How to Use Mousekeys

The most important external device that connects to your computer is your mouse. Used in coordination with the keyboard, the mouse is essential to using any current operating system. Many people are not aware of the functions that mouse keys actually perform. They are rather simple actually. Here is how to use mouse keys properly and effectively when navigating through your operating system.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Turn on the computer. Before you can use your mouse, your computer must be up and running.

2. Familiarize yourself with the mouse-key functions. Most mice have two buttons on them, the left and the right buttons. Many new mice also have a roll wheel in the middle of them. All three of these buttons provide different functions when using your computer.

3. Use the middle mouse button as your scroll wheel, which allows you to scroll up and down Web pages and application windows merely by rolling the wheel up or down. Up navigates upward, and down navigates downward. You can also click the scroll wheel to lock the view in place and allow you to slide your mouse up or down to scroll, as opposed to sliding the scroll wheel. Simply click it again to undo this function.

4. Click the left mouse button to perform an action. You can activate, open and close certain objects such as windows. You can also double-click objects, such as applications or Web links, to open them.

5. Use the right mouse button to opens submenus and access additional functions. For example, if you right-click on an object, link, picture or application, you can choose to save it, see its properties or do a variety of other useful things.

Tips & Warnings

• Don’t double-click or click objects more than once; this can open multiple occurrences of the same application and cause your computer to slow down or even to hang and crash.