Keyboard Shortcuts Are Path to Tech Expertise
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to the newsletter or RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
I often get to help others with computers. I have to quickly size up their technology experience, because it determines the depth of instructions I give. I will have a different conversation with someone clearly experienced with technology than the conversation with someone who clearly is holding the mouse for the first time.
Believe it or not, one way I evaluate a person’s technology experience is not by listening to their technology lingo, but rather by watching their hands.
If I ask someone to copy and paste something, do they move their mouse up to the Edit pull down menu, then down to Copy; then back up to Edit and then down to Paste? Or do they hit a quick Control+C and then Control+V on their keyboard?
If I ask someone to print, do they move their mouse up to File then down to Print, or do they hit a quick Control+P on their keyboard?
If I ask someone to select all the text in a document, do they click their mouse at one end and hold it down while scrolling clear through to the other end (imagine a hundred-page document), or do they hit a quick Control+A on their keyboard?
If I ask someone to start a new document, do they mouse over to File > New, or do they hit a quick Control+N on their keyboard? If I ask them to save a document, is it File > Save or Control+S? Do they go to open an existing document with File > Open or Control+O?
If I ask someone to undo their last action, do they click Edit > Undo, or do they hit a quick Control+Z on their keyboard (don’t you wish there was a Control+Z to life?)
You can work faster, with less fatigue, and will have crossed a crucial step to increasing your personal technology expertise if you learn common keyboard shortcuts. Maybe it has something to do with knowing a different approach. Maybe it has something to do with using both hands to work faster. Whatever it is, I have noticed that people who regularly use keyboard shortcuts seem to be the ones who cross over the novice threshold.
What are your favorite keyboard shortcuts?
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
Vote:
0 
0 LOL@8B. Sticky keys is a HUGE pain when you have turned it on without meaning to. In XP if you go into the control panel > accessibility options > and click the settings button under Sticky Keys you can uncheck “use shortcut” so that when you hold down the shift key it doesn’t turn on sticky keys. I have disabled this on my bosses computer because he is always getting stuck in the “sticky keys” menu.
Anywho the shortcut I can’t live without is ctrl+v. I use this one ALL the time. The other one I use frequently (although not as much as I use to) is the windows key+pause break to bring up the device manager.
Vote:
0 0 BTW, a keyboard shortcut I hate is the stupid Microsoft Windows key.
I am usually flying along, conducting my “keyboard symphony”, a stray finger accidentally hits the windows key inconveniently located between Control and Alt, and up flies the Start menu to interrupt my flow and force to close it out and back to my document.
I recommend googling “I hate this key”, a small executable program you can run that will disable that windows key, among other things.
Vote:
0 0 I didn’t realize people actualy exist that don’t know those short cuts h aha ha ha . I like alt F4 to exit anoying IM bombs or to get out of a pop up or close a program faster.
Vote:
0 0 What’s with all this Windows jibba jabba?
The only keyboard worth using has an Apple key an option key.
      
Hopefully you can see those symbols. (Option + Shift + K in case you were wondering.)
Vote:
0 0 I keep telling the people I work with that shortcut keys are the way to go, but they don’t believe me. I’m glad I’m not the only one! I love ‘Alt’+'Tab’ for switching between programs. I generally have at least five windows open and it’s so much faster than clicking. The only problem comes when you’re not paying much attention and get into the wrong program.
Vote:
0 0 I can’t believe I forgot Alt+Tab, an excellent way to switch between open programs.
A similarly excellent keyboard shortcut is using Control+Tab when in Firefox browser to switch between the open tabs.
Vote:
0 0 windows key + “e” and windows key + “d”. Fast access to Windows explorer and the desktop.
Vote:
0 0 Nice! Great tips on keyboard shortcuts.
Vote:
0 0 OMG Vicki…you have changed my life! I am the ultimate multitasker! My BF makes fun of the number of programs I have open at one time. Thanks all!
I love this site!
Vote:
0 0 Glad that I could help. I get made fun of at work all the time. They say I move too fast for them to follow what I’m doing…They say I must be just hitting the keyboard to impress them. Punks. Anyway, I love this site too, makes me feel less alone on a number of different levels! 
Another keyboard shortcut for Excel (I’m sure for others as well, I just use it most often in Excel) F4 repeats your last command, F2 opens the cell for editing, F12 is save as.
Leave Your Comment
Our Community's Comment Guidelines:- Please stay polite and on topic.
- Your email will never be published.
- No profanity or euphemisms for profanity.
- No personal attacks, name-calls, put-downs, or baiting other guests, races, genders, or religions.
- Express opinions, facts, logic, and reasoning; just don’t argue for argument’s sake.
- No commercial links (unless absolutely relevant to the discussion) and no religious proselytizing.
- No religious discussions (for or against). Go to http://religiondebates.blogspot.com for religious discussions.
- Use the "I" word as much as possible to demonstrate responsibility.
- Limit yourself to using one name per thread to demonstrate responsibility.
- If you think a comment is inappropriate, ask Joe to review it.
Loading ...
Vote:
I think you’ve mentioned all my favorite short cuts, except the one that, if memory serves me well, was the “Boss Key” that was included in a game named “Leisure Suit Larry.” This “Boss Key” brought up a screen shot of a Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet.
So, I’ll mention my least favorite keyboard short cuts. They are:
1) When I happen to dose at the keyboard and somehow end up activating the “sticky keys” feature. As I’m asleep when this happens, I’ve no idea just what key sequence I pressed to get this started. What’s worse is I can never remember how to un-sticky them. tgfg!
2) The Alt-Ctrl-[direction keys]. Now I am quite sure there are circumstances where people would want the orientation of their monitor to be some direction other than UP. But the reason Microsoft felt that reducing monitor “spinning” to a keyboard shortcut is a good idea escapes me completely.