Find a program you know is there
Open anything on your computer by typing three letters of its name.
Somebody installed a program for you. You know it is on there. You cannot see it anywhere, and hunting through menus feels like admitting defeat.
There is a much shorter way, and it is the way people who are quick with computers actually work. You do not look for things. You type their name and the computer finds them.
Key points
- Open any program by typing three or four letters of its name
- Read the small gray word under a result to tell a program from a document
- Stop hunting through menus for something you can name
What to remember
- Search reaches programs, documents, settings and the internet, all from the same box.
- Search results always say what kind of thing they are. Reading that one word saves a great deal of confusion.
Try this
Press the Windows key on your own computer — or Cmd and space on a Mac — and type the first three letters of a program you use. See how quickly it appears.
Practice: Find a program you know is there. Your first lesson is free, with no account or card; the rest are part of a Lantern plan. Interactive lessons require JavaScript.