#301 – Using Access Keys

An access key is a keyboard shortcut assigned to a control that has an associated text label.  Access keys allow users to activate a control using the keyboard rather than using the mouse to click on the control.

Access keys are triggered by pressing the ALT key along with one of the characters in the control’s label.  When you click or hold the ALT key, Windows will show you the access keys for all controls in the current window by underlining the character used for the access key.

Here’s the main window for an application that was just started.  The access keys are not visible.

When you press the ALT key, Windows underlines the characters corresponding to the access keys.

You can activate a control by pressing the associated access key after pressing ALT.  Pressing ALT-H in this window would be equivalent to clicking on the “Ham” button.