Tip #4518 - Vista Quick Launch Hotkeys
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Q:
Last week, you told us how to add items to the Quick Launch Toolbar
in Windows Vista. Since then, I saw something online that mentioned
hotkeys for the Quick Launch area. Do you know anything about that?
If so, please explain. Thanks for all your help!
A:
You're absolutely right! Last week (on Friday,
January 11, 2008 to be exact), I gave you instructions on how to customize
your very own Quick Launch Toolbar in Windows Vista. I guess a lot
of you liked that tip, because various questions about it just poured
in over the weekend. It seems as if many of you are still getting
used to the new operating system and you really enjoyed learning how
to use a feature in Vista that you previously used in XP. Well, I
must say I'm very glad I was able to help. The Quick Launch Toolbar
is one of my favorite features too and it's great that you all now
know how to use it in Vista!
Now,
as the person who asked today's question suggested, there is a little
more to the Quick Launch Toolbar when you're using it on a Vista computer.
I thought about including this with last week's tip, but I thought
that would be too much at once, so I'm really glad this question was
brought to my attention again! So, the answer to the question is yes,
there are some hotkeys you can use along with the Quick Launch Toolbar
in Vista. Without further ado, here's the full scoop!
Basically, Windows
Vista allows you to use hotkeys for the first 10 items you put in
your Quick Launch Toolbar. If you go over 10, that's fine, but just
keep in mind that there will be no hotkeys for those items. Now, the
hotkeys are assigned automatically, so as soon as you add an item
to your Toolbar, it will be assigned a number. The numbers go from
1 to 9 and then a 0 (zero) for number 10. To use them, you add the
number with the Windows key on your keyboard (that's the one with
the little flag on it, usually located next to the Alt key).
Your Quick Launch
items are assigned their numbers in order from the left to the right.
So, for example, if the first item on your Quick Launch Toolbar is
Internet Explorer, all you have to do to open it is hit Win
+ 1. If your second item is Microsoft Word, just hit Win
+ 2. If your tenth program is the Windows Media Player, hit
Win + 0 and so on. That's all you have to do. Cool,
huh?!
If you want your
programs to be in a certain order for your hotkeys, you can move them
around. You can just drag and drop them into the slot where you'd
like them to sit. I have mine set up in the order of what I use most
often. I have Internet Explorer in the first spot, my e-mail program
in the second, the calculator in the third and so on. And with just
a tap of a key here and a tap of a key there, using my Quick Launch
Toolbar has never been easier. I'm sure you'll feel the same way after
you get yours all set up. Give it a try today!
~ Erin
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