Administrative Sparkle

Hot-Key combination tip for the week. You’ll notice that there are some shortcut keys that just go together. Printing, saving, and closing your documents are the perfect completion to a project.

Ctrl+S
Holding down the Ctrl key, tap the letter S. If the document has been previously saved, meaning it has already been given a document file name, it will save over the current version of that document. If it is an originating file and has not yet been saved, you will be prompted to give it a file name.

Ctrl+S is a really easy way to make quick saves. Hopefully you have your Word program Options automatically saving a backup in reasonable increments of time in the event that you computer goes down. You don’t want to lose 10 or 20 minutes worth of work. When you lose it, anything is more than you want to rethink and redo. Nevertheless, Ctrl+S is a quick save when you get interrupted or need to step away immediately.

Ctrl+P
While holding down the Ctrl key, tap the letter P. This will bring up the print menu. If you are printing to the printer that is tagged as your default, all you have to do is press the Enter key. If you have choices of printers, this is where you get to use your mouse to make the selection of an alternate printer if you will not be using the default printer and press Enter.

Alt+F4
Once again, hold down the Alt key and tap the F4 key. This hot-key will not only close out your document, but closes the program as well. If the document has had any edits applied to it before executing this hot-key, a menu will ask you if you want to save the document. If it is an originating document that has yet to be giving a document file name, you will be prompted to save the document. Answering “yes” to save the document will display your file directory to apply a document name and the folder to save in.

When I know that I am finished making edits to the document, doing it in this order:
Ctrl+S, Enter, Ctrl+P, Enter, Alt+F4
is seamless.

All these hot-keys will work in any of the Microsoft programs the same.  These keys will automatically prompt you to what you need to do next, so you never have to worry about exiting a document and leaving edits behind, unless you choose to.

You’re ready to move onto the next task at hand.

Bonus Hot-Key Tips
While discussing with colleagues some of their favorite quick hot-keys they like, I would like to offer you the two that you might find indispensable.

Windows Logo Key+M
If you work in an open cubicle where your monitor faces people who enter from behind you and find yourself working on private or sensitive information, such as your banking, you can quickly minimize everything on your desktop by pressing down the Windows logo key and M. Instantly all that will be viewable is your wallpaper.

Windows Logo Key+L
This hot-key requires you have a Windows password. Walking away from your computer, leaving it unattended for even five minutes, leaves your information available to anyone walking by your desk. Kind of like leaving your purse or wallet out in the open around your desk for sticky fingers or the curious, instead of securing it away in a drawer. Pressing the Windows logo key and L will automatically lock the computer out, displaying the password access prompt.

Many of the shortcuts I like to share with you eliminates excess prompts and overall time in execution. If you find these helpful or have any suggestions, write me a comment and let me know. All suggestions are appreciated and helpful to other readers.

Related posts:

1. Hot-Key Tip of the Week: Ctrl-C, Ctrl-X, & Ctrl-V
2. Hot-Key Tip of the Week: Alt-Tab