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Keyboard Shortcuts

Keyboard Shortcuts

I’ve been using computers since their early days and I remember using them with DOS, before Windows and GUI (Graphical User Interface) and touch-based operating systems were developed. Back then, we used a lot of keyboard shortcuts to accomplish repetitive and common tasks, and they have never really gone away. They just seem to have slid out of most people’s notice, but they are a real time-saver.

Almost any Windows or Mac OSX program has pull-down menus. Usually the menus are “File”, “Edit”, “View”, and at least “Help”. The most commonly used commands are “Save” and “Print” from the “File” menu and “Cut”, “Copy”, and “Paste” from the “Edit” menu. If you look at the menu and see the commands to the left, you should also see the keyboard shortcuts to the right that correspond to those commands. These shortcuts are ignored by most people and when I point them out to clients, they are surprised to notice them with fresh eyes.

The short list for Windows programs is here:

Cut = Ctrl + X (Hold the Control key while pressing the “X” key.)
Copy = Ctrl + C
Paste = Ctrl + V
Select All items = Ctrl + A

Undo = Ctrl + Z (The number of undo commands you can execute in a row depends on the program, but most programs allow at least one.)
Redo = Ctrl + Y

Print = Ctrl + P
Save = Ctrl + S

These shortcuts are nearly universal across all Windows programs and most people find it faster to press two keys instead of making multiple mouse clicks to choose a command.

For a larger and more complete list of keyboard shortcuts, please view this Wikipedia page with a table of common shortcuts showing the keyboard shortcuts for Windows, Mac OS, and the KDE and GNOME graphical user interfaces for Linux.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_keyboard_shortcuts

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