practically nothing you can't do with it. ## More in .Net Original [All posts in .Net Original](https://osherove.com/blog/category/net-original) - Mar 31, 2003 ### [ASP.NET is cool + DataGrid Designer Tips](https://osherove.com/blog/2003/3/31/aspnet-is-cool-datagrid-designer-tips.html) - Mar 13, 2003 ### [Free GUI component for VS .NET users](https://osherove.com/blog/2003/3/13/free-gui-component-for-vs-net-users.html) - Feb 22, 2003 ### [App.Config Magic](https://osherove.com/blog/2003/2/22/appconfig-magic.html) - Feb 22, 2003 ### [Cool IDE Shortcut](https://osherove.com/blog/2003/2/22/cool-ide-shortcut.html) --- ## About the author **Roy Osherove**: Senior Solutions Architect at AWS working on AI for production and AI-driven development; author of The Art of Unit Testing and Elastic Leadership, with about 20 years of consulting and training on unit testing, TDD, team leadership and continuous delivery. ### Sites - [RobotPaper](https://robotpaper.ai/): This blog: AI patterns and anti-patterns, AI and coding agents, and engineering leadership. - [osherove.com](https://osherove.com): Roy's personal site. Author of The Art of Unit Testing and Elastic Leadership; consulting and training on unit testing, TDD, team leadership and continuous delivery, plus about 20 years of blog posts. - [The Art of Unit Testing](https://www.artofunittesting.com): The Art of Unit Testing, 3rd Edition (Manning): readable, maintainable, trustworthy unit tests, plus TDD workshops in C#, JavaScript, Java and Kotlin. - [5whys.com](https://www.5whys.com): Roy's writing on software team leadership: self-organizing teams, surviving chaos, learning mode and the Elastic Leadership model. - [Pipeline Driven](https://pipelinedriven.org): Continuous delivery and DevOps practices: build patterns, pipeline-friendly testing, DevOps metrics and enterprise DevOps. - [Elastic Leadership](https://www.elasticleadership.com): Elastic Leadership, Roy's framework for software team leaders (survival, learning and self-organizing modes). ### Social - X: https://x.com/royosherove - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/osherove/ ### Contact - Contact form: https://forms.gle/jQSx5KoXvrVA1JCK7 ### License Licensed under CC BY 4.0 — reuse, quote and adapt with attribution (Roy Osherove, link to the original page). License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/