Consider this… What if you decided it was too tedious to learn how to talk and so you just wrote everything.  Think about how much energy and time in your life that would consume!  Using the mouse is the same concept.  About 90% of the actions you do on the computer can be done without the mouse.  For example.  you might be thinking, “I am going to print this page!”.  And to print it you will reach your hand over and drag the pointer all the way up to the print button or menu and choose “File” then “Print”.  You are using a lot of energy to make that mouse travel and guide it.  Instead of doing that just hit CTRL-P now.  You just saved yourself 10 seconds! Now imagine saving 10 seconds on every action you perform on a computer all day.

When I want to do something I just think it and my hands do it.  When you want to do something you have to navigate to that thing and click it.  Do not try to memorize all the info below at once.  Start by looking it over and learning what is there.  Then teaching yourself new keyboard habits bit by bit.  For example if you wanted to go to google you could press “Ctrl-L” then type “google” (without quotes) and press CTRL-Enter (to add the www. and .com automatically).  Then press BACKSPACE to get back here (Go back a page).  New window or tab in your browser?  Ctrl-T then Ctrl-L to tell it where to go!

 

Operator Keys

BE SURE TO READ THIS SECTION FIRST!

Operator keys are the keys you press and hold while using another key to activate a function.  For example, the most commonly known Operator key is “SHIFT”.  If you use “SHIFT-a” you get a capital “A”.  The other Operator keys are “CTRL”, “ALT”, “WIN” and “Fn”.  Hot keys are not usually case sensitive unless they include the SHIFT key.  In the below sections I have left out hotkeys that I did not feel would ever be used.

• SHIFT – Usually used to reverse the direction of a hot key.  For example “Tab” will take you to the next input box on a form.. “SHIFT-Tab” will take you to the previous input box.
• CTRL – Lower left (And right) corner of the keyboard.  
• ALT – Next to your space bar
• WIN – Also Know As the “Windows Key” is the flag key between “CTRL” and “ALT”.  This is the global windows key to access operating system features.  (Note: Some laptop keyboards are missing this key)
• Fn – Used on Laptops usually near the CTRL key.  This gives you access to functions like volume control, brightness, WiFi etc.. Look for keys with symbols in the same color as the text on the Fn key.

 

Windows Global Hot Keys

These are hot keys that are watched on an Operating System level.  They take priority over Application/Program hot keys.  If you are in any program and press “WIN-E” windows Explorer (The File Browser) will/should come up.  (Hold the “WIN” key and press “E”.  Hot keys are not usually case sensitive.

   

Standard Editing Hot Keys

These are hot keys that are standard to all programs (Provided they follow the standard).  For example the standard for print is “CTRL-P” and just about any program that can print will pop up a print dialog when you press those keys.

   

Standard Program/Application Hot Keys

These are hot keys that are standard to all programs (Provided they follow the standard).  For example the standard for print is “CTRL-P” and just about any program that can print will pop up a print dialog when you press those keys.