The little things in life sometimes mean the most to us, even when it comes to our IT. The importance of the seemingly mundane can be shoved in our faces the moment we lose them, making us realize how important the little things really are. For example- what would you do if your mouse suddenly stopped working?
You can spend time tracking down a new one, trying to use a different computer, or even calling your IT professionals to help you figure out why it stopped working. All good ideas, but in the meantime…how do you stay productive? There are a number of reasons a mouse can die- it is too old, the USB port on your machine isn’t working, etc.- but the truth is that you can’t stop working when your mouse does. So what do you do?
As it turns out, almost everything you can do with a mouse, you can do without a mouse. How? by using your keyboard. Yup, that’s right. It’s not just for typing emails and blog posts. Your keyboard has the power to act like your mouse, you just need to know the right commands.
So we have compiled a list of commonly used, helpful keyboard commands that will keep you working even when your mouse stops. For a complete list, check out this web page.
**Important note: These commands are for a PC machine running Windows 7.**
General Mouse-like commands:
– Right click: SHIFT+F10
– Left click: Enter or Spacebar
– To move between items: TAB; ALT+TAB; CTRL+TAB; Windows Key+TAB
– To get back to the desktop: Windows Key+D
– To close out of a window: ALT+F4
– To open Windows Explorer: Windows Key+E
– To create a new folder in Windows Explorer (sequence): ALT+F, ALT+W, ALT+F
– To open the “Run a Program” box: Windows Key+R
When inside a program like Microsoft Word or Outlook:
– Save email as draft: CTRL+S
– Send email: ALT+S
– Save document: CTRL+S
– Print: CTRL+P
– Spell Check: F7
– Cut: CTRL+X
– Copy: CTRL+C
– Paste: CTRL+V
– Undo: CTRL+Z
– Redo: CTRL+Y
This list is just the beginning, showing you how to perform the most basic computer functions without a mouse. It will help you stay productive while your IT professionals figure out what happened to your mouse and how to fix it.
Was this list helpful? Is there anything else you want to know how to do by using keyboard commands? Let us know in the comments!