How to Use the Computer Mouse
With a computer, you use both a
keyboard and a
mouse to enter text and give commands to the
computer. Though you may have used a keyboard of some type, a mouse may be new
to you, and frankly, it takes a little getting used to.
In effect, when you move your mouse around on your desk (or in
some models, roll a ball on top of the mouse), a corresponding mouse pointer
moves around your computer screen. You control the actions of that pointer by
using the right and left buttons on the mouse.
Here are the main
functions of a mouse and how to control them:
Clicking: When people say “click,” they mean “press and release the
left mouse button.” Clicking has a variety of uses. You can click while in a
document to move the
insertionpoint, a little line that indicates where your next
action will take place. For example, you might click in front of a word you
already typed and then type another word to appear before it in a letter.
Clicking is also used in various windows to
select check boxes or radio buttons (also
called option buttons) to turn features on or off or to select an object such as
a picture or table in your document.
Right-clicking: If you click the right mouse button, Windows displays a
shortcut menu that is specific to the item you clicked. For example, if you
right-click a picture, the menu that appears gives you options for working with
the picture. If you right-click the Windows desktop, the menu that appears lets
you choose commands that display a different view or change desktop properties.
Clickinganddragging: To click and drag, you press and continue to hold down the
left mouse button and then move (drag) the mouse to another location. For
example, you can click in a document and drag your mouse up, down, right, or
left to highlight contents of your document.
This highlighted text is selected, meaning that any action you
perform, such as pressing the Delete key on your keyboard or clicking a button
for bold formatting, is performed on the selected text.
Scrolling: Many mouse models have a wheel in the center that you can
roll up or down to scroll through a document or Web site on your screen. Just
roll the wheel down to move through pages going forward or scroll up to move
backward in your document.