Main menu keyboard shortcut

A

andrefrancis

... yes it's really me!
On the PC, (in Word) for example, I can use Alt-I, Alt-F ... etc to open the Insert and File pop-downs from the main menu, which enables me to then choose quite complex (well used) paths using the keyboard. The same sequences can take two or three times longer using the mouse.

What is the equivalent on the Mac? Alt-I. Alt-F etc doesn't work!

I would appreciate any help.
 
it works a little differently.

ctrl+F2 simply highlights the menu bar for keyboard use, it doesn't open any menu's straight away.

either that or create you're own short cuts for the end result (the reason you went in the menu in the first place)
 
Lt Major Burns said:
it works a little differently.

ctrl+F2 simply highlights the menu bar for keyboard use, it doesn't open any menu's straight away.

either that or create you're own short cuts for the end result (the reason you went in the menu in the first place)
Click to expand...

I'm sorry ... am I being a bit dense? ... but surely the equivalent of Alt-F on the PC (which pops-down the File menu) exists on the Mac!

The replies given so far -

highlights the menu bar for keyboard use, and

create your own short cuts

do not help me much.

I have been using Macs since the beginning (1985-ish) and this kind of thing has always frustrated me. The mouse is excellent for exploring, pointing and clicking etc, but when it comes to performing actions that are needed 20 times a day, the mouse becomes a positive hindrance. On my work PC, in Excel particularly, I memorise keyboard actions such as Alt-F T S (for redefining print area), Alt-F V (for print preview) and Alt-E S V (for Paste Special Values) all of which I use constantly. I can do none of these in Excel on my home Mac and the mouse equivalents are slow and very arduous :)(). I have started bringing a laptop PC home (I can never get on the house PC) simply for ease of continuity.

Is there anyone out there who can help?
 
andrefrancis,

How about Command-O in Word for opening the file dialog?

Tell me what you mean by "insert" and I'll see what I can find.

Doug
 
dktrickey said:
andrefrancis,

How about Command-O in Word for opening the file dialog?

Tell me what you mean by "insert" and I'll see what I can find.

Doug
Click to expand...

Thanks Doug ... but it seems that I cannot make myself clear.

Look ... I have no arms or hands and cannot thus use a mouse. I have only a (admittedly very strong) tongue which can utilise the keyboard. How the **** can I get complete access to all the menu commands 'up there on top'. On the PC ... it's easy. On the Mac ... you tell me.

This is my problem.

PS Before I get the sympathy vote or am completely ignored as a physical deviant, I really do have arms (yes and hands too), I just want to be mouse-free!
 
Short answer: you cannot directly select a particular menu in the menubar. Best you can get is to "put the focus" on the menubar, then use the arrow keys to move around the menus and menu selections.

Many menu commands come with pre-defined shortcuts, as I'm sure you well know, and you can define your own shortcuts in the System Preferences > Keyboard & Mouse > Keyboard Shortcuts, clicking the "+" button and adding your own. AFAIK, you cannot add a shortcut for the "File" menu itself, but you can for any of the menu selections.

Perhaps a search of versiontracker.com for 3rd-party software may help -- something like QuicKeys or something, I don't know...
 
there are many things windows does slightly better, this perhaps being one of them. unfortunately, the specific thing you want to do is one of them, but there are ways around it. the best one is keyboard shortcuts, which control nearly every function in the menus, or you can navigate the particualrly dense and unintuitiv way using the arrow keys after highlighting the focus on the menu... other'n that, you're a bit stuck. one of those fundamental things that probably won;t ever change i'm afraid
 
Hey thanks EDCC and LMB ... answers I can use!

I didn't know about the arrow keys ... I will try these.

I also didn't know that I could define my own shortcuts in OSX.

Thank you again.
 
andrefrancis,

I just reread you messages and realized you wanted to know how to get the file menu to pop down. I don't know why I didn't understand that at first. I haven't used menus like that really since DOS.

One possible solution would be to make a macro. Of course, that may not solve your fundamental problem. You can't seem to make the Mac work like Windows. That's likely a futile endeavor.

Doug
 
Yes, is somebody working on a widget that will implement "Alt+F=FileMenu" for the macosx? That would be so great. i rely heavily on Alt+Space,F,E,V,G,B etc

(or even an equivalent for the "windows key" ie an apple key combo that brings up the menu system without mouse action)

both linux and windows do this keyboard/FileMenu control fundamentally, but mac has never understood this one.

Ctrl + F2 is unreliable - only seems to bring up the apple menu occasionally
(mac is way ahead in most respects but this)

thanks you guys, great discussions, cheers, michael
 
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