Internet tips and tricks

You don't need the http:// portion of a web page

When entering an Internetaddress you do not need to type http:// or even www. in the address. For example, if you wanted to visit Computer Hope you could just type Google.com and press enter. To make things even quicker, if you are visiting a .com address you can type Google and then press Ctrl + Enter to type out the full http://www.google.com address.

Quickly move between the fields of a web page

If you are filling out an online form, e-mail, or other text field you can quickly move between each of the fields by pressing the Tab key or Shift + Tab to move back a field. For example, in the example form below you can click in the "First Name" field type anything and press tab to switch to the next field.

Know your Internet browser shortcuts

There are dozens of different shortcut keys that can be used with Internet browsers. Below are a few of our top suggested Internet browser shortcuts.

·         Press Alt + D to move the cursor into the address bar.

·         Hold down the Ctrl key and press the + or - to increase and decrease the size of text. Ctrl + 0will reset the text.

·         Press the backspace key or hold down the Alt key + left arrow to go back a page.

·         Press F5 to refresh or reload a web page.

·         Press F11 to make the Internet browser screen full screen. Press F11 again to return to the normal view.

·         Press Ctrl + B to open your Internet bookmarks.

·         Press Ctrl + F to open the find box to search for text within the web page you are reading.

Internet Explorer shortcut keys

Below is a listing of all the major shortcut keys in Microsoft Internet Explorer. See the computer shortcut page if you are looking for other shortcut keys used in other programs.

Shortcut Keys	Description
Alt + Left Arrow	Back a page.
Backspace	Back a page.
Alt + Right Arrow	Forward a page.
F5	Refresh current page, frame, or tab.
F11	Display the current website in full screen mode. Pressing F11 again will exit this mode.
Esc	Stop page or download from loading.
Ctrl + (- or +)	Increase or decrease the font size, pressing '-' will decrease and '+' will increase.
Ctrl + Enter	Quickly complete an address. For example, type computerhope in the address bar and press CTRL + ENTER to get http://www.computerhope.com.
Ctrl + D	Add a Favorite for the page currently opened.
Ctrl + I	Display available bookmarks.
Ctrl + N	Open New browser window.
Ctrl + P	Print current page or frame.
Ctrl + T	Opens a new tab.
Ctrl + F4	Closes the currently selected tab.
Ctrl + Tab	Moves through each of the open tabs.

Mozilla Firefox shortcut keys

Below is a listing of all the major shortcut keys in Mozilla Firefox. See the computer shortcut page if you are looking for other shortcut keys used in other programs.

Shortcut Keys	Description
Alt + Home	Open your home page.
Alt + Left Arrow	Back a page.
Alt + Right Arrow	Forward a page.
F5	Refresh current page, frame, or tab.
F11	Display the current website in full screen mode. Pressing F11 again will exit this mode.
Esc	Stop page or download from loading.
Ctrl + (- or +)	Increase or decrease the font size, pressing '-' will decrease and '+' will increase. Ctrl + 0 will reset back to default.
Ctrl + Enter	Quickly complete an address. For example, type computerhope in the address bar and press CTRL + ENTER to get http://www.computerhope.com.
Ctrl + Shift + Del	Open the Clear Data window to quickly clear private data.
Ctrl + D	Add a bookmark for the page currently opened.
Ctrl + I	Display available bookmarks.
Ctrl + J	Display the download window.
Ctrl + K or Ctrl + E	Move the cursor to the search box.
Ctrl + N	Open New browser window.
Ctrl + P	Print current page or frame.
Ctrl + T	Opens a new tab.
Ctrl + F4 or Ctrl + W	Closes the currently selected tab.
Ctrl + Shift + T	Undo the close of a window.
Ctrl + Tab	Moves through each of the open tabs.
Spacebar	Moves down a page at a time.
Shift + Spacebar	Moves up a page at a time.
Alt + Down arrow	Display all previous text entered in a text box and available options on drop down menu.

Take advantage of tabbed browsing

Take full advantage of tabbed browsing on all Internet browsers. While reading any web page if you come across a link that interests you open the link in a new tab so it doesn not interrupt your reading. A new tab can be opened by holding down the Ctrl key and clicking the link or if you have a mouse with a wheel press down on the wheel to use it as a middle mouse button to open the link in a new tab.

Use Internet search engines to their full potential

Get the most out of every search result. If you are not finding what you want try surrounding the text in quotes. For example, searching for 'computer help' without quotes returns results with "computer" and "help" anywhere on the page. However, if you search for "computer help" with the quotes it only return pages with "computer" and "help" next to each other.

Try alternative browsers

Most computer users use the default browser that comes included with the computer, with Microsoft Windows this is Internet Explorer. There are many great alternative browsers that are all free to download and use and may have features your current browser does not include. Below are a few of our favorites, try one or try them all.

·         Google Chrome

·         Mozilla Firefox

·         Opera

Install plugins and add-ons

All of the above alternative browsers also have a large community of volunteers who develop add-ons and plugins that can be added into the browser. Each of these browsers has hundreds of thousands of these add-ons that can do such things like the current weather in your browser window, changing its color, and adding additional functionality.

Make sure your browser and its plugins are up-to-date

An Internet browser can have many plugins that give it additional functionality. For example, Adobe Flash is a great way to bring movies and other animated content to the Internet. Keeping these plugins up-to-date is vital for your computer stability and also security. Using the below tool you can quickly verify if your plugins are up-to-date and get links to where to download the latest updates.