TR Dojo: Customize Windows keyboard shortcuts (and Mac OS X; Linux and more)

Keyboard shortcuts have long been a quick, easy way to perform common computer tasks. And, the standard shortcuts included in operating systems and applications are sufficient for most users. But what do you do if the built-in shortcuts don’t do exactly what you want? In this TR Dojo video, Bill Detwiler shows you how to create custom keyboard shortcuts with the free AutoHotkey utility.

For those of you who prefer text to video, you can read Greg Shultz’s article, “Customize the [Windows]+E key shortcut to open what you want,” on which the first command line tip is based.

Keyboard shortcuts galore

Also, be sure to check out TechRepublic’s downloadable lists of keyboard shortcuts. The lists cover everything from Windows and Mac OS Ten to Microsoft Office and Mozilla Firefox. These downloadable shortcuts fall into four categories:

Operating systems

• 76 keyboard shortcuts for moving faster in Windows Vista
• 50+ keyboard shortcuts for moving faster in Windows XP
• 70+ Keyboard shortcuts to move faster in Apple Mac OS X
• 10 keyboard shortcuts to improve your Linux experience

Microsoft Office

• Microsoft Word 2003 keyboard shortcuts
• 85 keyboard shortcuts for moving faster in Microsoft Excel
• 70+ Keyboard shortcuts to move faster in Microsoft Access
• 50+ Keyboard shortcuts to move faster in Microsoft PowerPoint

Web browsers

• 60 keyboard shortcuts to move faster in Microsoft Internet Explorer 7
• 70+ Keyboard shortcuts to move faster in Mozilla Firefox

Email applications

• 80+ Keyboard shortcuts to move faster in Microsoft Outlook
• 50+ Keyboard shortcuts to move faster in Microsoft Outlook Express
• 35+ keyboard shortcuts that save you time in Mozilla Thunderbird

Others

• 37 keyboard shortcuts for moving faster in the Visual Basic Editor
• 100+ Keyboard shortcuts to move faster in TextPad
• 90+ Keyboard shortcuts to move faster in Adobe Acrobat Professional 7.0 for Windows