KeyRocket

It is a well known fact that by using keyboard shortcuts or hotkeys, you can get things done a lot faster. Say you want to copy and paste a file, for example. With the mouse you would have to right click it, select Copy, navigate to the location of your choice, right click again, then select Paste. Using the keyboard is a lot simpler – just press Ctrl + C to copy the file, then Ctrl + V to paste it.

Developer Veoding Software is aware of this fact and in an effort to help you be more efficient, it came up with an application that encourages you to use the keyboard instead of the mouse. That application is the user friendly KeyRocket tool for Windows. It will monitor your actions and if you use the mouse instead of the keyboard, for example when copying and pasting a file, it will present a notification on the screen.

Support for Windows XP, Vista, 7, and 8 is provided, meaning that KeyRocket will work on these Windows editions without any problems. To install KeyRocket on your Windows-powered machine, you will have to go through a simple setup process: download an executable, run it, click through the setup wizard that shows up. When you’re done with the installation and you run the application for the first time, you will be presented with a 5-page long prompt that tells you how KeyRocket works and asks you to choose between a paid version (that supports Windows Explorer, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint and Word) and a free version (that supports Windows Explorer and one application of your choosing – pick between Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint and Word).

KeyRocket sits in the background and does not interfere with your work. You know it’s running because you can see an icon in the system tray. Double click that icon and you will be presented with the Shortcut Browser, a window that presents all the keyboard shortcuts you can use to be more efficient.

As mentioned above, KeyRocket runs silently in the background as you go about your day. When it detects that you perform an action with the mouse, action that you could perform with the keyboard, it notifies you. When you copy and paste a file with the mouse, for example, it displays a notification in the lower right hand corner (that’s the default location; you can change it from the Options menu). The aforementioned notification presents a rocket on a slider – when you use the correct shortcut, the rocket moves to the right on the slider; when the rocket makes it all the way to the right, it means you mastered that shortcut.

There are tons of keyboard shortcuts that you can use to be more productive. KeyRocket will let you know when you’re using the mouse instead of taking advantage of these shortcuts.