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November 2, 2020 By Nate Forant

Save Time with These Mac Keyboard Shortcuts

 

Keyboard Shortcuts

Looking to shave hours off your workday and save time? Try these Mac keyboard shortcuts and make your life that much easier.

Save Time with These Mac Keyboard Shortcuts

By pressing certain key combinations, you can do things that normally need a mouse, trackpad, or other input devices.

To use a keyboard shortcut, press and hold one or more modifier keys and then press the last key of the shortcut. For example, to use Command-C (copy), press and hold the Command key, then the C key, then release both keys. Mac menus and keyboards often use symbols for certain keys, including modifier keys:

  • Command (or Cmd) ⌘
  • Shift ⇧
  • Option (or Alt) ⌥
  • Control (or Ctrl) ⌃
  • Caps Lock ⇪
  • Fn

Some keys on some Apple keyboards have special symbols and functions, such as for display brightness, keyboard brightness, Mission Control, and more. If these functions aren’t available on your keyboard, you might be able to reproduce some of them by creating your own keyboard shortcuts. To use these keys as F1, F2, F3, or other standard function keys, combine them with the Fn key.

Cut, copy, paste, and other common shortcuts

  • Command-X: Cut the selected item and copy it to the Clipboard.
  • Command-C: Copy the selected item to the Clipboard. This also works for files in the Finder.
  • Command-V: Paste the contents of the Clipboard into the current document or app. This also works for files in the Finder.
  • Command-Z: Undo the previous command. You can then press Shift-Command-Z to Redo, reversing the undo command. In some apps, you can undo and redo multiple commands.
  • Command-A: Select All items.
  • Command-F: Find items in a document or open a Find window.
  • Command-G: Find Again: Find the next occurrence of the item previously found. To find the previous occurrence, press Shift-Command-G.
  • Command-H: Hide the windows of the front app. To view the front app but hide all other apps, press Option-Command-H.
  • Command-M: Minimize the front window to the Dock. To minimize all windows of the front app, press Option-Command-M.
  • Command-O: Open the selected item, or open a dialog to select a file to open.
  • Command-P: Print the current document.
  • Command-S: Save the current document.
  • Command-T: Open a new tab.
  • Command-W: Close the front window. To close all windows of the app, press Option-Command-W.
  • Option-Command-Esc: Force quit an app.
  • Command–Space bar: Show or hide the Spotlight search field. To perform a Spotlight search from a Finder window, press Command–Option–Space bar. (If you use multiple input sources to type in different languages, these shortcuts change input sources instead of showing Spotlight. Learn how to change a conflicting keyboard shortcut.)
  • Control–Command–Space bar: Show the Character Viewer, from which you can choose emoji and other symbols.
  • Control-Command-F: Use the app in full screen, if supported by the app.
  • Space bar: Use Quick Look to preview the selected item.
  • Command-Tab: Switch to the next most recently used app among your open apps.
  • Shift-Command-5: In macOS Mojave or later, take a screenshot or make a screen recording. Or use Shift-Command-3 or Shift-Command-4 for screenshots.
  • Shift-Command-N: Create a new folder in the Finder.
  • Command-Comma (,): Open preferences for the front app.

For more shortcuts, click this link: Apple and Mac Shortcuts

Filed Under: How To Tagged With: Apple

July 1, 2019 By Nate Forant

Mac Shortcuts for Google Sites

From time to time we like to post ways to make things easier. Shortcuts are a great way to make that happen.

macbook pic

We covered keyboard shortcuts for PC users in the first part. These shortcuts will be very useful to Mac users who use Google sites.

Mac users

Basic shortcuts

Application
Open shortcut help ⌘ + /
Open shortcut help ?
Search /
More actions m
Site
Create page c
Toggle site subscription Shift + f
Manage site g then m
Share site Shift + s
Page
Edit page e
Edit site layout Shift + L
Revision history g then r
Toggle page subscription f
Page settings u
Print page ⌘ + p
Copy page Shift + c
Preview page as viewer g then p
Change page template Shift + t
Move page
(for pages besides Home)
Shift + m
Delete page
(for pages besides Home)
Shift + 3

Shortcuts in editing mode

Application
Open shortcut help ⌘ + /
Remove formatting ⌘ + \
Undo ⌘ + z
Redo ⌘ + y
Add or remove link ⌘ + k
Save page ⌘ + s
Cancel Esc
Menus
Open Insert menu Ctrl + Opt + i
Open Format menu Ctrl + Opt + f
Open Table menu Ctrl + Opt + t
Open Layout menu Ctrl + Opt + L
Open Help menu Ctrl + Opt + h
Text formatting
Strikethrough Opt + Shift + 5
Superscript ⌘ + .
Subscript ⌘ + ,
Bold ⌘ + b
Italic ⌘ + i
Underline ⌘ + u
Paragraph formatting
Heading 2 ⌘ + Opt + 2
Heading 3 ⌘ + Opt + 3
Heading 4 ⌘ + Opt + 4
Normal text ⌘ + Opt + 0
Align left ⌘ + Shift + L
Align center ⌘ + Shift + e
Align right ⌘ + Shift + r
Numbered list ⌘ + Shift + 7
Bulleted list ⌘ + Shift + 8
Decrease indent ⌘ + [
Increase indent ⌘ + ]

If you are someone who uses Google sites, there is plenty of useful information. We will continue our shortcut series, so there is more to come. Stay tuned.

Filed Under: How To Tagged With: Apple, Tech Tips

March 18, 2016 By Nate Forant

Laptop Comparison For The Consumer

Are you looking for the perfect laptop? Have you been looking for a comparison chart?  The market has gone through some major changes in the past few years.  The models today encompass everything from featherweight, business-savvy ultra-portables that barely weigh 2 lbs, to the behemoth gaming option that could weigh 10 pounds or more.

When people ask us which laptop is best for their needs, the first thing we tell them is that there is no clear answer. There are too many different types of laptops, and different price categories to suit them. However, we do give people a checklist that they should consider before splurging on a new device.

1. Size: If portability is your main concern, then you need to consider a notebook that has a small-ish screen and a light weight. Any laptop marketed as a Ultrabook should fit your bill here, designed to be slim and light. More to the point, though, look for a laptop with a screen that’s 12.5-13.3 inches in size, and a weight that is from 1-1.5kg.

2. Screen quality: You’ll be staring at your laptop for many hours every day, so you want to make sure you get a screen that is comfortable to look at. Many laptops these days also have touchscreens, which means they are glossy. Glossy screens lead to reflections, so consider a laptop that doesn’t have a touchscreen.

Next, look at the resolution. A 1920×1080-pixel resolution (aka Full HD) if you want plenty of space to line up windows and keep things in view. Finally, the viewing angles are extremely important. A laptop screen that touts IPS (in-plane switching) technology offers the widest viewing angles and the best user comfort.

3. Keyboard quality: For long typing sessions, you must get a laptop that has a comfortable keyboard. You don’t want to get a keyboard that packs in every key under the sun (think keyboards that have squished in number pads) because that can translate to a poor overall user experience when hunting for keys like the arrows.

You want a keyboard that has a comfortable layout with full-sized keys and some space around the arrow keys. The keys should have adequate travel on the downstroke and snappy responsiveness when you let them go. Make sure the keyboard is also backlit, so that you can type with an easier view on the keys in dimly lit environments.

As with the screen, it helps to try before you buy, especially if your main task will be typing.

4. CPU: It’s hard to go past any of Intel’s Core-based CPUs when buying a new laptop. Think Core i3, Core i5, and Core i7. These CPUs offer the best performance when it comes to multitasking and multimedia tasks. Core i3-based notebooks are generally found in entry-level systems, while Core i5 makes up the majority of mainstream computers.

Core i7-based systems are for those of you who want the best performance from your laptop. However, note that with a Core i7-based system, heat coming through the base of the laptop can be cause for concern, especially if you plan to actually use the laptop on your lap a lot of the time.

5. RAM: You need 4GB of RAM or more to get the best out of your system. More RAM allows for more applications to run at the same time, and for more data to quickly accessible by the system at any one time, which comes in handy for tasks such as editing photos.

6. Storage: Hard drives used were all the rage, but these days they are mostly out of favour, especially for thin and light laptops. This is because they were slow, somewhat bulky, and produce noticeable heat and noise. A solid state drive (SSD), on the other hand, offers a lot more speed than a hard drive, runs silently, and is installed in a form factor that doesn’t add too much to the weight and bulk of a laptop.

The only problem is that SSDs don’t offer as much capacity. You’ll be stuck with a drive that’s either 128GB or 256GB in size, and even then, laptops with 256GB SSDs are pretty expensive. Stick to a 128GB SSD for your new laptop, and you’ll love the speed with which it can load programs, access your data, and how quickly it can boot up your system (it takes under 7 seconds for some Windows 8 systems).

7. Battery life: Manufacturer-quoted battery life is often not indicative of what a laptop can do, and is based on the many variables that affect battery life. These are the screen brightness, the screen resolution, and the tasks that you run. If you run programs that need lots of processing, or if you stream lots of online video, or if you transfer lots of files over your wireless network, then your battery will drain a lot sooner than what the vendor has quoted.

Look at the rating of the battery in Watt-hours (Wh) or milliamp-hours (mAh). The larger these figures are, the longer the battery can last. For a 13.3in Ultrabook, for example, a battery with a rating from 44Wh to 50Wh will give you the best results.

8. Wireless networking and Bluetooth: This is something that is often overlooked when buying a laptop, but considering that most laptops rely on an Internet connection for the majority of their tasks, it’s an extremely important feature. At the very least, you need a laptop that has a dual-band Wi-Fi adapter. This will allow you to use the laptop with a dual-band router’s 5GHz network, allowing it to work quicker and perhaps segregating it from other devices on your network that use the 2.4GHz network.

For those of you who want the fastest networking, get a laptop with an 802.11ac wireless adapter (some laptops come with an Intel Wireless-AC 7260), which can work with the latest range of 802.11ac routers that have hit the market recently. Using 802.11ac, your file transfer rates will be able to hit speeds over 30 megabytes per second (MBps), and in some cases even approach 40MBs. This is beneficial when you want to transfer video files to your laptop before going on a trip, for example.

Also look for Bluetooth 4.0. Bluetooth isn’t only handy for connecting to wireless mice and keyboards, it’s also awesome for connecting to a Hi-Fi system wirelessly. We use Bluetooth all the time to play music through a stereo system from our laptop. This is music that’s either stored locally or streamed from Google Play Music or online radio stations while we work.

9. Full-sized SD card: Why would you want a full-sized SD card? Well, if you’re a photographer and you quickly want to get photos off the camera and to your laptop, the SD card slot is the best way to do so. Many modern cameras come with Wi-Fi to facilitate transfers from the camera, but that’s still a fiddly process. Some SD card slots are better than others, too. Look for one in which the card can sit all the way in, rather than a slot that makes the card stick halfway out.

10. USB 3.0: You shouldn’t get a laptop without a USB 3.0 port, and you should look for a laptop that has at least a couple of these ports. This is for obvious reasons such as plugging in an external hard drive to back up your laptop’s data, or for when you want to connect a conventional mouse or a fancy keyboard.

Of course, always want to make sure that you meet your budget.

Laptop Comparison Chart

Best Laptops of 2016

Best Laptops of 2016 options

This is a great comparison to what is out there. Depending on what you need and want. There are a lot of factors that go into choosing the right laptop.

If you need help or just have a question, just give us a call at 252-285-9592.

Filed Under: Tech Tagged With: Apple, Microsoft

March 23, 2015 By Nate Forant

How to Turn Your iPad into a Wi-Fi Hotspot

Setting up a Wi-Fi hotspot on your device allows you to access your iPad’s cellular connection from other Wi-Fi enabled devices like laptops, smartphones and other tablets.  You can set up your iPad to function as a personal Wi-Fi hotspot provided its running iOS 4.3 or later.

Follow these five steps and you will have your own Wi-Fi hotspot.

Step 1

Tap the “settings” icon on your iPad

IMG_0154 (2)

Step 2

Tap “network”and choose “general”to access the network settings.

Step 3

Tap the “personal hotspot” option located halfway down the list.

 

IMG_0152 (2)

Step 4

Tap the small button labeled “off” at the top of the Personal Hotspot menu.  The button should slide left, turn blue and switch to “on.” If this option is not available, you don’t currently have Wi-Fi hotspot capability on your iPad.  Contact your wireless service provider to add this feature.

Step 5

Enter a Wi-Fi hotspot password. You will only have to complete this step if you have Wi-Fi hotspot capability.

IMG_0151 (3)

 

If you do have a tablet or device that you want to use as a hotspot, don’t hesitate to give us a call if you need help.

Filed Under: How To Tagged With: Apple, Tech Tips

July 11, 2011 By Nate Forant

Intro to the Personal Computer

PC Evolution

Ever wonder about the evolution of the personal computer (PC)? Here’s a neat visual timeline in photos and chronological order. Enjoy!

Computer  Evolution

Evolution of the Personal Computer (PC)

Timeline of Computers

Timline of the Evolution of the Personal Computer (PC) This is a timeline of the Evolution of the Personal Computer (PC)

Computers and technology change every day. These days, most people have a computer right in their hands. Technology is a wonderful tool and seeing how computers have changed over the years is amazing.

 

 

Filed Under: Tech Tagged With: Apple, Microsoft, PC

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