Do you use your mouse for every action? Back in the bad old days, we didn’t have a mouse like these darn kids today, who, now that I think of it, use their phones for everything. Anyway you’re using a computer and all Microsoft products recall a time when using a mouse wasn’t an option. Yes there really was a time before the mouse. We used keyboard shortcuts to maneuver the screen and menu options. Those shortcuts, or hotkeys, are still there like a lingering artifact that’s still useful. Don’t believe me? If you’re not already in a Microsoft program, open a new document, presentation, spreadsheet, whatever. Or use the one you have open (don’t worry, all can be undone) and press Alt once on your keyboard.

Did a bunch of random letters and numbers appear in little yellow boxes? That’s a guide telling you if you press alt again, keep pressing it down and then tap any one of the letters or numbers that appear (then release the Alt key), the system will perform that action. For instance, if we were in Word and pressed Alt and the letter W on the keyboard (listed as Alt+W – don’t press the + on your keyboard) you would switch to the View ribbon.

The yellow indicators stay up until you press Alt again. Those yellow indicators only highlight how to open the various ribbons (also called tabs) in any Microsoft product, but keyboard shortcuts can do so much more.

Why talk at length about keyboard? If you increase your use of the keyboard and move away from using your mouse for everything, you’ll speed up your time to edit and save your shoulder from exercise that isn’t building muscle, burning calories, or lying to your Fitbit about how many steps you took today.

Below is a brief listing of common keyboard shortcuts that may help speed up or ease your editing of documents. The list below is mostly geared to Word. Other listings to follow.

Alt + Enter	Adds a line break within a cell in Excel
Alt + F4	Closes all open applications
Alt + F7	Opens Spell Check from the mouse menu
Alt + Tab	Scrolls through open program tabs
Ctrl + A	Selects all contents of the document
Ctrl + B	Bold
Ctrl + C	Copy selected text
Ctrl + E	Center text justification
Ctrl + F	Opens Find
Ctrl + G	Opens Go To
Ctrl + I	Italicize
Ctrl + L	Left text justification
Ctrl + K	Create a hyperlink
Ctrl + P	Open the print window
Ctrl + R	Right text justification
Ctrl + S	Saves open document
Ctrl + U	Underline
Ctrl + V	Paste
Ctrl + W	Closes the current document
Ctrl + X	Cut selected text
Ctrl + Y	Redo the last action performed.
Ctrl + Z	Undo last action.
Ctrl + Enter	Adds a Page Break
Ctrl + F2	Opens Print Preview
Ctrl + Shift + Enter	Column Break
Ctrl + Shift + Spacebar	Locked space
Ctrl + Space	Changes the language in Word
Ctrl + Space	Selects an entire column in Excel
Ctrl + Tab	Switches between browser tabs
F2	Edit active cell at the end of text in Excel
F5	Refreshes page in a web browser
F5	Starts slideshow in PowerPoint
F5	Opens Go To menu in Office applications
F7	Open Spell Check
F9	Sends and receives an email in Outlook
F12	Save As
Shift + Enter	Soft return
Shift + F3	Cycles through capitalization options in Word
Shift + F11	Adds a sheet in Excel
Shift + Space	Selects an entire row in Excel
Windows + D	Minimizes all screens
Windows + E	Opens Windows Explorer
Windows + L	Locks computer
Windows + left arrow	Snaps window to the left
Windows + right arrow	Snaps window to the right

The listed shortcuts work in most Windows apps not just Microsoft-based programs. Adobe products have their own set of shortcuts, which can be wildly different from those listed. I’ll post those in another blog. However, many shortcuts in Adobe are editable. Practice using the ones you think would be useful to train yourself and remember there are a ton of these for different programs and for different uses, such as inserting symbols or even emojis. This is not a complete list. If you wish there was a shortcut, perform an internet search for “keyboard shortcuts” plus the program or action you want to perform. If you’re unsure if there’s a shortcut for that in the program you’re using, hover your mouse over the option. For instance, say you want to bold text. Hover (no clicking, just hovering) your mouse over the B on the home tab.

An explanation of the button you’re hovering over will appear. Test it. It works for all the menu options.