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Move Resize By Richard Rost 
6 years ago
QuickTip Shortcut Keys Move, Nudge, Resize Form Controls Learn how to use the arrow keys along with Ctrl and Shift to move, nudge, and resize controls on your forms and reports in your Microsoft Access databases. Thanks to Matt Pattison for the tip! Other Shortcut Keys
IntroIn this video, we will talk about how to quickly move and resize controls in Microsoft Access forms using keyboard shortcuts. You will learn how to use the arrow keys, Control, and Shift to move controls in both grid units and smaller twip increments, as well as how to resize controls accurately without using the mouse. This tip will help you position form elements more precisely and improve your efficiency when designing forms 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 and it can get overwhelming. Just learn each week's new shortcut and you will gradually increase your skill set and your productivity. Today we are going to talk about moving and resizing controls using the arrow keys with Control and Shift. Here I am in design view of a form. If you are like me, sometimes it is hard to get that control exactly where you want it. It is sometimes tough. Set your grid up exactly the way you want it, but sometimes it is easier to use the keyboard instead of clicking and dragging it. With the arrow keys, just move the arrow keys left. Notice it moves the control, the text box, and its associated label if you have it associated with it. Same thing with a check box. You can move that around with the arrow keys. If you want to move in very tiny increments called Twips (twentieth inch pixels), just hold the Control key down. Notice how it is moving very tiny, less than a grid amount. Let me zoom in so you can see that better. Now the Shift key is for resizing the control. Hold the Shift key down with the arrow keys. You can make that control wider or more narrow, like that, or taller and shorter. Sometimes that is easier than using the mouse. Now the Control with the Shift key resizes it in Twips, little teeny tiny amounts. I am holding down the Shift and the Control key. If you mess it up and want to go back to where it was, just use the Shift key by itself to put it back on the grid dots. That is moving and resizing your controls using the keyboard. The arrows are for moving. The arrows by themselves just move the control using whole grid amounts. The Control key is for Twips, and the Shift key is for resizing. Arrows by themselves move one grid unit. Control key with the arrows nudges one twip. That is called a nudge, little tiny teeny movement. Shift resizes, and then Control Shift is to nudge resize. There is this week's shortcut keys quick tip. I hope you have been using last week's tip, which was using Control comma and Control period to flip between design view and form view. Again, only try to add one of these a week. Do not go and watch them all. It is kind of like when you see that big sheet that you can find in the store with all the hundreds of different keyboard shortcuts. Those are useless unless you know them already. Just try to add one each week to your skill set and you will do a whole lot better, and you will remember them better that way. I will put a link to last week's shortcut keys in the description down below. For lots more tips like this, including my full TechHelp Q and A and my full Access Beginner class, I will put links down below as well. Thanks for watching. QuizQ1. What is the primary topic of this week's TechHelp Quick Tip video?A. Moving and resizing controls using keyboard shortcuts B. Cleaning up your database C. Importing data from Excel into Access D. Backing up your Access files Q2. What happens when you use the arrow keys by themselves in form design view? A. The control jumps between objects B. The control is deleted C. The control moves by one grid unit D. The grid size changes Q3. How do you move controls in small increments, called Twips, in Access form design? A. Use arrow keys only B. Hold down Shift and use arrow keys C. Hold down Control and use arrow keys D. Hold down Alt and use arrow keys Q4. What is the effect of holding the Shift key and using the arrow keys? A. Control moves in large increments B. Control is deleted C. Control is copied D. Control is resized Q5. Which key combination allows you to resize a control by small increments (Twips)? A. Arrow keys only B. Control and arrow keys C. Shift and arrow keys D. Control, Shift, and arrow keys Q6. If you want to move a control back to align with the grid dots after resizing, what should you do? A. Hold Control and arrow keys B. Hold Control and Shift and arrow keys C. Hold Shift and use arrow keys D. Use only the arrow keys Q7. According to the video, what is the recommended way to learn keyboard shortcuts? A. Memorize them all from a chart at once B. Learn and practice one new shortcut each week C. Never use keyboard shortcuts D. Learn only the ones you already know Q8. What does the instructor say about using large shortcut cheat sheets found in stores? A. They are useful for beginners B. They are decorative but unnecessary C. They are useless unless you already know them D. They should be memorized immediately Answers: 1-A; 2-C; 3-C; 4-D; 5-D; 6-C; 7-B; 8-C 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 covers a handy keyboard shortcut for Microsoft Access users: quickly moving and resizing controls in form design view by using the arrow keys, along with the Control and Shift keys.Every week, I share a new keyboard shortcut that can help you work more efficiently in Access. There are many of them, so I recommend learning just one at a time. Gradually adding new shortcuts to your repertoire will make it easier to boost your productivity without feeling overwhelmed. In this lesson, I focus on refining the position and size of controls—such as text boxes, labels, or check boxes—on your forms. Sometimes, dragging a control with the mouse does not give you the precision you need. In these cases, Access allows you to use your keyboard for finer control. Simply using the arrow keys will move the selected control one grid unit at a time. This also moves any associated label if it is linked to the control. If you need more precise movements, hold down the Control key while pressing an arrow key. This shifts the control by tiny increments called Twips, allowing for more exact placement than the standard grid. If your goal is to resize the control, the Shift key is the secret. Hold Shift while using the arrow keys to make a control wider, narrower, taller, or shorter. You might find this more convenient than dragging with the mouse. To resize in smaller Twip increments, hold both the Shift and Control keys while using the arrow keys. If you want to snap your control back to the grid after making micro adjustments, just use the Shift key alone. This helps keep everything neatly aligned. To summarize: - Use the arrow keys to move a control by one grid unit. - Hold Control with the arrows for precise, small movements (one Twip at a time). - Hold Shift with the arrows to resize the control by grid units. - Use Control and Shift together with the arrows to resize in small Twip increments. Keep in mind that the best way to master these shortcuts is to focus on one each week. There are endless charts out there listing hundreds of keyboard shortcuts, but trying to memorize them all at once is not practical. Building your knowledge slowly will make it much easier to recall and use them over time. Be sure to check the link below to see last week's recommended shortcut, where I showed how to quickly toggle between design view and form view using Control comma and Control period. For more tips, as well as access to my detailed Q and A or beginner courses, you can find links below. You can find a complete video tutorial with step-by-step instructions on everything discussed here on my website at the link below. Live long and prosper, my friends. Topic ListMoving controls using arrow keys in form design viewNudging controls in small increments with Control and arrow keys Resizing controls with Shift and arrow keys Fine resizing controls with Control Shift and arrow keys Realigning controls to grid using Shift and arrow keys |
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| Keywords: TechHelp Access shortcutkeys keyboard shortcuts move, resize, nudge, controls, arrow keys PermaLink Shortcut Keys Move Resize in Microsoft Access |
