Keyboard shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts are combinations of two or more keys that, when pressed, can be used to perform a task that would typically require a mouse or other pointing device. Keyboard shortcuts can make it easier to interact with your computer, saving you time and effort as you work with Windows and other programs.

Most programs also provide accelerator keys that can make it easier to work with menus and other commands. Check the menus of programs for accelerator keys. If a letter is underlined in a menu, that usually means that pressing the Alt key in combination with the underlined key will have the same effect as clicking that menu item.

Pressing the Alt key in some programs, such as Paint and WordPad, shows commands that are labeled with additional keys that you can press to use them.

You can also create new keyboard shortcuts to open programs.

Create keyboard shortcuts to open programs

You can create keyboard shortcuts to open programs. Opening programs this way is often simpler than opening them using your mouse or other pointing device. Before you get started, you need to create a shortcut for the program to which you want to assign a keyboard shortcut. To do this, open the folder that contains the program, right-click the program's executable file, and then click Create Shortcut. For more information about creating shortcuts to programs, see Create or delete a shortcut.

1.    Locate the shortcut to the program that you want to create a keyboard shortcut for.

2.    Right-click the shortcut, and then click Properties.

3.    In the Shortcut Properties dialog box, click the Shortcut tab.

4.    Click in the Shortcut key box, press the key on your keyboard that you want to use in combination with Ctrl+Alt (keyboard shortcuts automatically start with Ctrl+Alt), and then click OK.  If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

You can now use this keyboard shortcut to open the program.

Notes

·         The word None appears in the Shortcut key box until you press a key; then it's replaced with Ctrl+Alt+the key that you pressed.

·         The new shortcut might not work for programs that have their own keyboard shortcuts.

·         You cannot use the Esc, Enter, Tab, Spacebar, PrtScn, Shift, or Backspace keys to create a keyboard shortcut.

·         You can also create keyboard shortcuts to open files and folders.