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How do you refresh a laptop using the keyboard?

Published in Keyboard Shortcuts 1 min read

You can refresh a laptop using the keyboard with a few simple key combinations.

Keyboard Shortcuts for Refreshing

The most common way to refresh a window or page on a laptop using the keyboard is by using the following shortcuts:

  • Ctrl + F5: This forces a complete refresh, including re-downloading cached content.
  • Ctrl + R: This is a standard refresh that reloads the current page or window.

These shortcuts work in most web browsers and applications on Windows, macOS, and Linux operating systems.

Examples and Practical Insights

  • Web Browsers: In a web browser, pressing Ctrl + F5 ensures that you're seeing the latest version of a webpage, bypassing the browser's cache. This is helpful if a website has been updated and you're still seeing an older version. Ctrl + R will also refresh the webpage, but it might load some elements from the cache, making it a faster but potentially less thorough refresh.
  • File Explorer: In Windows File Explorer, using Ctrl + R will refresh the current folder, displaying any new files or changes made to existing files.