Keyboard shortcuts – the first productivity tool

by Earl Mardle on 1 October 2009

I've hated the mouse since I met it and it repaid the compliment by giving me a bad shoulder till I switched to left handed use - something about using the non-dominant hand makes me less susceptible to RSI.

But when I discovered keyboard shortcuts I managed to get rid of the mouse from most of my computer interactions. In my browser Alt+d gets me into the address bar, Ctrl+k gets me into the search field and Ctrl+Shift+F12 opens Skype (it used to be WindowsKey+ 0 but the latest version of Skype wont let me use that)

Keyboard shortcuts let you move around your computer rapidly and far more accurately than any mouse and this simple keyboard shortcut guide form the Herald is not a bad place to start. Although the first shortcut is not an auspicious one.

We all know what Ctrl-Alt-Delete does. It's a simple way, by pressing three keyboard keys, to escape a whole host of blue screen nightmares and crashed computer programs.

I'll give good odds that many people no longer know what a Blue Screen of death is, nor that Ctrl+Alt+Delete (twice) will close down your machine. For many its the login instruction to their desktop. But the rest are pretty good. Follow the link for them all, but here's the basic list for Windows users.

Within most good programmes, almost every function or action can be carried out with keyboard commands or shortcuts - a simple and ideally easily-memorable sequence of two or three key strokes.

And when you get proficient at using them, keyboard shortcuts are faster than breaking your flow by reaching for the mouse.

Andrew Miller, technology journalist and founder of thinkabouttech.com is a self-avowed keyboard shortcuts devotee and typical of the site's users.

"I use keyboard shortcuts in almost every application. It wastes so much time to move your hands from keyboard to the mouse and back again, when learning something as simple as Ctrl-T will do the same job."

So tech-savvy IT professionals may be hooked on shortcuts and the health advice is certainly in their favour, but which are the most useful and how will you remember them? Short of using an exhaustive set of reference cards the size of a dictionary, you'll never remember every keyboard shortcut. So to save you time and your poor muscles, here are a selection of the most practical shortcuts across a variety of systems and software.

Microsoft Office and Windows

Save.....................Ctrl-S
Print.....................Ctrl-P
Find.....................Ctrl-F
Copy.....................Ctrl-C
Paste .....................Ctrl-V
Undo.....................Ctrl-Z
Delete.....................Ctrl-D
Page break......... Ctrl-Enter
Change window ......... Alt-Tab
Quit application ......... Alt-F4

Minimise window ......... Alt-Space-N
Maximise window ......... Alt-Space-X
Close sub-window......... Ctrl-F4
Task manager or Windows Security ......... Ctrl-Alt-Delete
Screen grab......... Alt-Print screen
Rename file......... F2
Go to address bar......... F6
Lock PC.....................Windows-L
Close all windows......... Windows-M
Launch help......... Windows-F1
Switch programme......... Windows-Tab

You don't have to learn them all, just look at the drop down list in whatever programme you are using. In my browser, and yours for sure, you will find this toolbar

See how each item has an underlined letter? Hold down the Alt key and tap that letter. So Alt+f gets me this

Again, each option has its "Alt+" indicator letter underlined, but look at the right side. There are your keyboard shortcuts. They are in every programme you use, learn them as you go.