Keyboard Shortcuts & Mouse Moves

Mouse Commands

For a printer friendly version of this file click HERE

Click	click the left button	NOTE: You say 'Click' NOT 'Left Click' Click activates that icon Click opens that menu Click puts the cursor at that point
Double Click	click the left button twice on something	‘Do it!’ ‘Open it!’
Right Click	click the right button somewhere	offers a context-sensitive menu and you Click your choice
Drag	click the left button & hold it while you move the mouse to another point	moves the highlighted item and drops it where the pointer is when you release the left button
Right Click & Drag	click the right button & hold it while you move the mouse to another point	offers a menu when you arrive and is a much safer way of handling moving and copying

To Highlight a word	point to the word and Double Click
To Highlight a sentence	Ctrl + Click anywhere in the sentence
To Highlight a line	point in the selection bar (left margin) and Click
To Highlight a paragraph	point in the selection bar (left margin) and Double Click
To Highlight a block of text	Click then Shift + Click at the end
To Highlight the entire document	point in the selection bar (left margin) and Ctrl + Double Click

Move	Click & Drag	Highlight a list of files	Click the first, Shift+Click the last
Copy	Ctrl+Click & Drag	Highlight individual files within a list	Click the first, Ctrl+Click each other file

Move text within the page	Click & Drag the highlighted text to the new spot (OR Click the Cut button, Click the new spot, Click the Paste button)
Copy text within the page	Ctrl+Click & Drag the highlighted text to the new spot
Move text to another page	Highlight the text, Click the Cut button, Click the new spot, Click the Paste button

Often a Keystroke is Speedier & Easier than a Mouse Move

Be observant – lots of keyboard shortcuts are shown in the menus.

Keyboard shortcuts that work in Word are often the same in Excel and other Applications, and in Windows Explorer – so experiment!

Moving Around & Highlighting

There are four motion keys together with four position changing keys on a standard keyboard. You will find them between the qwerty keys and the number pad.

The key	The key moves the cursor … Shift + the key highlights …	Ctrl + the key moves the cursor … Shift + Ctrl + the key highlights …
Left arrow ç	left one character	left one word
Right arrow è	right one character	right one word
Up arrow é	up one line	up one paragraph
Down arrow ê	down one line	down one paragraph
Page Up	up one window	to the start of the next page
Page Down	down one window	to the start of the prior page
Home	to the start of the line	to the start of the document
End	to the end of the line	to the end of the document

Editing

Highlight the text and …	Ctrl + X	Cut (eXise) the highlighted text ... removes the text onto the clipboard
Highlight the text and …	Ctrl + C	Copy the highlighted text ... copies the text onto the clipboard
Do a ...	Ctrl + V	Paste (moVe) the text on the clipboard to the present cursor position
Highlight the text and …	Ctrl + V	Paste (moVe) the text on the clipboard over the highlighted text
Do a ...	Ctrl+A	highlights the whole document (but not Headers or Footers)
Do a ...	Ctrl + Delete	delete word to the right
Do a ...	Ctrl + Backspace	delete word to the left
Do a ...	Shift + Enter	begin a new line
Do a ...	Enter	begin a new paragraph
Do a ...	Ctrl + Enter	begin a new page
Do a ...	Ctrl + G	go to ... useful in Excel
Do a ...	Ctrl + Z / Ctrl + Y	undo / redo
Do a ...	Shift + F3	Change case ... useful in Word
Highlight the text and …	Ctrl + B	bold format the text
Highlight the text and …	Ctrl + I	italicise the text
Highlight the text and …	Ctrl + U	underline the text

File Management - Working With a Document

Save	Ctrl + S	Saves the document with its present name. The old version is now gone - be careful.
Open	Ctrl + O	Opens a document you choose from your old saved documents and leaves any current document open.
New	Ctrl + N	Opens a New document.
Print	Ctrl + P	Prints the current document using the Print dialog box.
Exit the application	Alt + F4	Closes the application with a check if the current document has not been saved.

The Windows Key ÿ on a Windows Keyboard

The Start Menu	ÿ	Opens the Windows Menu the same as clicking the Start button.
Windows Help	ÿ + F1	Opens the Windows Help Menu. This can be a mixed blessing - as confusing as it is helpful.
Windows Explorer	ÿ + E	Opens Windows Explorer.
Find …	ÿ + F	Opens the Search dialog box ... useful sometimes.
Run …	ÿ + R	Not for the novice user.
Minimise all windows	ÿ + M	Sometimes useful.
Maximise all windows	Shift + ÿ + M	Sometimes useful.

Other Useful Keyboard Shortcuts

If the computer crashes or seizes up	Ctrl + Alt + Delete	If possible, opens a Windows dialog box allowing you to restart the computer. Use this carefully.
Switch Application	Alt + Tab	Left thumb on left Alt and left index finger taps the Tab until the correct application is selected.
Next button	Tab	In a dialog box, cycles to the next button in the box.
Previous button	Shift + Tab	In a dialog box, cycles to the previous button in the box.
Delete the Selection	Shift + Delete	Use with great care. Permanently deletes the selection, bypassing the Recycle bin.