Tips & tricks

Commit messages for future you: why, not what

“Fix bug” tells you nothing six months later. One sentence about the reason for a change saves an hour of git blame archaeology.

Aliases and scripts: automate what you type three times

Long commands, build sequences, switching environments — all of it belongs in aliases and scripts. Ten characters instead of eighty.

Multi-cursor editing: edit ten lines at once

Ctrl+D

Ctrl+D in VS Code selects the next occurrence of a word — and you type in all of them at once. Small refactors without find and replace.

A developer's calendar: mornings with no meetings

Coding needs 2+ uninterrupted hours — one meeting in the middle kills the whole morning. Protect your blocks as a team.

In-depth guide · 21 min

AI right in your editor: Copilot and friends for developers

A complete guide with prompts: three levels of assistance and when to use each, tests and refactoring, unfamiliar codebases, and agent-mode guardrails.

Almost every app has a quick switcher: try Ctrl+P or Ctrl+K

Ctrl+K

VS Code, Figma, Slack, Notion, browsers — they all open a “jump to anything” box. Learn it once and use it in every app you touch daily.

Obsidian: the command palette controls everything from the keyboard

Ctrl+P

Ctrl+P finds every command — switching modes, inserting a template, exporting. No need to memorize shortcuts.

Obsidian: [[links]] weave your notes into a network

Double square brackets create a link to another note — and backlinks show you where it's referenced from.

Obsidian: the daily note as a safety net for your day

One place where you dump notes, ideas, and links all day long. Sort it out in the evening — or don't; search will still find it.

Set working hours for notifications in Slack

A notification schedule automatically quiets Slack outside working hours. It leaves you alone in the evening — and shows colleagues when you're reachable.

Slack search: from:, in:, before:

Operators narrow a search to a specific person, channel, and time period — instead of scrolling through history.

Formatting in Slack: code, quotes, lists

Backticks turn text into code, three of them make a code block. A readable message saves time on both ends.

Slack: Ctrl+K jumps to any channel or teammate

Ctrl+K

The quick switcher finds a channel, a message, or a person in a few keystrokes. Slack's single most important shortcut.

Automatically restoring apps after a restart

Windows can reopen the apps that were running before a restart. An overnight update doesn't have to mean rebuilding your workspace in the morning.

Clipboard sync across computers

Win+V

Clipboard history (Win+V) can sync through your Microsoft account — copy something on your work PC, paste it on your laptop.

Alt+Space: the window menu that rescues a lost window

Alt+Space

The system window menu can move a window with arrow keys — a lifesaver when a window ends up off-screen after unplugging a monitor.

Snap Layouts: window arrangements from the maximize preview

Win+Z

Hover over the maximize button (or press Win+Z) and pick where the window belongs — halves, thirds, a grid.

Move a window to the other monitor without touching the mouse

Win+Shift+→

Win+Shift+arrow throws the active window onto the neighboring monitor — with its size and position preserved.

Win+X: the hidden power-user menu

Win+X

Right-click the Start button (or press Win+X) to open a menu with Device Manager, Settings, Terminal — all two keystrokes away.

PowerToys Run: a launcher like Spotlight on the Mac

Alt+Space

Alt+Space opens a bar that launches apps, finds files, does math, and converts units. The Start menu can retire.

PowerToys FancyZones: windows into your own grid

A free tool from Microsoft that splits your monitor into zones — windows snap into them on their own. A must on a wide monitor.

Task Manager in one shortcut

Ctrl+Shift+Esc

Ctrl+Shift+Esc opens Task Manager directly — no detour through Ctrl+Alt+Delete. Kill a frozen app in a few seconds.

Virtual desktops: keep work and communication apart

Win+Ctrl+→

Win+Ctrl+D creates a new desktop, Win+Ctrl+arrows switch between them. Slack on one, focused work on the other.