Formalizer Hotkeys
Hotkeys can be found in the Speed and Accuracy document on the COSA homepage or the F5 tab in Formalizer.
Formalizer can and should be used without the use of the mouse, as everything you need to do can be done using keyboard shortcuts and hotkeys. You will save valuable seconds on every job you process when you stop using the mouse. Every time you remove your hands from the keyboard and reach for the mouse, you disrupt the flow of typing and must reset when returning to the keyboard. By using keyboard shortcuts and hotkeys, you are able to quickly navigate around Formalizer and make formatting changes, then quickly return to typing without disrupting your flow.
As an example, if you are able to save even three seconds per job, if you process 50 jobs a day, 5 days a week, two weeks in a pay period, that adds up to 1,500 seconds, which is 25 minutes. This is a small but noticeable difference and is the easiest step you can take towards getting faster and more efficient.
Navigating Formalizer Tabs
| Hotkey | Function |
|---|---|
| F1 | View the job |
| F2 | View comments |
| F3 | View profile info |
| F4 | View your macro list |
| F5 | View the Documents tab |
| Alt + 0 | Returns the cursor to the transcribing text field |
Navigating the F4 Tab
The Macro tab has some hotkeys of its own.
| Hotkey | Function |
|---|---|
| Alt + M | Enter your desired macro shorthand here. |
| Alt + V | Enter your desired expanded value for the macro here. |
| Alt + A | Add the macro defined in the previous two fields to your macro list. |
Navigating The F5 Tab
The F5 tab has some specific functions while you have it in focus.
| Hotkey | Function |
|---|---|
| Tab | Cycle forward through links on the current page. Useful for navigating the Table of Contents. |
| Shift + Tab | Cycle backward through links on the current page. |
| Backspace | Goes back to the last page viewed. (You can hit this repeatedly to get back to the Table of Contents.) |
| Ctrl + Home | Navigates to the top of the current page, i.e. where the page table of contents is. |
| Ctrl + End | Navigates to the bottom of the current page, where there is a navigation list to other pages. |
| Ctrl + F | Brings up a unique Find window for the F5 page. |
Sending a Job
| Hotkey | Function |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + S | Sends the job out |
| Alt + Q | Toggles the "To QA" box |
| Alt + J | Toggles the "Get Next Job" box |
Spellcheck Hotkeys
| Hotkey | Function |
|---|---|
| F9 | Spellcheck the current word |
| Alt + G | Ignore All |
| Alt + H | Change |
| Alt + D | Add to dictionary |
| Alt + C | Cancel Spellcheck |
| Tab | Navigate through dictionary options |
| Shift + Tab | Navigate backwards through dictionary options |
- Note: Using Ignore All will identify any spelling inconsistencies. Never use "Change All" as this may end up changing other text that was correct.
Audio Hotkeys
| Hotkey | Function |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + + | Speeds up the dictation audio. |
| Ctrl + - | Slows down the dictation audio. |
| Ctrl + * | Resets the audio speed to normal. |
| Tab + Space | Rewinds to the start of the dictation audio. |
Processing Hotkeys
Of note, the navigation and highlight hotkeys such as Ctrl + Backspace are also applicable to most word processing environments in Windows, not just Formalizer! 😊
| Hotkey | Function |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + Left/Right Arrow Key | Jumps the cursor left or right an entire word |
| Ctrl + Up/Down Arrow Key | Jumps the cursor up or down an entire paragraph |
| Ctrl + Backspace | Erases the entire word behind the cursor |
| Ctrl+ Delete | Deletes the entire word in front of the cursor. |
| Home | Jumps the cursor to the beginning of the line |
| End | Jumps the cursor to the beginning of the line |
| Ctrl + Home/End | Jumps the cursor to the very beginning or very bottom of the text |
| Ctrl + B | Leave a comment for QA |
| Ctrl + F | Open a Find and Replace box. Works separately from the F5 Documents tab. |
| Shift | Insert this in the middle of any navigation key to also highlight the text in between. I.e. Ctrl + Shift + Left Arrow will highlight the previous word. |
For an exhaustive list of all the possible Shift highlight navigation keys, click the arrow below to expand a full table.
| Hotkey | Function |
|---|---|
| Shift + Left/Right Arrow | Highlights text left or right (single character) |
| Ctrl + Shift + Left/Right arrow | Highlights text left or right (whole words) |
| Shift + Up | Highlights one row before the cursor |
| Shift + Down | Highlights one row after the cursor |
| Ctrl + Shift + Up Arrow | Highlight entire paragraph before the cursor |
| Ctrl + Shift + Down Arrow | Highlight entire paragraph after the cursor |
| Shift + Home | Highlights current row to the left of cursor |
| Shift + End | Highlights current row to the right of cursor |
| Ctrl + Shift + Home | Highlights all text before the cursor |
| Ctrl + Shift + End | Highlights all text after the cursor |
Two Kinds of Find
The Ctrl + F hotkey has two functions depending on where in the window you are focused.
- When focused on the F5 Documents tab, such as while browsing the Common Terms list, Ctrl + F opens a Find window that can be used to jump to any matching text.
- When focused on the transcribing panel (which can be focused on with the hotkey Alt + 0), Ctrl + F opens a Find and Replace window. Here, you can use Alt + R to replace instances of a word with another one.
- A common use case example is if a customer uses the same name throughout a job, but then at the very end spells it differently than you had chosen to scribe it.
Formatting Hotkeys
With all text formatting keys you can either:
- Highlight the section of text you wish to format, and then hit the hotkey.
- Hit the hotkey, type the text you wish to format, then hit the hotkey again to revert to normal formatting.
| Hotkey | Function |
|---|---|
| Alt + Down arrow key | Puts text adjacent to cursor in all lowercase |
| Alt + Up arrow key | Puts text adjacent to cursor in all UPPERCASE |
| Alt + Shift + Up arrow key | Capitalizes The First Letter of the word adjacent to cursor |
| Ctrl + I or Ctrl + Tab | Inserts indentation |
| Alt + B | Bold text |
| Alt + I | Italicize text |
| Alt + U | Underline text |
| Ctrl + J | Try this if the text alignment is changed by accident. |
These hotkeys can be found in the Speed and Accuracy Document, which can also be opened within the Formalizer F5 tab.
Miscellaneous/Windows Hotkeys
These are not Formalizer specific, but they still have regular use while working.
| Hotkey | Function |
|---|---|
| Alt + Tab | Lets you cycle between other open windows, i.e. Edge or Spark. |
| Windows Key + Tab | Also lets you cycle through other windows, if Alt Tab is not working for whatever reason. |
| Insert | Swaps the text input between overwrite and insert. |
| Num/Num Lock | Swaps the numpad keys between number-only mode and other key mode (i.e. arrow keys, home, end, etc.) |
| Windows Key + Ctrl + C | Toggle on/off for Color Filters. This may not be enabled on all stations. |
| Windows Key + Spacebar | Swap between keyboard layouts, if a non-QWERTY keyboard is enabled. |