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SyncMyMail cares about all those little time-savings and the BlackBerry can save us all a lot of time. So in order to save you from perusing the manuals, we present a comprehensive list of BlackBerry shortcuts.

BlackBerry Tour Tips & Tricks Download (.pdf)

BlackBerry Bold Tips & Tricks Download (.pdf)

BlackBerry Curve Tips & Tricks Download (.pdf)

BlackBerry Storm Tips & Tricks Download (.pdf)

General Shortcuts

1) Hold the ALT key while you roll the thumb-wheel/ball to scroll horizontally in any field where you can enter or view text.

2) Hold the ALT key while you roll the thumb-wheel to scroll through a field to view options.

3) Hold the CAP key while you roll the thumb-wheel to select multiple items in a list.

4) Type the first letter of an item in an options list or menu to jump directly to that item.

5) Type the first letters of a name or the initials separated by a space to find a contact in the Address Book screen.

6) Press C to create a new message, task, or appointment in the Messages, Saved Messages, Calendar, and Tasks functions.

7) Rearrange the ribbon: In the Home screen (ribbon), hold the ALT key and click the thumb-wheel to select an icon. Roll the thumb-wheel to move the icon to another position and click the thumb-wheel to "drop" it into the new position on the ribbon.

8) The Blackberry display can be backlit to allow reading messages in the dark. To get the light to come on, hit the orange ALT key three times. This provides sufficient light for reading messages; doesn't help with using the keyboard in the dark, though. The light goes out automatically after a few seconds of inactivity.

9) Turning the radio off and back on when coverage is spotty and you've lost signal seems to help.

10) Password protect your BB. To set a password, go to the Options menu to the Security item. Set the desired timeout (I use 15 minutes) and enable/set a password. In conjunction with this, you should also go to the Options menu to the Owner item, and enter your name, phone number, etc. When the password protection kicks in, this is what is displayed on the screen.

11) After five incorrect attempts at typing in your password, the password starts echoing (figuring you really need all the help you can get). After ten attempts, it performs a lobotomy on itself and almost all data is cleared. The Memo database, however, is retained and visible.

12) To support more than one signature. Wipe out your auto-signature in the Redirector of the Desktop Software and just use 'AutoText' to configure alternate signs.

In the Message List

(Some of these work in tasks, memos, and appointments also)

Sorting:
1) ALT-i: show only incoming mail

2) ALT-o: show only outgoing mail (messages you have sent - i.e. checkmark icon)

Navigating:
1) t: go to top of message listing

2) b: go to end/bottom of message listing

3) backspace: close message listing and return to home screen (ribbon)

Deleting multiple messages at once:
1) Highlight a date (i.e. Fri, Oct 05,2001) in the message list, hit the thumb-wheel and select delete prior. All messages prior to that date will be deleted.

2) Hold down the CAP key and use the thumb-wheel to scroll up or down to select messages. Click the thumb-wheel and select 'Delete Messages'. Combine this with a sorting tip to make it even more useful (i.e. To delete the last 5 messages that you have sent (checkmarks), press 'ALT' then the letter 'o' (for outgoing) this will show all of your sent messages, then per this tip scroll down and select the last five.

While In A Message

Navigating:
1) enter: scroll down a page/screen at a time

2) ALT-enter: scroll back a page/screen at a time

3) b: scroll to end of page

4) t: scroll to top of page

5) u: jump to closest unread message

6) n: jump to next message

7) p: jump to previous message

8) backspace: close message and return to message listing

Reply-to/Forward:
1) a: reply to or answer this message

2) f: forward this message

Select Text (OS v2.1+):
1) Press the CAP key and then scroll the thumb-wheel to select. If you release the CAP key and scroll the thumb-wheel you will select entire lines. Press the CAP key again at any time to start selecting by character again.

2) Hold down ALT key + CLICK the thumb-wheel (click it don't hold it down), release the thumb-wheel and then use it to scroll whole lines. You can press and hold the ALT key at anytime to start selecting by character again.

With either method, click the thumb-wheel and select 'Cut Selection' or 'Copy Selection'... to paste, open a new message or whatever, click the thumb-wheel, and then select 'Paste Selection'.

Composing Message

1) Press and hold a letter to capitalize it (with Key Rate enabled).

2) Press the SPACE key twice to insert a period and capitalize the next letter.

3) Press the SPACE key to insert the "@" and "." characters in an Email field. Backspace and type again to over-ride this like you would with AutoText.

4) Press and hold a letter key and roll the thumb-wheel to scroll through international/accent characters, equation symbols and other marks.

Calendar

1) Press T to go to "Today" in the Calendar screen.

2) Press G to go to a specific date in the Calendar screen.

3) The default date range for Calendar synchronization in Desktop Manager may not suit most people. While configuring the Calendar synchronization, click the Advanced button and specify the desired range.

Battery tips

1) The largest draw on battery life is the transmitter, so if you are transmitting a lot, you can expect reduced battery life.

2) Being in fringe or no coverage areas will eat up your battery as it attempts to transmit. If you're in an area that is out of range, turn your BB's radio off manually or use Options / Auto On Off to conserve battery life.

3) Generally speaking, rechargeable batteries only last about half as long as standard alkaline battery.

4) Energizer e2 Photo Lithium batteries tend to last the longest. However, they are more expensive and when they finally start to go, have another on hand because they drain quickly at that point.