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I met a guy at Starbucks and he told me that if I learned keyboard shortcuts I could speed up my computing time a lot. Control "v" is great for pasting and Control "f" for finding something in an article is good too. What are the others? Do I make them and if so how?

Johan Klos
2010-06-11 20:28:00
or just make shortcuts and bind them to hotkeys... or use something like http://www.launchy.net/but yeah, shortcuts like WIN-R, WIN-E, WIN-F and most especially at work WIN-L are very handy :D
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Jane
2010-06-05 21:37:00
Disconnect your mouse! Seriously, I worked in a high school and was amazed how one of the students knew all the shortcuts; he told me his mouse was broken and he was force to learn the shortcuts for all the programs he used. He found it so much quicker, he never got another mouse!
Johan Klos
2010-06-11 20:29:00
I'd like to see how that student managed to draw something on his computer ;)
John
2010-06-05 14:53:00
There are some free quick guides for many popular applications and operating systems, both Microsoft and Apple, available here: http://www.customguide.com/quick_references.htm
Mrkimb
2010-06-11 11:33:00
Thanks John, this is really a great reference site.
Jack Cola
2010-06-05 07:22:00
Hi Kim,I have just been going through our CheatSheets and found one about Windows Shortcuts.http://www.makeuseof.com/downloads/windows-shortcuts-3.pdfI even learned that the F2 key renames the selected file. Well worth the read.It also has shortcuts on Microsoft Office too.
Mrkimb
2010-06-11 11:26:00
This is great Jack. I learned what the "END" key is there for and how to use it. There's a good chance that all these keys have a function...go figure LOL
Jack Cola
2010-06-12 02:13:00
No worries - I am happy to help
2010-05-30 17:44:00
Kim,I believe the best way to speed up your work with shortcuts is not by knowing all of them but by choosing only few commands that you use most. Aside from few basic popular shortcuts (copy, paste, find, replace, print, etc), each application comes with their own customized shortcuts, and they actually tells you what those shortcuts are.Start paying attention to the menu, the available shortcuts are written next to the menu. For example: "File - New" menu in most app always have the shortcut written next to it: Ctrl + NThe key is use the shortcuts often and your body will remember. Not all, but the ones that you use most.
MrKimB
2010-06-02 17:57:00
thurana, I've been using computers since 1995 and I promise you I never noticed the shortcuts in the program menus. Thanks for the great tips...what an eye opener! Really.
Jack Cola
2010-05-30 00:08:00
There's heaps more, and even more for different programs and websites. Check out these posts:http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/7-essential-cheat-sheets/http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/14-great-cheat-sheets-posters-to-make-you-a-software-wizard/http://www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/#cheatsheets
MrKimB
2010-06-02 17:51:00
Dang....I guess it is true....Ask and you shall receive. Thank you very much.
Steve Campbell
2010-05-29 18:42:00
Kim,You can Google 'keyboard shortcuts' or 'windows hotkeys' to find lists of all the available shortcuts. I don't know what operating system you're using, but here is a list of all shortcuts in Windows XP:http://support.microsoft.com/kb/301583
MrKimB
2010-06-02 17:50:00
After all these great answers, I think my question should have been how do I find things using Google. :-) I did search on Google but I don't remember the keywords I used but I didn't find what I was looking for at the time. But I just searched for keyword shortcuts and there they are right at the top.Thanks for taking the time to educate me.
Underyx
2010-05-29 18:12:00
Windows shortcuts are pre-defined, and there is a list of them here for Windows 98, XP and Vista:http://support.microsoft.com/kb/126449If you are looking for the shortcuts of Windows 7, you can find a list of them here:http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/Windows7/Keyboard-shortcutsEven though the keyboard shortcuts can't be changed for system actions, you can set shortcuts to launch certain files, or programs. To do this, right-click on the existing shortcut of something (I mean the shortcuts you find on your desktop or start menu, with an icon), select 'Properties', click in the text box at 'Shortcut key', press the keys you would like to assign to that program or file, and press 'OK'.Hope I could help.
MrKimB
2010-06-02 17:42:00
Thanks for your speedy and knowledgeable answer. This helps a lot.