“It’s supposed to be a challenge, it’s a shortcut! If it were easy, it would just be The Way.”
Every now and then, a moment of insight sneaks itself into an unlikely source. The above quote, from the Tom Green vehicle Road Trip, is one of those moments. It’s a fantastic line, which flutters through my mind every time someone says “I know a quicker way”. The line works because it’s true — shortcuts do tend to come with challenges, such as additional obstacles to navigate, or unmarked back lanes, all for the sake of shaving off 17 seconds.
This, however, isn’t true of keyboard shortcuts. A keyboard shortcut is the easiest route. That’s the entire point — we literally don’t have to lift a finger. When we use one, it’s like a moment of E.S.P. — a little psychic link between us and our machines.
Which begs the question: why do we use so few keyboard shortcuts? Sure, most people know the big guns — Undo (Ctrl + Z), Copy – Paste (Ctrl + C – Ctrl + V), and of course the Three Finger Salute (Ctrl + Alt + Del). But these are a drop in the ocean. Many keyboard shortcuts have faded into obscurity.
I suspect the challenge with keyboard shortcuts is in finding them at all. There’s nothing sexy about keyboard shortcuts. Advocates spice up their articles with phrases like “Become a Keyboard Ninja”. No one is fooled. (And, yes, I realise the irony here. If you’ve got this far, I doff my cap to you.)
As is the rage these days, let’s attempt to declutter our shortcut wardrobe. Can we narrow the complete list down to one must-know key combination? Absolutely. Hidden in that table is something so powerful that — since discovering it a few months back — it has changed the way I type. What’s more, it has removed a constant, unseen source of frustration from my life.
So what is this typing wonder? Two simple keys: Ctrl + Backspace. (Or Option + Backspace if you’re on a Mac.)
Picture the scenario — I’m typing my letter to Santa. It’s September, because I want to avoid the December rush. To get me in the mood, I’m drinking sherry by the bottle. My spirits are high, my typing less so. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before:
“Dear Stana Claud”… argh. Let’s just delete those last two words. Backspace Backspace Backspace Backspace Backspace Backspace Backspace Backspace Backsp …
You get the point. Deleting characters is tedious to read, let alone live through. And yet I’ve spent most my life doing exactly that, every single day — living out an endless cycle of backspacing.
Ctrl + Backspace fixes this. What’s more the solution is simple to the point of obvious: rather than just deleting a single letter, Ctrl + Backspace deletes the whole word.
In this age of efficiency, we are obsessed with getting words onto a screen — a quick Google search shows that the internet is awash with typing tests and courses to increase our WPM. And yet we rarely consider removing words from the screen.
Learning to touch type means retraining a lifetime’s worth of keyboard habits. It takes hours, weeks, or even years. Little wonder that most people are put off before they even begin.
By contrast, learning to use Ctrl + Backspace takes just minutes. Sure, this isn’t quite the time saver of touch typing, but in terms of bang-for-buck … boy, are we onto something. Say each word takes 1 second to delete. 120 typos per day, and that’s 2 minutes. Over the year, that’s half a day. And, let’s be honest, if you type any number of emails, it’s probably more.
Of course, this not just an efficiency drive. It’s also about improving your quality of life, even in a small way. There’s real pleasure in nonchalantly swatting away typos. It must be how Roger Federer feels, returning serves down at his local tennis club.
And — in true infomercial style — there’s more. A lot more. Once you have your head wrapped around Ctrl + Backspace, you‘ll quickly realise that the Ctrl button is powerful beyond your wildest dreams. Assuming, of course, that your wildest dreams are about keyboard navigation.
Want to hop over words, with barely a thought? Ctrl + Back and Ctrl + Forwards will do exactly that. Want to leap over entire paragraphs? Ctrl + Up and Ctrl + Down are your guys.
Wonderful as this all is — and, believe me, it is — it also seems like a waste. What’s the use in all this power, if it’s entirely unknown?
Which brings us back to the problem of obscurity. How do you publicise a keyboard shortcut? Frankly, no article about Keyboard Ninjitsu is going to do the job. History suggests word of mouth may be required, as was the case with Ctrl + Alt + Del.
You may well be feeling quite smug right about now, thinking ‘I already know this’. In which case, shame on you. Have you told your spouse? Your neighbours? All of your work colleagues? If not, then they too are stuck in that endless cycle, living their own lives of frustration.
But it’s not too late. Go to your window and shout it to the street. Pick up your phone. Tell the whole world that Ctrl + Backspace will free our time and rid us of our RSI. We all deserve more chances to drink, dance, and be kind to our mothers. After all, isn’t it time that this particular shortcut just became ‘The Way’?