One of the things I love about my job as editor of The Organized Executive is learning handy tips while I research topics for our “Technology Shortcuts” page in every issue. Recently I learned one that makes it a snap to access the folders and documents that I use frequently.

I have created shortcuts on my desktop, but reaching them when I have several programs open required me to go to the desktop with this shortcut: Windows Key, D. That wasn’t bad, but I discovered a better way from the Computeractive site.

After creating a desktop shortcut, you can create your own keyboard shortcut to open it on top of all your open windows. Simply right-click on the desktop shortcut, and go to Properties. From there select the Shortcut tab, and in the “Shortcut key” box type the letter you want to use. Windows will add Control and Alt to the key you selected.

So, for example, I can now access my Proofread file with the shortcut: Control, Alt, P.

While testing the shortcut, I discovered that it works only with folders on the XP operating system, but with newer versions of Windows you can create keyboard shortcuts for documents too.

What’s your favorite tip for accessing files and folders quickly?

[Image Source: Sebastian Anthony]