Browse for file - by keyboard (2003) Solved!

[ChrisGreaves]

(edited to say Ctrl-K, thanks Argus!)
Please see This post
I'd love to know how to browse for a file by keyboard method in Word 2003.

In dear old Word 2000 I got used to issuing (by keyboard only) File, Open, Insert Hyperlink (Ctrl-K) then I'd type a few letters of the file name and tap (Enter).
A short list of candidates would appear.

In Word2003 the best way I've found to duplicate this effect is to click on a little "browse" button, but this involves the grope-for-mouse technique which I'd rather avoid, for several reasons.

1.png

[Argus]

Am I'm missing something here? In the first example, 2000, you mention the usual Open file dialogue (Ctrl-O); but in the second example, 2003, you show the Insert Hyperlink dialogue (Ctrl-K).

No, it doesn't seem like the Address field in the Hyperlink dialogue has auto-complete.

As far as I know the Open file dialogue behave the same in 2000 and 2003.

[ChrisGreaves]

... you show the Insert Hyperlink dialogue (Ctrl-K). No, it doesn't seem like the Address field in the Hyperlink dialogue has auto-complete. .

Thanks Argus, I made a slight edit to the post, and yes, I am inserting a hyperlink.
As far as I remember, I would eyeball the text in the document (say "Modeling for Dummies"), then go Ctrl-K and type enough characters - "model" - to bring up a short list of file names, often the one file i wanted.
Then I'd tap Enter and we were off to the races.

I'm finding 2003 quite clumsy by comparison.

Thanks for confirming that auto-complete is missing here.

(sigh! I miss the Good Old Days when things worked ...)

[jscher2000]

Alt-L should move the focus to the drop-down. In some cases, that's all you need, but to get to the folder button, you should be able to tab a few times and then press the space bar to "press" the button.

[ChrisGreaves]

... tab a few times and then press the space bar

Thanks Jefferson. This is something I knew (but had not thought to try this time around).
I'll get into the habit of this over the next few days and it will become second nature, so thanks for the nudge.

I generally find that my brain remembers a keying pattern, such as:-
Ctrl-K, Tab, Tab, Tab, Tab, Tab, Tab, Space
(if I got that right), and long though it seems once it starts to flow off the fingertips it is more fun than the grope-for-mouse-spill-coffee trick which I perfected 20 years ago.

[ChrisGreaves]

I'd love to know how to browse for a file by keyboard method in Word 2003.

I have stumbled upon this method:-

• Ctrl-K
• Alt-F
• Tab Tab Tab
• "H"

(assuming I want the document that starts with the letter "H")
or "HHH" (assuming I want the THIRD document that starts with the letter "H")

I am not sure how/why it differs from earlier suggestions, but it is mercifully short enough to commit to my memory in creating a set of some 25 hyperlinks to documents all in the same folder!

[ChrisGreaves]

I'd love to know how to browse for a file by keyboard method in Word 2003.

I had under-estimated my ability to confuse myself.

There is a difference when "browsing for file" between (a) Inserting a link to another Word document "Insert File" and (b) inserting a link to an image "Insert Picture".
This morning I went to insert a link to an image, and the Word 2003 dialog box behaved exactly as I feel it ought:

Insert Picture; From File; type the letter "e" and we jump to the "e" files, then type the letter "x" and we jump to the "ex" files. Generic work. Wonderful.

But with Insert File I am still at the Alt-F, tab, tab, tab, letter stage, and the dialog box seems to respond only to the first letter, thus tapping "e" and then "x" will take me first to the "e" files and then to the "x" files, but not to the "ex" files.

[ChrisGreaves]

I had under-estimated my ability to confuse myself.

The Insert, File command is different again, and of the three this I love the most.

I choose Insert, File and a dialog appears.
Since I want to insert the Header.doc", I tap the letter "h" then the letter "e" and am taken in the list to "header.doc", whose name automatically fills the text box.
No tab keys, no mouse, just what I want.

Since my web pages are a collection of Inserted Files, I use this a lot, and I suspect THAT is why I got confused and started this thread - I KNEW that Word 2000 behaved nicely when it wanted to, but it seemed to me that it had stopped its nice behavior. Perhaps 6 weeks ago I was doing an extra-ordinary amount of hyperlinking instead of inserting, and that threw me.

(sigh!)