If you had an extra hour added in your day, what would you do with it? I am going to give you an hour’s worth of your time back. You can write me a check. Just kidding! Social Media aids us in a number of ways from updating us from time to time and communicating with people. It is an important factor that nowadays also helps in increasing and promoting business.
90% of your productive time is spent working on a computer, be it creating proposals, slide presentations, analyzing figures, reading about new trends, browsing or probably one of the most important, managing your list of social media accounts. Now here is the culprit who is stealing your time. Your mouse!
The innocuous device you always keep under your palm to navigate on the screen. And you’ll be surprised how it steals away your time. I don’t know whether it has happened to you or not but I have closed so many of my unsaved documents when I tried minimizing or restoring them.
Whenever I am engrossed in writing a blog post and have to navigate to another application, I hate reaching out for the optical art & making an overly calculated click; derail your invaluable train of thought. You would gain the optimization and efficiency in your working if you start following these simple keyboard shortcuts.
A shortcut is a combination of keys that link to a command that would otherwise work with a mouse. Through the use of these shortcuts, you will not need to use the mouse again and again.
These small changes in your daily working routine will make your life less stressful and will increase your speed at the same time. The more comfortable you are with your computer, the more shortcuts you will learn and the more you learn, the more time you save by clicking and using the mouse again and again.
Compiled below are the top 151 keyboard shortcuts segmented under different heads that I personally make use of. They are so handy & efficient; it’s almost like creating time. I have tried incorporating commands’ shortcuts both for Windows and Mac.
At the end of the article, I have also shared with you how I got into the habit of using keyboard shortcuts instead of fiddling around with the mouse. Do check that out. We’ve put them into a few sections for easier referencing.
Social media
- YouTube
- Tumbler
- Google+
- Ello
- Quora
- Stumble upon
Others
- Browser (Chrome (Windows & Mac) / Safari)
- Google drive shortcut
Twitter Keyboard Shortcuts
Twitter is a popular social media platform these days and has been one of the preferred websites across the globe. Are you aware that you can also use keyboards shortcuts on Twitter? If you are also one of the users who use twitter web interface, here I’m showcasing few very easy yet highly useful shortcuts that can save your time and energy.
Here are some shortcuts which will help you access all the native functions on twitter for Windows and Mac:-
The Shortcuts for Windows:
- G then H for Home
- G then C for connection
- G then A for activity
- G then R for mentions
- G then D for discovering
- G then P to go your Profile Page
- G then F for visiting your favorites
- G then L for lists
- G then M for messages
- G then S for visiting the settings page
- G then U for visiting any particular user’s timeline through search box
- Click F to favorite a tweet
- Click R to reply a tweet
Shortcuts for Mac:
- Click Command + ) for reaching the profile
- Click Command + ( for visiting your favorites
- Click Command + $ for lists
- Click Command + # for messages option
- Click Command + U for visiting the user timeline through search box
- Click Command + R to reply a tweet
- Speed up your daily social media usage through these time-saving shortcuts.
Facebook Keyboard Shortcuts
Mostly everyone is active on the popular social media platform Facebook, yet most of us are not aware of the shortcut keys that can make the social media life much easier. As more and more businesses are opting for this platform to attract consumers.
Here are some super useful shortcuts for Facebook one must know:
- Click Alt + 1 for the Face book’s homepage
- Click Alt + 2 for your Timeline
- Click Alt+ 4 for viewing the inbox
- Click Alt + 5 for viewing the notifications
- Click Alt + 6 for Account settings
- Click Alt + 7 for Privacy settings
- Click Alt + 9 for knowing the Face book’s terms and conditions
- Click on J to go to the next story on news feed
- Click on K to go the previous story on news feed
- Click on C to comment on a story
- Click on M to compose a new message
If you want to see the full list of keyboard shortcuts on your face book page, click “?” on any face book page. All these shortcuts are really basic and simple to use. These shortcuts work best for Chrome, Opera, and Safari. Firefox, on the other hand, has different keyboard shortcuts. If you are using internet explorer one needs to click enter after each shortcut. Mac users need to add Ctrl+ Option to each shortcut. If you are using Firefox on a Mac you need to click Function + Ctrl.
Youtube Keyboard Shortcuts
Every one of us loves to use YouTube but most of us are not aware of the fact that it is some hidden features in it that makes it really easy to process.
Here are some of the quick tricks and Youtube shortcuts that you should be using:
- Press K or Spacebar to play or pause the video
- Press J or Left Arrow to go back 5 or 10 seconds
- Press L or right arrow to go forward 5 or 10 seconds
- Press 0 (zero) to restart the video
- Press F to go full screen
- Press keys >or< to speed up or slow down the video
- Press Shift + n or p to view the next or previous video in the playlist
- Press M key to mute the video
- Press F key to enter or exit full screen
- Press ) key to seeking to the beginning of the video
Some other useful Youtube shortcuts:
Press the keys 1 to 9 to scrub along the video: Assume your YouTube video is generally divided into 9 parts of equal length. So, now by pressing any of the number keys except zero will take you that part of the video automatically. It is a really useful trick to directly jump to the end or to the beginning or whichever portion one wants to reach.
Do you know you can make instant GIFs from any YouTube video? Yes, it’s true and really easy to make. In the URL of the video you are watching, you just need to add the word “GIF” before youtube.com that is it will be shown as gifyoutube.com and this will instantly take you to the page where you can get instant GIFs.
Tumblr Keyboard Shortcuts
Tumblr is a popular social blogging platform in which users can upload multimedia posts and follow others with similar interests and be a part of that community. It is a number of simple keyboard shortcuts for navigation, posting, and composing.
You can type “?” on your Tumblr dashboard to pull out the list of keyboard shortcuts.
Here are some of the popular frequently used Tumblr shortcuts:
- Press J or K to view the next or previous post
- Press L to like a post
- Press S to share a post
- Press N to view a post’s notes
- Press Shift+ E to add post to your queue
- Press Z+ Tab to quickly switch between dashboard and blog
- Press Z+ C to compose a new post
Some other useful shortcuts to apply when you use Tumblr next time:
Allow users to reply users from the Dashboard only
It is always a great option to view replies of your followers on your post. To do this you need to add a? At the end of your, each post and then click the option of Let People Answer this at the bottom. Click the check box against it and your followers will be able to reply to your post.
Allow Follow & Shares
You can make the process of sharing your post easy on Tumblr just by adding a Share button. One needs to go to the buttons to view the available options to add the Follow and share buttons. You need to go the settings and click on Customize theme then you would be redirected to a page that allows you to edit HTML. Just copy to code and then paste in your Tumblr Theme code.
Google Plus Keyboard Shortcuts
Google + offers a few different keyboard shortcuts for some common actions. You can just press the “?” on most of the Google+ pages when you want to refer the shortcuts.
Here are few of the popular Google Plus shortcuts which you can refer for day to day activities:
- Press J or K to view the next or previous post
- Press / to search
- Press @ to send feedback to Google
- Press N to view the next comment on current post
- Press P to view the previous comment on current post
- Press R to comment on current post
- Press L to load new posts
- Press V to view attachment on selected posts
- Press S to share selected post
- Shit + Space Scroll up the stream
- Press Q to jump to the chat
Google + is also a unique platform that allows you to style your text with the help of markdown. The shortcuts are as follows:
- Use – (dash before and after text) – Strikethrough
- Use * (asterisks before and after the text) – Bold
- Use _ (underscore before and after the text) – Italics
Ello Keyboard Shortcuts
Here are some of the simple Ello shortcuts that can be used to make the work easier:
- Press Shift + ) to on or of the toggle notifications
- Press Shift + 1 to view the columns (shift between them with arrows)
- Press Shift + 5 to expand the post
- Press > to hide the left panel
- Press < to show left panel
- Press Ctrl + Enter to comment or publish the post
Quora Keyboard Shortcuts
Quora is the online marketing’s tool to position yourself by answering questions others have related to your topic. It helps in building credibility and popularity. It helps in increasing your branding, aids in developing more followers for other social media sites, help in increasing traffic to your blogs and site. Hence, helps you in building a community through it.
Here are some of the widely used common Quora shortcuts you must know:
- Press Ctrl + B for providing a bold effect to the content
- Press Ctrl + I for providing a Italics effect to the content
- Press Ctrl + K to Link
- Press Ctrl + Z to undo
- Press Ctrl + Shift + 7 to find the numbered list
- Press Ctrl + Shift + 8 to find the Bulleted list
- Press Shift + Enter to add a new line in an element of list
These shortcuts help in loads of time every day by speeding up your day to day tasks. Hence, by applying these shortcuts it will make your work super fast and easy.
StumbleUpon Keyboard Shortcuts
StumbleUpon is a really useful bookmarking service for finding new websites. Stumble Upon shorts can save a lot of your time. Shortcut stumbling can be enabled by selecting toolbar options in the tools menu of StumbleUpon. Go to the shortcuts tab & put a check on enable shortcut stumbling checkbox.
Below are the default StumbleUpon key combinations; however you can customize them as per you like.
- Press the Alt + 1 key to rate “I Like It” (Thumbs up)
- Press Alt + 2 key to rate “not for me”
- Press Alt + / to Tag or Untag
- Press Alt + 3 to view reviews
- Press Ctrl + F11 to toggle toolbar (show or hide the stumble upon toolbar)
You can adjust these according to your usage and liking.
Linkedin Keyboard Shortcuts
LinkedIn is a popular business and employment oriented social networking site that is commonly used for professional networking used by both the employers and job seekers. There are few really useful LinkedIn shortcuts that can be very helpful while processing and making the navigations and actions easy and less time-consuming.
Here are the few Linkedin keyboard shortcuts every business owner should know about:
- Press Tab + Enter to send Messages
- Press Tab + Enter to post your comment
Pinterest Keyboard Shortcuts
Pinterest operates a software system used to discover information online. It is commonly known as “Catalog of ideas”. It allows users to save images and categorize them. It also allows creating business pages aimed at promoting their companies online.
It lists several Pinterest keyboard shortcuts for its users to make the management easier.
- Press Ctrl + Alt + P to pin an image
It has several mobile phone shortcuts which you can see by pressing the app icon firmly.
- Explore feature refers you to the trending ideas for the day
- Saved option shows the ideas you have saved
You can even move the shortcuts on to your home screen by dragging the shortcut over.
Browser Keyboard Shortcuts
Each of the web browsers offers a wide range of keyboard shortcuts in common. Every one of us is actually using some of the shortcuts already. It would be more fruitful if you get to know some more that are really easy to use.
Here are some browser keyboard shortcuts that save your time and effort while browsing:
- Press Ctrl + N to open a new window
- Press Ctrl + Shift + N to open a window in Incognito mode
- Press Ctrl + T to open a new tab and jump to it
- Press Ctrl + Shift + T to open the last closed tab and jump to it
- Press Ctrl + PgUp to jump to the previously open tab
- Press Ctrl + 1to 8 to jump to a specific tab
- Press Ctrl + 9 to jump to the last tab
- Press Alt + Home to open your home page in the current tab
- Press Ctrl + W to close the current tab
- Press Ctrl + Shift + W to close all open tabs plus the browser
- Press Alt + Space + N to minimize the current window
- Press Alt + Space + X to Maximize the current window
- Press Alt + F4 to close the current window
- Press Ctrl + Shift + Q to quit Google Chrome
These are just a few, here are some more shortcuts to make your browsing really fast and productive:-
Move to the next tab:
To move to the next tab without using the mouse, again and again, use Ctrl-Tab to change focus to the next tab and Ctrl-Shift-Tab to the previous tab.
Opening a new tab:
If you wish to open a new tab just tap Ctrl – T. It is a really helpful shortcut which searching and has already selected some text.
Use these browsing tricks to make your browsing more quick and professional.
Google Drive Keyboard Shortcuts
Google Drive is a tool to save access and share files. Working with several docs and spreadsheets can be tedious and confusing.
So, Here are some simple Google Drive keyboard shortcuts to make your task easy:
- Press G + N to go to the Navigation panel
- Press G + L to go to items view
- Press G + D to go to details panel
- Press G + T to go to the top of the application (Google bar)
- Press D to Show or Hide details pane
- Press Shift + Down Arrow to Extend selection Downwards
- Press Shift + Up Arrow to Extend selection Upwards
- Press Shift + Left Arrow to extend selection leftwards
- Press Ctrl + Down Arrow to move down without changing selection
- Press Ctrl + Up Arrow to move up without changing selection
- Press Ctrl + Left Arrow to move left without changing selection
- Press Ctrl + Right Arrow to move right without changing selection
- Press Ctrl + o to open selected item
- Press N to rename selected item
Google Drive also provides an accessible cheat sheet which you can open and take help anytime. You just need to press Ctrl + /, this will provide you with all the shortcuts for whichever part of the drive you are stuck in.
You can estimate how easy and useful these shortcuts are, you can even memorize them so quickly. Therefore if you want to save your precious time and energy, you need to give some time to them and get used to it.
Getting into the groove of using keyboard shortcuts
How did I make it a habit?
We have all been using the mouse for so long, it has become a part of our subconscious. When I started to use keyboard shortcuts, it took me a while to get the hang of it. Initially, I thought I was wasting time recalling the shortcuts, pressing the key combination; but when I found out the quantum of time I ended up saving, there was no going back. Do this…….
- Let me take the liberty to be a bit honest. Initially, you will have to put in conscious efforts.
- While you are working, just decide to use these shortcuts instead of using a mouse, whenever applicable (in certain cases, the dis-using of the mouse is just not possible and we realize that). Say, for example, searching for a file in Google Drive. Use the shortcut for that and see how efficient you become.
- Download the PDF attached below for your use. Whenever you start working, open the PDF and keep referring it. This exercise doesn’t have to be done for long. Within a week, you won’t even have to remember the combinations. You will become unconsciously competent.
Over the time, you’ll start to love working through the keyboard shortcuts. Let us know if you find any other shortcut (apart from the ones mentioned above) useful and handy.
