10 Amazing IE Tips and Tricks

Here are some amazing IE (Internet Explorer) Tricks and Tips. They are so cool that I rated them with smiley faces - 1 to 5. 5 smileys means it’s the coolest! (If you don't have the Wingdings font - you might now see the smileys - no tellin' what you'll see.)

1. Here’s an easy way to scroll through a webpage JJJJJ

Press the spacebar and you will scroll down a page. Hold down the Shift key and press the Spacebar and you will scroll up a page. So Cool

2. Here’s an easy way to type in an address in the address bar without having to click in it. JJJJJ

Press Alt-D, then type in the address. Very Nice!

3. Use IE in full screen mode JJJJ
Press F-11 (the F keys are in the very top row of the keyboard) to put IE into “full screen” mode. You will use the entire screen for the viewing a webpage – except for the topmost toolbar. So take it a step farther. Right-Click on that toolbar at the top of the screen and click on Auto-Hide. Now, even the Toolbar is hidden. It comes back if you move the mouse to the top of the screen. Cool!

4. Set the IE window size and position JJJJJ
This bugged me for a long time. I open IE and the window is a weird size. You can set the default size of new IE windowss so they always open to the size that you specify. Open IE, and resize it and reposition it exactly the way you would like all new windows to look. When it’s perfect, hold down the Shift Key and close the window. The next time you start IE (or open a new window) it will be your preferred size and screen position! Very Cool!

5. Change the font size of a webage. JJJJ

Ever go to a webpage and the type size is microscopic. You can make the type size bigger by holding down the CTRL key and turning the mouse wheel. Move the wheel up, the size gets smaller. Move the wheel down, the size gets larger. Cool – on my eyes!

6. Open a link in a new window JJJJ

Hold the Shift key when you click on a link. The link will open up in a new browser window. When you are done looking at that page, just close the window and you are right back to your original page. Pretty Cool!

7. Go back to the previous webpage – or forward to the former one. JJJJJ

Stop hitting that back button! You can go back to the previous webpage by holding down the Shift key and turning the mouse wheel. Turn it down – you go back. Turn it up – you go forward. Slick!

8. Want to set a new homepage - or does your homepage keep getting reset by your teenage son? (Your homepage is the page you go to when you start IE). JJJJ

Go to the page you want as your new home page. Drag the icon in the Address Bar (next to the word Address) to the Home icon (the little house) in the Standard Toolbar. You will get a message asking you if you want to set your home page to that address – answer “Yes.” Great Time Saver!

9. You can easily determine when a web page was last updated. JJJ
(1) Open up the page you want.
(2) Enter: javascript:alert(document.lastModified) in the Address bar
Note: Your browser must be java capable to do this.
(This is nice but too much typing. You can take this a tip a bit farther by clicking on the link below and learning how to make a link which is placed in the Links Bar or in your Favorites so that when you click on and it automatically gives you the date and time the webpage was modified. If you’re a little bit of a techie, try it – it’s fun and useful - definitely gets JJJJJ) Click Here to make the link.

10. A new way to scroll JJ

Don’t have a scroll wheel on your mouse. You can right-click on the scroll bar (extreme right side of the screen) and you get several options to scroll. The Top and Bottom takes you to the top and bottom of the webpage instantly. Try them all. This works even if you have a scroll wheel on your mouse. (Not very useful but very interesting).