Saturday 1 March 2014

12 steps to becoming a mouse widow

So a few months ago I was tasked with going by my day without using a mouse. Easy I thought! and it actually wasn't too bad. I knew, as long as I could open the browser and navigate to Google to find the keyboard shortcuts, I would be OK... so here are some of my favourites.

Windows

Reverse Tabbing

So most people probably know they can tab through GUI's, and what not, but did you know you can go back too? Try it... Shift & Tab.

Open an Application as an Adminstrator

Search for an app in the Start Menu and hit Ctrl & Shift & Enter.

Open an Additional Application To What Is Already Open (Windows 8 Special)

So you already have an instance of Remote Desktop open. Want another without loading up the current instance? Then search for the app and hit Shift & Enter.

Right Clicking

Ever wondered what the key on the bottom right of the keyboard is? The one between the Windows and Right Ctrl key? That's the menu key, and it behaves the same as if you right clicked the mouse on the currently selected item.

Task Manager

Ctrl & Shift & Escape... no need for Ctrl & Alt & Delete.

Magnifier

Win Key & [+ Key (Addition)]

Moving Windows

Align to the side of the window: Win Key & Left Arrow / Right Arrow
Maximise/Minimise: Win Key & Up Arrow / Down Arrow

Settings Charms in Windows 8

Need the settings for the app? The power menu to shut down the PC? Adjust your volume? Find it here with Win Key & I 

Browser

Chrome is my main browser, but as far as I'm aware, most other modern browsers support these shortcuts.
Switching Between Tabs
Ctrl & Number of the tab

Closing Tabs

Ctrl & F4

Reopen Last Tab

Ctrl & Shift & T

Jump to address bar

Alt & D


While it was good fun, I actually use these shortcuts very frequently and they without a doubt increase my productivity.

In summary, I think the only thing I had trouble doing was modifying an image in Microsoft Paint (Win Key & R -> pbrush, by the way).