# So I've discovered Ctrl+Alt+Arrow key and think I'll pull a few pranks. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 2, 2015, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ive-discovered-ctrl-alt-arrow-key-and-think-ill-pull-a-few-pranks/719108 "2015-05-02T17:28:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ive-discovered-ctrl-alt-arrow-key-and-think-ill-pull-a-few-pranks/719108/1 "2015-05-02T17:28:15Z")
If you have an intel card, press Ctrl+Alt+any of the arrow keys other than “up”. Yeah, pretty cool. My mind automatically though “Oh boy…what computer can I do this to to have some fun with someone?” I sort of wish I lived with people, so that before I got off the computer to use it, I could flip the screen that way and leave it them to puzzle/panic over it for a few minutes. 😛 Not long, of course…just long enough to laugh for a minute or so and then go “Okay, I’ll fix it for you”. Fixing it is as easy as ctrl alt and the up arrow. There’s probably a lot of people on here who already knew about this, but I just learned about it two days ago. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ive-discovered-ctrl-alt-arrow-key-and-think-ill-pull-a-few-pranks/719108/2 "2015-05-02T17:33:39Z")
I had a traumatizing experience with this once on a laptop where the keyboard was partly broken. That was not a good day. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ive-discovered-ctrl-alt-arrow-key-and-think-ill-pull-a-few-pranks/719108/3 "2015-05-02T19:27:50Z")
I use that to view photos. It can upset non tech users. ---
**Author:** ![tapu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@tapu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tapu)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ive-discovered-ctrl-alt-arrow-key-and-think-ill-pull-a-few-pranks/719108/4 "2015-05-02T19:53:42Z")
I don’ geddit. And I thought I had Intel inside. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ive-discovered-ctrl-alt-arrow-key-and-think-ill-pull-a-few-pranks/719108/5 "2015-05-02T20:54:37Z")
I’ve got an Intel i7. Nothing happens when I do it. What’s it supposed to do? Flip your screen? ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ive-discovered-ctrl-alt-arrow-key-and-think-ill-pull-a-few-pranks/719108/6 "2015-05-02T21:01:31Z")
**Idle Thoughts** ,you remember how your last prank went over on April 1, don’t you? (i.e., like a lead balloon). Don’t be a naughty boy again, alright? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ive-discovered-ctrl-alt-arrow-key-and-think-ill-pull-a-few-pranks/719108/7 "2015-05-02T21:01:34Z")
You may have to enable hot keys for this to work. [http://askville.amazon.com/CTRL%2BALT%2BARROW-KEY-work-PCs/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=1411340](http://askville.amazon.com/CTRL%2BALT%2BARROW-KEY-work-PCs/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=1411340) > [@](#): > > Here is how you can enable or disable “Hot Keys” on Windows XP. > > Right click somewhere on desktop and choose “Graphics Properties”. > > A window pops up. There, you can hit “Hot Keys” and enable or disable this option by checking or un-checking the box. > > This is a really funny option. You can scare people by doing that. > > You just hit Ctrl+Alt+ Left/Right/Down Arrow and the screen rotates!! There is no “graphics properties” option on my XP desktop right-click box, so I’m not sure this is valid info in all cases. ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ive-discovered-ctrl-alt-arrow-key-and-think-ill-pull-a-few-pranks/719108/8 "2015-05-02T21:08:57Z")
I can’t get it to do anything. Is it the whole desktop that gets flipped over? Is it just one particular window? If it’s a particular window what program is running in it (Explorer, Chrome, Firefox, Word, Powerpoint, etc)? ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ive-discovered-ctrl-alt-arrow-key-and-think-ill-pull-a-few-pranks/719108/9 "2015-05-02T21:13:43Z")
> [@Alley\_Dweller](#): > > I can’t get it to do anything. > > Is it the whole desktop that gets flipped over? Is it just one particular window? If it’s a particular window what program is running in it (Explorer, Chrome, Firefox, Word, Powerpoint, etc)? No, your desktop stays in place; you get flipped over. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ive-discovered-ctrl-alt-arrow-key-and-think-ill-pull-a-few-pranks/719108/10 "2015-05-02T21:20:27Z")
Don’t mess with other people’s computers. Seriously. In fact, stop pranking all together. I understand you enjoy pulling pranks, but the person being pranked will almost never find it enjoyable. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ive-discovered-ctrl-alt-arrow-key-and-think-ill-pull-a-few-pranks/719108/11 "2015-05-02T21:29:26Z")
Yeah, seriously **Idle Thoughts** , no more pranks. Got it? No more, forever. You are banned from pranking for the rest of your life. I mean, how can you live with yourself knowing that you are a prankster? My mind boggles at the thought. Use me as your example from now on. I don’t prank. Solemnity and soberness exude from my pores. Get with the program, young man. ---
**Author:** ![tapu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@tapu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tapu)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ive-discovered-ctrl-alt-arrow-key-and-think-ill-pull-a-few-pranks/719108/12 "2015-05-02T21:32:50Z")
Oh, I get it. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ive-discovered-ctrl-alt-arrow-key-and-think-ill-pull-a-few-pranks/719108/13 "2015-05-02T21:41:32Z")
> [@Tibby or Not Tibby](#): > > No, your desktop stays in place; you get flipped over. Actually, you and everything else in the universe gets flipped over. It’s a very powerful key combination. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ive-discovered-ctrl-alt-arrow-key-and-think-ill-pull-a-few-pranks/719108/14 "2015-05-02T22:20:11Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > Actually, you and everything else in the universe gets flipped over. It’s a very powerful key combination. Well, yeah, if you’re one of those overclocked fancy shmancy Core i7 dudes…my computer has a hamster on a wheel providing power. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ive-discovered-ctrl-alt-arrow-key-and-think-ill-pull-a-few-pranks/719108/15 "2015-05-02T22:25:46Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > If you have an intel card, press Ctrl+Alt+any of the arrow keys other than “up”. I think Idle Thoughts has way … Way … WAY … to much time on his/her hands 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ive-discovered-ctrl-alt-arrow-key-and-think-ill-pull-a-few-pranks/719108/16 "2015-05-02T23:08:36Z")
> [@Little\_Pig](#): > > I think Idle Thoughts has way … Way … WAY … to much time on his/her hands 🙂 I agree 1000% Your post reminds me that **Idle Thoughts** isn’t a dude after all. He’s a chick. A chick with a shtick. Her shtick is to be a puller of legs: a dirty rotten, banana peel slipping, seltzer water spritzing prankster; the type of gal my mother warned me against thusly: _“Tibby, don’t put your dingly wingly into that f_\*\*\*\*\*\*ing whore.”\*Mom was a real hoot. …But, I digress… Unless Idle Thoughts is an uber-hot chick willing to do hyper-deviant things with a slightly right of the bell curve old-ish [del]stud stallion[/del] guy, I pit her mortal existence to hell, and beyond. Good riddance, says I. **Idle** , in case my post is too obtuse (and it probably is, because only my kids seem to get my humor these days), I like you; I really do. You’re one of my favorite people on the **SDMB**. Don’t stop pranking…the world needs more of that. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2015, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ive-discovered-ctrl-alt-arrow-key-and-think-ill-pull-a-few-pranks/719108/17 "2015-05-03T00:41:58Z")
You said “Intel card”. Didn’t say diddly about Windows, and it doesn’t do diddly on my Intel-based Mac. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2015, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ive-discovered-ctrl-alt-arrow-key-and-think-ill-pull-a-few-pranks/719108/18 "2015-05-03T08:13:31Z")
I have some kind of CPU with an old Linux running Gnome and an old Firefox. The Control-Alt- left/right - Arrow combinations switch “desktops”. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2015, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ive-discovered-ctrl-alt-arrow-key-and-think-ill-pull-a-few-pranks/719108/19 "2015-05-03T10:30:34Z")
I _did not know_ that my computer would do that. I have a little ‘Intel® Extreme Graphics 2’ icon in the notification area. It has a ‘hot keys’ menu and a ‘rotaton’ menu. I’d never bothered to look. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2015, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ive-discovered-ctrl-alt-arrow-key-and-think-ill-pull-a-few-pranks/719108/20 "2015-05-03T12:35:28Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > I have some kind of CPU with an old Linux running Gnome and an old Firefox. > > The Control-Alt- left/right - Arrow combinations switch “desktops”. That’s been true for me for almost two decades, going back to my pure Unix days. When I set up a Windows machine, I have to disable the existing hot keys because I want this combination to do desktop switches. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ive-discovered-ctrl-alt-arrow-key-and-think-ill-pull-a-few-pranks/719108.md?page=2)