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I am a very curious individual and when I hear about something unfamiliar I take a quick deep dive through the internet to educate myself. The following browser & keyboard shortcuts have helped me in my pursuit of knowledge.

1) Open a new Tab

PC: Control + T

Mac: Command + T

This shortcut will open your default browser. You can change this in your settings, and for extra steps please check out the following links.

https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-change-your-default-web-browser

2) Restore tabs

PC: Control + Shift + T

MAC: Command + Shift + T

This keyboard shortcut is useful as it will restore any tabs that you have accidentally closed. Repeating the command will dig back into previously closed tabs of the browser session. Fun fact: if you use this command to restore a YouTube tab, your place in the video will be remembered! 

3) Close the current Tab

PC: Control + M

Mac: Command + M

4) Close all open tabs in your browser window

PC: Control + Shift + W

MAC: Command + Shift + W

Use this shortcut carefully! Make sure you are not deleting any unsaved work. Trust me, I have learned this the hard way.Another super easy shortcut to use is Control or Command + W. This simply closes the current tab that you are using. If you hold the Shift key while using these commands, it will close all the tabs! Just be careful with these though, you can delete unsaved work if you aren’t careful — trust me, I’ve learned the hard way… 

5) Navigate between open tabs

PC & MAC: Control + Tab

By default, tabs are cycled through in the clockwise direction. If you would like to move counterclockwise, use the following: 

PC & MAC: Control + Tab

6) Go to a site’s search bar

PC: Control + E (PC, Chrome)

Sadly, this command only works on PC and the Google Chrome browser, but is useful for mouse-free searching. This will send your cursor straight to the search bar at the top of the screen.

PC: Control + F

MAC: Command + F

These commands are not just limited to Google Chrome and Apple’s Safari browsers, these can be applied to almost any page that has a large quantity of text. Control or Command + F allows you to search a page for a letter, symbol, word or phrase you are looking for, as well as skip to that area and even show you how many times it has been used in total. For example, after typing the sentence that you just read, I pressed Control + F on my Windows machine and typed the word ‘and’ — this tells me that I had used the word ‘and’ 27 times up to that point, highlights them, and allows me to jump to the one I’m looking for. 

This can be handy if you are looking for something in a long list, or even a spreadsheet! 

7) Lock your computer

PC: Windows + L

MAC: Command + L

No more closing the lid, no more navigating to the Start menu or Apple menu.

8) Select multiple files

PC: Control + Click

MAC: Command + Click

This is useful for copying and deleting certain files or tweaking them in any way you’d like! 

9) Bulk select files

PC & MAC: Shift + Click

Wile Control/Command + Click command allows you to select multiple individual files, Shift + Click command allows you to select a group of files. For example, imagine that I opened my file explorer and had 10 files lined up in a folder. If I hold Shift and click on the first item, then hold Shift and click on the 5th item, the first five items will then be selected! 

The shortcuts do not end here. There are hundreds of shortcuts that are out there, and it only takes a quick Google search to find them. Be sure to share your favorite shortcut in the comments below!

Also, for more keyboard shortcuts, read our latest blog post (link below).

https://welsh.com/blog-keyboard-shortcuts/

When someone asks about keyboard shortcuts most people think about cut, copy, and paste. Most users do not know the many other keyboard shortcuts that are out there that can be used to work more efficiently and comfortably. All the shortcuts allow you to keep your hands on your keyboard rather than switching to your mouse to click on certain commands. To keep this article relatively short I have narrowed down the top 5 keyboard shortcuts that are under used.

1) Delete an entire word (without jamming the backspace button)

While typing, I constantly find myself jamming the backspace button to correct the single character that was improperly placed. Use the shortcuts below to eliminate this hassle!

PC: Control + Backspace

MAC: Option + Backspace

This keyboard shortcut will delete the entire word behind the cursor. This will save you only a few seconds, but all these seconds add up.

You can also delete an entire word in front of your cursor with the following shortcut:

PC: Control+ Delete

MAC: Option + Function + Backspace

2) Selecting text quickly

The next few shortcuts mentioned will help you quickly select text. This can be used to either delete what you previously typed, copy text, or even paste over the text.

PC: Control + Shift + Arrow Key

MAC: Option + Shift + Arrow Key

The above shortcut allows you to highlight an entire word that is behind or in front of your cursor, depending on the arrow you press.

Now if you would like to highlight the entire document, you can use command +A on a Mac and control + A on a windows machine. Also, if you would like to select a portion of your paragraph from where your cursor is use option+ down arrow on mac or control + down arrow on a PC. The same applies for going upwards.

3) Adding Emoji’s

Attention Windows users: at last you have an emoji picker, built right into your system. Adding in Emoji’s to your emails can personalize your message and make the conversation more casual. Also, if you are blogging it can certainly spice up your material 😂👍😎

Windows Key + Period or Windows Key + Semicolon

4) Quickly navigate through multiple windows

I am the typical multitasker who has a dozen windows open at the same time. Finding the correct window at a given time can be a huge inconvenience and usually requires minimizing and moving around the windows, perpetuating the problem! Well, I came across the perfect shortcut to resolve this issue!

PC: Alt + Tab

After using the above shortcut, use the arrow keys to select the window you are looking for. For Mac users, there are a few options. To easily navigate between applications:

Mac: Command + Tab

To navigate between open windows:

Mac: Command + `

The above command utilizes the tilde character. This seemingly backwards apostrophe is to the left of the 1 and below ESC.

5) Stop wasting your time finding information

These commands are not just limited to Google Chrome and Apple’s Safari browsers, these can be applied to almost any page that has a large quantity of text. Control or Command + F allows you to search a page for a letter, symbol, word or phrase you are looking for, as well as skip to that area and even show you how many times it has been used in total. For example, after typing the sentence that you just read, I pressed Control + F on my Windows machine and typed the word ‘and’ — this tells me that I had used the word ‘and’ 27 times up to that point, highlights them, and allows me to jump to the one I’m looking for.

Ctrl + F

This can be handy if you are looking for something in a long list, or even a spreadsheet!

One o my favorite saying’s of all time is, “work smarter and not harder.” By using the shortcuts above, you can truly cut down on the annoying tasks that take time away from what is important.

Please feel free to leave a comment on what you would like to read about as I am always open to suggestions.

For more keyboard shortcuts check out the articles below.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201236

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/keyboard-shortcuts-in-windows-dcc61a57-8ff0-cffe-9796-cb9706c75eec

If you received an email from an alleged Nigerian prince asking for $10,000 so that you can split his $10,000,000, you would not send him any money. The word “disaster” is one you never want to hear in business.

We have grown past the Nigerian prince scam, but have our email security measures grown as well? Are we keeping our education in line with the growth of technology? Education is the crux of the issue. Unless we adapt our own security measures with technology’s growth, we cannot possibly hope to keep our information secure.

There are many steps an administrator can take to safeguard an organization’s email. Spam filtering and spyware protection can implement proactive and reactive protective measures to keep computers and networks safe from malware. Administrators can enforce password policies, requiring passwords meet a certain complexity standard and expire after a defined length of time. However, the user is the biggest vulnerability. Your administrator could make the network as impenetrable as Fort Knox, but all that work is undone with a vulnerable password or any other seemingly insignificant security slips.

User education is especially important in the current workplace. With COVID-19 safety measures keeping many employees working remotely, many of us are relying on email communication more heavily than before. The safety we feel in our homes is juxtaposed with the vulnerabilities working remotely exposes. You cannot yell over to Carl and ask him if he too received that weird email. You cannot walk over to your coworker’s desk and input credentials to resources they may not have permission to view. Maybe you never even changed your Wi-Fi password from the default. Whatever situation you find yourself in, Mad-Eye Moody from Harry Potter[1] put it best when he said, “CONSTANT VIGILANCE!”

Laura Ells
[1] Spoiler alert: It was really Barty Crouch Jr. impersonating Mad-Eye Moody.

The word “disaster” is one you never want to hear in business.

Even if it’s a seemingly minor disaster, it usually means taking time away from business to investigate the root cause, clean up the mess, update processes, and sometimes even apologize to clients or employees who were harmed in the wake of it. AS everyone knows, downtime in any sense of the word is bad for business.

Not all disaster recovery plans are created equal. You need to analyze your business needs; evaluate how long you could survive without critical components of company and formulate a plan to meet those challenges. Simple steps such as routine checks of your backups for data integrity, identifying your internal members of an incident response team, and testing your preparedness can go a long way in helping you get through these times of crisis.

Joe Benson

Welsh Consulting offers a wide range of expertise in helping you formulate and test disaster recovery and business continuity plans. We can help you tailor a strategy that meets your desired goals and assist you in the creation of solid recovery tactics, procedures, and processes. A disaster recovery plan can help you prepare, prevent, and handle one if and when it does occur.

During the last few months, we have all had to make dramatic adjustments to our daily lives.

Going to the office was no longer an option for many, whether we liked it or not. In the midst of these rapid changes, employers struggled with the logistics of moving their entire workforce to a full remote operation. In many cases, the easiest adjustments were with technology. The majority of small businesses already operate some or most of their technology in the cloud, so accessing data and applications from any location is not a problem.

The more significant impact was on managing a remote workforce while maintaining some sense of cohesion and belonging. Many employees felt isolated and a little jolted from their “normal routines”. Now as we begin to return the workplace, it will take some adjusting once again. This is a new world with new norms. Old habits we’ve spent our lifetime learning (such as shaking hands) are no longer acceptable.

As you return to work, be patient with your coworkers and employees, let them know that it is an adjustment for us all and remind them in a respectful way when they “forget” to practice the new norm. Understand that everyone will process the stress of this ordeal in a different way and it may take time for people to adjust and acclimate. We can all work together to make the great return a little less stressful and a little more comfortable for everyone by just being kind!

Charlie Ross