CREATE SHORTCUTS S FOR ANY TASK

What you need: Windows XP, Vista, 7 or 8; IOS or Android Time required: 30 mins

are several programs that let you create keyboard shortcuts for tasks such as launching programs or websites, entering text and opening folders The free Clavier+, our new favourite hotkey-creation

program, does all this and more. It’s simple to set up and offers loads of ways to create and save your shortcuts. We’ll show you how it works and how to save a list of all your shortcuts for easy reference.

STEP 1

To install the program go to www.snipca. com/21796, click the ‘Download installer’ link (highlighted in a red border), then run the setup file. Click Finish at the end of the process to launch the Clavier+. You’ll see some default keyboard shortcuts already set up, including ones to open the Calculator and Notepad on your PC 1 (you can’t use these keyboard shortcuts unless you close Clavier+ 2 ). To open it click the program’s icon 3 in your notification area (click the up arrow 4 if it’s not visible).

STEP2

To delete a default keyboard shortcut you don’t want, simply, select it in the list, then click the Delete icon 1 . To modify a shortcut, select it, then click the pen icon 2 . Next, click the Shortcut field in the pop-up window that appears, then press the key combination you want to use. Unlike other programs, Clavier+ lets you distinguish between the left and right modifier keys (Shift, Ctrl, Alt) 3 . You can also set certain conditions for activating those shortcuts – for example, your Caps, Number and Scroll Lock keys should be switched on/off 4 . Click OK twice to apply your changes.

STEP3

To create a keyboard shortcut to launch your browser (or any program), click the ‘+’ icon 1 , move your cursor to Program 2 , then Programs 3 . Next, scroll through the list that opens 4 , then click to select your browser program. Click inside the Shortcut field in the pop-up window, then press the keys you want to use as your keyboard shortcut and set the criteria you want to use (see Step 2). Click OK twice, then try your keyboard shortcut to confirm it works.

STEP4

A keyboard shortcut that opens a favourite website in your browser can be very handy. To create this, click the ‘+’ icon, then ‘Display a Website’. Now click inside the Shortcut field, press the key combination you’ll use to launch your website, then click OK. Now select your keyboard shortcut in the list 1 , enter the website address 2 , then click OK 3 .

STEP5

You can also create a hotkey to open a particular folder or drive on your PC. To do that, click the ‘+’ icon 1 , then click Open Folder. Navigate through the dropdown menus 2 in the ‘Browse for Folder’ pop-up menu that appears, select the folder or drive you want to open 3 , then click OK 4 . Now click inside the Shortcut field, press the keys you want to use for your shortcut, then click OK twice.

STEP6

To create a shortcut to paste a section of text you type often (such as your address, email or phone number), click the ‘+’ icon, then select Write Text. Specify your keyboard shortcut by pressing the key combination you want in the Shortcut field, then click OK. Next, select the shortcut you created 1 , enter the text you want to generate in the ‘Write text’ field 2 , then click OK 3 . To paste this text into any program (such as Word or your email), simply press the keyboard shortcut you created.

STEP7

You can also create a shortcut for generating special characters (such as copyright and trademark symbols) and accented letters (such as é and ü). To do that, click the ‘+’ icon, move your cursor to Special Character 1 , select the character you want, then create a keyboard shortcut for it (see Step 2). Finally, you should copy and paste the entire list of shortcuts you’ve created to another program (such as Word or email), then save or print this for future reference. To do this click ‘Copy list’ 2 , go to the program you want to save it to and paste it there. ●