Merilee-Johnson, RMR, CRR, CCP, CBC, RSA - Veritext. Merilee's Tips & Tricks

Merilee’s Tips & Tricks for Reporters: Take Control of your Keyboard

By Merilee S. Johnson, RDR, CRR, CRC, RSA

Windows Shortcuts using the Control Key

As reporters we are expected to have things done immediately…or yesterday. This means we need to find faster, more efficient ways to accomplish our tasks. Keeping your hands on the keyboard and not have to move back and forth between your mouse and keyboard saves valuable seconds when you’re racing the clock. The next two installments of Tips & Tricks will include some of my favorite, most used Windows shortcuts.

CONTROL + R: Refresh your window
This performs the same function as pressing F5. You can use this shortcut when you are on a webpage and want to ensure you have the most up-to-date content. For example, if you’re looking at your email. Press Control+R (or F5) and any new messages that have not been pushed through yet will appear.
CONTROL + Z: Undo an action
Ever accidentally hit a button and everything is gone? This command can be a life saver in that situation. Simply hit this command to restore anything you accidentally deleted. You can undo multiple actions. Hitting Control+Z multiple times will undo multiple actions in reverse order for which they were performed.
CONTROL + Y: Redo an action
Did you go too far back with CTRL + Z? This keyboard command takes you forward in time, re-doing actions you previously undid.
CONTROL + RIGHT ARROW: Moves cursor to the beginning of the next word
Speed up your keyboard movements by moving by word instead of single characters. (This command treats your cursor as it does in your CAT software!)
CONTROL + LEFT ARROW: Moves cursor to the beginning of the previous word
Move your cursor backwards a whole word versus letter-by-letter.

CONTROL + SHIFT + ESC: Opens Task Manager
Ever wonder why the fan in your computer is running on high or your computer is operating slower than normal? Open up your task manager and see what programs may be running in the background, using valuable CPUs.
CONTROL + ALT + TAB: Moves between all open apps.
This is a great tip for those multitaskers out there who move between multiple programs; for example your CAT software, e-mail, Internet browser, and any other programs you use on a regular basis. Use this combination to view and quickly select which app or program you’d like to move to next.
CONTROL + ESC: Opens Start
If you want to quickly open your Start menu, this is a quick way to do so without having to reach for your mouse.
CONTROL + TAB: Move forward through tabs in your Internet browser
Do you like to have multiple windows open when you’re browsing or searching the net? This is a great trick to quickly scroll from one tab to the next.
CONTROL + (1-9): Moves you directly to tab 1, 2, 3….
Don’t want to scroll through all your open tabs? Go directly to the number tab you want to open by simply pressing Control plus the number!