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Navigate Ribbon By Richard Rost 
6 years ago
QuickTip Shortcut Keys Navigate the Ribbon with ALT Key Learn how to navigate the Ribbon in Access using the ALT key followed by a key combination for your favorite commands. Other Shortcut Keys
IntroIn this video, we will talk about how to use the Alt key to navigate the ribbon in Microsoft Access using keyboard shortcuts. You'll see how to access different ribbon tabs and commands without touching the mouse, including how to use letter combinations for menu options, create new tables, sort data, and utilize the Quick Launch Toolbar, all by just using your keyboard. This is a helpful tip for anyone looking to increase their productivity and reduce mouse usage in Microsoft Access.TranscriptWelcome to another TechHelp Quick Tip video brought to you by AccessLearningZone.com. I am your instructor, Richard Rost.Once a week I am going to be presenting a new keyboard shortcut tip. Do not try to learn them all at once. There are tons of them. It can be overwhelming. Just learn one new shortcut each week to gradually increase your skillset and your productivity. Today's shortcut key is using the Alt key for ribbon navigation. If you are like me, sometimes while you are working and you are typing stuff into the keyboard, you are in a session of data entry. You do not want to stop and break your rhythm to grab the mouse. Personally, I have some carpal tunnel going out of my elbow, so I like to use the mouse as little as possible, especially since I use it all day long. That is one of the reasons why I am doing this keyboard shortcut series: A, I like to use them and B, there are lots of them I do not even know, so I am teaching myself. One thing you can do, if you do not like using the mouse, is you can use the Alt key to navigate through the ribbon and get to pretty much any command you want, even if the command that you like does not have its own prebuilt shortcut key. Some of the ones are easy, like cut, copy, and paste - Control X, Control C. Some of them are not quite so easy. Let us say here I am on my customer form before I want to get rid of the mouse, slide it over there. Not going to want to use it. I can tab through the fields and do my data entry. Let us say I am sitting here on last name and I want to sort my last name. I do not want to touch the mouse. The first thing you do is press the Alt key on the keyboard, just press it and release it. Now you will see a bunch of little labels pop up above the ribbon. You can use those to go anywhere you want. You kind of have to know where the buttons are that you like. I know the sort option is on the Home tab, so I am going to go Home H. Now you can see a new set of labels pop up. Now I want to sort by last name ascending, so I am going to click the E key. There we go, and now it is sorted by last name ascending. Want to go somewhere else? Just hit the Alt key. You can see all the different options there. You want to go to the Create menu, go to C. You can pick any of those. Some of the ones on here have two letters. That means you press them in succession, not at the same time. If you want to create a table, for example, it would be T and then N. They do that because you see how there are two T's there, so now I will press N. And I am creating a table. See that? Control F4 closes a window inside of Access. So, Control F4. I have not covered that one yet, that is a sneak preview. Want to go somewhere else? Alt, and then how about External Data? X. If you do not want to be here now, hit Escape to back out. There you go. Back out again. Escape always backs you up. Alt, and you can see there are numbers up there for anything on your Quick Launch Toolbar across the top there. So, two, for example, would be undo for me. One would be save. I will hit Escape. That is how you navigate through the ribbon commands, all of them pretty much, using the keyboard. That is it. Nice and quick. The keyboard shortcut key videos are supposed to be quick. Just learn one a week. I am telling you, learn one a week. Do not try to watch them all. Go through, do one a week. That way they will stick in your brain. Now start using that. I will see you next week. QuizQ1. What is the main benefit of learning keyboard shortcuts one at a time?A. It prevents overwhelming yourself and increases productivity gradually B. It allows you to use only the mouse C. It decreases your productivity D. It is required to pass a certification exam Q2. Which key is used as the primary method for navigating the ribbon without a mouse? A. Shift B. Tab C. Alt D. Control Q3. What happens when you press and release the Alt key in Microsoft Access? A. The application closes B. Labels pop up above the ribbon showing navigation options C. All fields become highlighted D. It opens the file menu directly Q4. If a ribbon command has two letters as a shortcut (for example, T and N for creating a table), how do you use them? A. Press both letters at the same time B. Press the first letter only C. Press them in succession, one after another D. Press Enter after the first letter Q5. According to the video, what is the shortcut to sort a field by last name ascending in the example? A. Alt + L B. Alt, then S, then A C. Alt, H, then E D. Control + E Q6. What should you do if you want to back out of ribbon navigation or cancel an action? A. Press Tab B. Press Escape C. Press Control + Z D. Press Shift Q7. What is the purpose of numbers displayed above the Quick Launch Toolbar after pressing Alt? A. They refer to the ribbon tabs B. They are used to open system menus C. They identify keyboard shortcuts for toolbar items D. They are used for formatting Q8. What is the shortcut mentioned for closing a window inside of Access? A. Control + W B. Control + Q C. Control + F4 D. Alt + F4 Q9. What is the instructor's advice regarding the frequency of learning keyboard shortcuts? A. Learn as many as possible per day B. Learn one new shortcut each week C. Memorize all of them at once D. Only use mouse and ignore shortcuts Answers: 1-A; 2-C; 3-B; 4-C; 5-C; 6-B; 7-C; 8-C; 9-B DISCLAIMER: Quiz questions are AI generated. If you find any that are wrong, don't make sense, or aren't related to the video topic at hand, then please post a comment and let me know. Thanks. SummaryToday's video from Access Learning Zone presents a helpful keyboard shortcut tip for Microsoft Access users. I want to share one new shortcut each week so you can gradually build your keyboard skills and boost your overall productivity. Trying to learn every shortcut at once can be overwhelming, so my recommendation is to stick to just one per week.This week's shortcut involves using the Alt key to navigate the ribbon. If you spend a lot of time entering data or typing, the last thing you want is to break your flow just to reach for the mouse. Personally, I deal with some carpal tunnel issues, so minimizing mouse use is important for me, especially given how much I work with computers every day. That is one of the reasons why I started this series. Not only do I enjoy using shortcuts myself, but I actually discover new ones while teaching them. Even if your favorite command does not have a built-in shortcut, you can use the Alt key to access almost any ribbon command. Some commands have easy shortcuts like Ctrl X for cut and Ctrl C for copy, but many others do not, so this method can be very useful. Let me give an example. Suppose you are working on a customer form and want to avoid using the mouse entirely. You can use the Tab key to move between fields while doing data entry. Imagine you are in the last name field and decide to sort by last name, but want to keep your hands on the keyboard. To do this, just tap the Alt key once. This makes a set of small labels appear over the ribbon tabs and commands. Each label corresponds to a key you can press to open that part of the ribbon. For example, if you know the sort command is on the Home tab, you would hit H for Home. More labels will then show up, specific to commands on that tab. In this scenario, pressing E would choose to sort the records by last name in ascending order. You can use the Alt key at any time to trigger those labels and see your navigation options. If you want to move to another ribbon section, like the Create menu, you would press C after Alt. Some commands use two letters in sequence, not at the same time. For example, to create a new table, you would press T and then N because there are several commands starting with T. I also mention a control shortcut: Ctrl F4 lets you close a window inside Access. I have not fully covered that shortcut yet, but you will see it in an upcoming tip. If you want to back out of a menu, just press the Escape key. This will move you back step by step to where you started. One more thing: when you press Alt, you will also notice numbers above the Quick Launch Toolbar along the top. These correspond to the commands you have placed there, so you can use numbers to activate those shortcuts as well. For instance, two might be Undo, one could be Save, and so on. This method lets you navigate just about every command on the ribbon with your keyboard alone, helping you stay productive without interrupting your typing. That wraps up this week's shortcut. Remember, these videos are meant to be quick lessons, and my advice is to focus on one shortcut per week. Building up your knowledge gradually is the surest way to make these techniques stick. If you would like a complete video tutorial with step-by-step instructions for everything discussed here, you can find it on my website at the link below. Live long and prosper, my friends. Topic ListUsing the Alt key for ribbon navigation in AccessNavigating to ribbon tabs with keyboard shortcuts Accessing ribbon commands using key tips Selecting commands with multi-letter shortcuts Sorting data using keyboard navigation Creating a table using ribbon keyboard shortcuts Accessing Quick Launch Toolbar with keyboard Using Escape to exit ribbon navigation |
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| Keywords: TechHelp Access shortcutkeys keyboard shortcuts, navigate ribbon, alt key combinations PermaLink Shortcut Keys Navigate Ribbon in Microsoft Access |
