Microsoft Office Outlook Team Blog : Ribbon Key Tips

 

Ribbon Key Tips

Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 offers an easy way to access all of the commands in the Ribbon using Key Tips. To try it out, open a new mail message and press the Alt key to see the Key Tip bubbles pop up for each tab:

Pressing the key shown in the Key Tip bubble switches the Ribbon to that tab. For example, press N to switch to the Insert tab:

Once on the tab, Key Tips appear on their respective commands, as shown above. Pressing a Key Tip shown next to a command executes that command – just as if you clicked the button with the mouse!

For example, pressing T inserts a table; P inserts a picture; A then F opens the attach file dialog. Unlike shortcuts, Key Tips are sequences of keyboard letters preceded by the Alt key. You press the keys one at a time instead of holding each one down as you would in a shortcut. So next time you want to insert a picture in an e-mail, just press Alt-N-T.

Once you learn a command, you won’t need to look at the ribbon or switch to the mouse – saving a second or two each time you use a Key Tip!

Combine these with the keyboard shortcuts available in Outlook and you many never need to use the mouse again!

Tom O’Neill
Outlook Program Manager

Microsoft Office Outlook Team Blog : Ribbon Key Tips