Keyboard shortcuts - what are they and how can they help me?
As the name suggests, they provide quick ways of doing things that otherwise might take a long time to do.
One example - Ctrl+P - used if you want to print the Microsoft Word document you've been writing. Just hold down the Ctrl key and press the letter P on the keyboard - the print dialogue will appear instantly.
My most commonly used Windows keyboard shortcuts:(for Macs, substitute the Apple key for the Ctrl key)
• Ctrl+C (Copy)
• Ctrl+X (Cut) - think of the X as a pair of scissors
• Ctrl+V (Paste) - possibly derived from the printer's insert mark
• Ctrl+Z (Undo) - no I don't know why it's Z!
• Ctrl+A (Select All) - can be used in a program, such as Word, or within a folder
• Ctrl+S (Save)
• Esc (Cancel the current task)
• Oh, and did you know that, in the print-dialogue window and many other dialogues, pressing the Enter key is equivalent to clicking on the OK button? And it's a lot easier to do that than use a mouse.
My favourite keyboard shortcuts:
• CTRL+] (ie right-hand of the two square brackets - increase size of highlighted text in Word by one point)
• CTRL+[ (ie the left-hand of the two square brackets - decrease size of highlighted text in Word by one point)
My Windows get-out-of-jail keyboard shortcuts:
• CTRL+F4 (closes the program or window that is active)
• CTRL+Alt+Del (brings up Task Manager) - will often let you shut down the PC if it has become locked up. Also lets you selectively close running programs
