Don from Scotland writes:
I have been using Win Hate…sorry 8 for fifteen months now, and I still find it very frustrating to use. My frustration is compounded by the newer versions of MS Office, 2007 in my case. I have been using computers for over thirty years and consider myself a competent user. I got into the habit of driving my machines using keyboard commands. I also gave a lesson to office staff on this method, at the school where I worked. The ladies, all high speed typists, agreed it was quicker to use keystrokes than leave the keyboard etc.
Along comes MSO 2007/10/13, and this all goes out of the window. For example, in all versions of Word, up to 2003, to print preview a doc, the keystroke was Alt + F + V, and Esc to return to ‘normal’. Now you have to use the mouse\touchpad, click the ‘globe’ top left, scroll down to Print and select from a sub menu. Why would they do this?
I know that many of the key commands like Alt + O + P + N, to format paragrapgh/line spacing, are still there, but the newer versions seem not to like these sometimes. A few weeks ago I took a full twenty minutes to sus out, via Google and You Tube, how to centre text in a cell in a table and delete columns.
Don, I am a touch typist myself and I agree that for many, keeping their hands on the keyboard is much easier. The good news is that those keyboard commands aren’t gone – in fact some of them have been simplified. Print preview is ALT + CTRL + I and Esc still takes you right out of it. Accessing your list of keyboard commands is simpler than searching YouTube as well. Click the question mark on the upper right of the page.
Word Help will open. Type keyboard shortcut and you can find the complete listing of keyboard shortcuts from Microsoft. I tested them out in Office 2010 and 2013 on both a Windows 7 and Windows 8 system to make sure they worked and I didn’t have any issues.
There are many keyboard shortcuts for Office. Let’s start off with ones that use the function keys.
Function keys:
Shift + Function key
CTRL + Function key
CTRL+SHIFT+ Function key
ALT + Function key
ALT + SHIFT+ Function key
CTRL + ALT + Function key
I’ll have more Office shortcuts in part 2 of this article.
~ Cynthia
Too many shortcuts. No way I can remember them all. Why not give the reader a dozen of really useful (=frequently used) commands and go from there?
Hi Peter,
It’s not too may for actual users. I too see the list being lengthy, but it is so because of Word’s many features. Most of us wont use many of them, as we don’t have any use for it in our activity. It’s no use learning something if we can’t apply it at least once a week.
So, start with useful shortcuts for Copying,Pasting, Deleting etc., and add whatever you use every now and then.
May add some context: #1 not all ‘USERS’ have Cynthia’s eidetic memory; #2 actual users get frustrated with the hundreds of ‘shortcut key’ combinations when their trying to remember the MILLIONS of details pertaining to the job their users for. #3 as I remember the function keys preceded the mouse and those of us programming ‘screens’ in DOS and ASCI used function keys as repetition shortcuts within programs; #4 what we ended up with were many various templates that cluttered our desks until we smartly cut holes to hang them over the existing group of ‘F’ keys when we switched programs, WordPerfect had a very elaborate set; #5 when “Windows” arrived with a ‘mouse’, pull down menus and extended keypad we were in TH heaven, a whole new world ahead; #6 we soon realized to use the mouse with the right hand was a big waste of time, drop the mouse, hunt for function key, search for mouse was the order of the day; #6 switch to left hand mouse, use pull down menus for what they were intended, right hand free to use keypad, direction keys, YES they are all on the right hand side for a reason; yeah, good luck with all those “SHORTCUTS”…Thanks for reading.
James:
I wouldn’t expect users to remember every keyboard shortcut. The purpose for showing them is that each person can find one or two shortcuts that pertain to tasks that they do frequently and learn them. Many people, especially touch typists, find that it is quicker for them to use a keyboard shortcut for a frequently performed task as opposed to reaching for the mouse.
Voting key not working on Chrome or IE
Thanks for the listing
Thank you Cynthia for showing how to find the shortcut keys. There are many that I know and use and glad to know how to find them. Sometimes when I am typing fast (I transcribe physical therapy notes), I hit some keys by accident and change some formatting LOL.
Shortcuts could not be easier in the new Office. Forget the two or three key CTRL + and CTRL + Shift + nonsense. When working in any of the new Office products and you want to use a shortcut, just press ALT.
This brings up “badges” on all the ribbon tabs. Type the key that represents the tab you want to move to. This brings you to that tab and all the icons have a “badge”. Type the keystroke for the icon you want to use.