Useful Computer Tips For Everyone (Part5) -
Useful keyboard shortcuts
Author: Martin Lemieux
Within these computer learning series, I've been teaching you about your computer maintenance, attacking viruses, and
removing spyware. Now I will show you some simple Windows & Mac keyboard shortcuts that will help you with your everyday computer learning experience. Using a mouse isn't always necessary. In fact, if you learn
to use keyboard shortcuts on a daily basis, you will learn to 'cut' time off using your mouse.
Alternatives To Using A Mouse All The Time:
Using a mouse 100% of the time is not always a good thing.
Studies show that a great deal of people will have "carpal tunnel" within their wrists before they retire from their desk jobs because of the consistent use of a mouse. Learning how to use both hands will
help to minimize this risk by offering an alternative to always using a mouse for everything you do.
MICROSOFT KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS:
• Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition
• Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition
• Microsoft Windows 98 Standard Edition
• Microsoft Windows 95
• Internet Explorer
• Mozilla FireFox
Manipulating Information:
Copy, Cut, Paste, Undo, Redo
When using a computer, we are all subject to copying, pasting, and cutting information from one program to another. The most widely used method of doing this is by highlighting all the information you
want > right clicking on your mouse > hitting "copy" > finding another destination for the information > right clicking on your mouse > hitting "paste". All of these steps are done
with your mouse only.
Here are some keyboard shortcuts to help ease this process:
1.1) Highlight the information with your mouse
1.2) On your keyboard use these commands instead:
• CTRL+C : Copy
• CTRL+X : Cut
1.3) Find the destination for your information
• CTRL+V : Paste
• CTRL+Z : Undo
• CTRL+SHIFT+V : Redo
As you can see here, we only used the
mouse for 2 operations; 1) Highlighting the information, 2) Finding another location for the information. The rest of the work was done with your left hand which relieved some of the work load for your right hand.
This may not seem like a lot of work, but if you perform these steps over 100 times a day, it makes a huge difference in the use of your wrists on a consistent basis.
Manipulating Information:
Bold, Italic, Underlined
When creating a word type of document within multiple software's, you can use a certain set of standard shortcuts that help to manipulate the font for you.
Instead of always using your mouse, try to get used to using these keyboard shortcuts:
• CTRL+B : Bold
• CTRL+I : Italic
• CTRL+U : Underline
Manipulating Files:
New, Open, Save, Save As, Print
Creating new files, opening new files, saving a file, or printing a file is usually done by clicking on "FILE" within the top menu and then selecting the option from the drop-down menu. Did you
know that there are shortcuts for these tasks as well?
When using a word doc, or another form of file program software, try getting used to using these keyboard shortcuts:
• CTRL+N : New File
• CTRL+O : Open File
• CTRL+S : Save File
• CTRL+P : Print File
These simple shortcuts will allow you to save your information quickly without touching your mouse ever! This is a great tool when
writing a lot of information, you don't want to stop typing every time you need to grab your mouse in order to save your file. Simply use CTRL+S and you're done.
Are you starting to see the value in using shortcuts all the time???
Above and beyond these simple shortcuts, Microsoft has an even bigger list of keyboard shortcuts for all sorts of commands, please refer to
this page for the entire list:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/126449
MAC COMMAND SHORTCUTS:
File Menu:
Shift-Command+N : New Folder
Command+O : Open
Command+S : Save
Shift-Command+S : Save as
Command+P : Print
Command+W : Close Window
Option-Command+W : Close all Windows
Command+I : Get Info
Option-Command+I : Show Attributes Inspector
Command+D : Duplicate
Command+L : Make Alias
Command+R : Show original
Command+T : Add to Favorites (Mac OS X 10.2.8 or earlier)
Shift-Command+T : Add to Favorites (Mac OS X 10.3 or later)
Command+Delete : Move to Trash
Command+E : Eject
Command+F : Find
Edit Menu:
Command+Z : Undo
Command+X : Cut
Command+C : Copy
Command+V : Paste
Command+A : Select All
View Menu:
Command+1 : View as Icons
Command+2 : View as List
Command+3 : View as Columns
Command+B : Hide Toolbar
Command+J : Show View Options
Go Menu:
Command+[ : Back
Command+] : Forward
Shift-Command+C : Computer
Shift-Command+H : Home
Shift-Command+I : iDisk
Shift-Command+A : Applications
Shift-Command+F : Favorites
Shift-Command+G : Goto Folder
Command+K : Connect to Server
Window Menu:
Command+M : Minimize Window
Option-Command+M : Minimize All Windows
Help Menu:
Command+? : Open Mac Help
Command+Space Open Spotlight (Mac OS X 10.4 or later)
Command+esc
Above and beyond these simple shortcuts, Mac's have an even bigger list of keyboard shortcuts for all sorts
of commands, please refer to this page for the entire list:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=75459
In Conclusion:
Start using shortcuts to speed up the work you do on your
computer, and to save your wrists from carpal tunnel due to consistent use of the mouse. In time, you will appreciate using keyboard shortcuts, they go hand in hand with using a mouse on a consistent basis.
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