# How does one use a PC without a mouse? Can one...? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 13, 2016, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-use-a-pc-without-a-mouse-can-one/752085 "2016-04-13T16:53:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-use-a-pc-without-a-mouse-can-one/752085/41 "2016-04-20T23:18:44Z")
I had a student at one point when I was TAing who ran some modified Ubuntu UI that has vim keybindings. All I know is that he could run his entire computer (or at least the vast, vast majority of it) using vim-like keyboard commands. It was… something. It even integrated with his web browser and other applications that have their own keybindings. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-use-a-pc-without-a-mouse-can-one/752085/42 "2016-04-23T02:28:43Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > The “Menu” key. > > Maybe not necessary. Try Shift+F10 and see if it does the same thing. Huh. I knew could press Ctrl-Esc for the Windows key, and that F10 by itself worked like pressing the Alt key, but I never learned that shortcut. Back when I was still on Windows (before my hard drive semi-crashed), I remapped the Menu key to use as a modifier so I could type in IPA. Using Shift-F10 for the menu function would have been handy. (Though I did eventually map it where the Menu key counted as pressed if I didn’t press any other key with it.) ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2016, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-use-a-pc-without-a-mouse-can-one/752085/43 "2016-04-24T00:07:17Z")
From the advent of windows thru Office 2003, all of the shortcut keys were the same. I rarely used a mouse in office as I knew a significant portion of the shortcut keys. Since my hands were already on the keyboard, it was much faster put a finger on \ or \ & simultaneously press the appropriate key for the desired function. If I ever meet the douche who changed it all in Orifice 2007, I will beat him within an [del]inch[/del] micron of his life. Oh, I won’t kill the little pecker, I want him to _suffer_ from the pain of Every. Single. Bone in his body being broken…for starters. :mad: :mad: :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Bones\_Daley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@Bones\_Daley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bones_Daley)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2016, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-use-a-pc-without-a-mouse-can-one/752085/44 "2016-04-24T09:55:51Z")
> [@spamforbrains](#): > > I always keep a spare mouse around in case the dog eats my mouse or something otherwise weird happens. Train your dog to use his paw to operate the mouse instead of his mouth. ---
**Author:** ![Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shinna_Minna_Ma)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2016, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-use-a-pc-without-a-mouse-can-one/752085/45 "2016-04-24T11:34:15Z")
When I first started working at the Pentagon as a contractor tech, there was a guy I shadowed for a week or two so I could learn how to get places and what I was expected to do. He rarely, if ever, used a mouse, and his fingers were so quick it was hard to follow along. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-use-a-pc-without-a-mouse-can-one/752085/46 "2016-04-25T10:23:29Z")
You know when you open a command-prompt window (a console window)? And you want to paste some text at the command prompt? And you right-click and select “paste”? How do you do that without a mouse? ---
**Author:** ![Malden\_Capell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malden_capell/32/5274_2.png) [@Malden\_Capell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malden_Capell)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-use-a-pc-without-a-mouse-can-one/752085/47 "2016-04-25T12:36:21Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > You know when you open a command-prompt window (a console window)? And you want to paste some text at the command prompt? And you right-click and select “paste”? > > How do you do that without a mouse? Ctrl-V, surely? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-use-a-pc-without-a-mouse-can-one/752085/48 "2016-04-26T02:32:50Z")
Most or all of the standard keyboard shortcuts don’t work in a Command Prompt window, since the Command Prompt window tries to emulate a plain old pre-Windows DOS system. (Similarly in Linux.) But there is that menu at the top of the window, which may have an “Edit” option on it. You might be able to open that menu using any of the above-described methods for opening menus. If the E of Edit is underlined, try Alt-E. If you can get the Edit menu to open, you can select Cut, Copy, or Paste as desired from it. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-use-a-pc-without-a-mouse-can-one/752085/49 "2016-04-26T08:24:01Z")
heh I remember as a kid a mouse was 60 dollars extra and the salesman told me they were on the way out because nothing used it at the time … then win 3.1 came out ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-use-a-pc-without-a-mouse-can-one/752085/50 "2016-04-26T11:47:47Z")
> [@Malden\_Capell](#): > > Ctrl-V, surely? Sadly, no. Ctrl-V at the command prompt places a Ctrl-V character there (displayed as ^V). ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-use-a-pc-without-a-mouse-can-one/752085/51 "2016-04-26T16:25:13Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > Sadly, no. > > Ctrl-V at the command prompt places a Ctrl-V character there (displayed as ^V). Remember, in the plain-old plain-text plain-DOS days, every program (e.g., text editor, word processor, spread sheet, etc.) had its _own_ command set and its _own_ set of control-key, function-key, and alt-key commands. Programs often came with a printed template you could lay on your keyboard to identify the special functions. Every program had its own distinct template. [Picture of a template for Word Perfect](https://thewanderingnerd.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/wordperfect-5-0-keyboard-template-top.jpg) Over a period of some years, _some limited degree_ of standardization began to emerge. Control-V commonly meant “toggle insert-mode on/off”, in any program or application that involved text or data entry or editing. The link just above came from [this site](https://thewanderingnerd.wordpress.com/tag/ms-dos/), which also has a lot of screen shots of various old-style DOS and DOS-like applications. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-use-a-pc-without-a-mouse-can-one/752085.md?page=2)