
Tips.Net > WordTips Home > General > Selecting Tabs in Dialog Boxes
Summary: Hate to grab the mouse to select different tabs in a dialog box? If you instead want to keep your hands on the keyboard, you can use the selection techniques described in this tip. (This tip works with Microsoft Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, and Word 2003.)
This definitely isn't a Word-only tip, but it can come in handy if you simply don't want to remove your hands from the keyboard. Many of the dialog boxes used in Word (and other Windows programs) utilize the concept of tabs. These look like index cards within the dialog box, and are used to organize what could otherwise be a very cluttered presentation of information. A good example of a Word dialog box that uses tabs is when you choose Options from the Tools menu. (Click here to see a related figure.)
If you want to move from one tab to another, the typical way of doing this is by using the mouse. You can, instead, use the keyboard. To move forward through the available tabs, simply press Ctrl+Tab. To move backwards, use Shift+Ctrl+Tab.
Tip #1228 applies to Microsoft Word versions: 97 2000 2002 2003
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