Trying to eradicate or greatly reduce computer mouse use

Nick_C

I would advise anyone to limit the use of a mouse to where it is absolutely necessary. Learn and use one new keyboard shortcut every day. Navigating with the keyboard can be much faster than using a mouse.

(It annoys me intensely that Microsoft have made this more difficult in Office by replacing menus with obvious keyboard shortcuts with the dreadful "ribbon" which encourages and sometime necessitates mouse use. Luckily for old timers like me, a lot of the old menu shortcut options still work in office, even though the menus are no longer there. But I digress.)

Within Edge,

use <Ctrl> + <PgDn> to move to the next (right) tab
use <Ctrl> + <PgUp> to move to the previous (left) tab

Within any programme, the tab button should take you to the next field. To select a tick box, press the space bar. Within a web form, whether this will work or not will depend on how well the form has been designed.

To move between windows, use <alt> + <tab>

To view your desktop, use <windows> + <m>

To follow up on a point made above, make sure your posture is correct. https://www.ergonomics.com.au/how-to-sit-at-a-computer/ is just one of many sites that advises on the correct way to use a computer.

You say you don't want to invest in new hardware, but at the very least you should be using a wireless mouse with a scroll wheel. This one has great battery life https://www.argos.co.uk/product/8339254

[Deleted User]

ALT-TAB is handy: a shortcut you can do with your left hand to switch between applications on a laptop/desktop.

Given that the physical aspect of navigation seems to be awkward, I'm a little surprised voice commands haven't been mentioned at all yet. This is outside the box of course, but Amazon Alexa and Google speakers are quite popular currently, which make them cheap enough to be accessible for certain tasks. You may find that you already have the hardware for it, albeit in a different device.

Good luck.

dan958

[quote=[Deleted User];75897917], I'm a little surprised voice commands haven't been mentioned at all yet. [/QUOTE]

They have been mentioned

Johnmcl7

I had a friend at work who had bad arthritis in his hands and was having difficulty using any type of mouse so he had a roller design at the bottom of his keyboard which looked similar to these ones:

https://www.contourdesign.com/product-category/rollermouse/

To move the mouse left and right you slide the bar left and right then to move it up and down you roll the bar forward and back. If you're comfortable with your position on a keyboard you can use this in the same position.

I know you're trying to avoid new hardware but thought I should mention it as it's an unusual design I hadn't seen before and seems to work well for its intended use.

esuhl

I got RSI in my right hand from using a standard mouse.


I got a Logitech Marble Mouse (aka Trackman Marble) -- a trackball. It helped tremendously, and (unlike a real mouse) I can easily control it with my left hand too. I wouldn't dream of using anything else now.



https://www.amazon.co.uk/Logitech-910-000808-USB-Marble-Mouse/dp/B001DQY9AW

Norman_Castle

Support mouse mat might help, you could possibly make something similar to try.
https://www.google.com/search?q=wrist+support+mouse+mat&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjzm7TDzNfiAhVIRxUIHbclDW0Q_AUIESgC&biw=1280&bih=669


Changing the mouse speed can reduce how much you have to move, speed refers to the distance the curser travels compared to your input. Not an exact link but should take you close. https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/14206/windows-7-change-mouse-settings

that

you can use a screen and keyboard macro recorder program and assign the operation to function keys

it is 20 years since i used one so my modem would not time out, and at that time to get it to work consistently was to leave all the windows on full screen. I do not remember the name but know it was version 5 Sure google would recommend a few

Molly4

Good Morning

Thank you all for your help and advice. I shall look at your recommendations. I have adopted a few of the keyboard shortcuts already. As said It would be best to learn one or two a day as it's difficult to remember too many at once. Also having to break bad habits of a lifetime. It is habit just to reach for the mouse to do everything.