There are two important reasons why anybody should use keyboard
shortcuts instead of mouse.
The use of mouse is one of the main triggers of Repetitive Strain Injury,
tendinitis and other similar muscolosceletal disorders. Sufferers of these
disorders report that they feel less pain when typing compared to when mousing.
Thus, a desire to avoid mouse as much as possible.
Once keyboard shortcuts have been mastered then one can work much faster and be
more productive.
Both the above reasons apply a fortiori in the case of people who make
intense use of the computer, especially those who do a lot of word-processing.
Obviousty, translators fall on this category.
Personally I hardly ever touch the mouse when I use Microsoft Word and I am
sure that my output must have increased manyfold since the times I performed
most of the tasks through the mouse. It must be noted however that mice have
improved a lot and an optical mouse with a scroll wheel is definitely more
ergonomic (if used correctly that is).
Below I will mention the shortcuts I use more often and I will elaborate on my
methodology. At the end of this article you will find extensive lists of
keyboard shortcuts grouped in tables for Windows and
Word.
Keyboard shortcuts for Windows
Accessing Windows with keyboard shortcuts only is not that hard. The first
thing one needs to know is that the Start menu opens by pressing the Win key
(the one on the left of Alt which has the Windows icon) or by pressing Ctrl+Esc
in older keyboards. Moreover you can explore desktop items by using Tab ot
Shift+Tab and launch your favourite application by pressing Enter.
If what we want is to open a document that we had been working on then we can
go directly to it by pressing Start->Documents, and using the arrow
keys to reach the one we want and then press Enter to open it (Windows
stores shortcuts to a number of recently opened documents from different
applications).
There is an easy way to launch applications by assigning a keyboard shortctut
to a desktop or menu item. For example if you have a shortcut for Word on you
desktop you right-click on it an then select Properties. Then you
click in the Shortcut field and type a shortcut, ie Ctrl+Shift+K or
one of the Function keys, F11/F10/F9 would be a fairly safe options.
Then you click OK and you are done.
There is an extra trick you can use in this context, you can run the
application with parameters. For example when you right click on the Word
shortcut and click Properties you will see a Target field which
contains the following string or a similar one "C:\Program Files\Microsoft
Office\Office10\WINWORD.EXE". If you add to this field the /mFile1
parameter so that it reads "C:\Program Files\Microsoft
Office\Office10\WINWORD.EXE" /mFile1, then every time you click this
shortcut the last edited document will open automatically. Hence
you can have one simple shortcut for Word and another one (perhaps you could
rename it to Word - Last by pressing F2 when the item is
highlighted and then typing the new name) which will open the last edited
document. A useful utility for running programs with parameters (as well as
printing / saving folder contents) is
Magenta's Extensions for Windows.
If we have more than one windows open then we need a way to switch from one to
another. This can be done with Alt+Tab. Alt+Tab is my most used windows
shortcut. Press Alt with your left-hand thumb, and then quickly press Tab
(without lifting Alt!) and then you will see a square moving from one icon to
the next. Keep pressing Tab until you find the desired application and then
lift both fingers. If you want to close one of the open windows you can use my third
most used windows shortcut: Alt+F4. When there are no active
windows it brings up the "Windows Shut Down" dialogue box. In this case it is a
quick way to shut down your computer as all you do is press Alt+F4 and
then Enter (provided the Shut Down option is selected). In Windows XP
you also have to press the right arrow once before pressing Enter
in order to move to the Shut Down option. Hence in order to quickly shut
down your computer if you have Windows XP you press Alt+F4 ->Right
Arrow->Enter.
Last but not least I should mention that my second most used shortcut is Alt+Shift
- a quick way to change languages (a very common task for a translator). If you
do this and it does not seem to work you should check your Settings at Start->Settings->
Control Panel->Keyboard->Language->Switch Languages.
Keyboard Shortcuts for Word
Moving, selecting and formatting are three of the commonest tasks in Word.
Thankfully the programmers have provided all the appropriate keyboard shortcuts
that make life easier.
First of all though a life-saver: once you've messed up things (and you
quite don't know how you did it) simply press Ctrl+Z (if needs must more
than once). It will undo your latest actions and hopefully you will retrieve
your lost text! (It will not work however if what you see is a blank New
Document which you created accidentally by clicking Ctrl+N by mistake.
In this case simply close the blank document(s) pressing Ctrl+W and
hopefully your "lost" text will reappear.)
As far as moving is concerned the key players are Ctrl, the arrow keys
and the Home, End, Page Up, Page Down keys. By using any combination of
the above one can achieve almost anything. One thing we need to know is that Ctrl
adds an extra boost to whatever we do. For example, if we simply press the right
arrow key we move one character right; if we hold Ctrl whilst
pressing the right arrow key we move one word right. On the same
vein if we press the down arrow key we move one line down; if we
hold Ctrl whilst pressing the down arrow key we move one paragraph
down. You want to know more? Click for a listing of all the
navigation keyboard shortcuts.
Once you've mastered moving selecting is a piece of cake. To whatever action
you used to move you add the Shift button and it will select instead of
moving. For example, if we simply press the right arrow key we move one character
left; if we hold Shift and then press the right arrow key we select
one character right; Click for a listing of all
the selecting keyboard shortcuts.
When it comes to selecting text Word XP has a very helpful new feature
which is called multiple selection, ie you can select one chunk of text
and then go on to select another one in a different paragraph for example. This
is done with the aid of the mouse. First we select the desired text by clicking
and dragging the mouse. Then we hold down the Ctrl key and keep
selecting any other bits of text we want with the mouse. This technique can be
useful when, for instance, we want to italicize many different words or phrases
in the same document and we don't want to repeat the selection process for each
and every one of them.
Now since you've mastered how to move through the document and select text all
you need to know is how to quickly copy it, paste it, cut it, format it. By
using the Ctrl key and adding X, C, V you cut, copy and paste
respectively. By using the Ctrl key and adding B, I, U you make
the text bold, italics and underlined respectively. Do you
want to justify your paragraph? No problem. Just press Ctrl+J. As you
see Ctrl is the key to remember! More formatting shortcuts? Click
here.
My working methodology could be succinctly described with the following four
shortcuts. Alt+Tab, Ctrl+C/V, Shift+F5. First of all I use Alt+Tab
in order to move from one program to another (in my case from one dictionary to
another and then back to Word). Then I use Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V in
order to copy text from the dictionaries and paste it in word. Moreover, the
above too are used quite often whilst working in the document. For example if a
phrase has been repeated a few lines or paragraphs up I will locate it by using Page
Up, or Ctrl+F (Find), select it by using Ctrl+Shift+right arrow,
copy it by using Ctrl+C, then I will click Shift+F5 in order to
return to the same point in the document and then click Ctrl+V in order
to paste it. If you work with more than one document open at the same time then
you can use the Ctrl+F6 shortcut to navigate from one to another. Its
difference from Alt+Tab is that you can only move from one Word document
to another, whereas with Alt+Tab you can move through all your open
applications/documents.
My all time favourite shortcut in Word (as well as a number of other programs)
is Ctrl+H. Now most people who are involved with editing texts know the Ctrl+F
(Find) shortcut (which I already mentioned in the previous paragraph).
However, Ctrl+H goes a step further displaying the Replace field
as well (saving you an extra click on the Replace button). Thus we can
quickly perform a Find and Replace action. An extra shortcut that comes
in handy in case you' ve jumped a word or accidentally replaced one you
shouldn't replace is Shift+F5. What it does is move you to the previous
part of your document.
I would not want to do lip service to the many helpful options of the
Find/Replace function, of which you can get an idea by clicking on the More
button on the bottom left of the Find / Replace dialogue box. This will
be the subject of a different article.
In case some of the above shortcuts do not appear to work in your computer
don't worry. There are some reasons why this could be happening:
Sometimes Word does not appear to support the Ctrl+ Z, Y, X, C, V shortcuts
because it is using as default a set of slightly different ones (Alt+Backspace=Undo,
Alt+Enter=Redo, Ctrl+Delete=cut, Ctrl+Insert=copy, Shift+Insert=Paste
etc).
Another user might have assigned different shortcuts to these keys.
To ascertain which shortcuts work in your system just run a macro which will
list all of them. How do you do that? Simple: Press Alt+F8. The Macros
window appears. The second field should read Macros in: Select Word
Commands. Now, scroll down within the first field (Macro name) until
you locate ListCommands macro. When you do, select it and click on the Run
button. A dialog box appears asking you if you want to see the current commands
only or all of them. Choose any.
Moreover, if you want to assign a custom shortcut click on Tools-> Customize
-> Commands -> Keyboard. In the Categories box, click the
category that contains the command or other item. In the box to the right,
click the name of the command or other item. Any shortcut keys that are
currently assigned appear in the Current keys box. In the Press new
shortcut key box, press the shortcut key combination you want to
assign. For example, press Alt+ the desired key. Look at Currently
assigned to to see if the shortcut key combination is already assigned
to a command or other item. If so, select another combination. Click Assign.
Done!
A LIST OF WINDOWS SHORTCUTS
Start Windows
Win Key / Ctrl+Esc
Close the current window or quit a program (if no windows are active it brings
up the "Shut Down" dialog box).
Alt+F4
Display the Close Program (task manager) dialog box
Ctrl + Alt + Del (pressing these keys a second time will re-boot the computer)
Display the Find File dialog box
Win + F or F3
Copy a screen-shot to the clipboard
Print Screen
Show item properties
Alt+Enter
Switch to the window you last used or
Switch to another window by holding down Alt while repeatedly pressing Tab
Alt+Tab
Close a My Computer window and all its parrent windows
Shift (while clicking the "X", Close button)
Cancel the current task
Esc
Quit a program that is not responding (in the Close Program dialog
box, click the program that is not responding, and then click End Task)
Ctrl+Alt+Del
Bypass Auto run when inserting a CD
Shift
Right-click (make sure the desired object has the focus)
Shift+F10 or application key (usually the third key on the right from the space
bar with a menu and pointer icon)
Permanently delete (bypassing Recycle Bin)
Shift+Delete
Click a button if the current control is a button or
Select or clear the check box if the current control is a check box or
Click the option if the current control is an option button
Spacebar
Click the corresponding command
Alt+underlined letter
Click the selected button
Enter
Move backward through options
Shift+Tab
Move forward through options
Tab
Move backward through tabs
Ctrl+Shift+Tab
Move forward through tabs
Ctrl+Tab
Open a folder one level up if a folder is selected in the Save As or Open
dialog box
Backspace
Help
F1
Rename an item
F2
Open Save In or Look In in the Save As or Open dialog box
F4
Refresh or Save As or Open dialog box
F5
Create a shortcut
Ctrl+Shift while dragging the file
Select all items
Ctrl+A
Toggle Languages
Alt+Shift
Launch Windows Explorer
Win+E
A LIST OF WORD SHORTCUTS
To move the insertion point
One character left
Left arrow
One character right
Right arrow
One word left
Ctrl+left arrow
One word right
Ctrl+right arrow
One paragraph up
Ctrl+ arrow up
One paragraph down
Ctrl+ arrow down
One line up
arrow up
One line down
arrow down
End of line
End
One page up
Page Up
One page down
Page Down
Beginning of line
Home
Previous point in the document
Shift+F5
Top part of the window
Ctrl+Alt+Page Up
Bottom part of the window
Ctrl+Alt+Page Down
One screen up
Page Up
One screen down
Page Down
Beginning of next page
Ctrl+Page Down
Beginning of previous page
Ctrl+Page Up
Page number
Ctrl+G
End of document
Ctrl+End
Beginning of document
Ctrl+Home
To select
One character left
Shift+Left arrow
One character right
Shift+Right arrow
One word left
Ctrl+Shift+left arrow
To End of Line
Shift+End
To Beginning of Line
Shift+Home
One word right
Ctrl+Shift+right arrow
One line up
Shift+arrow up
One line down
Shift+arrow down
One paragraph up
Ctrl+Shift+arrow up
One paragraph down
Ctrl+Shift+arrow down
One page up
Shift+Page Up
One page down
Shift+Page Down
To Bottom of document
Ctrl+ Shift+End
To Top of document
Ctrl+ Shift+Home
All document
Ctrl+A
To select using keys or/and mouse
Select word
Double click
Select sentence
Ctrl+click
Select paragraph
Triple click or
Double Click on the left of the paragraph
Select vertically / column
Alt+click
Select line
Click on the left of the line
Select All
Triple click on the left of the document or
Ctrl+ double click on the left of the document.
Multiple Selection (only for XP)
hold Ctrl+select all areas with the mouse one after
another
To Undo/Redo
Undo
Ctrl+Z or Alt+Backspace
Redo
Ctrl+Y or Alt+Enter
To Find/Replace
Find
Ctrl+F
Find/Replace
Ctrl+H
Repeat the last Find or Goto
Shift+F4 (very useful!)
To delete
One character left
Backspace
One character right
Del
One word left
Ctrl+Backspace
One word right
Ctrl+Del
To format
Bold
Ctrl+B
Italic
Ctrl+I
Underline
Ctrl+U
Underline Words only
Ctrl+Shift+W
Double Underline
Ctrl+Shift+D
Convert all letters to capitals
Ctrl+Shift+A
Change Font
Ctrl+Shift+F
Increase Font Size
Ctrl+Shift+>
Decrease Font Size
Ctrl+Shift+<
Convert to Small Capitals
Ctrl+Shift+K
Copy formatting
Ctrl+Shift+C
Paste formatting
Ctrl+Shift+V
Clear formatting
Ctrl+Spacebar
Paragraphs
Single Line Spacing
Ctrl+1
Double Line Spacing
Ctrl+2
1.5 Line Spacing
Ctrl+5
New Page
Ctrl+Enter
New Line
Enter
Align Centre
Ctrl+E
Align Left
Ctrl+L
Align Right
Ctrl+R
Align Justified
Ctrl+J
Increase Indent
Ctrl+M
Decrease Indent
Ctrl+Shift+M
Remove Paragraph Formatting
Ctrl+Q
Document
Open Document
Ctrl+O
Close Document
Ctrl+W
Save Document
Ctrl+S
Save all open documents
Shift+click on File. You will see the option Save all
Close all open documents
Shift+click on File. You will see the option Close all
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