Many of you probably already know about the shortcut key Alt + F4 which closes the active application. Of course there are numerous other shortcut combinations you can figure out in your favorite applications by doing the following:
- Open the application you want to find the key combinations for.
- Press the Alt key. This will cause the top menu to underline a letter.
- Press the letter corresponding to the underlined letter you want invoke.
- If a submenu opens, there should be more options which are underlined. Pressing the underlined letter with either open additional submenus or run the corresponding command.
If it sounds confusing, just give it a try and you will see what I mean. Additionally, you can have the Alt shortcut key underlined by default by doing:
- Go to the Control Panel.
- Open Display.
- Go the the Appearance tab.
- Click Effects.
- Uncheck the option for “Hide underlined [...] until I press the Alt key.
Figuring out keyboard shortcuts to handle tasks which you have to run through several menu options can really help you save time.
Jason Faulkner is the man who brings you our daily tips. He is based in Atlanta, Georgia.
Less confusing is to simply navigate through the menus and see the shortcut listed in the menus themselves. Any function with a keyboard shortcut will show it in its corresponding menu. And this is good not just for Alt Key shortcuts but all shortcuts including the function keys (F1-F12), Ctrl, Shift, combinations of them or even simpler shortcuts such as letters, numbers or punctuation symbols.