Home Tutorials Training Consulting Books Company Contact us


Get more...

Using Microsoft. This article captures some settings / features in Microsoft Windows which I find useful.

1. Shortcuts

1.1. Windows

  • WindowsKey+d - Hide / restore all applications

  • WindowsKey+m - Minimize all applications

  • WindowsKey+r - Open the run dialog

  • WindowsKey+Pause - Opens the settings dialog

1.2. Outlook

Table 1. Shortcuts
Shortcut Description

Ctrl+1 / Ctrl+2 / Ctrl+3 / Ctrl+4

Switch to Mail / Calendar / Contacts / Tasks

Ctrl+n

Neu Email

Ctrl+Enter

Send Email

Ctrl+r

Reply Email

Alt+F4

Close Email

Ctrl+Shift+r

Reply to all

Ctrl+Q

Mark as read

Ctrl+U

Mark as unread

2. Windows Settings

2.1. Environment Variables

To set the windows environment variables, select Control Panel  System  Advanced  Button "Environment Variables". To check the content of a variable, open a command shell Start  Run  cmd and type echo%VARIABLE_NAME%

The following search term will work on Microsoft search and may work on Google Desktop search.

Table 2. Search
Command Description

mars to:Jim

Messages with the keyword "mars" to the user Jim.

attachment:mars

All emails which have an attachment named mars

mars filetype:jpg

mars stuff with pictures

from:Jim created: 23.04.2007

Stuff from Jim created on 23.04.2007

"mars rover"

Email with the phrase "mars rover"

mars +photos -rover

mars +photos -rover

2.3. Turn off the dynamic menus

If you do not what dynamic menus in Windows → Programs, select men:Settings[Taskbar and Start Menu > Tab Start Menu > Classic] and press Customize.

turnoffdynamicmenu02

If you do not like the dynamic menus in winword / excel / powerpoint, select tools → customize and then select "Always show full path name".

turnoffdynamicmenu10
turnoffdynamicmenu20

3. Excel

3.1. Simultaneously editing of one excel spreadsheet

Excel allows to edit it with several persons at the same time. To activate this, select the following.

share10
share20

4. Winword

4.1. Add Macrobuttons

macrobutton10
macrobutton20

Go to the menu entry Macro and click on it. Select the macro you want to assign to a push button, hold left mouse button and drag it to the menu.

macrobutton30

In customizing click on the macro button and press the right mouse button. Rename the button to a reasonable name.

macrobutton40

5. Powerpoint

5.1. Apply master layout to slide

Press Ctrl+Space to apply the master slide layout to the slide.

6. Appendix: Additional Windows Settings

6.1. Language Settings for Office

To change the language in which office works, select the following.

languagesettingsoffice
languagesettingsoffice20

6.2. Language Settings

Control Panel  Regional and Language Settings  Languages Click on Details and then Key Settings

6.3. Map a network drive

You can map a network driver to a local driver which make it easier to access it.

mapnetworkdriver10
mapnetworkdriver20

6.4. Create a link toolbar

If you want to have quick access to your folders / network drivers you can create your own toolbar and put your links into it.

Right-click on the toolbar and select toolbar → own toolbar.

owntoolbar10

Right-click on the toolbar and select toolbar → own toolbar.

owntoolbar20

You can now pull the new toolbar on your desktop and then position it for example at the top of your screen. Fill the folder with links and you will have easy access to your folders.

owntoolbar30
owntoolbar40

7. Links and Literature