It has happened to more than one of us that suddenly the mousecomputer has lost its function. We panic and despair. But there is no longer any reason to reach these extremes of anguish. There is an option that will bail you out without freaking out trying to get a replacement mouse.
We are talking about turn to your keyboard as an alternative solution. It works for Windows 10, and it is equivalent in other versions of the same operating system. You will be able to use your equipment without inconvenience. Read on and discover how to operate Windows with just the keyboard.
The keyboard to the rescue on your computer
It does not matter if it is a desktop computer or a laptop. What is necessary is that it is a computer that operates with the Windows environment. And it can be any of its versions, since the commands remain the same. You just have to familiarize yourself with a few tricks and shortcuts to be able operate Windows only with the keyboard.
Access your programs
First of all, we are going to see how you can access the list of programs that you have installed on your computer. Just look at the keyboard where the Windows key is. Press and you will immediately see the program menu unfold before you. You can scroll with the arrow keys and giving Enter you can open them.
If the program you need is not available in the main list, you will have to write its name. Once the menu is displayed, move to the search form. Type what you want to search for, select the desired program and press Enter. The program you are looking for will then open. Right there you can find the path to your Internet browser or folder on your computer. If you want to exit the menu and go back you just have to press the Esc key on your keyboard and you will have closed the menu.
Use your web browser
If, for example, you have Google Chrome installed, you must access it through the shortcut that we indicated above. Once opened, the cursor will automatically position itself on the search bar. And you can now write the name of what you want to search followed by an Enter.
To open a new tab in your browser, you can simultaneously press the key combination Ctrl + T. On the other hand, if you want to open a new window then the combination will be Ctrl + N. You can now enter a new search.
Navigating from one tab to another will require the Alt + Tab + Page down (or Av Page) key combination. In this way, you can scroll through the different open tabs. To go back in the search, combine Alt + left arrow. If you need to fast-forward the search later, you will press the forward key Alt + right arrow. With this you will return to your last search.
Closing the tabs will require the Alt + F4 key combination. Another useful trick is to open the search box within a tab to find content or precise words within the open web page. To do this you must press the F3 key, and you will be able to do your quick search. If for some reason this shortcut doesn't work for you, press Ctrl + F and you will open your search box.
To update your pages, in case you have had a problem with your browser, you can refresh it with F5. It will reload the site. With the F6 key, for its part, you can select the link that appears in the search bar of your browser. And if you press Enter the page will be updated. You can also copy the link with Ctrl + C.
Other handy keyboard shortcuts
When you want to minimize everything that you have been opening on your computer screen, press the Windows + D keys. you will return to the desktop of your computer. If what you need is to minimize the overlapping windows one by one, press Alt + Spacebar + N.
To move between the different open windows, press the Alt + Tab keys. With this you will be able to see everything that you have active on your desktop. On the other hand, if you need to maximize any of the selected windows, you will have to press the combination Alt + Spacebar + X. To go back to the previous size press Alt + Spacebar + R.
And if you need move a minimized window on your computer screen, try pressing Alt + Spacebar + M. Then, with the arrow keys you will position it to the place where you wanted to move it.
Selecting a folder on the desktop requires you to go to the desktop screen. You move over the icons with the arrow keys on the keyboard. If you want for some reason to select all files at the same time, then try pressing Ctrl + E. If you want to copy Ctrl + C, and then paste Ctrl + V.
Keyboard shortcuts for Word
When you are going to do a word search in a program like Word, for example, press Ctrl + B. You will open the search box where you can type your keywords and find them quickly in the text.
Within the same Word you can give save to your file with Ctrl + G, and the window for inserting the file name for the first time will open. Once you're still working and want to save on the fly, hit Ctrl + G in the same way whenever necessary to save your progress.
Following in Word, if you messed something up, you can go back one step and reverse what was done with Ctrl + Z. Finally, with F2 you can change the name of a file or folder that you have saved in some location.
With this short tutorial of shortcuts, tricks and combinations, you will be able to navigate freely in your Windows environment without requiring the mouse. I hope you have found these useful ideas on how to operate Windows with only the keyboard.
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