In this lesson, you will review some important keyboard shortcuts and how to take screenshots. These can help you improve your productivity skill by saving you time and helping you achieve your desired results.
Specifically, this lesson will cover:
- Shortcuts
- Copy and Paste
- Other Shortcuts
- Screenshots
- Whole Screen
- Partial Screen
1. Shortcuts
Everyone likes to save time. Being more efficient can allow you to complete one task so you can move on to something else. Maybe you need to finish writing a research paper for school, but you also have your nephew’s birthday party that day. Fortunately, computers are designed to allow you to complete some tasks quickly by using shortcuts. You can use shortcuts in applications, such as Microsoft Word, or when using the internet. By using shortcuts, you are applying your technology skills to strengthen your productivity skill.
- 1a. Copy and Paste
When creating and editing Word documents, working in spreadsheets, or any other task where you are working with text or images, there are two shortcuts you can often use to save time. These are copy and paste. They make you more efficient because you don’t have to go to the toolbar to select what action you want to take.
Copy allows you to copy selected text or an image in order to place it somewhere else without needing to retype the text or find the image in another location. In order to copy something, you hold down the Ctrl + C keys on your keyboard.
Paste allows you to transfer copied or cut text or image from one location to another. In order to paste something, you hold down Ctrl + V keys on your keyboard.
The keyboard below highlights the location of the keys used for copy and paste.
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- Copy
- Allows you to copy selected text or an image in order to place it somewhere else without needing to retype the text or find the image in another location.
- Paste
- Allows you to transfer copied or cut text or image from one location to another.
- 1b. Other Shortcuts
There are other important shortcuts you should know. While you may not use these as often as copy and paste, these are actions you most probably frequently make when working on your computer. The chart below lists some of these common actions.
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The video below shows you some of these shortcuts in action. As you watch the video, consider times when you may want to use one or more of these shortcuts. How could they make you more productive?
Add video: As you watch the video, consider times when you may want to use one or more of these shortcuts. How could they make you more productive?
2. Screenshots
Another tool that can increase your productivity is screenshots. A screenshot is an image of what your computer screen is currently showing. These images can come in handy when you need to communicate something that you see on your screen.
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- Screenshot
- An image of what your computer screen is currently showing.
- 1a. Whole Screen
A whole screenshot captures the entire screen view. To capture the entire screen, you will hit Ctrl + PrtScr (PrtScr is usually next to F12 on a keyboard).
Then, when you have your cursor in the place in which you want your image, such as the body of an email, you will hit Ctrl + V to paste it.
EXAMPLE
Joy was tasked with creating a step-by-step guide for her co-workers to show them how to save important files. To do this, she took a screenshot for each step and added notes. She pasted each screenshot into a Google doc and then shared that document with them. This way they had a visual along with the written steps to help them follow along as they worked.
- 1b. Partial Screen
Sometimes, it’s helpful to capture only part of a screen. This may be useful if you’d like to demonstrate a close-up view of a particular screen image, such as an error message that you’re receiving. In this case, take the following steps:
- Take a whole screen capture and save it in a Word document.
- Right-click on the image in the Word document and choose “save as image.” Select the location to save the image to your computer.
- Open the image, and you will have the option to crop the portion of the image that you would like to share.
Using shortcuts can dramatically increase your productivity. For instance, you may write a concise summary in a Word document to update your team members on a project. As you write the Word document, you may copy and paste information from other sources, which will save you time in re-typing text. Additionally, rather than explaining a process through text, you can use screenshots to demonstrate what steps should be taken. These shortcuts will enable you to finish tasks in a shorter amount of time and strengthen your productivity.
In this lesson, you learned how to use shortcuts on your computer. You gained an understanding that copy and paste as well as other shortcuts can save you time and make you more productive. You also explored how to take and use screenshots to clearly communicate what you see on your screen. This may mean capturing an image of your whole screen or partial screen. This is yet another tool that can help you achieve your desired results in an efficient way.
Enjoy the next lesson!
