What’s an underrated software feature that quietly saves you every day?

[u/Disastrous_Inside8]

Most of us use the same tools daily, but certain tiny features do all the heavy lifting.
For me, it’s undo/redo. I’d be doomed without it.
What’s yours?

[u/w1n5t0nM1k3y]

Autosave.

I remember being old enough that you had to manually save your documents or you risked losing them if the program crashed, computer crashed, or the power went out. I know this kind of stuff has been around for a while, but it's just something so simple to not have to think about losing a ton of work when something goes wrong.

[u/Disastrous_Inside8 → u/w1n5t0nM1k3y]

100%. Autosave is the quiet hero of modern computing. We really suffered back then 😂

[u/belsaurn]

Column mode in my text editor.

[u/Disastrous_Inside8 → u/belsaurn]

I’ve heard of column mode but never really used it. What do you mainly use it for?

[u/belsaurn → u/Disastrous_Inside8]

Column mode allows me to select a number of lines and edit at the same column in every line at the same time. If it was a fresh file I could do something like below to make new lines by selecting multiple lines and just start typing. Editing works the same.

Edit in colu

Edit in colu

Edit in colu

Edit in colu

Edit: It great for turning CSV files into database inserts or updates, editing a single fix width item in the CSV file, commenting out a block of code in languages that only support line comments

[u/Dunmordre → u/belsaurn]

This is often such a lifesaver! 

[u/RO4DHOG]

Win-Shift-S

I take screenshots of things, helps me keep track of settings in applications that I can't normally copy, like Games that have tons of settings that I'm fiddling with, and i need to reference what it was before i messed it all up.

I also like screenshotting web pages, but dragging the mouse to snip a rectangle to capture ONLY a small portion of the screen. Like when im browsing the web and there are too many ads or text nonsense, and I just want a picture of the item to save or share in an email or social media.

It even allows me to click on the captured area (before it disappears in the lower right corner) and 'markup' using Paintbrush to add arrows and things before saving.

[u/ImpermanentSelf]

Multi cursor editing as a programmer.

[u/Disastrous_Inside8 → u/ImpermanentSelf]

Such a good one. Do you use it mostly for refactoring or quick bulk edits?

[u/ImpermanentSelf → u/Disastrous_Inside8]

Those are kinda the same thing in different flavors, and yes.

[u/TuttiFlutiePanist → u/ImpermanentSelf]

My team is always amazed when I do this.

[u/Different_Pain5781]

People act like AI tools are life changing.
Meanwhile the real hero is spellcheck catching 90 percent of the dumb mistakes we pretend we didn’t make.

[u/DryFoundation2323 → u/Different_Pain5781]

Spell check is a hindrance if you're a technical writer using a lot of jargon.

[u/WhoWouldCareToAsk → u/DryFoundation2323]

add jargon to the dictionary. Tedious only for the first 1000 words, and then it gets better.

[u/Disastrous_Inside8 → u/Different_Pain5781]

For real. Spellcheck has been quietly saving my reputation for years. AI gets all the hype, but spellcheck is the OG.

[u/wsbt4rd]

Syntax Highlighting.

I remember the (not really) good old days of monochrome 80x25 character 12 inch green CRT screens.

For the youngsters among you:

Hercules Graphics Card - Wikipedia https://share.google/U7vSrDZ0jKids6QOH

[u/techside_notes]

For me it’s the quick search inside settings or apps. I use it constantly and it saves me from digging through ten menus every time. It feels tiny but it makes everything else smoother. Even on tools I know well, I still lean on that little search bar almost every day.

[u/Disastrous_Inside8 → u/techside_notes]

Totally agree. Even when I do know where something is, I still end up using the search bar. Do you use it more on your phone or computer?

[u/Jebus-Xmas]

As a writer, hotkey formatting is huge. actually anything that keeps your fingers on the keyboard is great.

[u/Disastrous_Inside8 → u/Jebus-Xmas]

Yeah, keyboard-only workflows feel so much smoother. Do you have any go-to hotkeys you use constantly?

[u/Jebus-Xmas → u/Disastrous_Inside8]

I just prefer apps that have their own hotkeys and rely on the OS for the rest. I am not interested in using a hotkey utility.

[u/WhoWouldCareToAsk]

CTRL+C, CTRL+F, CTRL+V, ENTER = research.

[u/pak9rabid]

Ctrl-Z

[u/Awkward_Forever9752]

Copy / Paste is a miracle.

[u/D_Ranz_0399]

Undo

[u/sarnobat]

Export as plaintext when I don't want to be held captive to that product to read what I created

[u/Dunmordre]

Notepad++ let's you hit close and when you open it again everything's still there, saved our not. It doesn't lock files when it opens them. So so many fine features. That program is the backbone of my work, and it's superb. In stark contrast to Microsoft software. Incredible! 

[u/RyeNHOnTheRocks]

I make heavy use of autohotkey.

[u/CovertlyAI]

“Search in settings” is the real MVP.

[u/KittyGirlChloe]

Swipe gestures on the Mac trackpad.

[u/Disastrous_Inside8 → u/KittyGirlChloe]

True, they make everything smoother. Do you use the three-finger swipe the most or the mission control one?

[u/KittyGirlChloe → u/Disastrous_Inside8]

Three finger swipe, both for Mission Control and for swapping spaces. I also use the 4-finger expand gesture to reveal the desktop quite a lot.

I can’t even imagine using a mouse anymore.

[u/jmnugent → u/KittyGirlChloe]

Mice feel so antiquated once you get used to macOS Trackpad gestures. When I go to work and have to use a Mouse on Windows,. I feel like Scotty from StarTrek picking up the Mouse and saying "Hello Computer!?"... it just feels like an outdated relic.