Ever wondered what are those keys for? From F1 to F12 there are 12 of these keys. They really can do more than taking up space on your keyboard.

Probably the most known one of them is the F1 key. This is generally reserved for help documents. Return to Windows desktop and press F1. This will open Windows Help Center. When working with an application, pressing F1 will open help documents of that app.

My favorite function key is F2. Maybe the function of F2 is not widely known but it is a very useful key. It is used for renaming files. What do you do for renaming files? Do you left click on the file and select “Rename”? Well, I think I never renamed files in that way since I learned the function of F2 key.

When you want to search for a file, just press F3 key. What is good about this key? Let’s say you want to search the contents of a folder. If that folder is already opened, click its title bar to make it the active window. Press F3 and type the filename-you don’t need to specify a folder address.

F4 key does not do anything on desktop, but it displays the address bar list if you press it when a folder is focused (i.e. in Windows Explorer).

F5 key refreshes the contents of the active window, and in Internet Explorer it refreshes current page.

F6 key focuses the address bar in windows explorer and in internet explorer, so you can press F6 and start typing an address.

F10 key activates the menu bar in programs including windows explorer. Press F10 and use navigation keys (arrow keys) to select menu items.

What about other keys? They are used for different purposes in different programs. You can learn about their functions by looking at those programs’ help documents. Look for a section called keyboard shortcuts.