Douglas Engelbart introduced a prototype of the first computer mouse in 1964 – it was made of a wooden shell and had 2 metal wheels. Billions and billions of clicks later, we now have a version of the mouse on nearly every laptop and desktop computer in use.
The mouse is undoubtedly a powerful tool that revolutionized the use of a computer. According to a study by Wellnomics, for every 1 hour on the computer, 33 minutes is spent using the mouse and for every 1.6 keyboard strokes, there’s a mouse click.
It can easily become habit to automatically reach for the mouse while working with your computer, but is it the most efficient approach? You have options and shortcut keys may be your solution.
Here are 10 shortcuts available in Microsoft Office that can be used to limit your dependency on the mouse:
• Select Text | = SHIFT+arrow keys |
• Cut | = CTL+X |
• Copy | = CTL+C |
• Paste | = CTL+V |
• Undo | = CTL+Z |
• Re-do | = CTL+Y |
• Spell Check | = F7 |
• Save | = CTL+S |
• Find | = CTL+F |
• Help | = F1 |
There are hundreds of shortcuts available along with plenty of documentation on the web. If you’re a heavy mouse user, find a few that could save you time and start there. If you’re already using keyboard shortcuts, share some of your favorites with us!
I use CTRL+A all the time. I think it stands for “Select All” … just click your mouse anywhere on the page to position your cursor, and when you CTRL+A it will select everything on the page. At that point you can copy, paste, etc.
My most commonly used Windows shortcuts:
Ctrl + Shift + Esc – Open Task Manager
Win + E – Open Windows Explorer
Win + R – Open Windows Run dialog
Win + M – Minimize all windows
Win + L – Lock computer
And on Windows 7 specifically:
Win + Home – Minimize all but the current window
Win + Space – Trigger “Aero Peak” (all windows go transparent)
Ctrl + Shift + N – Create new folder (in Windows Explorer only)
Win + Shift + Left or Right Arrow – Move active window to left or right monitor (in multi-monitor setups)
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