The F1, F2… F12 keys are quite mysterious. We have them in front of us whenever we use a keyboard, but seldom do we use them much more than refreshing the screen with F5 and if we are a bit salseros we can even use F2 or F8 to access the BIOS of the computer and make some changes in the system settings. We see these keys constantly, but could you tell me what the F3 key really is for? Did you know that in some programs, if we press F10, the program shows us all the keyboard shortcuts graphically?
Next we are going to review the functions of all the keys function of the standard keyboard, one by one. Surely after reading this post you will find some interesting utility that you had not noticed ...
F1 key
- Open the window of "Help”Of the vast majority of programs.
- Access to BIOS settings.
- Windows key + F1: Opens the Windows Help and Support Center.
- Open the control panel.
F2 key
- Rename the selected file or folder. Works with all versions of Windows.
- If we press Alt + Ctrl + F2 open the "Open Document" window in Microsoft Word.
- Ctrl + F2 opens the print preview window in Microsoft Word.
- Open the BIOS settings.
F3 key
- Open a search window when we are on the Windows desktop or in the explorer.
- In MS-DOS or Windows, if we press F3 repeat the last command accomplished.
- Shift + F3 in Microsoft Word it changes the format of selected words from lowercase to all uppercase or only the first letter to uppercase. .
- Windows key + F3 opens the advanced search window in Microsoft Outlook.
- Open the Mission Control window on Mac OS X.
F4 key
- Open the search window in Windows 95 / XP.
- Open the address bar both in Windows Explorer and Internet Explorer ..
- Repeat the last action performed in Microsoft Word (only valid from Word 2000 onwards).
- Alt + F4 closes the active window in Microsoft Windows.
F5 key
- Refreshes or reload the active page in any internet browser.
- Open the window of "search for and replace”In Microsoft Word.
- Starts presentation mode in PowerPoint.
F6 key
- Hover over the address bar of Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome etc.
- Ctrl + Shift + F6 Allows you to navigate between different open Microsoft Word documents.
- Lower the speaker volume on some laptops.
F7 key
- Do the spell check and grammar in Microsoft documents, such as Word, Outlook etc.
- Shift + F7 opens a side panel with synonyms and antonyms when selecting a word in Microsoft Word.
- Change the cursor mode in Mozilla Firefox to "free-scrolling cursor".
- Increase the sound volume on some laptops.
F8 key
- Pressing F8 when starting the equipment we will enter the Windows boot menu, commonly used to boot the system in Safe Mode. If you want to access in safe mode in Windows 10 take a look HERE.
- On some computers it is used to access the Windows system recovery system.
- Displays a thumbnail image of all workspaces on Mac OS.
F9 key
- Update the document in Microsoft Word.
- Go through the process of “Send and receive”In Outlook.
- Open the measurement bar in Quark 5.0.
- Displays a thumbnail image of each window in a workspace on Mac OS 10.3 or later.
- If we use the Fn and F9 at the same time, open Mission Control on Apple computers with Mac OS X.
F10 key
- In Windows, in some applications show keyboard shortcuts of the active program (for example in Word), and in other selected mark the menu bar.
- Shift + F10 It has the same function as a right mouse click when having a file or folder selected.
- Access the hidden recovery partition on Compaq, HP, and Sony computers.
- Access the BIOS setup menu (on some computers).
- Increase the brightness (on some laptops)
- Shows all open windows of the same program (only for Mac OS 10.3 or later).
F11 key
- It is used to enter or exit the full screen. Valid for any browser.
- If we press F11 or Ctrl + F11 when starting the computer we can access the recovery partition of many Dell, eMachines, Gateway and Lenovo computers.
- Minimize all windows and show desktop (Mac OS 10.4 and later only).
F12 key
- Open the window of "Save as”In Microsoft Word.
- Ctrl + F12 open a document in Microsoft Word.
- Shift + F12 performs the save action in a Word document, as if we were pressing Ctrl + S. Same same.
- Ctrl + Shift + F12 performs the action of printing document in Microsoft Word.
- Preview of page in Microsoft Expression Web.
- Open the debug tool in your browser.
- Show or hide the dashboard on Mac OS 10.4 or later.
- Access the boot menu and allow you to select the device's boot device (hard disk, USB, CD or DVD, etc.).
