Keyboard shortcuts - Today it's Alt + Tab

I find myself using Alt + Tab all the time.  It switches between windows - going back to the window you last visited and then if you do it again you toggle back to the one you just came from.  Unfortunately it doesn't switch you between tabs in your internet browser - but then it is easy to click on the tab you want.

So when I was drafting this and I wanted to go back to my browser to look for an image I just Alt tabbed it!

Do you have trouble typing in those pesky "prove you are not a robot" things?

How the heck are you supposed to read that number!  And this is blown up a bit too!

Do you have trouble typing in those pesky "prove you are not a robot" things?  I especially have trouble with the blurry number photo part.  I'm not sure why people persist with having word verification turned on - but have come to accept that this will be the way it is - at least until Blogger stops making that the default setting.

One thing that I have found helpful is to enlarge the image - the easy way to do this is just to hit Control +.  You can do it a number of times and each time the page will zoom in until you can see it.

When you have finished you just hit Control - and it will zoom out again.

Keyboard shortcut for the day – Control + P

When you go to print something out do you click your mouse around or do you use the keyboard shortcut Control + P?  I find it quicker to just type Control +P – the print dialogue box opens up and Bob's Your Uncle!

Keyboard shortcut for the day – Control + F

Today's shortcut is one I used lots of times each and every day.  It is the quick way I find things like the blog I want to check out in my blog list or when I want to check whether I have blogged about something already or not.

So what does Control + F do?  Well, when you are in a word document it opens up a little search pane and you type the word/part of word you are looking for and it will find them for you.  And it does the same thing on any open webpage in Chrome or Internet Explorer as well.  It displays the results slightly differently but the basic idea is still the same.

So if you find yourself searching for a mention of something, do it the quick way with Control + F.

Keyboard shortcut for the day – Shift + F3

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I thought I would share with you another keyboard shortcut I use constantly which is a good time saver.  Many of you will already use keyboard shortcuts so just skip over this post if you know it all.

This shortcut works in a Word Document (which is where I draft almost all my posts). 

If you forget to put capital letters at the front of some words or accidentally hit Caps Lock you will be faced with fixing it.  You can do it manually but there is a quicker and easier way.  That is pushing the Shift key and then the F3 key (and holding them both down).  Then keep pushing the F3 key until you get the words as you want them.  It will toggle between all caps, first letter caps and all lower case.  – Just select the words you want to change and then off you go with Shift + F3.

If you haven't used a Function key before – you will find them in a row right at the top of your keyboard.  

Keyboard shortcut for the day – Control + C and Control +V

I thought I would share with you another keyboard shortcut I use constantly which is a good time saver. Many of you will already use keyboard shortcuts so just skip over this post if you know it all.

This shortcut works in a Word Document (which is where I draft almost all my posts) and also within the Blogger Compose window if you are drafting your Post directly in there

If you highlight/select the words or paragraphs you want to copy and then push Control and then c (while still holding down Control) your text will be copied. You can then paste it to wherever you want them by just pushing Control and then V. This is how I move my posts from my Word document into Blogger.

If I wasn't a bit of a careful sort, I could just cut the post and then paste it– but I prefer to leave it in the draft document just in case something goes wrong. (The keyboard shortcut for cut is Control+ X)

Do you find it harder to comment using your iPad?

I don't know about you guys, but I find it much slower to make comments when I am on the iPad rather than my pc.  The little virtual keyboard just doesn't do it for me  - I can't touch type on it.

I have found one thing that helps me if I need to comment by iPad - my preference is still to do comments on the proper keyboard.

Since this might help others, the tip is to use the Keyboard shortcuts on your iPad.  You set them up by going into Settings  - the icon for this looks like this:

In the left hand list you need to be on General

Then scroll down til you find a heading Keyboard (it's between Date & Time and International) - touch that line  and you will see the heading Shortcuts.  And a line "Add New shortcut".

If you push that you can put in a phrase that you commonly use when commenting - like say - have a great day!  And then you put a shortcut for that in - like hag.  And then push the blue Save button

Then every time you type hag the phrase Have a great day!  will pop up and you just confirm it by pressing return on the keyboard.

One warning - don't make your shortcut a word that you will use in other contexts!   If you do, you will soon find out that your phrase pops up when you don't want it!

Keyboard shortcut for the day – Control + B

I thought I would share with you a keyboard shortcut I use constantly which is a good time saver.  Many of you will already use keyboard shortcuts so just skip over this post if you know it all.

This shortcut works in a Word Document (which is where I draft almost all my posts) and also within the Blogger Compose window if you are drafting your Post directly in there.

If you highlight/select the words you want to be in bold and then push Control and then B (while still holding down Control) your words will be bolded – and if you do it again they will go back to the way they were.

If you don't use the Control key a lot, you can find it on most keyboards right at the bottom left labeled "Ctrl"– there are actually 2 of them – the other one is about 3/4 to the right of the space-bar on the same row.