Give Us One Minute

The last article in our Mac Productivity series presented numerous keystroke combinations to automate repetitive operating system tasks and to apply basic formatting. Today we take a look at how to use our keyboard to move around within our documents in most text editors and word-processing applications that conform to Apple user interface standards. These are tips that will keep you from taking your hand off your keyboard to move to the next word, paragraph or even page. So, let’s do our warm-up exercises (hup, two, three, four) and once again begin twisting those fingers around to become more productive using our Mac.

Moving within documents
We’re sure all of you know how to move your “I” bar/cursor around your documents using arrow keys. Today we share some keystrokes that will have you zipping around through your documents at breakneck speed.

cmd → | Move to the end of a line
cmd ← | Move to the beginning of a line
cmd ↑ | Move to the beginning of a document
cmd ↓ | Move to the end of a document
ctrl → | Move to the end of the next word
ctrl ← | Move to the beginning of the next word
ctrl ↑ | Page up
ctrl ↓ | Page down

The keystrokes above function properly in TextEdit, TextMate and Pages. Any other application that conforms to the Apple standards should yield similar results. Today’s non-conformist award goes to Microsoft. The current version of Microsoft Word for the Mac does not conform to these standards. We’ll have to see if the next release might win us back by truly being a Mac app and not a port of the Windows’ version.

Making Selections
Making selections within most applications can also be done without the aid of the mouse. We know you’re use to dragging your cursor over text to make selections, but next time you need to make a selection try holding Shift and then using the keystroke combinations above. You’ll find that you can make selections quickly and never touch the mouse. This is one of our favorite techniques and when you master it, you can seriously “wow” your friends and co-workers with the speed at which you make selections. Combine these ninja keyboard movements with our old favorites; cut (cmd-x), copy (cmd-c) and paste (cmd-v), and you’ll be a master editor in no time. Yep, you can perform those three functions without the mouse as well. Finally we want to share the cmd-a combination. We’ll let you try that one on your own; however, it’s one we use ALL the time. Get it? We bet our seasoned Mac users do.

Moving through online forms in your favorite web browser
Here’s a simple one that is often overlooked. When filling out online forms we regularly see folks fill in a blank, move their hand off the keyboard, use the mouse to move to the next field, click the mouse, move their hand back to the keyboard and begin typing again. Sigh. Let’s save these folks some serious time. Try this instead. Once you have completed filling in a form item, hit Tab. If the online form is generated properly, your cursor is going to automatically move to the next field ready for the next round of information. Once you have completed all of the form items, try Return. This should submit your form. You should be able to complete the entire form this way with nary a finger moving off the keyboard. This works for all of the browsers we use; Safari, Firefox and Camino.

While we are on the discussion of web browsers and since many Mac users browse the web with Safari, here’s a quick little Safari tip we just recently discovered:

cmd–l | Highlights the URL in the address bar and is ready to receive a new address

Alright, we’ve added more keystrokes to our repertoire that should make us even more productive. Be sure and practice these daily and make them a part of your keyboarding habits. Also be sure to share in our comments area those keystrokes that you feel we neglected. Next time we continue our discussion by learning how to tame our applications using the keyboard.

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