Fill Out Forms Faster with Tab Key

The other day I spotted something that made my eyes hurt. A woman was filling out a lengthy Web form. After she'd complete one field, she'd reach for her mouse, find the cursor, carefully click inside the next field, and type more data. Then she'd repeat the entire process.

As I mentioned a couple years back when I first mentioned this tip, I continue to be amazed by how many people don't know the faster, easier way to navigate Web forms: with the Tab key.

It works like this: when filling out an online form, you can use the Tab key to skip from one field to the next. Type...Tab. Type...Tab. Repeat as needed.

Make it habit and you'll soon wonder why you wasted so much time reaching for the mouse.

By the way, pressing Tab moves you to the next field in any given form. If you need to move your cursor to the previous field, press Shift-Tab.

And here's one final form-filling tip: when you're done with a form, you can usually press Enter in lieu of clicking the OK or Submit button. Now you can keep your fingers on the keys where they belong!