Using Short-Cut Keys

Shortcut Keys

Like MS Windows and Mac operating systems, shortcut keys can increase your productivity. Many of the shortcut keys in Linux are similar to the shortcut keys in MS Windows, but there are occasional differences.

Listing of Shortcut Keys

Here is a link to a comprehensive list of shortcut keys by category: Shortcut Keys by Category (Scroll down page to see shortcut key listings...)

Assign / Change Shortcut Key Operations

There are times that I wish to change certain shortcut keys to have it work like MS Windows (I guess I have been "conditioned" in the past...). For example, instead of pressing CTRL-ALT-d to view the desktop, I would like to just press Windows-d...

You can easily reassign the shortcut keys. Let's reassign the shortcut key to use Windows-d to view the desktop

Steps to Reassign Shortcut Keys:

1. Click on SYSTEM -> PREFERENCES -> Keyboard Shortcuts.
2. The Keyboard Shortcuts Dialog box should appear. The keyboard shortcuts should be divided into categories such as "Custom Shortcuts", "Desktop", "Sound", and "Windows Management".
3. Scroll to category labelled "Windows Management".
4. Click on action labelled " Hide all normal windows and set focus to desktop background".
5. Press the new shortcut key combination.
6. Close the "Keyboard Shortcuts" dialog box.

Mouse Shortcuts

Linux has a great mouse shortcut that MS Windows doesn't have (at least by default). To quickly copy and paste text:

1. Select text with mouse.
2. Move to the desired location, and middle-click the mouse to paste text.

I'm always surprised that MS Windows haven't adopted this neat shortcut (at least from default install of the OS). It is just another reason why this author likes working in the Linux environment...