Right Click
Before we get into the keyboard shortcuts, here's a tip that will open up a completely new world of ease of use and power to your computing experience and mark you as "in the know:" Use the right button on your mouse. The right click offers you extraordinary possibilities most people don't know exists. The next time you want to do something and it isn't obvious how to do it, try right-clicking and see what happens. You will be amazed. Experiment with this at other times, to see what you might want to do later. Now let's discuss the keyboard itself...
Before we get into the keyboard shortcuts, here's a tip that will open up a completely new world of ease of use and power to your computing experience and mark you as "in the know:" Use the right button on your mouse. The right click offers you extraordinary possibilities most people don't know exists. The next time you want to do something and it isn't obvious how to do it, try right-clicking and see what happens. You will be amazed. Experiment with this at other times, to see what you might want to do later. Now let's discuss the keyboard itself...
Enter
It is extremely easy to spot a neophyte with a computer. They use the mouse when they shouldn't. And the most frequent misuse of the mouse is to click on the Enter button on the screen instead of touching the Enter key on the keyboard. In either case the function is the same: to get the computer to accept what you just typed. In a scenario which happens countless times on a computer, you have just typed something on the keyboard (your name, a word or two you want to do a search on...) and now you have to tell the computer to "Go do it". Almost always there will be a button which can be clicked with the mouse make the computer go do it. This means you need to take your hand off the keyboard, position it on the mouse, determine where the mouse shows up on the screen and then move it over the button and click. Or, you could simply touch the Enter key, usually the second biggest key on the entire keyboard.
It is extremely easy to spot a neophyte with a computer. They use the mouse when they shouldn't. And the most frequent misuse of the mouse is to click on the Enter button on the screen instead of touching the Enter key on the keyboard. In either case the function is the same: to get the computer to accept what you just typed. In a scenario which happens countless times on a computer, you have just typed something on the keyboard (your name, a word or two you want to do a search on...) and now you have to tell the computer to "Go do it". Almost always there will be a button which can be clicked with the mouse make the computer go do it. This means you need to take your hand off the keyboard, position it on the mouse, determine where the mouse shows up on the screen and then move it over the button and click. Or, you could simply touch the Enter key, usually the second biggest key on the entire keyboard.
People have been conditioned into thinking that they have to use the mouse for everything. But now you know, and now you can start building a new, more productive and very professional habit by using the Enter key more often.
F1
Most people know about this key, but they don't use it when they need it most!
Hit Function key F1 to get help in almost any windows program.
It's amazing what you can learn when you use the F1 key.
Most people know about this key, but they don't use it when they need it most!
Hit Function key F1 to get help in almost any windows program.
It's amazing what you can learn when you use the F1 key.
Ctrl-W
to close the current window works in MSFT Explorer, but use "Esc" in Outlook
to close the current window works in MSFT Explorer, but use "Esc" in Outlook
Alt-F4
This immediately quits the current program.
It's a whole lot faster than clicking on that little box in the upper right!
This immediately quits the current program.
It's a whole lot faster than clicking on that little box in the upper right!
Esc
to Escape from the current document or window without updating or changing anything.
to Escape from the current document or window without updating or changing anything.
