Opening MS Word from the START button isn't easy enough for you?

I have it on my 'quick-launch' and its just a click away,

Jane

 CTRL+ N: will promptly open a Word document
 CTRL+ O: will open a previously saved Word document
 CTRL+ W: will close the current window without exiting Word
 CTRL+ S: will save the current document
 CTRL+ P: will promptly print the current document
 CTRL+ Z: will undo the last action
 CTRL+ Y: will restore an undone action
 CTRL+ X: will cut the selected text
 CTRL+ C: will copy the selected text
 CTRL+ V: will paste the selected text
 CTRL+ A: will select the whole document
 CTRL+ F: will search for a specific text in the current document
 CTRL+ B: will bold the selected text
 CTRL+ I: will put in italics the selected text
 CTRL+ U: will underline the selected text

Here is a link that might be useful: -keyboard-shortcuts

Zep, when I do CTRL+N as I did just now when I was reading your message, Google home page comes up.
Ginny

I am like Jane, I love the Quick launch bar. Just 2 clicks for any program you place there. This is for XP and Vista, there is no Quick launch in Windows 7

I also keep the desktop toolbar on the other side of the taskbar. This keeps my desktop absolutely clear of icons and they are like Quick launch, visible even when content is on the screen.

CTR+n Hmmm, same thing here when I do it it opens a web site actually my home page. Not sure why though.

I do have it on my quick launch toolbar. I think one issue is the fact that because I am working with a very small screen, 15", I sometimes have it at full screen in which case my quick launch toolbar is off the screen. I definitely need to get a bigger monitor, just been putting it off. (My original Sony monitor died a year ago and I'm using my daughters.)

Any chance there would be a Firefox extension to do this?

Thank you for your feedback on this. Since Zep is also getting his home screen I guess CTRL+N doesn't work for some.

Ginny

I'm not sure I understand why you want to open a word doc from within Firefox. Firefox is for web browsing, not word processing.

"CTR+n Hmmm, same thing here when I do it it opens a web site actually my home page. Not sure why though."

The list of keyboard shortcuts for Word that you gave are for shortcuts for use from within word. Ctrl-N is a general "New window" shortcut that opens a new window in the existing app, whatever it is (if the app supports that).

Ok, thanks for that info.

For windows 7
"There's no need to use the 'hidden' Quick Launch toolbar in Windows 7. Just right-click any program and select Pin to Taskbar. This will create an icon for that program and place it on the left side of the taskbar. A single click launches it just like the old Quick Launch did in previous Windows versions."

Quick Launch is still available in 7, but it's hidden by default. You have to know where to look:

C:\ Users \ username \ AppData \ Roaming \ Microsoft \ Internet Explorer \ Quick Launch

"Simply create a new toolbar and point to this location. You'll have to enable 'show hidden files' to find it."

thanks to windows secrets newsletter

In reply to bpgreen.....

"I'm not sure I understand why you want to open a word doc from within Firefox. Firefox is for web browsing, not word processing."

I am one of those who like to collect things - in this case when I go to a web page with good information, I like to copy and paste some of the article onto a Word Document and file it for later reference. Getting a blank Word Doc up quickly would be nice. As I said, when I'm in full screen, I can't see my quick launch tool bar.

Thanks for reminding me that keyboard shortcuts are only for MS Word, I hadn't thought of that.

Firefox has lots of extensions, I wonder if there could be anything there for me?

Thanks to all for your feedback!!

Ginny

I

I just remembered a way to do this. It works in older versions of Windows and I suspect it would work in 7.

Right click on the icon for word and click properties. Click the shortcut tab and go to the Shortcut tab. Go to the box for shortcut key and press a key combination. It's safest to use something that uses CTL+ALT+ some other key so it's not likely to be in use already. For example, for Word, press CTL+ALT+W or for Excel, use CTL+ALT+E. Then click Apply, then OK (Actually, I think you can skip clicking on Apply). Now, when you press CTL+ALT+W, it will launch Word.

I tried your steps bp but CTL+ALT+W didn't do anything, not even when I already had word open. I tried CTL+ALT+B just to try another letter, no luck.

Thanks for looking into this for me!

Ginny

R-click the task bar and choose 'properties.' Uncheck 'hide the toolbar'. The quick launch should always appear to open Word.

Jane

Jane, When I rt click the task bar I do not get anything mentioning "toolbar."
Ginny

Ginny, you have to choose Properties after rt-clicking the taskbar.

I am rt clicking the task bar.

This is what comes up
"Taskbar and Start Menu Properties"

Under "taskbar"
Taskbar appearance

..lock the taskbar
..auto-hide the taskbar
..keep the taskbar on the top of other windows - this is checked
..group similar taskbar buttons
..show quick launch - this is checked

I have XP on my computer and am using Word 2003.

Ginny

'Uncheck' hide the taskbar.

Ginny, AutoHotKey is a small, easy to learn, free programme that will do exactly what you require and much much more!

You can simply edit one of the example files using Notepad and change it to suit your needs. If you make a mistake nothing gets harmed - just keep trying until it does what you want. It is even easier to use if you read the help file first because it explains everything in simple terms!

I have made a file for you that starts Firefox and Word at the same time when you press WinKey and q together.

Just open Notepad and copy and paste the following few lines into it and save the file as "win q.ahk" (without the quotes). It works when you press the WinKey and q together. (You can edit the file and choose any key you prefer later.)

*** copy and paste the next lines ***

; win+q Start Firefox and Word when you press WinKey and q together

#q::
Run c:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\Firefox.exe
Run c:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Winword.exe

*** don't copy this line ***

Make sure you don't miss the semicolon on the first line.

Colin

Here is a link that might be useful: AutoHotKey

do you have the word quick launch bar turned on? when I used office I had the quick launch bar up in my top right corner of my screen so that any time I wanted to open it the bar was right there. That bar is part of office itself and has to be turned on to start at startup, but that was on an older version of office that I used.
Office Shortcut Bar is not included in Office

Here is how to do it using your taskbar quick launch
How to add an Office application to the Windows Quick Launch toolbar

this little freebie app can help keep your quick launch bar clutter free and it works pretty well
Free Launch Bar

Colin thank you for that idea and for getting it ready for me to use. I did go to the website to try and learn something about it. I have to say I'm still a bit confused so haven't tried it, but may.

Ravencajen, the problem I'm having comes up when my quick launch toolbar is off the screen due to me hitting F11 so I can see more of the screen. Since I've got a 15" screen it's often too small. My hope was to be able to hit a couple of keys to get bring up a blank Word Document, not go back to the quick launch toolbar.

I may be confused or may not be stating my question correctly....I do have a shortcut on the quick launch toolbar for a Word Document.

Ginny

My Word shortcut shows CTRL + ALT + V, which only works for me when I use the right side CTRL and ALT keys. You could try it.

Pam

I'm using XP/Word2002 and Ctrl+Alt+W works for me.

Jean my Microsoft Word Properties window looks just like yours, I made no changes. Pam I tried your suggestion. I think it worked once just now, but when I tried to do it again, no go. Maybe it's my 8 year old keyboard.

Thanks for your ideas. Happy Thanksgiving!!

Ginny