Tips & shortcuts

Small keys, big wins

Free, honest, no-newsletter-required tips — the shortcuts and habits we set up for clients every week. Steal them.

Ctrl + Shift + T

Browser · Win (⌘⇧T on Mac)

Un-close that tab

Closed the wrong tab? This reopens it, exactly where you were. Press it again for the one before that. Works in every browser.

Win + V

Windows

Clipboard time machine

Windows keeps a history of everything you've copied — turn it on once and never lose a copied paragraph to a stray Ctrl+C again.

⌘ + Shift + 4

Mac

Screenshot like a pro

Drag to capture exactly what you want. Tap Space after it to snap a whole window — perfectly framed, shadow included.

Win + Shift + S

Windows

Snip anything, instantly

The fastest way to capture an error message before it disappears — and the single most useful thing to attach to a support ticket.

3-2-1

Everyone

The backup rule that works

3 copies of anything that matters, on 2 different types of storage, 1 of them offsite. And test a restore twice a year — an untested backup is a hope, not a backup.

@?

Everyone

Check the real sender

Phishing 101: tap or hover the sender's name and read the actual address. “Microsoft Support <kevin81@random-mail.ru>” is not Microsoft. When in doubt, don't click — forward it to IT.

🔑

Everyone

One password to rule them all

Use a password manager and let it invent every password. You remember one strong passphrase; it remembers 300 unguessable ones. Never reuse your email password anywhere.

↻ ≠ ⏻

Windows

Restart beats Shut down

Weirdly, Shut down doesn't fully reset Windows (Fast Startup keeps old state), but Restart does. If IT says “turn it off and on again”, use Restart — it's the deeper clean.

🖨

Everyone

The printer peace treaty

Printer sulking? Power it off, clear the stuck jobs in the print queue on your computer, then power it on. Nine times out of ten it's the queue, not the printer.

Want the fixes that don't fit on a card? That's the day job — get in touch or press Ctrl K.