Business Tips - Computer Shortcuts - Part 1

BUSINESS TIPS – Computer Shortcuts – Part 1


By Nikki Viljoen – Viljoen Consulting CC July 2010

Wow! Wow! And Wow again!  By now you all know that I am a bit of a technophobe, mainly because I don’t know and/or understand the technical terms and having grown up using a typewriter (and yes I learnt on one of those old fashioned ones that you had to use the leaver to turn up a line), the shortcuts that we have on a computer up to now have just been more than I could cope with.  Hell I only learnt how to cut and paste a year after I started my business – before that I just typed everything out every time (just as well I am pretty fast and accurate with typing on a keyboard hey!)

Anyway, I found this whole thingymabobby that gives lists and lists of shortcuts so I will be sharing this with you over the next couple of weeks.  Please note though that this does not mean that I understand all of the jargon – hopefully you guys and gals understand more than I do.

First up – Basic Shortcut Keys
Alt + F    File menu options in current program
Alt + E    Edit options in current program
F1    Universal help (for all programs)
Ctrl + A    Select all text
Ctrl + X    Cut Selected Item
Shift + Delete    Cut Selected Item
Ctrl + C    Copy selected item
Ctrl + Ins    Copy selected item
Ctrl + V    Paste
Shift + Ins    Paste
Home    Go to beginning of current line
Ctrl + Home    Go to beginning of document
End    Go to end of current line
Ctrl + End    Go to end of document
Shift + Home    Highlight from current position to beginning of line
Shift + End    Highlight from current position to end of line
Control +  <- a="" arrow="" at="" br="" left="" move="" nbsp="" one="" pointing="" the="" time="" to="" word="">Control + -> (arrow pointing right    Move one word to the right at a time

Now that wasn’t so bad – I must admit that although I did know some of these – many I didn’t.

Then -  Microsoft “Windows” Shortcut Keys

Alt + Tab    Switch between open applications
Alt + Shift + Tab    Switch backwards between open applications
Alt + Print + Screen    Create screen shot for current program
Ctrl + Alt + Delete    Reboot/Windows Task Manager
Ctrl + Esc    Bring up Start Menu
Alt + Esc    Switch between applications on taskbar
F2    Rename selected icon
F3    Start find from Desktop
F4    Open the drive selection when browsing
F5    Refresh contents
Alt + F4    Close current open program
Ctrl + F4    Close window in program
Ctrl + plus key    Automatically adjust widths of all columns in Window Explorer
Alt + Enter    Open properties window of selected icon or program
Shift + F10    Simulate right-click on selected item
Shift + Del    Delete programs/files permanently
Holding Shift During Boot-up    Boot safe mode or bypass system files
Holding Shift During Boot-up    When putting in an audio CD, will prevent CD player from playing.

Again I knew one or two of these, but certainly not the majority and now of course I will also have to irritate the heck out of my IT guy by asking all the ‘what does . . . . . mean?”.

More next week

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za