If you've spent any time with Excel, you probably know that the Enter key advances you to the next cell in a column, and the arrow keys move your focus to the next cell in any direction. Here are some lesser known shortcuts you may want to add to your repertoire: Fill down: Ctrl+D Fill right: Ctrl+R...

Here, presented for your entertainment (and for the benefit of anyone who values your productivity, organization, or creative flair), are five downright magical tricks built right into Internet Explorer 9. Stash these tricks up your sleeve or in your hat, then pull them out as needed—and treat yourself...

The Office team has compiled customers' favorite commands across all Office 2010 applications, which you can download to add as a Favorites tab in Access, Excel, InfoPath, OneNote, Outlook, PowerPoint, Project, Publisher, Visio, and Word. For example, the Favorites tab in Word puts Save , Send , Properties...

If you've been using Outlook for a long time, you probably know the basic shortcuts: New message: Ctrl+N Mark message read: Ctrl+Q Mark message unread: Ctrl+U Delete item: Ctrl+D or Delete Check for new mail: Ctrl+M or F9 And if you've been reading this blog, you know about the two useful shortcuts involving...

If you're an old pro at Office, you may be wondering what happened to Smart Tags when you upgraded to Office 2010. They have been renamed Actions, and you have a lot of flexibility in how you use them. Actions are also less obtrusive. There's no longer an icon that pops up when Office detects a word...

People like to become more productive for varying reasons. Some want to get to The Top, wherever that is, more rapidly. Others have a mission they fervently want to fulfill—the sooner, the better. And some of us just want to make more time for a workout at the gym, or quality time with the family. All...

Simply because I can, I herewith expose little-known but potentially powerful forces at work—in this case, five keyboard shortcuts that could simplify or enrich all our lives. I leave it to the world to decide what to do with this declassified intelligence. + Tab: Desktop Cirque de Soleil . Hold down...

If you've ever worked on a wiki, you'll appreciate this next tip. And if you haven't, this brief intro will make you a faster linker in OneNote 2010 and ready to start authoring collaboratively should you ever find a wiki in need of tending. Sure, you can link sections in OneNote the traditional way...

What kind of world would we have if everyone browsed the same way? No spice. No verve. Less joy. Luckily, Internet Explorer presents us all with an array of modern, tasteful, and—most importantly—customizable toolbars, designed to let each of us create an Internet workspace that fits like...

There are those who will say that, when browsing the Internet, it's all about the journey. Whether that's true for you or you just want to get in and get back out with useful information, these keyboard shortcuts will help. Zoom: Ctrl + and -. Sometimes, the words and pictures are just a touch too small...

Give hardworking mice the rest they deserve! Just about every Windows user develops a favorite set of timesaving keyboard shortcuts—but you may be a holdout. And, no, there's no requirement to give two 10-minute breaks per 8-hour shift to your mouse. But consider what you might do with the time you save...

You've no doubt had AutoCorrect save you from typographical errors, letting you know with its helpful red squiggle when it believes a word is spelled incorrectly. It may have even replaced obvious mistakes such as "claer" for "clear" while you were typing. But if all that AutoCorrect...

If you frequently save documents to a team SharePoint site, you may be able to add a shortcut to your Office 2010 desktop applications. To see if this feature is enabled, go to your SharePoint document library and click the Library tab: Now click the Connect to Office button and select Add to SharePoint...

Remember the first time you took that shortcut to the office supply store? The one that cuts behind the nursery and requires a quick jog right where the dry cleaner used to be and is now a coffee place? Chances are, that first time you tried saving time this way, things didn't feel all that fast. Maybe...

If you are a fan of the Office Ribbon, you have an unprecedented amount of control over it in Office 2010. If the default Ribbon doesn't offer up your favorite commands, you can simply create custom tabs and groups to easily access your favorite features. To ensure a base level of consistency, you cannot...

If you've ever plugged a printer, music player, camera, phone, or other device into your PC and wondered what to do next, you're going to like Device Stage . This clever but unassuming tool works with your devices to give each its own "device home page," complete with a customized status and...

There's not one but two great keyboard shortcuts in Microsoft Outlook that are based on the V key. First, if you want to create a new message that contains the contents of your clipboard (selected using either the Cut or Copy commands), just use Control V in any open mailbox in Outlook. Presto, now just...

If I had a dollar for every hour I've spent navigating to files, folders, and programs I use all the time ... I'd have one heck of a high-value Starbucks card. How many lattes would you be able to buy? To streamline and simplify your computer-based tasks, Windows 7 gives you some handy tools for calling...

For those of you who never met a gadget you didn't need to have, Windows 7 has you covered. For the rest of us, Gadgets can unobtrusively supply us with precisely the amount of general awareness we need, without distracting us from all those urgent, mission-critical tasks we heroically perform every...

Windows 7 takes the trusty taskbar—that multi-purpose stripe at the bottom of the display—and gives it some truly helpful new features. Let’s look. The first thing we notice is... Taskbar buttons. Hmmm, this is different. A button for each open program, easily identified by a hauntingly familiar icon...

Have you ever pressed the Alt button and noticed that the Office Ribbon suddenly became covered in letter and number bubbles? This is actually an Office feature that can help you find and learn some of the most popular keyboard shortcuts, including the hidden "nested" ones that first require...

Today, we have a guest blogger. Elyssa is an editor and project manager at Brainstorm , a leading provider of online and onsite software training and one of our partners that provides customized content for your Productivity Hub . ---- When you're writing marketing text or memos, you may need to insert...

To add a shortcut key combination or toolbar button later if you didn't assign one when you created your macro, don't go to the Macros button. Instead, go the Microsoft Office Button at the upper left of your open document, click Word Options, and then click Customize . In the Choose commands from dropdown...

I was just chatting with one of my co-workers, the one I call Queen of Data. She told me about her favorite Outlook shortcut. It’s great to use if you like shortcuts and keep your emails in folders in your inbox. (Instead of sending to OneNote). Select the mail you want to move into a folder. Hit...