In the early days of computing, keyboards were the only way to interface with a terminal or computer. When the Mouse was invented alongside the Graphical User Interface (GUI), systems became much more intuitive. While using a mouse can seem much easier, keyboard commands can greatly accelerate the speed and quality of your online work.
Function Keys
Function keys go way back. Like, wayyy back. Often, they serve one primary purpose, though they can change depending on a particular software you might be using. They only require tapping once to activate their purpose.
Review this list of the most common uses for F-keys.
- F1 = Help
- F2 = Rename file (Microsoft Windows)
- F3 = Activate search feature for current software
- F4 = Repeat previous action (Microsoft Word)
- F5 = Refresh page in most internet browsers
- F6 = Activate internet browser address bar (Where you type the web address)
- F7 = Spellcheck
- F8 = Various
- F9 = Send/receive MS Outlook
Now, again, those can vary widely depending on what software you’re actively working on.
Keyboard Combinations
Combinations, however, generally follow a specific order. The first button in a multi-button keyboard command is a modifier, which almost always includes or begins with SHIFT, ATL or CTRL, labeled as “Shift,” “Alt” and “Ctrl” on your keyboard – we will capitalize them for your ease of reference. These modify the behavior of the final button in the sequence, as the sequence could be as high as four buttons. Most commands, however, range from one-button taps up to three-button combinations.
The final button in a multi-button command is the activator, while all previous buttons in the command are modifiers. For example, a user browsing the internet can tap F5 to perform a quick refresh on a particular web page. However, if the website doesn’t properly update, the user can perform a Force Refresh by adding CTRL to the command: Ctrl + F5. This will not just request information again from the website, but will dump the local cache of material. We’ll cover what a cache is in the internet section, but understand that CTRL is a modifier to F5.
The reason there are modifiers and activators is that, in some cases, you can hold down the modifiers and continue tapping the activator. For example, to Undo something in MS Word, you can execute a CTRL+Z. However, if you need to undo more than one action, you can hold CTRL while tapping Z to continue performing the Undo command.
How to Execute a Keyboard Command
The general keyboard command syntax is simple:
MODIFIER + ACTIVATOR
That also includes multiple modifiers
MODIFIER + MODIFIER + ACTIVATOR
The final button in a sequence will always be the activator.
“BUTTON 1” + “BUTTON 2”
First press Button 1 and, without letting it go, tap Button 2, then release Button 1.
For example, you might be told to hit Ctrl + F5 to force refresh your internet browser. That means hold down Ctrl and tap F5 before releasing Ctrl again.
“BUTTON 1” + “BUTTON 2” + “BUTTON 3”
First press Button 1 and, without letting it go, hold down Button 2, then tap Button 3 before releasing both Button 1 and Button 2 at the same time.
For example, you might be told to hit SHIFT and CTRL before tapping Arrow Up button to move up a level in Windows Explorer. That means hold down SHIFT, then CTRL, then tap Arrow Up before releasing SHIFT and CTRL.
Modify a Mouse Click with Keyboard Keys
You can also modify a mouse click using specific keys.
MODIFIER + (INSERT MOUSE ACTION)
“BUTTON 1” + MOUSE ACTION or Hold down the “BUTTON” and … MOUSE ACTION
There will be times when you will use a keyboard modifier to change how a particular mouse click behaves.
For example, if I hold CTRL, click on an icon and drag it, it will copy and paste that file to anywhere I drag and release the icon. Or, if I hold CTRL and click on several icons, I can select several at once.
