Proactive Technology Tips

I grew up with a Marine Drill Instructor for a father.  I have heard a few times in my life, “You and hard work have never been friends.” Hey, I can work just as hard as the next guy. If I can get the same amount done with less effort, why not? I say work smarter and not necessarily harder. Here are a few keyboard shortcuts that may save you some time. 

FIND A PARTICULAR WORD IN A DOCUMENT OR WEB PAGE

Press the Control (CTRL) key and the letter F. Release the keys.

Now type the word you are looking for.  The word will be highlighted for you.

ZOOM IN AND OUT

Having trouble seeing the letters in a Web page?

Press and hold down the CTRL key on your keyboard and tap the + (plus) key to make the letters larger.

If you get carried away and make the letters TOO large, press CTRL and tap the – (minus) key to shrink things back down to size.

QUICKLY SELECT THE ADDRESS FIELD OF YOUR WEB BROWSER

I know you can take your mouse and click in the address field. However, what if you forgot to bring your mouse and you hate using the touchpad or the little pointing device in the middle of your keyboard. Here is another keyboard shortcut to the rescue.

Press the CTRL key and the letter L.

RESTORE A TAB YOU ACCIDENTALLY CLOSED

I often have too many tabs open when I am looking for things on the Internet. In trying to close a bunch of tabs quickly, I’ll accidentally close one that I did not mean to close. Here is how to easily reopen the last tab you closed.

In Internet Explorer, Firefox or Google Chrome, press Ctrl-Shift-T.

CYCLE THROUGH MULTIPLE OPEN PROGRAMS

If you are like me, you may have 4 or more applications (Word, Internet browser, Excel, etc.) open at any given time.

To cycle through all of the programs you have open, press and hold down the ALT key and tap the Tab key. When you reach the program you want to view, just release both keys.

QUICKLY GET BACK TO YOUR WINDOWS DESKTOP

Press the Windows  key + D.

QUICKLY LOCK YOUR COMPUTER

Do you want to lock your computer when at work before you walk away from it?

Press the Windows key + L to lock your computer.

Type in your password to unlock your computer.

Happy Computing,

John L. Jones