Our computers, or the vast majority of them, have on their top row a series of keys that almost nobody uses. And yet, they can save us a lot of time, or at least they did in the early days of computing. These are the 12 keys from F1 to F12.

Today, many of the functions they perform coexist with modern user interfaces, easier or more intuitive, which gradually condemn them to a more decorative or sentimental function. We use the mouse more than keyboard shortcuts. But they can still save you a lot of time if you get used to using them.

This is the case of the F5 key, the most famous and most used of all, which we can use to refresh our computer, that is, when we are impatient because some Internet page does not load, or does not load at the speed we want. We also tell you what the other 11 keys above are for.

F1

F1	Opens the help menu
Ctrl +F1	Show/hide menu options in Excell and Word
F1 in Chrome	Open Chrome support

F2

F2	Rename a file in Windows Explorer
F2	Edit the active cell in Microsoft Excel
Ctrl + F2	Shows a print preview in Word
Alt + Ctrl + F2	Open the document library in Microsoft Office

F3

F3	Opens the search function
Shift + F3]	Allows you to change the font state in Word, between upper and lower case letters.

F4

Alt + F4

Closes the active window

F5

F5	Refresh the Internet browser or the
F5	Start the slide show in PowerPoint
F5	Opens “Find and Replace” in Microsoft Office and other programs.
Ctrl + F5	Refresh the browser, also clearing the cache memory.

F6

Ctrl + Shift + F6	Allows you to easily switch between Word documents
F6	Places the cursor in the browser’s address bar
F6	Page turning in a split screen in Microsoft Word

F7

F7	Performs a spelling and grammar check in Word.
Shift + F7	Open the thesaurus

F8

F8	Select text in Word
F8 when turning on the computer	Opens in fail-safe mode

F9

F9	Update a Word document
F9	Send or receive e-mails in Outlook
F9	Recalculate formulas in Excel
F9	Opening a presentation in Corel Draw as if it were Microsoft PowerPoint

F10

Ctrl + F10	Maximize the window in Microsoft Word
Shift + F10	Does the same as right click

F11

F11	Activates/deactivates the “full screen” mode.
Shift + F11	Add a new spreadsheet in Excel

F12

F12	Open “Save As” in Microsoft Word
Ctrl + F12	Open a Word document
Shift + F12	Save a Word document
Ctrl + Shift + F12	Print a Word document