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[BossLackey]

I have become the defacto IT guy on my team at work before the big guns are called in for real issues. As such, I've witnessed everybody on my team of 13 people use their computers. Not one of them uses keyboard shortcuts and I'm absolutely gobsmacked by that. That includes people that have been using the Adobe suite for decades.

It's not just them. it's the vast majority of people I've seen use a computer, regardless of age. Just clicking on tools manually and navigating GUIs when they don't need to and right clicking to copy and paste and all that. Drives me absolutely mad. It's like watching someone drive a car with the handbrake on and wonder why they can't go faster.

In my opinion, one of the crucial pieces to computer literacy is knowing and using the keyboard shortcuts for your OS and myriad software you use on a day-to-day basis. I'm running circles around my team because of this and it makes me wonder how much more efficient my team members could be if they just used keyboard shortcuts.

I honestly don't get it.

 

[Jennings]

Alt-F4

 

[Superkewl]

Yeah, I have worked in a corporate environment for the better part of 24yrs now and am always amazed at how many people don't know ctrl-c and ctrl-v.

 

[GymWolf]

I just recently started using the search for a specific word shortcut but i just forget to use it 9 times out of 10 because i can't remember the button combo or i jist forget that it exist.


Many people just don't care/study how to use the pc beyond very basic stuff.

It is the same reason why people still download mp3 instead of flac.

 

[k_trout]

they ancient alchemical art of alt-tab, like pulling a dove from your sleeve

 

[Mistake]

I just recently started using the search for a specific word shortcut but i just forget to use it 9 times out of 10 because i can't remember the button combo or i jist forget that it exist.


Many people just don't care/study how to use the pc beyond very basic stuff.

It is the same reason why people still download mp3 instead of flac.

If I converted my entire library to flac, it wouldn’t fit on my phone. Plus most people don’t have proper setups for it.

I think there’s going to be a huge gap when it comes pc literacy because of touch devices. I wouldn’t be surprised if newer generations don’t know shortcuts either

 

[GymWolf]

If I converted my entire library to flac, it wouldn’t fit on my phone. Plus most people don’t have proper setups for it.

I think there’s going to be a huge gap when it comes pc literacy because of touch devices. I wouldn’t be surprised if newer generations don’t know shortcuts either

Phones today start with 64gb of memory for the cheap model and you really don't need 2000 songs in your phone.

And memory cards are pretty cheap.

Imo it's just that the majority of people don't even know about the existence of flac files like they don't know about shortcuts.

 

[BossLackey]

I just recently started using the search for a specific word shortcut but i just forget to use it 9 times out of 10 because i can't remember the button combo or i jist forget that it exist.


Many people just don't care/study how to use the pc beyond very basic stuff.

It is the same reason why people still download mp3 instead of flac.

The difference is, FLAC is only barely perceivably more detailed than MP3 and you have to have a good ear and great hardware to even tell the difference.

But when you're on a computer every day all day for work, the time saved by using keyboard shortcuts is dramatic.

According to this article, 8 days per year are lost for those that primary use their mouse for activities where a keyboard would suffice.

And the thing is, that's not for your company's benefit. Use that time to do whatever you want! That's what I do. I'm efficient not for my company's sake, but for my own. I have more free time because of it.

 

[GymWolf]

The difference is, FLAC is only barely perceivably more detailed than MP3 and you have to have a good ear and great hardware to even tell the difference.

But when you're on a computer every day all day for work, the time saved by using keyboard shortcuts is dramatic.

According to this article, 8 days per year are lost for those that primary use their mouse for activities where a keyboard would suffice.

And the thing is, that's not for your company's benefit. Use that time to do whatever you want! That's what I do. I'm efficient not for my company's sake, but for my own. I have more free time because of it.

Oh i'm not against shortcuts, i was just trying to come up with a reason why people don't use them.

 

[MastAndo]

I work with a lady who doesn't know how to double-click. She highlights things with a single click, then presses Enter. It's remarkable.

 

[Mistake]

Phones today start with 64gb of memory for the cheap model and you really don't need 2000 songs in your phone.

And memory cards are pretty cheap.

Imo it's just that the majority of people don't even know about the existence of flac files like they don't know about shortcuts.

I could have a lot less songs, but there’s really no added benefit with bluetooth or my car speakers. If I got an expensive headset or home sound studio, maybe I’d consider it

 

[GymWolf]

I could have a lot less songs, but there’s really no added benefit with bluetooth or my car speakers. If I got an expensive headset or home sound studio, maybe I’d consider it

True.

 

[BossLackey]

Oh i'm not against shortcuts, i was just trying to come up with a reason why people don't use them.

Oh...lol

 

[8bitpill]

I've been using Adobe programs for twenty five plus years. I use them everyday of the week with our print shop. Not knowing how to use short cuts will make your day to day task that much longer. Of course knowing every shortcut is nearly impossible unless you're a idiot savant but the basics you should have down. I remember in college our one teacher telling us how important keyboard shortcuts were and grilled us if we weren't using them.

This is also useful,
Ultimate Adobe CC Keyboard Shortcut Cheat Sheets

I currently have a new part time worker, and every time I get her in front of the computer to set up print work, I will guide her by letting her know the keyboard short cuts, if it's clear she doesn't know them.

As for the younger generation, I'm sure it will be lost to them since everything is touch related with tablets and phones.

 

[64bitmodels]

It is the same reason why people still download mp3 instead of flac.

flac is harder to get than mp3. Whenever you want digital music files everyone assumes you want MP3 automatically even if you're looking for lossless audio specifically. There are times where i just concede and download an album in MP3 due to the lack of lossless options available.

I honestly wish it weren't the most popular standard

 

[Wildebeest]

The difference is, FLAC is only barely perceivably more detailed than MP3 and you have to have a good ear and great hardware to even tell the difference.

These tests never use low bitrate MP3 which is what it was intended to do. If you are compressing to low bitrate with MP3 this decade, then you are uninformed. If you are compressing to high bitrate MP3 I dunno why not just put rockets on the side of your model-t if you want to go faster.

 

[Paasei]

Blows my mind as well, OP. Especially with some people around me who had the same education in video/photo editing programs. Somehow they still have no idea how to properly use shortcuts outside of the Adobe, Avid, Vegas and Final Cut workspaces to name a few.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

I dont know anything about Adobe, but in Excel anyone knows to use $ to lock cells in formulas. Pressing F4 is a shortcut that will double lock a cell for a formula if you lets want a slew of rows to always reference that cell.

There's been some people who didn't know you can lock cells. So when they do a formula to drag across a bunch of rows or columns, they manually adjusted every cell formula to reference that cell.

I couldnt believe it when I saw someone who had been working on Excel files for probably 10 years. Her job wasnt a spreadsheet expert kind of role, but a role you still use spreadhseets daily in some capacity. So I stood over her shoulder and told her to press F4 to $ Lock the cell and she was amazed.

She had been doing the manual way for her spreadsheets one by one for probably 10 years.

There's also CTRL-SHIFT home or end or arrows to quickly get to the beginning or end of a data set. Some people would manually scroll to the bottom or press Page Up or Page Down 50 times.

 

[lame gag1990]

If this kind of stuff drives you mad, you need to get out more.

 

[Northeastmonk]

It sure makes things easier. Another one is typing Control Panel in the File Explorer window. I swear not a lot of people realize it. If you’re not in IT, it doesn’t mean much.

I’ll Alt-Tab, Win + D and Win + L all day long. The day I learned Win + Arrow keys and Alt + Tab changed everything. I also get on servers or a backup unit where all I can use is a keyboard.

Scripting is one of those things that’s becoming more and more useful too. Automation makes things easier if done the right way.

 

[dave_d]

Just to add to this I work as a software engineer/software developer and I have known developers that didn't want to use source control.(Yeah, that's pretty bad too.)

 

[ChazAshley]

OP I feel your pain. Former high school computer teacher here, ended up being one of the default tech support guys to go to. My goodness.

Instead of using the mouse wheel, I've seen people click on the arrows on the scroll bar. I'm not even talking about the scroll bar itself to page up and page down, but no. AIMING THE CURSOR ON THE TINY ARROW AND CLICKETY CLICKING TO SCROLL DOWN.

When I tell them that you can simply press Spacebar or shift-space bar to scroll up and down or Pgup/pgdn ,they're like amazed - but then they say, "that scrolls too fast."

I've seen people using Word, press the actual copy and paste button that would be at the top tool bars.

I've told people repeatedly who use Chrome, that you can just type in your search in the bar at the top. Nope, they choose to go to www.google.com every single time to search.

To make sure that this generation wouldn't be a repeat, I assigned a project where students had to finish an assignment without their mouse and use their keyboard for everything.

 

[xrnzaaas]

I'm using probably 15-20 different key combination on Windows (some of them since Win95-98 times), but I haven't actively tried to learn more, because I feel like I know enough for the popular stuff. In my time (which was quite a long time ago no one tought the key combinations at school and unless you've learned them yourself you were stuck with using mouse for everything. I've shown several people how to use alt-tab or ctrl-s and they were blown away lol.

 

[BossLackey]

If this kind of stuff drives you mad, you need to get out more.

It's almost as if I'm literally bound to this place for 40-50 hours a week.

 

[Tams]

I teach and because students here have in the last couple of years all gotten Chromebooks, I've had to put aside entire lessons to get them using keyboard shortcuts. Some even need to be taught how to use a trackpad though (they think the touchscreen is best for everything - silly dumbos).

Most of the other teachers are next to useless with them.

It's frustrating and takes quite a while, but they do get it. And they're kids so most fo pick up stuff quickly. As when I was a kid, many of them are ahead of the teachers after a few months being left to play around with them.

 

[Lasha]

Some of my coworkers will copy config files from a remote server to make a single edit. I blew one new hire's mind when I showed him nano/vi.

 

[Husky]

I've seen people using Word, press the actual copy and paste button that would be at the top tool bars.

To make sure that this generation wouldn't be a repeat, I assigned a project where students had to finish an assignment without their mouse and use their keyboard for everything.

My elementary and middle school computer classes taught us to copy and paste with the toolbar menus. Nevermind shortcuts, we weren't even taught to navigate the right-click menu.
We were also taught to save images by copying them, then pasting them into a Word document, where we could then save the image.
I'd had unsupervised internet access since the age of eleven, so I was a bit ahead of all that.

I like your keyboard-only idea.

 

[Dural]

I have become the defacto IT guy on my team at work before the big guns are called in for real issues. As such, I've witnessed everybody on my team of 13 people use their computers. Not one of them uses keyboard shortcuts and I'm absolutely gobsmacked by that. That includes people that have been using the Adobe suite for decades.

It's not just them. it's the vast majority of people I've seen use a computer, regardless of age. Just clicking on tools manually and navigating GUIs when they don't need to and right clicking to copy and paste and all that. Drives me absolutely mad. It's like watching someone drive a car with the handbrake on and wonder why they can't go faster.

In my opinion, one of the crucial pieces to computer literacy is knowing and using the keyboard shortcuts for your OS and myriad software you use on a day-to-day basis. I'm running circles around my team because of this and it makes me wonder how much more efficient my team members could be if they just used keyboard shortcuts.

I honestly don't get it.

Yep, I see it with everyone I work with. I have to enter data some days and when I was off for vacation and someone else had to do it they said it took a couple of hours to do what I do in 20 minutes. I have multiple windows open and and use lots of keyboard shortcuts, they'll have one window and click on each thing then right click to copy and paste.

On another note, one of our IT guys was here recently and he didn't know how to login to the local computer on my laptop that was also registered to a domain. I had to show him how to do it. I used to work in IT at my last job, but it wasn't my main job as I worked at a small business and just handled it all for them because I knew what I was doing. Something like this has happened multiple times since I've worked here with the IT department, I swear I know more than them.

 

[Vicetrailia]

The only ones I use regularly are:
Ctrl + V, C, X, Z, Y
Shift + Up/Down arrow
Windows + L
Windows + Tab / Alt + Tab

 

[jufonuk]

Ctrl+alt+del

Delete *.*

I know the normal ones
Cup/paste/copy select all
Undo redo
Find etc
New tab etc.

But I do not use excel in depth enough to learn anything else because I don’t use it. Neither word really.

 

[Kacho]

It doesn't surprise me. Some people have their minds blown when they see me using shortcuts. These are the same people that click a desktop icon once and expect it to open.

 

[jufonuk]

The only ones I use regularly are:
Ctrl + V, C, X, Z, Y
Shift + Up/Down arrow
Windows + L
Windows + Tab / Alt + Tab

Use shift + tab to tab backwards

 

[jufonuk]

I work with a lady who doesn't know how to double-click. She highlights things with a single click, then presses Enter. It's remarkable.

 

[hollams]

I created an app with Autohotkey that automates over 50 functions that we do at work and I've given it to some coworkers, but most do not want to use it even though they are all very computer literate. People don't like change.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

It is the same reason why people still download mp3 instead of flac.

People still download music?

 

[GymWolf]

People still download music?

...yes?

I just use that free site that transform yt video into mp3.

Spotify and his montly 10 euros fee can suck my dick.

 

[GymWolf]

This topic is making me feel like a toothless caveman...

 

[ÆMNE22A!C]

You use shortcuts for your musical expressions?

 

[MilkLizard]

The other day I had to explain a colleague of mine how to Copy/Paste a file from an USB stick onto her Desktop. I was shocked at the level of incomptence shown and the only "excuse" was "I´m bad with computers, hihi."

Yeah no shit....

 

[AlteredForms]

 

[Tams]

You use shortcuts for your musical expressions?

 

[Dark Star]

Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V is an easy one that everyone should use, especially if your job involves copying and pasting lots of different numbers.

Knowing all the Excel shortcuts is important too like Ctrl shift L to open and close filters

 

[nush]

they ancient alchemical art of alt-tab, like pulling a dove from your sleeve

The Konami code for "The boss is coming".

 

[GnomeChimpsky]

I've found that even if you teach people who are not tech savvy shortcuts they'll still not use them. There's some kind of mental barrier there that puts them off.

Then there's people like my colleague who uses EVERY shortcut and is really cocky about it, like he's Carmack or something. I can't be bothered to learn all that shit. Sometimes it's faster to ju click a button tha trying to remember one of 200 shortcuts lol.

 

[Trilobit]

 

[Polygonal_Sprite]

I work with a lady who doesn't know how to double-click. She highlights things with a single click, then presses Enter. It's remarkable.

This one killed me. Wtf lol.

 

[lachesis]

Photoshop or other Adobe software - I use maybe a couple dozen - but most of other software, I rarely use other than a handful basic ones like Ctrl C/V...

 

[ProgenitorCastle]

Keyboard shorcuts are indeed magic. Mastery of even a few of them enhance the workflow of not just Adobe programs, but computer use in general. If you get a Stream Deck, you can program it to certain keyboard shortcuts! Maybe that's the solution for those who can't memorize them

 

[Spyxos]

I only use copy, paste and search. Many interesting shortscuts here that I did not know yet.

 

[Northeastmonk]

I only use copy, paste and search. Many interesting shortscuts here that I did not know yet.

If you like copy and paste, check out commands for robo copy and xcopy. Unless you’ve already heard about them. I work with CLI a lot, so understanding those commands makes everything a lot simpler.