Keyboard Shortcuts for Life

You know that guy. He's the one who's memorized all the keyboard shortcuts for every application so that he almost never has to touch his mouse. Update linked information in a Word source document? Obviously that's CTRL+SHIFT+F7. Extend a selection or block without reselecting? Just hit CTRL+SHIFT+F8 then an arrow key. Select all Excel cells that contain formulas that directly or indirectly reference the active cell? Easy, it's the ol' CTRL+SHIFT+}. Insert an AutoShape into a PowerPoint slide without using the mouse? Simply press ALT+U, use the arrow keys to select the shape, then press CTRL+ENTER.

If someday all computer mice are determined to cause sudden and violent death, forcing all computer users to throw away their mice, That Guy will be an instant millionaire.

Until then, for the rest of us, there are only about six keyboard shortcuts that are really worth permanently committing brain cells to. These shortcuts are awesome because they're simple, they're easy to remember, and most importantly, they are the same across almost every Windows application available today. Here they are:

SHORTCUT: CTRL+X
FUNCTION: Cut
MNEMONIC: The letter X kind of looks like a pair of scissors, don'tcha think?

SHORTCUT: CTRL+C
FUNCTION: Copy
MNEMONIC: C is for copy, that's good enough for me.

SHORTCUT: CTRL+V
FUNCTION: Paste
MNEMONIC: X, C, and V are all in a row on your keyboard: cut, copy, paste (respectively).
COMMENT: Use these and you'll see how fast you can copy-and-paste or cut-and-paste things (you don't have to look at your fingers to paste). This is particularly handy in Excel.

SHORTCUT: CTRL+A
FUNCTION: Select All
MNEMONIC: A for all!
COMMENT: By far the most underrated shortcut. Sometimes using the mouse to select everything from a large document or long webpage can take a painfully-long time! Instead just put the cursor somewhere in what you want to select and hit CTRL+A!

SHORTCUT: CTRL+S
FUNCTION: Save
MNEMONIC: S for save!
COMMENT: If you memorize and use this shortcut, you'll find yourself saving your work far more often.

SHORTCUT: CTRL+Z
FUNCTION: Undo
MNEMONIC #1: Say it out loud: "Con-trol zee is my fav-o-rite key!"
MNEMONIC #2: Z is the last letter. Undo is your last resort.
COMMENT: Okay, both of these mnemonics are terrible. But make no mistake: Undo is your best friend in the whole wide world. Keep him on speed dial.

Of somewhat less importance than these Awesome Six are three others worth mentioning since they're easy to remember: CTRL+B (boldface), CTRL+I (italicize), CTRL+U (underline).

And here's one last shortcut, since it has big value in Microsoft Internet Explorer: CTRL+N. Hit it and IE will open up another window for you. Not only will the 2nd window show the exact same webpage, but this new window will have your entire webpage history as well. This is incredibly helpful when you need to stay on the webpage you're at but need to simultaneously surf elsewhere...or when you need to surf a couple of different ways from the same webpage. Some examples of when this is handy:

1. You're reading an article and need to look up a word from that article in www.dictionary.com or www.wikipedia.com.

2. You're making a purchase online and want to compare prices after shipping from multiple vendors you found using www.froogle.com, so you do several partial orders on multiple websites.

3. You find a location using www.mapquest.com or maps.google.com. Now you need to get directions to that location for two different people coming from two different starting points.

(CTRL+N actually works in Office applications as well to automaticallly open up a blank new document/spreadsheet/presentation/email/etc., but who really cares?)

They may take a little getting used to at first, but keyboard shortcuts really can ease your workflow tremendously. Who knows...you might even find yourself slowly becoming the next That Guy after all...