Skip to main content

Handy Access 2013 Keyboard Shortcuts

Handy Access 2013 Keyboard Shortcuts
Access, like all Windows applications, is meant to be used with the mouse. The mouse is assumed to be your main way of communicating with the software — clicking Ribbon tabs, buttons, and drop-down lists, and making choices in dialog boxes to use things like the Report Wizard and the Access Options dialog box discussed in the previous sections of this chapter.

You can left-click to make standard choices from onscreen tools and rightclick to access pop-up menus — also known as context-sensitive menus because the menu choices vary depending on what was right-clicked. If you right-click a Ribbon tab or button, you get choices for customizing toolbars and buttons. If you right-click a database component tab (say, the Table tab while that table is open), you get choices related to the table.

Not a big fan of the mouse? Check out the Cheat Sheet for this blog. It’s full of powerful keyboard shortcuts.

Keystroke Function
F1 Opens the Help window.
Alt+f Opens the File tab.
Ctrl+n Creates a new blank database.
Ctrl+o Opens an existing database.
Ctrl+p Opens the Print dialog box.
F11 Shows/hides the Navigation pane.
F6 Cycles different areas of the program window.
Alt+h Displays Home tab on the Ribbon.
Alt+c Displays the Create tab on the Ribbon.
Alt+x Displays the External Data tab on the Ribbon.
Ctrl+s Saves the current object in Design mode.
Ctrl+c Copies selection to the clipboard.
Ctrl+v Pastes selection from the clipboard.
F12 Opens the Save As dialog box.
Ctrl+F4 Closes the active document window.
Alt+F4 Closes the active application window.
Ctrl+z Undoes the last operation.
Ctrl+; Inserts the current date.
Ctrl+: Inserts the current time.
Ctrl+’ Copies same field data from previous record.
F2 Toggles selecting all data in the field or placing cursor in
edit mode.
F9 Recalculates fields on a form or refreshes a lookup combo or
list box list.
Ctrl+Enter Inserts a line break in Datasheet and Form view.
Ctrl+Enter Opens selected object from Navigation pane in Design view.
Ctrl+Shift++ Inserts a new record.
Ctrl+Shift+- Deletes current record.
Right Arrow Moves selected control to the right in Design or Layout
view.
Left Arrow Moves selected control to the left in Design or Layout
view.
Down Arrow Moves selected control down in Design or Layout view.
Up Arrow Moves selected control up in Design or Layout view.
Shift+Right Arrow Increases selected control width in Design or Layout view.
Shift+Left Arrow Decreases selected control width in Design or Layout view.
Shift+Down Arrow Increases selected control height in Design or Layout
view.
Shift+Up Arrow Decreases selected control height in Design or Layout
view.
F4 Toggles property sheet window in Design view.
Shift+F2 Zooms in on current field in Datasheet and Form view.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Access Field Types and Uses

A field, you remember, is where your data lives. Each field holds one piece of data, such as Last Name or Batting Average. Because there are so many different kinds of information in the world, Access offers a variety of field types for storing it. In fact, Access puts the following field types at your disposal: Short Text Long Text Number Currency Date & Time Yes/No Lookup & Relationship Rich Text Attachment Hyperlink OLE Object Calculated There’s also an Autonumber field type, which is applied automatically to the first field in a new, blank database. The types just listed are those available for fields you create in addition to that first field — the ones that will contain your data. For now, suffice it to say that the Autonumber field is a field that contains an automatically-generated number so that each record is unique in that it has a unique autonumber, or ID. You get the word about the need for (and ways to create) unique fields later on, in Chapter ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Adding buttons to the Quick Access toolbar

Speaking of the Quick Access toolbar and all the ways you can access commands for customizing it, try this to add commands: 1. With any database open (so that the Ribbon tabs are displayed), rightclick any of the buttons on any of the tabs. You can also right-click the Quick Access toolbar or any Ribbon tab. 2. Choose Customize Quick Access Toolbar. The Access Options dialog box opens (shown in Figure 2-13), with its Customization options displayed. Figure 2-13: Pick a command category and a command to add to the Quick Access toolbar. 3. Click the Choose Commands From drop-down list and choose a command category. A list of Popular Commands appears by default. 4. From any (or each) category, choose the commands you want to see at all times in the Quick Access toolbar by clicking them one at a time and then clicking the Add button. As you click the Add button, the command you chose is added to the list on the right. Note that you have up- and down-pointing triangles o...
Post a Comment
Read more

Building a Database in Access

So you’ve read a few posts here at the beginning of the blog, maybe you’ve leafed ahead where I’ve referred to other chapters, and now you feel ready. You want to dive in and start building a database. Keeping in mind my previous advice to take it slowly, you can take a whack at it here. In the following procedure, you set up a new database and then use the Table Wizard to build the first table in the database. Ready? Here we go . . . 1. If Access is not already running, take a moment to start it. Chapter 1 shows you how to do this. In the Access workspace, a series of large template icons appears, below a Search for Online Templates box, accompanied by links to likely searches for templates that store Assets, Business, Contacts, Employee, and so on. 2. Click the Blank Desktop Database icon. A Blank Desktop Database dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 3-1. Figure 3-1: New blank databases need names. Give yours one here. 3. Type a name to replace the generic Databa...
1 comment
Read more