Page 29 - Windows 10 May 2019 Update The Missing Manual: The Book That Should Have Been in the Box

If you have a keyboard, the fastest way to almost anything in Windows is

the search box at the left end of the taskbar, where it says, “Type here to
search.”

In Windows 10, it’s on the taskbar, so it’s always available—and it’s how
you find and open things.

For example, to open Outlook, you can click there and type outlook. To get
to the password-changing screen, you can type password. To adjust your
network settings, network. And so on. Display. Speakers. Keyboard. Excel.

Photos. Firefox. Whatever.

Each time, Windows does an uncanny job of figuring out what you want
and highlighting it in the results list, usually right at the top.

Here’s the thing, though: You don’t need the mouse or trackpad to click into
this search box. You can just tap the key or button. The Start menu opens
and your cursor blinks inside the search box.

You also don’t need to type the whole search query. If you want the Sticky
Notes program, sti is usually all you have to type. In other words, without
ever lifting your hands from the keyboard, you can hit , type sti, confirm

that Windows has highlighted the correct program’s name, hit Enter—and
you’ve opened Sticky Notes. Really, really fast.

There is always a manual, mouse-clickable way to get at the same function.

Here, for example, is how you might open Narrator, a program that reads
everything on the screen. First, the mouse way:

1. At the desktop, open the Start menu ( ); click Settings ( ).

The Settings app opens, teeming with options.

2. Click Ease of Access.

Now another Settings screen appears, filled with options having to
do with accessibility.

3. Choose Narrator.

The Narrator tab opens.