A Few of My Favorite Tips and Tricks

One of my favorite trainings to present is "Tech Tips." Today I will share a few of my favorite tips. There's nothing earth-shattering here, folks, but there might be something here you haven't used before!

• F11 (top of your keyboard) will maximize your web browser to full screen, eliminating all of the menu text, URL bar, toolbars, etc. Go ahead, try it now! Hit F11 again to return to the standard browser view.
• F6 (or ALT+D) will highlight the URL of a webpage. To enter a new address, simply type over it (you don't even need to erase the highlighted address!)
• Need help in an application or in your browser? F1 will bring up the Help menu for your current application.
• When completing online forms, use the tab key to move between fields instead of clicking them with your mouse.
• Just for TEXANS ... When filling in address information in an online form, type TT in the state field to bring up Texas. (One T brings up Tennessee, TT is for Texas!)
• On a webpage, hitting the Space bar will scroll down one screenful. This might be helpful for those wonderfully wordy blog posts full of tips and tricks! To move back up a screenful, try Shift+Space. Go ahead, try this one now too.
• CTRL+F will open a "Find" option in all web browsers (and many applications like Word, Excel, etc.) Looking for a specific word or name? Just type it in and it will highlight every place on the page where that term occurs. (In Office applications, the Find tool can also be accessed from the Editing group of the Home tab in the ribbon.)
• There's also a "Replace" feature in many applications (Office Applications for sure!). Enter the text you would like to find in the first field and enter the replacement text in the second field. Choose either Replace or Replace All. This is an easy way to update dates, names, etc. in previously used documents without having to retype the entire thing!

Of course, these old standby's may be the most important keyboard shortcuts of all ...

• CTRL+C = copy
• CTRL+X = cut
• CTRL+V = paste
• CTRL+Z = undo (oh, if only LIFE could have a CTRL+Z!)

If you're not exactly sure how to use Cut, Copy, and Paste, check out this thorough explanation from Simple K12:

These are just a few of my favorite tech tips ... leave a comment or email me back with your favorite tip!