Everyone Loves a Shortcut!

Last month, the blog featured some great tips for using the Chrome browser. This week's post will focus on some specific tips and shortcuts you can use with Gmail and Google Docs and stems from a personal experience from last week! 

I had just finished typing a school-wide email and, as I was proofreading it, found an error I needed to fix. I have no idea what I hit, but my entire text of my email disappeared. Of course it was saving my draft as I was typing, but what was saved was now a nice, blank email. I was super frustrated and couldn't even remember exactly what I had typed to try to redo it. Unlike typing in Google Docs, there was no "undo" button in my compose email window, however, I found a keyboard shortcut to undo my last action, which brought back my email text!

Gmail:
  
We have a toolbar in our compose window that has a lot of features most people use, like changing the font or adding a bulleted list. There are additional keyboard shortcuts that can be accessed by turning them on in the settings menu.

To turn on Gmail's keyboard shortcuts in your account:

1. Click the Settings gear icon (⚙) near your Gmail's top right corner.
2. Select Settings from the menu that appears.
3. Go to the General tab.
4. Make sure Keyboard shortcuts on is selected under Keyboard shortcuts:.
5. Click Save Changes (if you did make any).

To see the entire list of shortcuts available, when you have Gmail open, hold SHIFT and press ?. 

I did find that I was able to undo my last action and recover the text I had typed in the email I referenced above by pressing CTRL and z. I did not have keyboard shortcuts enabled in my settings menu and this still worked, just FYI.

Google Docs:

There are also a lot of menu options in Google Docs. If you need to search these menus for a particular feature, you can use the ALT and z shortcut to pull up the search bar.

Here are a few commonly used shortcuts (similar to what you may have used in other word processing programs):

Copy- CTRL and c
Cut- CTRL and x
Paste- CTRL and v
Undo- CTRL and z
Print- CTRL and p

To pull up the entire list of shortcuts in Google Docs, press CTRL and /.  Note: You can also press CTRL and / while you are in Google Drive to see the full list of shortcuts that work with Google Drive!

Are there any shortcuts that you use often or would like to see? Let us know in the comments below!

Top 10 Chrome Tips for Teachers & Staff

Trim your tree this year with these tips for using your Google Chrome Internet browser.

With Gmail and Google Drive, along with the thousands of websites we use every day, we are constantly using an Internet browser to research, communicate and interact with technology.  It comes as no surprise that Google Chrome is my browser of choice, and today's post is here to enhance your daily web surfing experience.

#1 Search Google Drive & YouTube right from your address bar!

If you are looking for a particular file or folder in your Google Drive, simply type "drive" into the address bar (or omnibox) and hit TAB.  It will automatically prompt you to search within your Google Drive. Then, type the name of the file you are looking for and you will be automatically directed to your results!  

If that frosts your nose, try it with YouTube!    youtube + TAB

The TAB search feature can be setup with any website that has a search bar.   Make an appt to set up other searchable sites.


#2 Duplicate a Tab

Say you are researching on the Internet and you click on one of your search results. Now you want to keep that tab open, but also be able to go back to your original search.  Right click the tab and then select DUPLICATE TAB.  Now you can keep one search result open while going back in another tab to see the original list of results. 


#3 Reopen a Closed Tab

This one is so good I had to mention it again this year!  Ctl + Shift + T  will open up the last tab that you closed.  Great for when you close something by accident, or if you want to see what game your student was just playing instead of doing his lab report!

#4 Guest Window / Incognito Mode


I can't stress this one enough.  If someone is logging into their account on your device, have them use a Guest Window or Incognito Mode.  This will keep from account confusion later on with Mail, Drive, Docs & more. 

Incognito Mode - Ctrl + Shift + N  
(This is also a great way to test links that you plan on publishing for your students or colleagues.)

Guest mode can be found under your profile name next to the minimize button in the upper right.   (If you don't see your name, please click the person and sign-in to Chrome)  

#5 Arrange Your Icons

If you use your "waffle" to find icons for your Google Tools, you may want to consider reordering them to meet your needs.   Simply click on the icon you want to relocate and drag it to a new location in the menu.

#6 Create Your Own Desktop Shortcuts

Throughout the years we have found that teachers love nothing more than a good icon to click on their desktop that will take them exactly where they want to go.  Now with a click and drag you can make your own! 

1. First change your browser window so that it does not take up the whole screen. 
2. Go to the exact page on the Internet for which you want a shortcut (Flextime, PowerSchool, SAMS, etc)
3. Highlight the entire web address
4. Click and drag it onto your desktop. 
5. Voila! - Shortcut!

#7 Bookmark Your Favorite Sites By Dragging

Desktop Icons are convenient, but if you are already in your browser, it can be cumbersome to minimize everything to access your desktop.  (And for me, that is a lot of programs to close to find the top of my desk. Same is true for my physical desk these days!)  

Bookmarks can be made the same way as icons, simply drag them to your bookmark bar.   Don't see your book mark bar? Try Ctrl + Shift + B to show/hide your bookmarks. 

Already have bookmarks ?   Want to clean it up ?  

Right Click > Edit 

Here you can shorten or remove bookmark names all together for more space!

#8 Flip Through Tabs Without the Mouse

This one is for my keyboard ninjas out there! 

Ctrl + 1, 2, 3...  Will give you the first, second, third tab in your browser. 

Ctrl + TAB will flip through your tabs in order until you find the one that you want. 


#9 Find What You Are Looking For.... Faster

This next tip can help you find what you are looking for in Chrome & elsewhere.  Ctrl+F will give you a "find" search box in the upper right.  Say you are looking for the part of this post about icons. Type "icons" into the box and hit Enter.  It will let you know where your text is matched throughout the page. 


#10 For The Last Minute Online-Shopper

I found this gem while Cyber Monday shopping this year.   When searching for bargains, or lesson resources ;-), hit Alt + → or Alt + ← to go back and forward.  Smart shoppers (& teachers!), shop around allowing this key can save you time. 

What are your favorite tips for using Google Chrome?  

Share below!

Snipping Tools

Using Snipping Tools

You can use the Snipping Tool to capture a screen shot, or snip, of any object on your screen, and then annotate, save, or share the image.  This tool is very useful to insert partial or whole images into a Word document, PowerPoint presentation, online document, etc.

You can capture any of the following types of snips:

·         Free-form Snip.  Draw a free-form shape around an object.

·         Rectangular Snip.  Drag the cursor around an object to form a rectangle.

·         Window Snip.  Select a window, such as a browser window or dialog box that you want to capture.

·         Full-screen Snip.  Capture the entire screen.

After you capture a snip, it's automatically copied to the Clipboard and the mark-up window. From the mark-up window, you can annotate, save, or share the snip.

To capture a snip

·         Open Snipping Tool by clicking the Start button. In the search box, type Snipping Tool, and then, in the list of results, click Snipping Tool.

·         Click the arrow next to the New button, select Free-form Snip, Rectangular Snip, Window Snip, or Full-screen Snipfrom the list, and then select the area of your screen that you want to capture.

To capture a snip of a menu

If you want to capture a snip of a menu, such as the Start menu, follow these steps:

·         Open Snipping Tool by clicking the Start button. In the search box, type Snipping Tool, and then, in the list of results, click Snipping Tool.

·         After you open Snipping Tool, press Esc, and then open the menu that you want to capture.

·         Press Ctrl+PrtScn.

·         Click the arrow next to the New button, select Free-form Snip, Rectangular Snip, Window Snip, or Full-screen Snip from the list, and then select the area of your screen that you want to capture.

To annotate a snip

·         After you capture a snip, you can write and draw on or around the snip in the mark-up window.

To save a snip

·         After you capture a snip, click the Save Snip button in the mark-up window.

·         In the Save As dialog box, enter a name for the snip, choose a location where to save the snip, and then click Save.

To share a snip

·         After you capture a snip, click the arrow on the Send Snip button, and then select an option from the list.