Many people are new to using computers, and watching them slowly work their way though the various menus can be frustrating. I'm sure any competent Windows user that has watched someone crawl through menus slowly clicking every command has wanted to jump in and just get the job done quickly. What many people don't seem to realise is that everyday tasks can be greatly sped up by effective use of hotkeys. Learning a few hotkeys can reduce the amount of times you need to click the mouse, and so greatly increase your speed when using a computer.
The first two that any new user should learn are the copy and paste hotkeys. This can really help when doing word processing tasks such as writing letters. It is also extremely useful when doing long repetitive tasks such as data entry. The Windows key to copy the text you currently have highlighted is Ctrl+C, to paste simply press Ctrl+V. If you're looking to do something a little more advanced then Ctrl+X will cut the text, removing it from the current location and enabling you to paste it into a new location. These two hotkeys are probably the most useful ones you'll ever learn.
Anyone that has spent any time using Windows has surely had a program crash on them. Clicking the top bar only to see the dreaded not responding text is every user's worst nightmare. Clicking the red cross to close the program doesn't seem to close it and your computer slows to a crawl. At this point you'll need one of Windows' most useful hotkeys, Ctrl+Alt+Delete. Pressing these three keys together will bring up a box called the Task Manager. This window will give you a list of all the programs currently running on your PC. From this you can simply select the program that you wish to terminate and reliably close it. It's generally the most sure-fire way to close any crashed program.
Another great way to cut down on mouse clicks and time-consuming cursor movement is using the Alt+Tab hotkey to flick between windows. I'm sure many users like to browse the Internet using more than one browser window for example, and switching between them by manually clicking the taskbar can become annoying after a while. By pressing Alt+Tab you can easily move between programs, speeding up your time at the PC and cutting down on repetitive movements.
Another great hotkey that is especially useful when browsing the Web is Ctrl+F. This key is for finding text in your currently selected document. Simply press Ctrl+F and then type in the text you'd like to find. The computer will scan the document for you and you'll easily be able to locate what you were looking for. It is a really great tool for saving time while looking through a long file or scanning list. Try it out when looking through search engine results for some impressive results.
As you can see memorising just a few keys will greatly improve your speed when using a PC and can make even the newest beginner seem like a seasoned IT veteran. Hopefully you'll be able to remember some of these keys and step your computer efficiency up a notch as well.
Patrick is an expert Research and Travel consultant. His current interest is in
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