hotkeys

Access menus via the keyboard in OS X

Even though contextual menus are largely useful when using a mouse or trackpad, sometimes they can be convenient to activate when navigating or managing your computer with the keyboard. For some operating systems like Microsoft Windows, you can press a contextual menu keyboard button to activate the system's contextual menu on a selection of items and copy them, send them via e-mail, or otherwise manipulate them.

Unfortunately, OS X does not support an option to activate the contextual menu without using the pointer. The menu in this operating system is linked directly to pointer's location, so even if … Read more

How to manage services in OS X

One of the relatively hidden but often invaluable features of OS X is its support for services, which is when one application can provide a function or capability to another, and accept some input such as text, files, or images, and perform a separate task with this data.

For instance, if you are in Safari and wish to send a selection of text to a friend in an e-mail, you can click and drag to highlight it, and then use a service to create a new e-mail that contains this text. Likewise, you can select text in Word, Pages, TextEdit, … Read more

Quicksilver for Mac 1.0.0 Review

Launching applications via keyboard shortcuts can increase your productivity. Quicksilver for Mac studies your habits and helps you achieve better control over your Mac. It functions very similarly to the Mac address/search bar, but with extra functions and even quicker launch options.

Quicksilver for Mac comes packed with its own installer, which makes the installation quick and easy. Once the free app has been installed, you can access it by pressing the Quicksilver hot key. To extend the functions of this app you can download some additional plug-ins available from the developer's Web site. There are default preset … Read more

The Top Essential Hotkeys for Windows 8

Whether you're new to Windows 8 or a seasoned veteran, it's always good to have a few tricks up your sleeve. Let's face it: without a touch screen, Windows 8 can get a tad tedious to use. Here are the most essential Windows 8 shortcuts for accessing and working with the Charms menu, and system-wide. You can thank us later.

Useful keys to access Charms in a touchless world

Windows Key + C: Opens Charms Bar Windows Key + I: Access the settings or control panel for active app Windows Key + Q: Search your applications Windows Key + Z: Open … Read more

Learn keyboard shortcuts with KeyCue for Mac

Research has shown that frequent use of a computer mouse may contribute to repetitive motion injuries. KeyCue for Mac claims to teach users how to replace the mouse with keyboard shortcuts, but its limited functionality and its price make it less useful than it could have been.

A 30-day free trial version of KeyCue for Mac is available, but it costs $29.99 for the full version. The program downloads quickly but despite having its own installer, proved difficult to set up. We had to try the installation several times due to the program claiming it could not install while … Read more

How to create a hot key to switch users in OS X

OS X is a multiuser operating system so each user can tailor the system for his or her own needs without interfering with another user's workflow. With this setup, not only can multiple people use a system, but an individual can also configure it to have multiple work environments.

For example, if you use your computer for two jobs and would like to keep all work for one completely separate from another, then one option is to use multiple user accounts for this. Alternatively you might like to have a separate user account for testing purposes if you've … Read more

Toggle sending accounts and signatures in Mail via hot keys

As with most e-mail clients, Apple's Mail program supports multiple accounts so you can access all of your e-mail from one program, and as such it is not uncommon for people to have different accounts configured for work, home, and other activities that they would like to keep separate. While convenient in some respects, there are times when composing messages using multiple accounts can have you redundantly selecting the account to send from.

By default Mail should use the current selected account as the "From" account when replying to a message, so managing replies or forwarding messages … Read more

Bind hot keys to speech services in OS X

As OS X has progressed in development Apple has included more and more speech services options, including enhancing the text-to-speech features with smoother and more realistic voices, and also making this service more globally available to applications. In addition, Apple has provided a dictation service in Mountain Lion to allow conversions of spoken words back to text.

If you use these services, you may find it convenient to create hot-key shortcuts for them. The Dictation service has a default hot-key option, but the Text to Speech option does not, and by default requires you to select a body of text … Read more

How to reverse scroll in Windows like OS X Lion

Apple reversed scrolling in OS X Lion and called the feature "natural scrolling." Not everyone liked the change, but it could be turned off. There are some people that do like the new scrolling direction and even Google has added reverse scrolling to Chrome OS. If you're a Windows user and would like to try out reverse scrolling, here's how:

Step 1: Install AutoHotkey on your Windows PC.

Step 2: Launch AutoHotkey, and when prompted to create a sample script, click the Yes button.

Step 3: When the sample script appears in Notepad, paste the following … Read more

How to find keyboard shortcuts in OS X

Using keyboard shortcuts to run various commands and application functions in OS X is one of the easiest ways to enhance your workflow and speed up how you use your system.

For instance, while you can always click the red button at the top-left of a window to close it, or even select Close from the File menu, you can speed this up by using Command-W (as seen in the File menu) to quickly invoke this function on the foremost window. By using this shortcut coupled with the mouse, you can move windows around and then click them followed by … Read more