I'll cover my head in shame: I only discovered keyboard shortcuts about a year ago. There, I said it.
Here are a few shortcuts that take out excessive mouse use and -- cumulatively over thousands of computer movements per week -- save hours and hours.
There a million and one "shortcuts," but learning them all takes forever. The headache savers below are those I use almost every time I touch a computer. Though self-evident to most techies, I hope a few Luddites like me will find them a revelation. If using a Mac, use the Cmd key instead of Ctrl...
For Firefox (get off of the slow and virus-prone Internet Explorer):
Ctrl-K - Takes you directly to the search box at the upper right, where you can search Google, Amazon, and more with one click (Enter)
Ctrl-L or F6 (latter PC) - Takes you to the URL field to type in a new web address (Hint: just type in the name of a company or person -- no "www" or ".com" -- and hit enter to find their website, if it exists)
Ctrl-T - Opens a new tab
Ctrl-D - Bookmarks the page
Ctrl-+ - Increases font size on any webpage
Ctrl-[-]- Decreases font size
Ctrl-0 [zero] - Returns font to original size
For Gmail:
First, go to "settings" to the upper-right of your inbox and turn on keyboard shortcuts. There are a lot of them, but there are my faves:
c - compose a new message
tab + return/enter - send message
u - return to inbox (or previous conversation list)
r - reply
a - reply all
f - forward
e - archive
and my favorite of all:
# - delete message
What are your favorite keyboard or computer shortcuts?
Put your computer enthusiasm into a comment and then shut the beast down for the weekend :)
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