Remembering all these shortcuts may seem like a daunting task, but as you start to use them you will start to remember them. Also, once you read them you’ll remember that you can do it, and just need to pop back here to reread the steps.

• Increasing/Decreasing size of text
  If you hold down the Ctrl key on your key board and then turn the small wheel in the middle of your mouse away from you or towards you, the print (font) size will change – larger or smaller – depending on which way you turn the wheel. Let go of the control key when desired size is reached and the wheel will return to its scrolling function. This works in most programs, ie email, Word, Excel, Internet Browsers etc.

• Using the Ctrl and Shift keys to move/delete/copy items – ie files, emails
  When sorting emails, transferring files etc you can select multiple files by using the shift or control keys. Say you have a list of 10 emails and you want to move emails 1-7. Click on the first email, hold down the shift key and click on the 7^th email. Let go of the shift key. Your emails are now highlighted, click in the highlighted area and hold down the mouse button. Move your mouse over to where you wish to move the emails and let go of the mouse button. If you only want emails 1, 3 & 7, hold down the Ctrl key and click on each of the emails you want, let go of the Ctrl key. Click and hold down the mouse button on one of the highlighted emails. (If you click anywhere else you will have to reselect the emails.) Holding down the mouse button, move the emails to where you want to file them. Use a combination of the two keys when doing mass moving/filing. The Ctrl key can also be used to deselect an email. In the same example of 7 emails, you want them all except email 3. Use the shift key to select all seven emails, then use the Ctrl key to deselect email 3.

• Reveal Codes
  Can’t figure out why your tabs aren’t working in Microsoft Word? Turn on "reveal codes". Look for the ¶ (paragraph sign) in your tool bar, click on it and you will be able to see all your paragraphs, tabs and spaces. When you’re done, just click on it and all the extra details go away. The "revealed codes" will not print if you have them displayed.

To be continued……..

Chatter

There are multiple ways to do the same actions, the key is to find the way that works for you. Over the next few blogs I’ll be dealing with shortcuts. These are the shortcuts that amaze people and I quite often hear, "I wish I’d known that sooner!"

Most tips, tricks and hints assume (yes, I know what that means!) a certain amount of base knowledge. If you need some background on a particular item, please let me know and I’d be happy to fill in the missing data.

There are two buttons on your mouse; when the instructions say "click" that means the left mouse button. RIGHT click means the RIGHT mouse button (your other right !) If you don’t get the desired effect from the action it means you clicked the wrong button.

In some cases when you make a mistake performing an action, you need to undo the mistake before trying to carry on with the original action.

• The most important rule with any computer or software!!
  95% of all computer problems can be resolved with a complete shutdown and restart. One time glitches, freezes, slowdowns etc will usually disappear with a shut down & restart. If a program continually freezes, hiccups or is just plain slow, it’s telling you it needs to shut down.

• Several Methods to Copy or Cut and Paste
  Highlight the text you wish to copy or cut (copy leaves the text in the original spot, cut removes it from the original spot) then follow one of the steps below or even a combination:

  ~RIGHT click on the highlighted text, click on copy or cut. Move your mouse to where you want to paste and RIGHT click, click on paste. OR

  ~Hold down the Ctrl key and hit "c" for copy, "x" for cut, let go of the Ctrl key. Go to where you want to paste the text, hold down the Ctrl key and hit "v", let go of the Ctrl key (Ctrl+p is for printing – more on that later). – This method is especially useful for people who have trouble using their mouse. OR

  ~Click "edit" on your Toolbar (top of the screen, looks like: "File", "Edit", "View" etc) click copy or cut. Go to where you want to paste and click "edit", paste.

To be continued……..

Chatter