Free Time-Saving Hints For Your Office Programs

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Everyone knows that most Windows programs, as well as Windows itself, have loads of built-in shortcut keys. But we also know that learning all the meaningless key combinations is too hard, so we all stick with the menus. Wouldn't it be good if there was a program which, when it noticed you clicking the File menu and then selecting Open, popped up an unobtrusive hint that, in future, you might like to simply press Ctrl-O instead?

If such a feature sounds handy to you, then you'll be interested in a program called Key Rocket.

You'll find the program at http://www.veodin.com/keyrocket/ and you'll need to start by downloading the free installer. It's around 0.5 MB, and malware-free according to VirusTotal and Web of Trust. The installer will then download another 12 MB or so (also safe, according to my own tests), after which you'll be ready to go.

Just carry on using your PC as normal. After a while, the program will learn your behaviour and start to pop up hints. If you don't want them, just ignore them and they'll fade away after a few seconds.

Key Rocket is really aimed at the corporate market, and its price reflects that. The full version, which you get to use for 5 days after installation, works with Windows and all of the Microsoft Office apps. Plus Visual Studio. After the trial period ends, and assuming you don't want to register and pay the full $100 price, it only works with Windows and with one other Office program of your choice. Not as good as the full product, but still worth having, especially if you spend most of your time with MS Office using just one of the programs in the suite.

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Comments

Thanks for the Hot Find ! A great proportion of Windows users continue to use Office

For the record, disableware like the above recommendation Key Rocket is not true freeware

I would be surprised if there wasnt other true freeware alternatives to make Office run even more smoothly

Maybe I am missing something, but my humble version of Word, Word 2003, already has hints when you use the menu, regarding the associated short cut key combinations, eg Open.. (Ctrl + O). Isnt a popup a little excessive ?

Perhaps we can have a distinct thread for time saving Office addons. Maybe I should be the reviewer ; )

Thank you moderators for your often unseen work in making techsupportalert the "go to" site for freeware

Sometimes feelings get hurt when heartfelt recommendations by members are denegrated as "spam" by moderators - I've been there done that

However, I totally agree this site should be a totally commercial-software free zone

Thats what makes this site superb

Once aware of this restriction (commercial software free zone), all members are even more motivated to find freeware alternatives, including for this Hot Find "Key Rocket"

Thank you for your support. It isn't easy trying to balance freedom of expression with spam management but we do try our best. :) MC - Site Manager.

[Commercial program edited out] has been doing this for at least 15 years. E.g., Next to File>Print is the hint "Ctrl+P". The same is true for Libre Office, PDF-XChange, Irfanview, VLC Media Player, and most other programs. I'm not sure how having an obnoxious popup helps people who can't read the helps that are already there.

So why is the alternative app edited out?

Commercial program names posted in comments attract even more spam than we have to deal with normally so as per our site rules, they are edited out or in some cases the whole comment deleted. MC - Site Manager.

MC, I've been a donating supporter of this site for many years. I'm deeply grateful to everyone who makes it happen, including you, and I understand the need to eliminate unnecessary work for the volunteers who kindly donate their time. As a user and promoter of freeware and open source software, I'm glad that this site focuses on noncommercial software.

However, I was surprised and uncomfortable to encounter the idea that we can't even MENTION the name of a commercial product during a discussion. This led me just now to review the forum & site rules (http://www.techsupportalert.com/freeware-forum/announcements/3617-forum-...). Here's rule 18:

"References to commercial software : Members/visitors may refer to commercial products in either forum posts, or main site comments, but may not include links** to them. The content in such posts must be relevant to the topic being discussed, and not posted as an endorsement for promotional purposes, or discuss the features and abilities of a commercial product."

Please consider either revisiting your decision or updating the rules to reflect current practices. Many thanks!

Thank you for your input. The moderators use specific data to determine which posts are likely to attract spam and which not (unless removed or edited), the details of which we cannot discuss here for obvious reasons. On bad days attempts to spam are around 50,000, yes, that's fifty thousand. Much of this is dealt with by automatic filters but the rest has to be sorted manually by myself and the other moderators who collectively spend hours on this marvelous topic every week. :D If members feel that a commercial reference is relevant to a particular topic they can start a thread for it in the forum, but spam magnets in the comments will always be strictly controlled. By all means members can communicate whatever commercial software details they feel are appropriate to other members using the site's PM facility. MC - Site Manager.

Aren't Windows and MS Office commercial programs? They're mentioned throughout the article. But a simple mention of MS Office's major commercial competitor is a no-no? Makes no sense whatsoever, no matter how you try to rationalize it.

It makes even less sense to whine to the moderators about their policies. They put in countless hours to make this site useful and interesting. They don't get paid. They have every right to do whatever they think best serves to make their workload easier. I don't see you contributing your time and efforts to the site. If you don't approve, shut up and move on. It's not like you are paying for the content.

Telling someone to shut up seems abusive to me. But then, the moderators certainly know what kind of comments they want here.

Very good find, Rob. We can count on you. Keep finding more in the editor area. Right now TEDnPad is king for me, Jovial editor is up there. too.