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CSIS 572 WORKBOOK
Choosing Menu Commands
Using the Keyboard

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Choosing Menu Commands with the Keyboard

You can also select menus and menu commands with the keyboard. To do so, press the Alt key to activate the menu bar of the active window. The first menu title becomes highlighted, indicating that the menu bar is active. With the menu bar active, you can select a menu using either of two methods.

Procedures:

(Insert your floppy disk and open the 3 1/2” (A:) drive under the My Computer Window)

1. Use the Alt key to activate the menu bar of the active window.
2. Use the arrow keys to highlight the menu title you want, and then press Enter. or
1. Use the Alt key to activate the menu bar of the active window. Once activated, certain letters will become underlined.
2. Press the key that corresponds to the underlined letter of the menu. For example, to open the Help menu, press H. (ALT + H is the keyboard shortcut.)


Screenshot of the Help Menu of the 3 1/2 Floppy window

i.e. Help Menu

Once the menu is open, you select a command from the menu using the same techniques you used to open the menu. Highlight the command with the arrow keys and press Enter, or press the key that corresponds to the underlined letter to select the command you want. To close the menu (or any menu for that matter), press the Escape (Esc) key.

Control Menu

To open the Control menu on the title bar with the keyboard, press Alt + Spacebar in an application window (such as Microsoft Word or My Computer), or press Alt + - (hyphen) in a document. Then highlight your selection using the arrow keys and press Enter, or press the key that corresponds to the underlined letter of the command. To close the control menu (or any menu for that matter), press Esc.

Procedures:

(Open the My Computer Window)

1. Use the Alt + Spacebar to activate the menu bar of the active window.
2. Use the arrow keys to highlight the menu title you want, and then press Enter.
3. Press the key that corresponds to the underlined letter of the command.
(Such as x for Maximize.)

Screenshot of the Control Menu of the My Computer window
i.e. Control Menu


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Address of this page is http://hhh.gavilan.edu/jmaringer/WindowsXP/xpmenukeybd.html
Last updated September 20, 2005
For questions or comments, please contact
jmaringer@gavilan.edu

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