To be fully functional in today's society, you have to possess digital literacy — the knowledge of using computers in the many ways they enhance our work, home, school, and entertainment. Being digitally literate means you know the handiest tricks for surfing the web, keyboard shortcuts to get stuff done fast in Windows 8, and more keyboard shortcuts to help you work efficiently in Word and Excel.
6 Web Search Tricks to Know
Knowing some basic web search words and symbols (or syntax) will speed up an Internet search, whether you’re using Google, Bing, or other search engines. If you use the following five tips with your search words or phrases, you’ll quickly find the precise results you’re seeking — and improve your digital literacy!
| Use This Symbol/Word | What It Does | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Quotation marks | Searches for the phrase between the quotation marks, exactly as written |
“Imagine all the people” |
| – (minus sign) Note: Make sure there’s a space before the minus sign, and no space after it! |
Removes a word from your search results | “states that make cheese“ –Wisconsin |
| * | Represents an unknown value | “A * saved is a * earned” |
| OR | Searches for either of two words | Olympics 2014 OR 2016 |
| .. (two periods without spaces) | Searches within a given range | cars $10,000..$15,000 |
Boost Your Digital Literacy with Formatting Shortcuts in Word
In Microsoft Word, you can use a variety of keyboard shortcuts to apply formatting (including italics, bold, and underline); change the font or size of your text; or adjust the spacing and alignment of paragraphs.
| Attribute | Keyboard Shortcut |
|---|---|
| All caps | Ctrl+Shift+A |
| Bold | Ctrl+B |
| Decrease font size | Ctrl+Shift+< |
| Double underline text | Ctrl+Shift+D |
| Format Painter – copy | Ctrl+Shift+C |
| Format Painter – paste | Ctrl+Shift+V |
| Increase font size | Ctrl+Shift+> |
| Italic | Ctrl+I |
| Font dialog box | Ctrl+D |
| Small caps | Ctrl+Shift+K |
| Subscript | Ctrl+= |
| Superscript | Ctrl+Shift+ + (plus sign) |
| Underline | Ctrl+U |
| Underline words but not spaces | Ctrl+Shift+W |
| Change case | Shift+F3 |
| Remove all manual character formatting | Ctrl+spacebar |
| Single-space lines | Ctrl+1 |
| Double-space lines | Ctrl+2 |
| Add or remove space before the paragraph | Ctrl+0 (zero) |
| Switch between Centered and Left-Aligned | Ctrl+E |
| Switch between Justified and Left-Aligned | Ctrl+J |
| Switch between Right-Aligned and Left-Aligned | Ctrl+R |
| Left Align | Ctrl+L |
| Left Indent | Ctrl+M |
| Remove Left Indent | Ctrl+Shift+M |
| Hanging Indent | Ctrl+T |
| Remove Paragraph Formatting | Ctrl+Q |
| Open the Styles task pane | Alt+Ctrl+Shift+S |
| Apply Normal style | Ctrl+Shift+N |
| Apply Heading 1 style | Alt+Ctrl+1 |
| Apply Heading 2 style | Alt+Ctrl+2 |
14 Keyboard Shortcuts for Moving the Cell Cursor in Excel
Anyone who works with Excel spreadsheets knows that they can become extremely long and complex. Here are some keyboard tricks for getting around in a spreadsheet quickly and easily.
| Press This | To Move . . . |
|---|---|
| Arrow keys | One cell in the direction of the arrow |
| Tab | One cell to the right |
| Shift+Tab | One cell to the left |
| Ctrl+arrow key | To the edge of the current data region (the first or last cell that isn’t empty) in the direction of the arrow |
| End | To the cell in the lower-right corner of the window* |
| Ctrl+End | To the last cell in the worksheet, in the lowest used row of the rightmost used column |
| Home | To the beginning of the row containing the active cell |
| Ctrl+Home | To the beginning of the worksheet (cell A1) |
| Page Down | One screen down |
| Alt+Page Down | One screen to the right |
| Ctrl+Page Down | To the next sheet in the workbook |
| Page Up | One screen up |
| Alt+Page Up | One screen to the left |
| Ctrl+Page Up | To the previous sheet in the workbook |