Weekly Computer Tip # 136
3 December 2005


browse the Web faster and more easily using your mouse wheel
(Microsoft Explorer)

Most modern mice now have a mouse wheel between the left and right button. You probably already know that your wheel can be used as an alternative for your scroll bar. In Internet Explorer, for example, you can simply roll your mouse wheel to scroll down a Web page. (OK, OK, sometimes you first need to click the mouse anywhere on the page itself.) But your mouse wheel can be used in many more ways, helping you browse the web faster and more easily.

Here's how:

  1. To return to Web pages you recently visited, hold down the SHIFT key and roll the wheel down (instead of clicking on the browser's Back button) or up (instead of clicking on the Forward button).
  2. Speed up scrolling by pressing on the wheel (locking in into scroll mode), and simply move your mouse in whichever direction you want to read. (Up, down, left or right.) The further the cursor moves from the image of the circle with the upward and downward arrows, the faster the scroll will get.

Besides being able to browse the Web faster, these features will help alleviate the effects of Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI). And who knows, one day the idea of doing away with mouse clicks completely might become true. To get a feel for it, have a look at http://www.dontclick.it/. Oh, and yes, you DO need to click the link, but after that you're on a site with no buttons or links to click on. Have fun! I didn't get the hang of it immediately, but practice makes perfect. (Or so they say.)

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