20 essential Windows keyboard shortcuts to save you a click

Compared to reaching for the mouse or navigating a menu, a single keyboard shortcut shaves a moment off your task. This might not seem like much, but add up all those saved moments over a week or a month, and you're gaining a substantial chunk of time. That's why it's important to know as many shortcuts as possible for your operating system. Try a keyboard command a few times, and you'll find out just how useful it can be. Here are 20 of the most indispensable keyboard shortcuts for a Microsoft Windows computer.

The basics

Ctrl+Z: Undo

No matter what program you're running, Ctrl+Z will roll back your last action, whether you've just overwritten an entire paragraph in Word or deleted a file you didn't mean to. This one is an absolute lifesaver.

Ctrl+W: Close

Another shortcut that works just about everywhere, Ctrl+W will close down whatever you're viewing. Shut that File Explorer window, browser tab, or open image file without bothering to hone in on the close button.