Useful BlackBerry shortcuts

A very useful topic contributed by Sidhaanth Kolhi -

We all have our own ways to use our BlackBerry to the fullest; we have our own way to do things. Our own way to arrange the icons on the menu or home screen, our own ringtones and alerts.

Blackberrys are all about speed, all about getting our work done as fast as possible with minimal effort. So here we shall discuss some shortcuts, which you can use to speed up your work.

Typing Shortcuts

1. To capitalize a letter with one click, hold down the letter key while typing.
2. To insert a period ( . ), hit the Space key twice.
3. Turn CAPS Lock on by pressing the ALT key followed by the right Shift key. Turn it off by pressing either Shift key.
4. Turn Number Lock on by pressing the ALT key followed by the Left Shift key. Turn it off by pressing either Shift key.
5. Type an accented letter or special character by holding the corresponding letter and scrolling left or right with the trackball/trackpad
6. Insert the current date into a message or document by pressing the L key followed by the D key
7. and Space key. Ex: (LD {space})
8. Insert the current time into a message or document by pressing the L key followed by the T key and Space key. Ex: (LT {space})

Messaging (E-mail and SMS)

1. In e-mail inbox, press the S key to search for a sender or a word within a subject line, and any mail folder regardless of message was sent or received.
2. Within inbox, access the complete list of messages sent by hitting the ALT key followed by the O key.
3. Within inbox, access the complete list of messages received by hitting the ALT key followed by the I key.
4. Within inbox, access the complete list of SMS text messages received by hitting the ALT key followed by the S key.
5. Within inbox, access phone log by hitting the ALT key followed by the P key.
6. Within inbox, access voicemail log by hitting the ALT key followed by the V key.
7. To delete all messages sent or received before a specific date, highlight that date with the cursor, hit the BlackBerry Menu key, select Delete Prior and Confirm selection.
8. To enable automatic spell checking of e-mail messages, click the Options icon in Messages folder. Then select Spell Check and check the Spell Check E-Mail Before Sending option.
9. To do a manual spell check, click the BlackBerry Menu key within a composed message and select Check Spelling.
10. When a message is being spell checked, suggested fixes to unrecognized words can be ignored by clicking the escape key.

Phone Functions

1. Multitask while on phone calls by hitting the BlackBerry menu key during a call and then selecting Home Screen. You’ll then have access to e-mail and other documents–though most BlackBerrys don’t allow for simultaneous voice and data transfer, so Internet access is unavailable while on calls.
2. Find specific contacts from your BlackBerry home screen by pressing keys for first and last initials, with a space between them. If more than one contact has the same initials, scroll to the appropriate contact.