15 Basic Computer Skills

From Redditor u/Schwann-Port:

A recent phone call with my mother:

I told her, "You just need to copy and paste it. I will walk you through it."
She replied, "There's no point. I can't do it."
I said, "It takes two key presses."
She said, "It's too complicated."
Me: It takes five seconds. It is simple.
She said, "It's easy for you; you are a computer programmer. I lack qualifications."
I asked, "What will you do next time you need to copy and paste something?"
She offered, "I will drive my laptop to your house, and you can do it for me..."

My mum is not lonely. She does not use this as an excuse to see me more. I see her often. She does the same thing when I am at her house next to her.

From Redditor u/vincyhot:

People should mute themselves on Zoom calls.

From Redditor u/dbanarsdfgdfgdf:

A couple of years ago, my mom wanted to learn better computer use, so she took a class.

She found she did not belong there. The first lesson taught people to use a mouse, and some people could not figure it out.

From Redditor u/Feyru97:

Take a screenshot.

From Redditor u/FranticDisembowel:

Google effectively means finding any useful information from Google, not just Google.

Suppose you have a computer issue, and your monitor stops connecting to your PC.

Many people search "why won't my computer work" or "computer won't turn on." This might lead you to check if your monitor is plugged in right.

But if you search "pc turns on but no picture" or "pc turns on but no screen/black screen," you will get a helpful answer much faster.

This applies to any problem you search for.

"dishwasher not working" leads to "frigidaire model xxxx dishwasher stops after rinse cycle"

You get the idea. More detail helps.

From Redditor u/keepingthecommontone:

I worked in a computer lab during grad school. I helped an older man during an "intro to computers" session and showed him waving the mouse in the air did not work. This happened around 2005.

From Redditor u/Regulai:

Understand basic folder and file structure.

From Redditor u/HitboxNV:

Read the error message directly instead of just clicking "ok" or "close" every time a window appears...

IT support often asks them to repeat the issue. They just click off all the windows.all the windows.

I asked, "Wait, what did that pop-up say?"

They replied, "I don't know."

I sighed.

From Redditor u/Fuzz_Vegas:

Use Alt+Tab and use the prompt.

PRO TIP: Use alt+shift+tab to switch in the other direction.

From Redditor u/Keegabyte:

As a Geek Squad agent, I only read onscreen instructions. Many people go clueless when they read clear setup instructions. They ask, "It says to click this box, what does that mean?" That is a real quote.

From Redditor u/aimsp89:

Press the tab to reach the box below.

From Redditor u/Risdass:

Windows shortcuts make work much easier. People fail to see this, especially in MS Word and PPT.

From Redditor u/nathanoleary:

Use Windows key plus V.

This brings up a list of past copy and paste history.

From Redditor u/DTownForever:

Excel offers simple functions: sums, multiplication, division. People see spreadsheets, and their brains go blank. I watched users add column numbers manually, then type the sum in the bottom cell.

From a Redditor:

Win+shift+s marks an area for a screenshot. I use this daily at work. People use print screen, paste into paint, select the area, make a new image, and save it instead.