Web Site Promotion | About | Contact | Web Design News |
Chicago Animation : Chicago Web Design - Go Back

Microsoft Office Selecting Secrets

 

Search Engine Specialist

search engine expert Free Internet Marketing consultings from ChicagoAnimation.
To use this free service please fill out the form below and we will call you to offer you free tips.

* First Name: * Last Name:
* Email Address: * Phone Number:
Street Address: City:
ZipCode: Your State (2 Letters):
URL (if available): Your Cell Phone #:
Company Name:
How long has your website been live?
What services or packages can we help you with?

How may we help you?
My current budget is. . .



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.

 

MORE RESOURCES:

Siliconrepublic.com

Apple Recommends Antivirus Software For Mac OS X
InformationWeek, NY - Dec 2, 2008
What's more, Apple's products, such as its iTunes software, its QuickTime media player, and its Safari Web browser, have become increasingly popular among ...
Apple on the Need for Anti-Virus Software: Now You Do, Now You Don't Wired News
Apple Pulls 'Old' Antivirus Software Warning CIO Today
Apple suggests Mac users Install antivirus software CNET News
Apple Insider - Computerworld
all 238 news articles


COPsync Software Called Upon to Secure the Texas State Border
MarketWatch - 8 hours ago
a software technology provider to law enforcement and emergency service professionals, is pleased to announce that the State of Texas, Division of Emergency ...


Likewise Software Joins HP Developer & Solution Partner Program
MarketWatch - 10 hours ago
BELLEVUE, Wash., Dec 03, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Likewise Software, the leader in delivering open source audit and authentication for mixed networks ...


Lagan Expands Board of Directors with Software Industry Veteran ...
MarketWatch - 14 hours ago
McKay brings over 25 years of experience building and leading world class software and services companies. As President and CEO of Watchfire from 2001 ...


McAllister Software Systems(R) Announces Release of AVImark ...
MarketWatch - 15 hours ago
PIEDMONT, Mo., Dec 03, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- McAllister Software Systems, Inc. announced that version 2009 of AVImark, which will be available at ...
McAllister Software Systems(R) Announces Release of AVImark ... International Business Times
McAllister Software Systems(R) Announces AVImark(R) Integration ... MarketWatch
all 16 news articles


RTT News

Software maker Adobe to lay off 600 workers
San Francisco Chronicle,  USA - 4 hours ago
Narayen said the chief cause of Adobe's problems is weaker than expected demand for the company's latest software, Creative Suite 4, which began shipping in ...
Adobe slashes revenue forecast Financial Times
Adobe to cut 600 jobs, report lower fourth-quarter revenue SiliconValley.com
Adobe Revenue Forecast Trails Analysts’ Estimates (Update1) Bloomberg
Reuters - San Jose Mercury News
all 92 news articles


Emerging Markets Hold Potential for World Retail Software Markets ...
MarketWatch - 16 hours ago
New analysis from Frost & Sullivan ( http://www.kiosks.frost.com), World Retail Software Market, finds that the retail software market earned revenues of ...


Adaptive Planning Wins Prestigious Software Satisfaction Award for ...
MarketWatch - 15 hours ago
This honor, awarded by Sift Media and presented by Finance Week, was established to reward high standards from software application providers serving UK ...


SAFE Corporation Releases SourceDetective, Internet Search for ...
MarketWatch - 15 hours ago
SAFE-corp.biz), the leading provider of software tools for detecting and measuring software intellectual property, has just released SourceDetective(TM), ...


Software Developers, Essar Oil: India Stock Preview
Bloomberg - 48 minutes ago
Software Developers: Infosys Technologies Ltd. (INFO IN) and other India technology and outsourcing companies are preparing for hard times as a result of a ...
India's Sensex Ends Little Changed; Tata Gains, Infosys Falls Bloomberg
Indian Stocks Decline for Second Day, Led by Infosys, Sterlite Bloomberg
all 11 news articles

Software - Google News

ChicagoAnimation's Acquisitions: Market Polls - 1pennyStock.com
Sponsors: Paving | VTL's | Religious Statues