Back Home (Or BACK ARROW on Menu Bar to return to previous page) Back Home (Or BACK ARROW on Menu Bar to return to previous page)
| HINT - Each program you use will have slightly different shortcuts to use. On the menu, in a program you use often, just click File, Edit View etc. On each dropdown will be the shortcuts available for that program. If you want, write them down, print the list and have handy next to your computer. Or the manual may have a page or pages showing all shortcuts. |
Cut Your Workload With Keyboard Shortcuts
Windows 98/Me/2000/XP
Article from Smart Computing Magazine
| The mouse is a wonderful device for quickly accessing menus and performing a variety of other actions, but many people spend the majority of their computing time with their fingers on the keyboard. In this situation, or when your mouse fails or you are using a notebook computer and don’t necessarily want to use a clunky touchpad or pointing stick, keyboard shortcuts are a real boon. Here’s a rundown of some timesaving shortcuts to use when working with Windows, Internet Explorer, and Microsoft Office. Although the following commands are described in the context of certain OSes (operating systems) or programs, many of them work with a variety of applications. Experiment or check the documentation that came with your favorite applications to find out which of these commands are applicable.  General Windows ShortcutsThe following set of commands should work regardless of the version of Windows you use and regardless of what other programs are running. ALT-TAB. Sure, you can switch among open programs by clicking their buttons on the Taskbar, but if you want to take a keyboard-only approach, hold down the ALT key and press TAB. Pressing this combo once switches to the next open application and brings it to the foreground, but it is possible to cycle through all running programs by continuing to hold ALT and tapping TAB until the program you want to select is highlighted. Release both buttons when this happens and the highlighted program pops into the foreground. ALT-ENTER. Highlight a file or folder and press ALT-ENTER to view its Properties dialog box. ALT-F4. Use this combo to quickly close a program or window. It is very handy when you are browsing the Internet and a bunch of pop-up windows cascade across the screen (especially if those windows expand to full-screen mode or don’t have controls to close them). Just bring the window you want to close to the foreground (ALT-TAB provides an easy way to do this) and press ALT-F4, and it is zapped into oblivion. CTRL-C, CTRL-X, and CTRL-V. These are undoubtedly the most important editing commands you can commit to memory. CTRL-C copies highlighted text to the clipboard or stores highlighted files in system memory. Place the pointer where you want to paste the text or open the folder where you want to place the copied file and press CTRL-V to paste or copy. CTRL-X is the Cut command, which is used less often because it erases highlighted text before saving it to the Clipboard. The cut text can still be pasted, but it’s usually better to play it safe and use Copy instead. CTRL-Z. If you ever make a mistake while moving files, renaming files or folders, pasting text, or performing a variety of other Windows tasks, CTRL-Z is your best friend. It is an Undo command and can undo the last action you took, but it sometimes has a serious limitation. In some applications (excluding Microsoft Office applications), it offers only a single level of undo, meaning you can rewind only the very last action you took and not multiple actions. If you use the CTRL-Z command and decide it was a mistake, immediately press CTRL-Z again to undo the undo. F1. Have a question about Windows or the program that is currently in the foreground? Press F1 to quickly access the electronic help files. F2. Want to rename a folder or file? Highlight its icon and press F2 to activate the name for editing. F3. Pressing F3 immediately opens the Find Files Or Folders utility for the OS you are using. F10 (or ALT). Press either F10 or the ALT key by itself to activate the menu bar in the active window. You then can use the keyboard (press the underlined menu letters) and arrow keys to navigate the menus and press ENTER to execute highlighted entries. Windows Key CommandsIf you have a keyboard with a Windows key (indicated by a “flying” Windows icon), it opens up a slew of extra keyboard commands. Press the Windows key alone to open the Start menu, but to tap into its true power, use it with other keys. Windows-M and Windows-D. If you want to clear your Desktop, pressing Windows-M or Windows-D instantly minimizes all open windows. To restore all of the windows, press SHIFT-Windows-M. Windows-E. Pressing Windows-E opens up the Windows Explorer, saving a few mouse clicks. CTRL-Windows-F. If you use a network, press CTRL-Windows-F to open the Find Computers dialog box so you can look for other computers. Windows-BREAK. Normally you must right-click My Computer and click Properties or wade through the Control Panel entries to open the System Properties dialog box. Save yourself some trouble and press Windows-BREAK instead. Dialog Box CommandsNavigating dialog boxes to select options and press buttons seems impossible sans a mouse, but the keyboard will do in a pinch. This is handy when installing Windows if the mouse hasn’t yet been detected. TAB and SHIFT-TAB. To cycle the focus among the various radio buttons, standard buttons, and other interactive elements of a dialog box, press TAB to move to the next item or SHIFT-TAB to move to the previous item. The item currently selected is highlighted using a dashed outline. Spacebar and ENTER. Once a selection in a dialog box is highlighted using the previous commands, press the Spacebar to place a check in a checkbox or select a radio button. ALT-underlined letter. If a dialog box (or menu or anything else, for that matter) contains entries that have underlined letters, hold down the ALT key plus the key that corresponds to the underlined letter to select that entry. For example, in the Print dialog box, pressing ALT-W opens the Print What drop-down menu. Internet ExplorerMany of the commands described in this article work with IE, but the Web browser also comes with a few shortcuts of its own. ESC. Pressing ESC is equivalent to clicking the Stop icon. It immediately causes the browser to stop downloading the requested page and comes in handy when pages load slowly, stalling the browser. F5. Pressing F5 instantly refreshes the page currently loaded in the browser window and is useful for tracking auctions or updating news pages. F11. Press F11 to expand the selected browser window into full-screen mode, and press it again to revert to the original size. CTRL-F. If you want to look for a particular word or phrase on a Web page, press CTRL-F to open the Find dialog box. Microsoft OfficeThe following commands work with most of the applications included in Microsoft Office, but try them in your other programs, as well. CTRL-A. Press CTRL-A to highlight all of the text in a document at once. Press BACKSPACE or DELETE to erase the selected text or use the other commands in this article to change the formatting of the text or perform copy and paste operations. CTRL-B, CTRL-U, and CTRL-I. To make highlighted text bold or set up a line to produce bold text as you type, press CTRL-B. Press CTRL-U for underlined text and CTRL-I for italicized text. Press these commands a second time to revert back to normal formatting. CTRL-F and CTRL-H. To find words, phrases, or numbers in an open document, press CTRL-F to open the Find dialog box. You also can press CTRL-H to open the Find And Replace dialog box. CTRL-O. To quickly open a file, press CTRL-O to call up the Open dialog box. CTRL-S. Press CTRL-S to save an open file. CTRL-P. Pressing CTRL-P opens the Print dialog box to prepare a document for printing.  by Tracy Baker
|
Back Home (Or BACK ARROW on Menu Bar to return to previous page)