Different ways to do the same thing

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There are often "different ways to do the same thing" in Second Life, or in other words, various paths to one goal. For example, a newcomer may prefer using the mouse to clicking menu options, but when you know there are keyboard shortcuts — which "power users" generally prefer — you can graduate to those. Here are some quick examples and check out the "See also" links to more info at the bottom.

Tip: The below shows PC shortcuts, but you can easily "translate" to Mac shortcuts. See "PC and Mac shortcut key differences".

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Menus

Many menu items, especially broadly useful ones, have keyboard shortcuts listed next to them. These shortcuts differ depending on your operating system (Windows, Mac, Linux).

Keyboard shortcuts that are single letters (for example, G for Build > Options > Snap to Grid) only work if inworld — instead of the chat bar — has focus. Press Esc or simply click inworld, like near your avatar, to give inworld focus.

Sidebar

Most of the sidebar stuff can be accessed through the top bar and context menu:

• Most of the sidebar tabs' menu equivalents are in the Me menu. For example, Me > My Profile does the same thing as clicking the My Profile sidebar tab.
• Right-click your avatar to show some of the same sidebar tab options.

Movement controls

In the Viewer's user interface, there's the Move controls. All of these have keyboard equivalents, which is the more common usage. Advanced users can remap keys.

	"Special" keys	"Letter" keys (when chat bar doesn't have focus)
Move forward	↑	W
Move backward	↓	S
Turn left (strafe left in mouselook)	←	A
Turn right (strafe left in mouselook)	→	D
Jump	tap Page Up	tap E
Fly up	hold Page Up	hold E
Fly down (or crouch, when on the ground)	hold Page Down	hold C

If you want the arrow keys to always move your avatar (in other words, the arrow keys won't move the I-beam cursor when it's in the chat bar and certain other places):

1. Choose Me menu > Preferences.
2. Click the Advanced tab.
3. Check Arrow keys always move me.
4. Click OK.

Camera controls

In the Viewer's user interface, there's the Camera controls. Like Move, all camera controls have keyboard equivalents. These shortcuts are more complicated than movement controls because they require pressing several keys (and/or the left mouse button) simultaneously, so there's a healthy proportion of Residents using one way or the other — or both.

	"Special keys" keyboard shortcut	"Letter keys" keyboard shortcut	Mouse-inclusive equivalent
Change focus point (and center it in the Viewer window)	n/a	n/a	Alt + left-click
Zoom in	Alt+↑	Alt+W	Alt + hold left mouse button and drag up
Zoom out	Alt+↓	Alt+S	Alt + hold left mouse button and drag down
Orbit up	Alt+Ctr+↑	Alt+Ctrl+W	Alt+Ctrl + hold left mouse button and drag up
Orbit down	Alt+Ctrl+↓	Alt+Ctrl+S	Alt+Ctrl + hold left mouse button and drag down
Orbit left	Alt+Ctrl+←	Alt+Ctrl+W	Alt+Ctrl + hold left mouse button and drag left
Orbit right	Alt+Ctrl+→	Alt+Ctrlk+S	Alt+Ctrl + hold left mouse button and drag right
Pan up	Alt+Ctrl+Shift ⇧+↑	Alt+Ctrl+Shift ⇧+W	Alt+Ctrl+Shift ⇧ + hold left mouse button and drag down
Pan down	Alt+Ctrl+Shift ⇧+↓	Alt+Ctrl+Shift ⇧+S	Alt+Ctrl+Shift ⇧ + hold left mouse button and drag up
Pan left	Alt+Ctrl+Shift ⇧+←	Alt+Ctrl+Shift ⇧+A (This conflicts with the shortcut for Debug Avatar Textures)	Alt+Ctrl+Shift ⇧ + hold left mouse button and drag right
Pan right	Alt+Ctrl+Shift ⇧+→	Alt+Ctrl+Shift ⇧+D (This conflicts with the shortcut for enabling the Advanced menu)	Alt+Ctrl+Shift ⇧ + + hold left mouse button and drag left

Another variant of the camera controls is found in Build menu > Focus Tool, where the keyboard shortcuts are different because of the following subtleties in build mode:

• Only mouse-inclusive shortcuts will work because the build tools' fields have focus.
• You don't need to hold down Alt.
• If you prefer, you can simply click Zoom, Orbit, or Pan and not have to use any keys.

For example, to orbit up in build mode, instead of Alt+Ctrl+↑, you do Ctrl+↑ + hold left mouse button and drag up.

See also

These pages have more info about the above. Note some of it is outdated from Viewer 1.23 and needs to be updated for Viewer 2, so if you're feeling like making contributions, go ahead!

• Shortcut keys, which relates to:
  • PC and Mac shortcut key differences
  • All keyboard shortcut keys
• Remap keys
• Camera