Stop the Runaway Mouse
What's the "runaway mouse?" You've seen it...you may have even yelled at your computer when it happened. All you want to do is select (highlight) some text or data in a Microsoft Office document by dragging your mouse. Suddenly, your mouse has a mind of it's own and moves too far too fast. I've even heard people shout out "Whoa!" as they try to handle the out of control mouse.
What should you do? First, stop dragging your mouse! To stop the "runaway mouse" add some keyboard shortcuts. To begin, move to the top of the area you want to highlight. Then, press and hold down [Shift]. Move to the end of the area by pressing any directional keys such as the [Down] arrow or [Page Down]. Keep holding down [Shift] and continue moving to the end of text or data that you want to highlight. When you have the area you want then perform the next action: formatting, editing, etc.
Still like the mouse? Press and hold [Shift] and click to pick the end of the selection area even if it is at the end of the document. The key is not to drag; use the scroll bar if you need to make big moves.
Excel bonus: Okay, I admit there is a dragging trick in Excel. Instead of pulling harder on the mouse to move to the end of the selection, stop on the scroll bar. If you hop on and ride the scroll bar and gently pull the mouse, you can easily maintain control.
Easy Keyboard Selection Secret
Even better than the [Shift] key is a hidden selection trick. I compare this to taking the measurements of a large room--it's much easier with a friend holding the measuring tape at one end while you take your time to move to the other end. Ever have a measuring tape snap back when you try this yourself? The hidden trick is the [F8] function key.
To use this selection trick, simply:
1. Move to beginning of the selection area.
2. Press [F8] once.
3. Look in the bottom center or left corner of your status bar for EXT; don't expect anything to flash or pop up; EXT stands for Extend Selection.
4. Take your time moving to the end of the selection area with your keyboard and/or the mouse.
5. Perform the action to the selected area such as formatting, cut, copy, etc. The EXT mode turns off as soon as you do an action. Just move anywhere to clear the highlight. What if you change your mind and you want to turn off the Extend Selection without continuing? In Excel, press [F8] again or press [Esc]. In Word, press [Esc] to cancel. Move anywhere to clear the highlight.
Selecting Multiple Items
To select more than one item such as 2 different paragraphs in Word, 4 cells in Excel, 3 graphics in PowerPoint, or 10 files in Windows Explorer, choose either [Shift] or [Ctrl]. The basic steps work in Microsoft Office, Windows Explorer, and many other Windows programs.
To select a contiguous (touching) area use [Shift]:
1. Click once on the first item.
2. Press and hold [Shift].
3. Click on the last item that you want to highlight and everything in between will also be selected.
4. Perform an action such as formatting.
To select non-contiguous (unrelated) items use [Ctrl]:
1. Click one on the first item.
2. Press and hold [Ctrl] and, click on each of the other items, press [Ctrl] again to unselect.
3. Perform the action to finish working with the highlighted area. Some ideas for these options:
? Pick files from File > Open to open all of these at the same time in your Microsoft Office program.
? Choose multiple slides in the PowerPoint slide sorter to apply a transition.
? Highlight groups of cells or sections of text and apply formatting.
? Select drawing objects to group, move, or change formatting.
Selecting Tricks in Word With the Selection Bar
Have you ever used the selection bar? Just think of this as the left margin of your Word document. To locate the selection bar area, move your mouse to the left of text until it changes from an upper case "I" to a white arrow. Selection tricks to try with the selection bar:
? Click once to highlight entire line.
? Double-click to select the whole paragraph.
? Triple-click (can you do it?) to highlight the entire document (great for overall changes such as font formatting).
Easy Select All
To make changes to an entire document or file, press [Ctrl] + A to Select All or choose File > Select All (if available).
? 2004 by Dawn Bjork Buzbee
Dawn Bjork Buzbee is The Software Pro? and a certified Microsoft Office Expert and Microsoft Office Specialist Master Instructor. Dawn shares smart and easy ways to effectively use software and technology through her work as a speaker, trainer, and consultant. Visit http://www.softwarepro.com for great Microsoft Office software tips and tricks or to contact Dawn.
Benton shuttle to Midway .. Lockport Chicago limo O’HareWhat is Tripwire?Tripwire is a form intrusion detection system (IDS)... Read More
Hey Guys! Don't raise your eyebrows or fear by hearing... Read More
Now there are Three Steps To Heaven Just listen and... Read More
Microsoft Great Plains and Microsoft Retail Management System (Microsoft RMS)... Read More
For those who still don't know, Microsoft Publisher helps computer... Read More
Microsoft CRM is CRM application, maintained and supported by Microsoft... Read More
Having from five to ten and more favorite screensavers is... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains has I'd say end user... Read More
"Pfishing", sometimes spelled "Phishing", is a word that's used to... Read More
Microsoft CRM is now on the scene and it is... Read More
Do you want to get quality software at a reasonable... Read More
The research in the field of Natural Language Processing usually... Read More
Microsoft CRM was designed to be easily customizable. Microsoft CRM... Read More
... Read More
I love new technology. I am still ready to wait... Read More
The objective for Zandi Digital is to make available clever... Read More
A few months back I really got sick of my... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains is very good fit for... Read More
Does Microsoft care for WebmastersIt's always been a problem with... Read More
How to delete the user? This is the first problem... Read More
This is intermediate level SQL scripting article for DB Administrator,... Read More
GroupwareThe internet is full of 1.5 million to 7 million... Read More
How many steps does it take you to locate and... Read More
One of the things we can be as certain of... Read More
Should one use Windows Update?This topic has good and valid... Read More
limousine Chicago airport Arthur ..The first topic we are going to discuss... Read More
Preventive Maintenance (PM) is defined as scheduled work done on... Read More
What is Interactive Mapping?Interactive mapping is a visual display medium... Read More
If you have been using the Internet for any amount... Read More
What is Spyware?Spyware monitors your surfing habits and sends the... Read More
While paper labeling CDs and DVDs may appear to be... Read More
Collaboration SoftwareCollaboration Software, also known as group collaboration software or... Read More
Imagine something that follows you home and sets itself up... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions products: Great Plains, MS CRM, Navision, Axapta,... Read More
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Hawaii (HMSA) found itself... Read More
What is IRC?IRC is Internet Relay Chat. It is a... Read More
The Internet is reshaping every form of communications medium, and... Read More
Spyware, what it is and what it does. Basically, spyware... Read More
If you feel intimidated when someone tries to teach you... Read More
ERP is the acronym of Enterprise Resource Planning. Multi-module ERP... Read More
The cornerstone of successful automated office systems is the ability... Read More
Lotus Domino/Notes ? Microsoft Great Plains tandem as ERP with... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions Navision is main ERP application for European,... Read More
Microsoft Great Plains as ERP and Microsoft CRM as... Read More
Most people don't use Photoshop to its fullest capabilities. Here... Read More
Learning how to program software seems like a daunting task... Read More
Every day millions of new web documents emerge on the... Read More
This article is the first of a series of articles... Read More
If there still are few unprotected computers left, I haven't... Read More
It is a well known fact that Java as a... Read More
Software |