The first five key combinations are text formations which will be seen by the receiver usually.

Ctrl+B: Bold on/off
Ctrl+I: Italic on/off
Ctrl+U: Underlined on/off
Ctrl+Shift left: Left align
Ctrl+Shift right: Right align
Ctrl+F: Search in actual message window
Ctrl+E: Quotation of the last sent message
Ctrl+R: Quotation of the last received message
Ctrl+P: Print messages
Ctrl+Z: Undo written text
Ctrl+Tab: Select next tab
Ctrl+Shift+Tab: Select previous tab
Ctrl+W: Close tab
Esc: Close message window

F2: Rename contact/group
F5: Add contact
Del: Delete contact/group

In ICQ 6 a small Easter egg showing the developers is hidden. It can be started by pressing Ctrl+Alt+I in the info window (Main -> Help -> About ICQ).

The first four key combinations are text formations which will be seen by the receiver usually.

Ctrl+I: Tab
Ctrl+L: Left align
Ctrl+R: Right align
Ctrl+Z: Centered
Ctrl++: Text selection bigger/smaller
Alt+X: Show Xtraz on/off
Alt+F4 / Alt+C / Alt+3: Close message window

The combination Alt+3 closes the message window only as Num is activated and the 3 on the num block is pressed. Alt+F4 and Alt+X also work on the contact list.

For ICQ Pro following conmbinations are available too:

For removing the banner ads below the chat window manually you need to act like this: In the folder LiteDataFiles (ICQ Lite) / DataFiles (ICQ Pro) in the installation directory of ICQ you must delete the file banners.xml or rename it and create a new folder named banners.xml. Take care that ICQ is not running at this time. Afterwards it is not possible for ICQ to create this file and show banner ads below the chat window. For making the main window advertise free simply use one of these skins.

At first: If you never select status invisible and have no user on your invisible list this does not appear to you.
By reading the away message of an opponent you will be visible for him as you are added to his contact list. It does not matter which version you are using or whether you are on invisible or you added this opponent to your invisible list.
However, this only appears as at least one of the users has ICQ Pro 2003b in usage.

This way might be a little bit circumstantual and can not be used all times but although it can be detected whether you are on someone contact list on a reliable way.
This trick uses the ICQ Fight tool which normally is used for checking a user's popularity via his ICQ number. At http://www.icq.com/fight you can match with some other users and fight for your popularity. The winner is the one who is added to other contact lists more often (only as those are online). It counts until the third level. Further information can be found at the link mentioned above. If you win or loose is not important to our trick and that it does not matter which opponent is chosen.
Now wait until the victim (the opponent you want to find yourself on his contact list) comes online (the status invisible does also count). If that is the case, select http://www.icq.com/fight and enter your ICQ number (UIN) and the victim's UIN into the other space. Afterwards click Fight. Remember your number's score before clicking Fight Again. As the victim changes to offline (truly offline and not invisible) repeat everything. If your score decreased compared to the first this is a clear sign that you are added on the victim's list.
For being completely sure you should perform the trick several times. Of course it is advantageous if the victim changes his status shortly after the first fight (online to offline and the other way around) because the influent on the other level's scores is minimized then. This trick may appear complicated but it is not. If you understood the system of ICQ Fight you will hit on it by logical thinking quickly. ;-)

Sometimes it can be very useful to know who is currently online befor logging in. Another started ICQ would make that possible but also cause confusion and unintentional effects. So it is better to use another tool for contact observation. Examples therefor would be Miranda IM and Trilian. Miranda IM with it's numerous plugins offers the advantage that even invisible contacts can be displayed. Further information and precasted packs for these intentions can be found in our Forum.