In this week’s video, I use Google Docs to demonstrate four ways to find keyboard shortcuts in the applications you use every day. I’ll be sharing more shortcuts in the future, but you don’t have to wait for me to explore more on your own!
Video Transcript
00:00:00:07 – 00:00:24:26
You are amazing. You want to know more about keyboard shortcuts. Maybe you’ve just discovered them. You want to learn more about them. Want to try using them more often. In this video, I will show you four ways to help you find keyboard shortcuts for the applications and programs that you use every day. Hopefully, at least one of these tips will help you find shortcuts for your favourite app.
00:00:24:29 – 00:00:51:23
So let’s get started. When using your favourite app, you can find out about keyboard shortcuts sometimes just by using the app. In the case of Google Docs, we have great examples. One is the tooltips on the formatting bars. Formatting bars are filled with different options that have tons of keyboard shortcuts. When you hover over these different actions on the toolbar
00:00:51:28 – 00:01:18:09
They also include the keyboard shortcut for the operating system that you’re using. A similar thing that you can do is go to the menu. When you open the menu and you have all of the options drop down, there may be keyboard shortcuts that are also listed. Google Docs shows this as well. On the right hand side of a dropdown menu, if there is a keyboard shortcut, it gets listed.
00:01:18:23 – 00:01:42:01
It is very common for formatting text to have keyboard shortcuts just for ease of use and for that kind of efficiency of being able to alter the appearance of your text without having to lift your fingers off of the keyboard. A lot of applications that make use of keyboard shortcuts will have some kind of reference. So, it might be in the app.
00:01:42:01 – 00:02:10:18
They might point you out to a website. But, there will be something in a lot of cases. Especially for an application that people rely on using keyboard shortcuts. And there’s a lot of those out there. So, in the case of Google Docs, we have a very nicely laid out reference that allows you to search for your specific keyboard shortcut of interest and also has things organized by category.
00:02:11:01 – 00:02:39:22
So, it’s kind of handy. Another way to find more keyboard shortcuts for your application is to go do an Internet search. In this case, we’ll have the application name and the thing that we’re looking for. So ‘google docs shortcuts’, or if that doesn’t return something specific enough, you could put ‘google docs keyboard shortcuts’. And that should help to define your search a bit better so that you are getting results specifically about keyboard shortcuts.
00:02:40:03 – 00:03:08:20
This is a common enough search. I didn’t even need to use the word ‘keyboard’. It knows that shortcuts in this context is referring to keyboard shortcuts. One thing that I advise you to do when you do a search is to look for the most authoritative source of information as you can. Don’t just click on the first thing without looking at who the source is and whether you trust it, whether they have any kind of authority on the subject.
00:03:08:29 – 00:03:44:12
In this case, Google does. So, when we go through, we see a website that is filled with information about keyboard shortcuts for both the Mac and Windows operating systems. But, also for other things that they support. And that’s a wealth of information. And again, well laid out like the reference within the application itself. But filled with information that I wouldn’t have known if I hadn’t visited this page because I don’t commonly use the app in those contexts.
00:03:44:23 – 00:04:09:12
So, it’s very interesting to see what you can find when you check out the support documents specifically from the developer or the manufacturer. So, there you have it. Four different ways to find keyboard shortcuts for your favourite apps. If you found this video helpful, please like and let me know in the comments what helped you the most! Oh, and how about one more way before you go?
00:04:10:14 – 00:04:28:24
Subscribe to this channel for more shortcut videos. I like sharing shortcuts with other people, so there’s going to be more videos. You can also get email reminders by clicking the link in the description so you never miss a new video. Thanks for watching and we’ll see you next time.
