Hotkeys provide quick access to user interface application or system actions via combinatorial key presses.
Good software design assumes no point-and-click device present, and allows the user to access all application commands via the keyboard.
On Windows, main menu shortcuts are usually indicated by it's underlined letter, called a mnemonic. They are activated like so:
- hold Alt
- tap the mnemonic
- release Alt
Menu item shortcuts could have mnemonics as well, and are activated by pressing their mnemonic key (no Alt-modifier necessary at this point). These menu items may also have application-wide shortcuts, normally displayed next to the menu item itself.
Some applications implement system-wide global shortcuts, which activate regardless of which application has the user's focus. These are called hotkeys, so see the [hotkey] tag for those questions.
Shortcuts can consist of a combination of Alt/Option, Ctrl, Shift, ⌘ (on Macs), and function and character keys. Some applications use key-of-chord like shortcuts, where you press a combination (chord) of the above keys in sequence.
Consult the application's user manual for details on what shortcuts it provides.
Useful Links
- cheat-sheets.org - giant list of shortcuts, cheat sheets and reference cards.
- A comparison of shortcuts by Category, by Operating System on Wikipedia.
- Wikipedia Keyboard_shortcuts.
