How to Use PC Without Mouse – Part II

• Tweet
• Sharebar

So now that you know the basic rules of navigation using your keyboard, it’s time you learnt some common keyboard shortcuts which will allow you to take full advantage of that knowledge. Here I will list some useful keyboard shortcuts and tell you how and when you should use them.

1. Alt + F4 – This is a must remember keyboard shortcut. It is used to close windows. So whenever you want to quit a program or if some program is stuck, use this shortcut to close it.
2. Alt + Tab – This shortcut is used to cycle between open windows. It cycles in the recently used order. The cycle also includes the desktop so that you can minimize all windows.
3. Windows + D – This shortcuts minimizes all windows and activates the desktop. Use this whenever you want to launch a new program from the desktop. Then use the arrow keys to select the right icon.
4. Windows + E – Launches Windows Explorer. Whenever you want to open a file on your computer, you should use this shortcut to launch windows explorer. Then you can navigate using arrow keys.
5. Ctrl + X/Ctrl + C/Ctrl + V – Cut/Copy/Paste. You need to remember these shortcuts as these are very common operations. The good thing about these 3 shortcuts is that they are universal. All programs will follow them. You can cut/copy/paste using these shortcuts in any program.
6. Ctrl + S/Ctrl + O – Save/Open. These two shortcuts are near universal too. While using any program, you obviously need to save your work and open files. Remembering these shortcuts will save you a lot of trouble.
7. Enter – Even though very important, I mention this very late because this one is known to everyone. Enter key is used to launch items, whichever item is highlighted. Be it a file in Windows Explorer or a menu item in the start menu etc.
8. Alt – the alt key is used to access the menu bar. Although the traditional menu bar is almost on its way out, still Alt key is can be used to access whatever menu is available. For example, pressing the alt key in MS Office applications will show keyboard shortcuts for the ribbon items whereas in Firefox or windows explorer, the menu bar will become visible. If the program has a traditional menu bar, one alphabet of each menu will be underlined. This is the key you need to press on your keyboard to access that menu. Keep in mind that you do not need to press the key together with the Alt key, you can release the alt key and the alphabets will remain underlined. For example, open notepad. Now press the alt key. You will see that one alphabet of each menu item is underlined. Now press F on the keyboard. This will open the file menu and again one alphabet of each sub-menu will be underlined.
   
9. Alt + Space – This brings up the context menu of the title bar of any window. This shortcut will come in handy if you are using multiple windows. Using this you can move, resize, minimize and maximize/restore any window. Even if they do not have a title bar.
   
10. Alphabet/Number keys – always remember that the alphabet/number keys can be used to directly reach an item whose name starts with that alphabet/number. For instance, if you are on the desktop, you can press “C” to select Computer. If you want to select any other icon whose name starts with “C”, you just need to press the key again.

Now that you know some good shortcuts, it’s time to combine these with the rules that you learnt in Part I. If you want to make full use of these shortcuts, you will still need to understand when and how to use them. For instance, the quickest way to access Explorer.exe from the windows folder would be Windows+E, W, Enter, W, Enter, EX, Enter. That sounds like a lot, but it once you get a hang of it, this will take half the time that you take for opening it from the mouse. And as you will see, I have used just one keyboard shortcut that you will need to remember, Windows + E. All the others are just natural.

In the next part, I will take up windows explorer. Once again it will not be a list of shortcuts but just how to use windows explorer with keyboard. Till now, whatever we have discussed is almost universal and some are for Windows OS specifically. From here on, I will take individual programs and explain the rules for each.

Till then, keep practicing.

This article is a part of a Series explaining how to use a computer with your keyboard. To read other articles in this series visit http://digisheets.in/series/keyboard