CTRL - One Key to Rule Them All

Let's face it, no matter how quickly you can type, there is only so much you can accomplish without the use of keyboard shortcuts. Perhaps you never cared to learn them, or maybe you never had the opportunity. Now that you own a small business, your productivity and efficiency is at stake. Thankfully, some of the most useful shortcuts utilize one common key: the Control key.

Just like its name implies, the Control key allows you to control various tasks that your system performs. Many of these are extremely useful, particularly for writing content and working with data entry. Understanding how these shortcuts work can go a long way toward improving your work performance.

One Key to Find Them (CTRL+F)

Perhaps one of the most useful ways to use the Control key is the Find function. By simply pressing CTRL+F, you can search for words on any page, including Word documents and web pages. This is invaluable when searching for mistakes, or when you need to find particular words to replace. After finding the words you are looking for, you can then proceed to edit them, if it is a text document you are viewing. You can even replace every instance of the word with another one. Perhaps you entered the wrong date in a text document; instead of going through and editing them one by one, you can use the Find and Replace functions to change them all at once.

One Key to Bring Them All (CTRL+C, CTRL+P), Etc.

Other frequently used shortcuts are Copy and Paste. You never have to right click on highlighted text again – simply press CTRL+C to copy the text. This sends the text to a clipboard, which then allows you to paste (CTRL+V) it to another text file or web page in a variety of ways. When pasting from a web page, you have the option to keep the web format, merge it into your current text format, or to keep only the text. This function is very useful when transferring data from one file to another. You can even use another function of the Control key, Select All (CTRL+A), to highlight the entire document, and completely copy the entire body of text, if you so desire.

...and in the Darkness, Bind Them! (CTRL+ALT+DEL)

Most people know the most common use of the Control Key, which is to bring up your system's Task Manager, or to restart the computer. When a program freezes up and stops working, the Task Manager allows you to isolate that program, stop it (if it's not responding), and close it. This is especially helpful if some windows stop working and prevent you from accessing material that needs to be saved. Just be careful not to accidentally restart the computer without saving your work first!

Other Useful Shortcuts Include...
The usefulness of the Control key doesn't stop there. Try these other great shortcuts to cut down on the amount of time you spend digging through tabs to find the function you are looking for.

CTRL+O – Open File
CTRL+S – Save
CTRL+X – Cut
CTRL+Z – Undo
CTRL+Y – Redo

If you are looking for other ways to increase production and cut downtime in the workplace, contact Directive at 607.433.2200 and see what we can do for you. The next time you are composing a document or transferring data from one file to another, try using a few of these keyboard shortcuts. You'll be amazed by how much more efficient your work will be! What are your favorite keyboard shortcuts? Let us know in the comments below.