TechBits

A few Microsoft Word shortcuts

I use Microsoft Word a lot in my everyday life and there are a few tips I've picked up recently. 

Nothing is more frustrating than when you’re typing away and you touch something that unintentionally moves your cursor to another part of the document. An easy shortcut to get back where you were is so simple.  Just hit the SHIFT+F5 key combination to return to where you were last in your document and continue where you left off. 

There are a lot of shortcuts that I find handy for editing.  The ones I use the most are related to selecting sections of text.  In order to select an entire paragraph, just make three rapid mouse clicks anywhere in the paragraph.  If you wish to select an entire sentence, click anywhere in the sentence while holding the Ctrl key down.

These little tricks have saved me a lot of time and there are many more out there.  Please feel free to share any Microsoft Word tips or shortcuts that you find useful in the comments section. 

Windows 10 File Explorer: Quick Access vs This PC view

In Windows 10 Microsoft changed what happens when you open File Explorer.  In the past you would see the "This PC" window.  Now you see the "Quick Access" window.  I'm so used to getting the "This PC" window that I had to find a way to change it back.

Here is the new "Quick Access window

Here is the more familiar "This PC" window

Steps to switch the view:

1. Right Click the Window 10 start menu and click Control Panel
2. Click File Explorer Options
3. Select This PC from the Open File Explorer to drop-down menu
4. OK

Phishing Quizzes

Recently, I received an email telling me that my Office 365 account had been accessed from a foreign country. Being the skeptic that I am, I hovered over the links and saw they would have taken me to a questionable site. 

Can you tell the difference between a legitimate website or email and one that's a phishing attempt?

Take the 14-question OpenDNS Phishing Quiz or 10-question SonicWall Phishing IQ Test to test your skills! Each quiz will report your result and provide explanations for the answers.

Searching with emojis

Emoji searches work on Google!

 

More on searching with emojis on the SearchReSearch blog: http://searchresearch1.blogspot.com/2016/10/900-note-about-how-to-search-for-emojis.html

Wisc-Online

Are your patrons looking for a free, self-guided, basic computer skills course?

Basic computer skills are just some of the offerings of Wisc-Online, a digital library of Web-based learning resources called "learning objects" developed primarily by faculty from the Wisconsin Technical College System.

The Basic Computer Skills course requires a sign-in (anyone may register for an account, or log in using their social media account), and covers these topics: 

• using a mouse and keyboard
• navigating an operating system
• creating documents using word processing software (Microsoft Word)
• demonstrating basic email functions
• performing basic file management techniques
• using the internet
• exploring social media
• managing personal data

Each learning activity ranges from about 10 to 30 minutes long and includes narrated video and interactive exercises.

Disable Sound in Browser Tabs

How many times has this happened to you? You’re sitting in front of your computer, starring at the internet with several tabs open on your browser and all of a sudden out of nowhere a really loud ad or video starts playing. If you’re lucky you know which tab is playing the offending ad and can close it. If you don’t know which tab it is, instead of hunting it down or reaching to turn down your speakers you can simply scan your open tabs for a speaker icon and click the icon to mute the ad or video in that tab. The speaker icon should only appear on the tabs that are currently playing some sort of audio. This works by default in Firefox. If you’re using Chrome, follow these instructions to turn this feature on.

    chrome://flags/#enable-tab-audio-muting

• Copy the line above into Chromes address bar and hit enter or select paste and go. Either way works.
• Click enable below the “Tab audio muting UI control" flag.
• Click the blue “Relaunch Now” button at the bottom of your screen to restart Chrome and that’s it, you can now disable sound on a tab by clicking the speaker icon.

Sadly, if you’re using IE you will have to hunt down that tab or turn down your speakers since it doesn’t have this awesome feature.

 

Windows 10 Start Menu

We have recently started to deploy Windows 10 Professional on new staff computers.  One of the biggest changes from Windows 7 and Windows 8 is that we have eliminated the Classic Shell software that brought back the Start Menu style of older versions of Windows.  The Windows 10 PCs will be deployed with the default Start Menu.  This means the steps to accomplish some basic tasks will change.  I would like to share a few of those changes.

Changing your Default Printer

1. In the Cortana “Ask me anything” window type Printers
   
2. Beneath Best match, click Devices and Printers
   
3. Right-click a printer and select Set as Default

Access Recently-Opened Word Documents

1. Click Start
   
2. Scroll through list of programs until you see Word
3. Right-click Word and you will see recent Word documents you can click to open
   

Note:  You can do the same with other programs like Excel

Sign out of Windows

1. Right-click the Start button
2. Click Shut down or sign out
3. Click Sign out

Access the Run Menu

1. Right-click Start
2. Click Run

See a List of Most used Programs

1. Click Start
2. Scroll to the top and you'll see a list of the programs you use the most
   

 More TechBits articles concerning Windows 10 will be posted soon.

Zoom In! How to Increase Text Size in your Browser

I am re-posting this Wicked Cool blog from 2008 because I find that, as I age, I need assistance with reading the "fine print".  You can test the instructions while reading the post.  Happy New Year. Heidi O.

Tired of squinting at websites with too-small text?  Use one of these easy techniques to make the text BIGGER, smaller or re-set the page to "normal size".  Works on most websites:

Ctrl and Mouse Scroll-Wheel

If you have a scroll-wheel mouse, hold down the Ctrl key and spin the mouse-wheel.

• Works in both Firefox and Chrome.
• Also works in Adobe Reader and the Adobe Reader browser plug-in.
• Different browsers may vary in which direction you have to scroll for larger or smaller text.

Ctrl and +, Ctrl and -, Ctrl and 0

Hold down the Ctrl key and hit the + key at the same time.  More than once makes it bigger.  Use Ctrl and - for smaller text, or Ctrl and 0 to return to normal size.

• Works in Firefox and Chrome.

 

If you don't want to use these options, there are per browser settings you can modify.

• In the Firefox toolbar, select View then Zoom to see and set your options.
• In Chrome, go to the upper right corner and click on the "hamburger" or the "three dots". The Zoom option is in this menu and you can set the percentage or choose Full Screen from here.