The advantage of using keyboard shortcuts

I am an avid Windows user, from Windows 3.2, W for Workgroup, to Windows 95, NT, 98, 2000, ME, and XP. I haven’t used Vista extensively but i configured some Vista for my friends.

Before MS Office, we were using Wordstar and Lotus 1-2-3. Then WYSIWYG came and we switched to Ami Pro and Quattro Pro.

Later, a computer vendor gave us ’sample’ copy of MS Word and MS Excel. The die-hard (or the oldies) among us, refused to give up Wordstar and Lotus/Quattro. Until Office 95 came. And the discovery that Word or Excel almost have the same keyboard shortcuts as the jurassic warez.

One thing i like with MS products are the keyboard shortcuts. I have become so adept with the keyboard that my mouse would be very seldom used, except when i am browsing the net.

Why is this? There was a time when we are supposed to conduct a presentation for clients. I created the Powerpoint application. We were then using a desktop PC. Since the presentation is at another venue, we have to bring along our PC. (If we just put it in a disk, there is a big chance that the fonts used in my presentation will not be on their PC, or the MS Office version might not be the same as ours, or worst, their is no MS Office in the venue). After assembling the PC in our table, i switched ON the PC. To my horror, the mouse is not responding. As in the PC has no mouse function. Well, we finished the presentation despite the mouse scare. I have to navigate MS Office using just the keyboard shortcuts.

Also, I find it cumbersome to use the mouse in copying, pasting, or higlighting words. When i am typing and words are racing in my mind, I do not like juggling my fingers between keyboard and my thoughts get interrupted by having to move my my hand outside of the keyboard for the mouse. Even in my laptop. i seldom use the touchpad for navigation.

Even when i am conducting training or tutorial, i would emphasize the use of common shortcuts, especially in Windows and MS Office environment.

Of course, when writing this blog, i have to use the mouse to scroll up and down. I am typing directly into the wordpress editing window.

In all Windows applications, the menu can always be opened by pressing Alt plus the underlined letter of the menu name. For example, in Word document, you want to open Macro from the Tools menu. You can press Alt+T (Tools). This will open the Tools menu. You can then either scroll down to Macro, or you can press M (Macro). In other words, you can go to Macro sub-menu without using the mouse, but by just pressing Alt+T+M. Keyboard shortcuts are also very useful in Excel.

Applications like Photoshop, Corel, Flash and other graphics programs are mouse-intensive. But knowing shortcuts on copy, cut, paste and save can sure speed up the wok and save time.

Really, it depends on the user. And it depends on the application or program you are using. This keyboard shorcut works well in Word and Excel. Seldom in graphics and multimedia applications.

But knowing a little or two shortcuts can surely save you from embarassment or from deadline.

Here is a list of keyboard shortcuts which i found from Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_keyboard_shortcuts

Here is a list of MS Office shortcuts:

Microsoft Office Shortcut Keys


Shortcut Keys Description

Ctrl + A Select all contents of the page.

Ctrl + B Bold highlighted selection.

Ctrl + C Copy selected text.

Shift + Insert or
Ctrl + V Paste.

Ctrl + D Open the font dialogue box.

Ctrl + E Aligns the line or selected text to the center of the screen.

Ctrl + F Open find box.

Ctrl + G Open find and replace box.

Ctrl + H Also opens find and replace box.

Ctrl + I Italicise highlighted selection.

Ctrl + J Justify (spread) the text across the page.

Ctrl + K Insert link.

Ctrl + L Aligns the line or selected text to the left of the screen.

Ctrl + M Indent the paragraph.

Ctrl + N Open a new document.

Ctrl + O Open a document stored on your hard drive.

Ctrl + P Open the print window.

Ctrl + R Aligns the line or selected text to the right of the screen.

Ctrl + S Saves the current document.

Ctrl + U Underline highlighted selection.

Ctrl + V Paste contents of clipboard.

Ctrl + W Closes the current document.

Ctrl + X Cut selected text.

Ctrl + Y Redo the last action performed.

Ctrl + Z Undo last action.

Ctrl + Shift + F Change the font.

Ctrl + Shift + > Increase selected font +1pts up to 12pt and then increases font +2pts.

Ctrl + ] Increase selected font +1pts.

Ctrl + Shift + <>Moves one word to the left.

Ctrl + Moves one word to the right.

Ctrl + Moves to the beginning of the line or paragraph.

Ctrl + Moves to the end of the paragraph.

Ctrl + Del Deletes word to right of cursor.

Ctrl + Backspace Deletes word to left of cursor.

Ctrl + End Moves the cursor to the end of the document.

Ctrl + Home Moves the cursor to the beginning of the document.

Ctrl + Spacebar Reset highlighted text to the default font.

Ctrl + 1 Single-space lines.

Ctrl + 2 Double-space lines.

Ctrl + 5 1.5-line spacing.

Ctrl + Alt + 1 Changes text to heading 1.

Ctrl + Alt + 2 Changes text to heading 2.

Ctrl + Alt + 3 Changes text to heading 3.

Ctrl + F1 Open the Task Pane.

F1 Open Help.

Alt + Ctrl + F2 Open new document.

Ctrl + F2 Display the print preview.

Shift + F3 Change the text from upper to lower case or a capital letter at the beginning of every word.

F4 Repeat the last action performed.

F5 Open the find, replace, and go to window in Microsoft Word.

Ctrl + Shift + F6 Opens to another open Microsoft Word document.

F7 Spell and grammar check selected text and/or document.

Shift + F7 Runs a Thesaurus check on the word highlighted.

F12 Save as.

Shift + F12 Save.

Ctrl + Shift + F12 Prints the document.

Alt + Shift + D Insert the current date.

Alt + Shift + T Insert the current time.





These shortcuts are common thru-out the MS Office and Windows desktop environment.

For Desktop shortcuts:

Ctrl + Esc Opens the Start Menu
Shift + Del Deletes a selected file without going to Recycle Bin
Alt + F4 Closes the present window
Alt + Tab Toggles or switches between all open windows
Remember, combination keys means you have to press each key in succession without releasing previous keys.

For example, if you want the Task Manager to show, you have to press Ctrl+Alt+Del. that is, press Ctrl and hold, press Alt and hold (now you are pressing two keys), then press Del. After Task Manager opens, you can release all the keys. Walla!

So there, explore your keyboard shortcuts.

O-key?