If you regularly read our blogs or follow our social media platforms, you may have noticed that we are huge fans of Microsoft Teams! In our opinion, we think it’s the best tool you can use right now to stay connected and collaborate with colleagues, friends, and family.

Due to the current circumstances caused by recent world events, there has been a significant increase in the number of users on Teams. According to Microsoft, the number of daily users has vastly increased from 13 million in July 2019 to 115 million in October 2020!

With this, we are certain that everybody at some stage will have the opportunity to incorporate Microsoft Teams in some form. This may include situations such as,

• Having a work meeting with a single or group of colleagues via video conference.
• Using the chat function to quickly communicate with friends in a group chat or one-to-one messages.
• Making and receiving calls with other Teams users.
• Collaborating with others on projects by easily creating, editing, and sharing files using other Microsoft apps (Word, PowerPoint, Excel).
• Connecting with friends and family using video conference.

With all of this in mind, we wanted to delve into Microsoft Teams and explore the multiple benefits it can bring to you and your business.

This blog marks the start of our new series of articles, where over the next few weeks we will discuss insightful topics such as:

• 10 Helpful tips to help you host your next Microsoft Teams Meeting.
• Creative tricks and tools you can use to in your Microsoft Teams Meetings.
• Proactive tools you can use to boost productivity.

At Reality Solutions, we’re big fans of using tricks and tips to help simplify our business processes! Also, if you follow our social media platforms, you may have noticed that we’re big fans of keyboard shortcuts, as seen in our weekly ‘Tech Tip Tuesday’ tips! In this blog, we are kicking things off by sharing some helpful keyboard shortcuts that we regularly use on Microsoft Teams!

So, without further ado, lets dive right in!

ESSENTIALS

To gently kick things off, here are five essential shortcuts that will save you having to use your computer mouse.

To access the search bar at the top of Teams,      Ctrl + E 

To open the settings window,                                  Ctrl + Comma (,)

To zoom in on screen,                                               Ctrl + = 

To zoom out on screen,                                             Ctrl + –

You can also see all of the navigation commands and quickly access different locations, content, and set your status.

To do this, press Ctrl + /                                 

NAVIGATION

Whilst you are working, you may find that you need to regularly navigate between the different functions and features on Microsoft Teams. Thankfully, there’s a convenient shortcut you can use to quickly navigate between your chats, teams, calendar, calls, and files.

To open the ‘Activity’ feed,           Ctrl + 1.

To open the ‘Chat’ feature,          Ctrl + 2.

To open the ‘Teams’,                     Ctrl + 3.

To open your ‘Calendar’,              Ctrl + 4.

To open the ‘Calls’ function,        Ctrl + 5.

To open your ‘Files’,                       Ctrl + 6.

CHAT

One of the most useful functions of Microsoft Teams is the Chat feature, which allows you to quickly communicate with your friends and colleagues via a group chat or one-to-one messages. This feature is incredibly convenient for sending short and quick messages to colleagues instead of writing a long and formal email.

Here are some of our favourite keyboard shortcuts for the Chat feature!

To start a new conversation,                    Ctrl + N

To send (expanded compose box),           Ctrl + Enter

To attach file to message,                         Ctrl + O

To start new line in message,                   Shift + Enter

To reply to a thread,                                  Alt + Shift + R

To mark message as important,              Ctrl + Shift + I

To quickly insert an Emoji,                       Colon “:” followed by a word to discover additional emojis (e.g. :person or :apple)

MEETINGS & CALLS

One key feature of Microsoft Teams is the ability to host video conference calls with colleagues and individuals outside your business. With many working from home, this feature has been essential for allowing users to stay connected and collaborate with colleagues, friends, and family.

Here are some of our favourite keyboard shortcuts which you can use in your next video conference call!

To accept a video call,                    Ctrl + Shift + A

To accept an audio call,                 Ctrl + Shift + S

To decline a call,                             Ctrl + Shift + D

To start an audio call,                   Ctrl + Shift + C

To start a video call,                      Ctrl + Shift + U

To toggle mute,                               Ctrl + Shift + M

To toggle video,                              Ctrl + Shift + O

To access the sharing toolbar,    Ctrl + Shift + Space

EVERYTHING ELSE!

So far, we have explored some of our favourite shortcuts on Microsoft Teams that we regularly use here at Reality Solutions as part of our day-to-day operations. However, the truth is that so far we have only scratched the surface and there are so many additional keyboard shortcuts you can use.

By pressing, Ctrl + . (full stop), this will open a window containing all the keyboard shortcuts you can utilise within Teams. From here, you may find some additional shortcuts that may be incredibly beneficial for your requirements which we have not mentioned in this blog.

Also, this shortcut is also incredibly helpful for reminding yourself how to perform some of the other shortcuts we have discussed so far in this blog!

THAT’S ALL FOLKS!

As you can see, there are so many helpful shortcuts you can use to help navigate and simply your essential process in Microsoft Teams! We hope that you found these tips and tricks helpful and that you can somehow implement these into your daily routine.

If you would like to make the most out of this fantastic piece of software, look out for our next blog where we will be providing more helpful tips to help you host your next Microsoft Teams Meeting!

If you would you like to find out more information about Microsoft Teams and its numerous benefits, check out our website.

If you have any further questions or would like some advice on how you and your business can make the most out of the platform, please don’t hesitate to contact our friendly support team.