Access the hidden recovery partition on eMachines, Gateway, and Lenovo computers.

What are the F1 through F12 keys F1 Almost always used as the help key, almost every program opens a help screen when this key is pressed.

Windows Key F1 would open the Microsoft Windows help and support center.

Open the Task Pane.

F2 In Windows renames a highlighted icon, file, or folder in all versions of Windows.

F3 Often opens a search feature for many programs including Microsoft Windows when at the Windows Desktop.

In MS-DOS or Windows command line F3 will repeat the last command.

Shift F3 will change the text in Microsoft Word from upper to lower case or a capital letter at the beginning of every word.

Windows Key F3 opens the Advanced find window in Microsoft Outlook.

Open the address bar in Windows Explorer and Internet Explorer.

Alt F4 closes the program window currently active in Microsoft Windows.

Ctrl F4 closes the open window within the current active window in Microsoft Windows.

F5 In all modern Internet browsers, pressing F5 will refresh or reload the page or document window.

F6 Move the cursor to the address bar in Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and most other Internet browsers.

F7 Commonly used to spell check and grammar check a document in Microsoft programs such as Microsoft Word, Outlook, etc.

F8 Function key used to enter the Windows startup menu, commonly used to access Windows Safe Mode.

Used by some computers to access the Windows recovery system, but may require a Windows installation CD.

Opens the Measurements toolbar in Quark 5.0.

Reduce laptop screen.

With Mac OS 10.3 or later, displays a thumbnail for each window in a single workspace.

Using the Fn key and F9 at the same time opens Mission Control on an Apple computer running Mac OS X.

F10 In Microsoft Windows activates the menu bar of an open application.

Shift F10 is the same as right-clicking on a highlighted icon, file, or Internet link.

Access the hidden recovery partition on Compaq, HP, and Sony computers.

Increase laptop screen brightness (on some laptops) With Mac OS 10.3 or later, shows all open Windows for the active program.

Ctrl F11 as computer is starting to access the hidden recovery partition on many Dell computers.

Windows 10 Function Keys List