Classroom Ideas
Thanks to remote teaching and hybrid learning, teachers are on their computers more than ever. AND have heavier workloads. Saving time and effort whenever possible is crucial. That’s where keyboard shortcuts come in handy! Here are some keyboard hacks that let you do common tasks with a few key strokes.
Note: if you are using an Apple device, you will substitute the Apple key/Command key (⌘) for Ctrl.
Top Fifteen Keyboard Hacks
- Select all text in a document, on a webpage, or in an email (A stands for all) – Ctrl A
- Cut selected text – Ctrl X
- Copy selected text – Ctrl C
- Paste selected text – Ctrl V
- Undo previous action (you’ll use this a lot!) – Ctrl Z
- Print open page or document – Ctrl P
- Save file – Ctrl S
- Find (This is so handy on webpages.) – Ctrl F
- Zoom out – Ctrl –
- Zoom in – Ctrl +
- Display page at 100% zoom/normal view (in case you’ve zoomed in or out, this restores things to normal) – Ctrl 0
- Bold selected text – Ctrl B
- Italicize selected text – Ctrl I
- Underline selected text – Ctrl U
- Open new file in same program – Ctrl N
These shortcuts make creating documents so much easier, especially once you memorize them and get into the habit of using them regularly. It might not seem like keyboard hacks will save much time, but think about it. How many times a day do you:
- Minimize your screen to open a new file
- Manually save a document
- Print documents
- Format text (bold, italicize, underline, etc.)
- Zoom in or out
- Copy and paste text
- Select text
- Scroll through web pages to find specific information
Too many times to count, right? Keyboard hacks will slash that time drastically. Maybe you’ll shave off enough time to drink your coffee while it’s hot or at least finally go pee.
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