Hello. This is Gerry Chevalier from the GTT Edmonton Chapter. This weekly blog provides tips that I find useful as a keyboard user of Windows. The information is for Windows10 and Office 365, although many tips still apply to older versions.  The tips do not require a screen reader unless specifically noted. Thus, the tips apply whether you are a keyboard user or low vision mouse user. Here is this week’s tip.

Microsoft Word – F12 Save As Shortcut

When editing a new Microsoft Word document that has not yet been saved, you may press Control+S to save the document. However, this brings up the Back Stage Save-As dialogue which is accessible but somewhat awkward to use from the keyboard.

• Instead of Control+S, you may prefer to press F12. This brings up the more familiar Save-As dialogue with focus in the file name edit box where you can type your new document’s file name. If you want to choose a specific folder to save the document, then Shift+Tab twice to reach the list of files of the current destination folder from where you can navigate to another folder.
• Note that there are many controls in the Save As dialogue. Rather than pressing TAB many times to reach the Save button, you may just press Alt+S from any of the dialogue fields to activate the Save button.
• The “Save As Type” field is worth noting. Press TAB once from the file name field to reach it. You may use this list field to convert your document. Arrow up and down the list to see which types of documents you can convert to. For example, you may want to convert your Word document (DOCX type) to a flat text (TXT) type document or to a PDF document. Suppose you want your Word document to be converted to a web page. To do this, select document type, web page HTM or HTML. A second copy of your file will be saved in the new document type you select, and your original document type will also be retained.

That’s it for this tip. Until next Wednesday, happy computing.