Technoblah » TechnoShortCuts

Using the keyboard to Right Click

Nowfal Ebrahim — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 00:02:20 +0000

Did you know that you can “right-click” an item without ever lifting your fingers off the keyboard? With that item (folder, file, whatever) selected, hold down the Shift key and press F10. Use your keyboard’s up and down arrow keys to select the command you want, then press Enter.

Minimize or Close a Window

Nowfal Ebrahim — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 23:59:57 +0000

Want to send an open window to the Taskbar without using the mouse? Press Alt-Spacebar to display the context menu of the currently active window, then press N for Minimize. So, for the quick version, press Alt-Spacebar-N.

You can use a similar technique to close an open window. Press Alt-Spacebar, then press C for Close. It’s easier on the wrists than
Alt-F4. And easier is better.

Cut and paste in a cleaner way

Nowfal Ebrahim — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 23:59:00 +0000

When you use cut and paste in a Word document, Word takes care of adding the correct spacing–that is, if you have the Smart Cut And Paste option selected.

Run Word and choose Tools, Options. When the Options dialog box opens, click the Edit tab. Now, select the Use Smart Cut And Paste check box and click OK to close the dialog box and record your new setting.

With Smart Cut And Paste enabled, you can paste a word right next to another and Word adds a space for you. Also, if you insert a word before a period, Word makes sure there’s no space between the end of the pasted word and the period.

Highlight and select text

Nowfal Ebrahim — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 23:57:25 +0000

To highlight a word, double-click it; to highlight a line, click once to its left (in the left margin); and to highlight a paragraph, double-click to its left (again, in the margin). Now let’s look at some bigger selections.

To highlight a large area of text, click once at the beginning of the text, hold down Shift, and then click at the end of the text;or, while holding down Shift, use the cursor keys to expand the selection.

To highlight an entire document, place the cursor at the very beginning of the document and press Ctrl-Shift-End; or, with your cursor anywhere, press Ctrl-A.

Minimize your windows and show desktop

Nowfal Ebrahim — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 23:56:42 +0000

Do you want to get to the desktop in a flash? Hold down the Windows Key ( next to the Ctrl and Alt key on most keyboards) and press M. This immediately minimizes all windows you have open and brings you to the desktop.

Favorite shortcuts in Windows (Keyboard Shortcuts)

Nowfal Ebrahim — Thu, 16 Feb 2006 02:27:25 +0000

ALT+ENTER View properties for the selected item.
ALT+ESC Cycle through items in the order they were opened.
ALT+F4 Close the active item, or quit the active program.

ALT+SPACEBAR Display the System menu for the active window.
ALT+TAB Switch between open items.
CTRL+A Select all.
CTRL+B Bold
CTRL+C Copy
CTRL+I Italics
CTRL+O Open an item
CTRL+U Underline
CTRL+V Paste
CTRL+X Cut
CTRL+Z Undo
CTRL+F4 Close the active document
SHIFT+DELETE Delete selected item permanently without placing the item in the Recycle Bin.
F1 Displays Help
F2 Rename selected item
F3 Search for a file or folder
F4 Display the Address bar list in My Computer or Windows Explorer
F5 Refresh the active window
F6 Cycle through screen elements in a window or on the desktop
F10 Activate the menu bar in the active program
CTRL+ESC Display the Start menu
SHIFT when you insert a CD into the CD-ROM drive will prevent the CD from automatically playing