BlackBerry tips, tricks, and shortcuts

BlackBerry tips, tricks, and shortcuts can dramatically improve your BlackBerry user experience.  For the best experience, the first tip is to customize your Blackberry with the applications, or apps, and programs that will be most beneficial to your lifestyle. Identify your wants and needs and read below for help and ideas on personalizing your phone.

Calender: The BlackBerry calendar is a useful tool for everyone. Set reminders, alarms, and even recurring reminders. This can be great for weekly meetings or conference calls , for mothers to keep up with their kids schedules, and even for birthday or holiday reminders.

Ringtones: Ringtones are now a very popular way personalize your Blackberry. To do this, transfer your music to a micro SD memory card or download ringtones online.

Apps: Apps, or applications, are a great way to personalize your device. What are your interests and hobbies? You can find free music apps, game, map, sports, social networking, business, and a myriad of other applications easily. Find free BlackBerry apps or pay for others by using the Blackberry App World program.

Convenience Keys: There are typically two of these, one on both the left and right side of the phone. They can be set to whatever you’d like! *TIP* Set the convenience keys on the programs you use the most often, this provides easy one button access to them.

Expandable Memory: Many BlackBerry devices utilize a micro SD card for expandable memory. This is a great and inexpensive way to personalize your phone with your own music, video, and pictures.

Themes: Themes give you the ability to change the background and overall look of the menu and options. Most Blackberry models have 2 or 3 themes already. These can be changed easily through your menu or you can buy or find other themes at the Blackberry themes page.

Screen/Keyboard: Customize your screen and keyboard by selecting the font, font size, font style, key tones, and by adjusting your trackball sensitivity to your liking.

Auto Text: This option allows you to personalize your text. It is designed to replace specific text with the text entry you provide. For example, you can auto text replace “ttyl” with “talk to you later,” this way you save the time from typing the whole phrase. The possibilities with auto text are endless

Blackberry Keyboard Shortcuts and Tips List

Here is a detailed list of keyboard shortcuts that will work with many different models.  For the official Blackberrry Tips and Tricks sheets for specific models see the bottom of this page.

Basic Shortcuts

The following shortcuts can be used in many applications:

• To move the cursor, roll the trackball.

• To exit a screen or to move to a previous page in a browser, press the Escape key.

• To move to a list item or menu item, type the first letter of the item.

• To select or clear a check box, click the Space key.

• To view available values in a field, press the Alt key.

• To switch applications, hold the Alt key and press the Escape key. Continue holding the Alt key and select an application. Release the Alt key.

• To return to the Home screen, press the End key.

• To delete a highlighted item, press the Backspace/Delete key.

• To turn on a theme or notification profile, select a theme or notification profile, then press the Space key.

Phone Shortcuts

The following shortcuts can be used in the Phone application or during a phone call:

• To answer a phone call, press the Send key.

• To view the contact list, hold the Send key.

• To insert a plus sign ( + ) when typing a phone number, hold 0.

• To add an extension to a phone number, press the Alt key and the X key, then type the extension number.

• To assign a speed dial number to a key, from the Home screen or in the Phone application, hold the key you want to assign. Type the phone number.

• To turn on the speakerphone during a call, press the Speakerphone key.

• To turn off the speakerphone during a call, press the Speakerphone key.

• To check your voice mail, hold 1.

• To type a letter in a phone number field, press the Alt key and the letter.

• To move to the top of the Phone screen, press the Space key.

• To view the last phone number that you typed, press the Space key and the Enter key. Press the Send key to dial the number.

Message Shortcuts

The following shortcuts can be used in a message:

• To reply to a message, press R.

• To reply to all, press L.

• To forward a message, press F.

• To file a highlighted email message, press I.

• To view the email address of a contact, in a message, highlight the contact. Press Q. To view the display name again, press Q.

The following shortcuts can be used in a message list:

• To open a highlighted message, press the Enter key.

• To compose a message from the message list, press C.

• To mark a message as opened or unopened, press the Alt key and U.

• To view received messages, press the Alt key and I.

• To view sent messages, press the Alt key and O.

• To view voice mail messages, press the Alt key and V.

• To view Short Message Service (SMS) text messages, press the Alt key and S.

• To view call logs, press the Alt key and P.

• To view all your messages again, press the Escape key.

The following shortcuts can be used to move around a message list:

• To move to the top of a screen, press the Shift key and the Space key.

• To move to the bottom of a screen, press the Space key.

• To move to the top of a message list, press T.

• To move to the bottom of a message list, press B.

• To move to the next date, press N.

• To move to the previous date, press P.

• To move to the next unopened item, press U.

• To move to the next related message, press J.

• To move to the previous related message, press K.

Typing Shortcuts

The following shortcuts can be used when typing text in an application:

• To insert a period, press the Space key twice. The next letter is capitalized.

• To capitalize a letter, hold the letter key until the capitalized letter appears.

• To type the alternate character on a key, press the Alt key and the character key.

• To type an accented or special character, hold the letter key and roll the trackball to the left or right. For example, to type ü, hold U and roll the trackball to the left until ü appears. Release the letter key when the accented or special character appears.

• To type a number in a number field, press a number key. You do not need to press the Alt key.

• To type a number in a password field, hold the Alt key and press the number key.

• To turn on NUM lock, press the Alt key and the Left Shift key.

• To turn on CAP lock, press the Alt key and the Right Shift key.

• To turn off NUM lock or CAP lock, press the Shift key.

• To switch typing input languages, on the Language screen, verify that the Use Input Language Shortcut field is set to Yes. Hold the Alt key and press the Enter key. Continue to hold the Alt key and highlight a language. Release the Alt key.

The following shortcuts can be used to insert symbols:

• To insert an at sign (@) or a period (.) in an email address field, press the Space key.

• To type a symbol, press the Symbol key. Type the letter that appears below the symbol.

The following shortcuts can be used to work with text:

• To highlight a line of text, press the Shift key and roll the trackball.

• To highlight text character by character, hold the Shift key and roll the trackball left or right.

• To cancel a text selection, press the Escape key.

• To cut highlighted text when typing, press the Shift key and the Backspace/Delete key.

• To copy highlighted text when typing, press the Alt key and click the trackball.

• To paste highlighted text when typing, press the Shift key and click the trackball.

Attachment Shortcuts

The following shortcuts can be used when viewing attachments:

• To search for text in an attachment, press F.

• To move to the last cursor position after closing and reopening an attachment, press G.

The following shortcuts can be used in a spreadsheet:

• To move to a specific cell, press G.

• To view the content of a cell, press the Space key.

• To switch worksheets, press V. Highlight a worksheet. Press the Enter key.

• To view hidden columns or rows, press H.

• To hide the columns or rows again, press H.

The following shortcuts can be used in a presentation:

• To switch presentation views, press M.

• To move to the next slide, press N.

• To move to the previous slide, press P.

• To move to the last cursor position after closing and reopening a presentation attachment, verify that you are viewing the presentation in text view or in text and slide view. Press G.

Browser Shortcuts

The following shortcuts can be used in the browser applications:

• To insert a period (.) in the Go To dialog box, press the Space key.

• To insert a slash mark (/) in the Go To dialog box, press the Shift key and the Space key.

• To open the browser options, in the browser, press O.

• To stop loading a web page, press the Escape key.

• To hide the browser, press D.

• To close the browser, hold the Escape key.

The following shortcuts can be used on a web page:

• To move to a specific web page, press G.

• To return to the home page, press H.

• To open the bookmark list, press K.

• To add a bookmark, press A.

• To view a list of web pages that you have visited recently, press I.

• To refresh a web page, press R.

• To view the address for a link, highlight a link. Press L.

• To view the address for a web page, press P.

• To save a web page to a message list, press S.

• To follow a highlighted link, press the Enter key.

• To hide the banner, press U.

• To view the banner again, press U.

• To view a thumbnail version of a web page, press X. To return to the normal view, press any key.

The following shortcuts can be used to navigate a web page:

• To move forward a screen, press the Shift key and the Space key.

• To move to a previous screen, press the Space key.

• To move to the top of a web page, press T.

• To move to the bottom of a web page, press B.

Media Shortcuts

The following shortcuts can be used in the Media application:

• To pause a video or song, press the Mute key.

• To resume playing a video or song, press the Mute key.

• To skip a song, press N.  To go back to a previous song, press P.

• To rotate a picture, press R.

• To zoom in to a picture, press I.

• To zoom out from a picture, press O.

• To zoom to the original picture size, press W.

Maps Shortcuts

The following shortcuts can be used in the Maps application:

• To zoom in to a map, press I.

• To zoom out from a map, press O.

• To view the status information at the top of a map, press U. To hide the status information at the top of a map, press U again.

• To switch views, press the Space key.

* These are shortcuts for the Blackberry map application and do not all work with other map apps such as Google maps.

Calendar Shortcuts

The following shortcuts can be used in the Calendar Day view:

Note: To allow shortcuts in Day view, in the Calendar options, set the Enable Quick Entry field to No.

• To schedule an appointment, press C.

• To change to Agenda view, press A.

• To change to Day view, press D.

• To change to Week view, press W.

• To change to Month view, press M.

• To move to the next day, week, or month, press the Space key.

• To move to the previous day, week, or month, press the Shift key and the Space key.

• To move to the current date, press T.

• To move to a specific date, press G.

Search Shortcuts

The following shortcuts can be used when searching in an application:

• To search for a contact in a list of contacts, type the contact name or initials separated by a space.

• To search for text in a message or memo, press S.

• To search for text in an attachment or web page, press F.

• To search for text in a presentation attachment, verify that you are viewing the presentation in text view or in text and slide view and then press F.

Blackberry Tips By Model

Every Blackberry has unique tips that can enhance the users experience. Here are the official Blackberry Tips and Tricks links for many popular models. Simply click on the link to view and/or save the link for future reference.

BlackBerry Storm 9500 Series Smartphone – Tips

Blackberry Bold 9000 Tips and Tricks

Blackberry Curve 8900 Tips and Tricks

Blackberry Curve 8300 Tips and Tricks

Blackberry Pearl Flip 8220 Tips and Tricks

Blackberry Pearl 8100 Tips and Tricks

Blackberry 8800 Tips and Tricks

Blackberry 8700 Tips and Tricks

Blackberry 7100 Tips and Tricks