How to Become an Advanced Mouse User
We all see the
younger generation operate their computers effortlessly, and we can’t
figure out how they do it so quickly and efficiently. The truth of the
matter is, that a lot of their speed is thanks to better use of thier
mouse. Your mouse can do more than just point-and-click, and this guide
will teach you how to maximize your use of it. Better mouse control will
improve your efficiency and self-confidence in your computer skills.
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The Left Mouse Button
The left mouse
button is the one we mainly use, be if for selecting, marking or just
clicking away. Here are a few other things you can do with it.
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| The left mouse button |
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You can quickly highlight a segment of text by pressing and holding the Shift key on the keyboard. Then, click once where you would like the selection to start, and once more where you’d like it to end.
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| Section highlight by using Shift |
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To quickly highlight a specific word, simply double-click on it. To do it for an entire paragraph, triple-click it.
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A different way of highlighting text is by pressing and holding the Alt
key on your keyboard, then click and hold the left mouse button, and
drag the mouse cursor in the direction you’d like to highlight. This
will form a (usually) gray rectangle that will only highlight the text
inside it.
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| Highlighting a section by using Alt |
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If you’re browsing a web page you
like, and then see a link to a page you would like to check-out later
you can do it by opening the link in a new browser tab. Press and hold
the Ctrl key on the keyboard and then left-click on the
link. It will now open in a separate tab in the browser, and you can
continue with your browsing.
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| Opening a new tab by using Ctrl |
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By double-clicking on the top bar of
(almost) any window, you will cause it to maximize and fit the entire
screen. Doing it in a maximized window will revert it to its smaller
size.
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| The top bar - highlighted in red |
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If you’re using Windows 7 or above,
you can easily split the screen between two windows to increase your
efficiency. To do that, click and hold the top bar of one window, and
then drag it to one edge of the screen and let go of the left mouse
button. Then do the same with the other window, but drag it to the
opposite side of the screen.
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| Split screen between Baba-Mail and a text documet |
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You can transfer a file from one
folder to another, or highlighted text from one spot in a document to
another. Left-click and hold the file or highlighted text, and then drag
it to the desired location and release.
The Right Mouse Button
The right mouse button is mainly used
to open up action-menus. By holding the cursor over a file or
highlighted text and pressing the right mouse button, you’ll see a new
menu pops out with various options relevant to the highlighted
selection.
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| The right mouse button |
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To easily copy a file or a highlighted bit of text, right-click on it and select “Copy” (to duplicate the selection) or alternatively, choose “Cut”
to remove the highlighted selection before placing it in another spot.
Once you’re done, move the mouse to the place you wish to enter the
selection you copied or cut, and right click again, then select “Paste”.
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| Copy/Paste options |
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Another way of moving a file or highlighted text similarly to the “Cut”
option is to click and hold the right button over the text/file and
dragging it to that location. Once you let go of the right mouse button,
you’ll have the option to copy it to that spot or move it there
completely.
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| Copy/Move options |
The Mouse Wheel – The Middle Mouse Button
On most modern mice, you’ll find a
small “wheel” which also serves as a third button, as well as letting
you scroll through pages. This button has several functions that will
make your life easier as well.
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| The mouse wheel |
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The wheel lets you scroll up and down on a page, but if you press and hold the Ctrl key on the keyboard while scrolling, you’ll increase or decrease the size of the text and images on the web page.
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| Mouse-wheel click to open a new tab |
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If you click on a link with the mouse wheel, it’ll open it in a new browser tab.
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To close an open tab, click on it with the mouse wheel.
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If you click the wheel in the middle of the page, the cursor will change to something similar to this -
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Wherever you move your mouse while that icon appears, your screen will
scroll accordingly. The further away you move the cursor from the
original spot, the faster the scrolling will be, so it’s recommended
that you move it slowly.
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This final trick only works in the Internet Explorer and Firefox browsers – By pressing and holding the Shift
key on your keyboard and moving the mouse wheel down, you will move
back or forward on web pages you’ve visited (similar to the “Back” button in the browser).
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