Accelerator

An Accelerator key is a keyboard method allowing the user to operate the Ribbon and the Context Menu by using keys allocated to each item.

In the Ribbon, the Accelerators are displayed next to the ribbon Tabs when one of the Ribbon activation keys is pressed - Alt, F10 or / (slash).  On pressing an Accelerator next to a ribbon tab, that tab is opened and Accelerators appear next to the commands and lists in the Ribbon.

In a Context Menu, the commands and sub menus have an underlined letter in the text of each option.  Pressing this letter activates the command or opens the sub-menu.

Once activated, it can be cleared by pressing the Esc key  To select a command, use the arrow keys to move the focus and press Enter when the desired command is highlighted, or use the Accelerators (the underlined letters in the menu controls).

Below are some examples of ContextMenu keys on keyboards.  If your laptop lacks a ContextMenu key, you can use the original Windows shortcut Shift+F10.