Keyboard shortcut – Control-S

Control-S saved me again!

While writing an article for a future edition of the soon-to-be-released digital magazine, Digital Genealogist, my computer restarted — all by itself. Instantly my screen turned black and I silently hoped that I recently pressed Control-S.

After the computer restarted, I opened my document and fortunately I did not lose any of what I had written – thanks to Control-S.

Control-S is a simple keyboard shortcut that many programs, including word processors, utilize to save the current document. If you would rather not have to rethink and retype due to a computer failure, be sure to save your document often.

My routine is to type Control-S after every paragraph. My paranoia stems from experience. Control-S is as simple as pressing the space bar and takes about the same amount of time. For me, using this shortcut is worth the extra millisecond of effort.

Saving a document in a word processor can usually be done via a couple of other methods too: clicking on the Save icon in the upper left, or clicking on the Save option under the File menu.

Windows XP has numerous keyboard shortcuts that will assist in quickly switching between open programs, refreshing an Internet page, or toggling StickyKeys. Visit Microsoft’s keyboard shortcut page here.