Tech Tip Tuesday: Keyboard Shortcuts – A New Way Around

While your keyboard is typically your main interface with your computer, if you think about it, using your computer without a mouse or touchscreen would be impossible. Right? Well believe it or not, you can actually navigate around all aspects of your computer using just your keyboard. This is possible because every click of your mouse or touch of the screen correlates to a keyboard command or “keyboard shortcut”. Honestly, if you truly wanted to learn ALL of these and utilize only a keyboard, get ready to learn a new language. Heck, you may as well become a “programmer”. Ugh!

For the majority of us users, the mouse is the key to efficiently moving around the screen, selecting, clicking etc. and I don't think that will change soon. However, there are a few common actions that we use multiple times per day that keyboard shortcuts may help with. For instance the simple Copy/Cut and Paste. These commands are typically initiated via right and left clicks of the mouse. But sometimes you might find that having to continuously move, click, move, right click, left click, move, click, click, click … well you get the picture. So by keeping your non-mouse hand on the keyboard you can now use both hands for navigating and initiating commands much quicker. For instance, select some text using your mouse click and drag feature. With your other hand hit “Ctrl + C” on the keyboard to copy that selection. Move to another location and click to place your cursor there. Then hit “Ctrl + V” to paste what you copied. Don't like what you just did? Hit “Ctrl + Z” to undo the action. Do you work with multiple windows/apps open at the same time and need to switch between windows quite often? Use “Alt + Esc” to switch between open windows or “Alt + Tab” to show all windows and choose which one. Use Tab to move forward when filling out a form. Misspelled something? Hit “Shift + Tab” to back up. And lots more. If you're really ambitious, just google “Keyboard Shortcuts” and go crazy.

I've included a list of the most common and helpful keyboard shortcuts below. Look through them and make a goal to learn one per week. I'll be honest, it takes some practice at first. But before you know it you'll be working both hands constantly and navigating like a pro.

Author Info: Beatitudes Campus

At the foundation of Beatitudes Campus is the vision of Church of the Beatitudes pastors and congregation members to create a better alternative for older adults than the nursing homes of the early 1960s. The type of community they imagined was the first of its kind in Arizona. Beatitudes Campus is proud to continue the legacy of our founders, by being a leader in the field of aging services for over 50 years.