Keyboard shortcuts are like diets or new year’s resolutions. We sincerely want to keep up with them but often fall back on old habits — in this case, mousing around and clicking the day way.
Lately I’ve been using Windows 7 keyboard shortcuts and find that it does speed up the workflow and help me get on with life.
So with that in mind, here is a breakdown of useful keyboard shortcuts for two popular apps, Microsoft Word and Internet Explorer. I’ll spare you the obvious Ctrl+C, Crtl+V, Ctrl+S and highlight more obscure keyboard shortcuts.
Happy time saving.
THE OFFICE RIBBON
KeyTip Numbers and Letters
For any Office applications that have the Ribbon interface and Quick Access Toolbar at the top, you can press the Alt key to display small numbers and letters on the screen that correspond to Ribbon tabs and to the commands you’ve selected for you Quick Access Toolbar at the very top.
Once you press a key to get into a tab (such as H for Home) a new set a of numbers and letters appear within the Home tab that correspond to Home commands such as font size and color, bullet points, paragraph breaks, etc.
This is a great way to navigate all the tabs within the Ribbon without leaving your keyboard.
Change Keyboard Shortcuts or Create Your Own
In Microsoft Office 2010:
Click the File tab to open Backstage view, and then click Options.
Click Customize Ribbon and then, next to the Keyboard Shortcuts heading, click Customize. You can enter the new key combination here.
In Microsoft Office 2007:
Click the Office logo button in the upper left-hand corner, and then, in the lower right click Word Options.
In the list, select Customize.
In the Customize dialog box, click the Keyboard shortcuts: Customize button.
In the Categories listing, select the tab containing the command you want to change.
In the Commands list, select the command with the keystroke combination you want to change or create. If a default keystroke combination exists, it appears in the box under “Current keys.”
In the Press new shortcut keys box, enter the new keystroke combination.
Click Close.
MICROSOFT WORD
Using Keystrokes to Select Text in Word
Press Shift+Right Arrow, Left Arrow, Up Arrow, or Down Arrow to highlight text. To select one word at a time, press Shift+Ctrl+Arrow. To select to the end of the line, press Shift+End.
Increase or Decrease Font Size
Select text by pressing Shift+Arrow and then press Ctrl+Shift+> to increase font size and Ctrl+Shift+
Preview What You’re About to Print
Press Alt+Ctrl+I to open the integrated Print and Preview window to see how a document will look before you print it out.
INTERNET EXPLORER
To Go to your home page
Press Alt+Home.
Add a Site to Your Favorites
When you are at a site and you want to add it to your favorites, press Ctrl+D. Click Favorites and then click Add to Favorites to create a separate folder for the site or to add it to an already-formed list.
View Your History
Press Ctrl+H to open the History pane for a quick view of sites you’ve visited in the past three weeks. You can then select a site that you like, right-click the site, and then select Add to Favorites.
Switch Between Tabs
Press Ctrl+Tab to move left to right through Web site tabs and press Ctrl+Shift+Tab to move in the other direction.
To Move Forward or Back Through the Items on a Webpage, the Address Bar, or the Favorites Bar
Press Tab to move forward, and Shift+Tab to move backward.
To Stop Downloading a Page
Press the Esc key (upper left corner of the keyboard).
Using Zoom on a Webpage
Press Ctrl+Plus Sign (+) to zoom in. Press Ctrl+Minus Sign (-) to zoom out. Press Ctrl+0 to return the webpage to 100 percent.
