Power users of any software system use a little trick known as “keyboard shortcuts” to get things done. A mouse, or in the case of the Blackberry Pearl, the scroll ball, is designed to be easy, not fast.

Just like most of the software on your computer, your Blackberry Pearl has some hidden shortcuts that can speed things up dramatically for you. You can still use your scroll ball and the Blackberry button, but it pays to learn at least a handful of the most popular shortcuts. I don’t know anyone who uses them all (there are a LOT), but I know I would be very frustrated with the ones I’m going to show you today.

Keyboard Shortcuts

A lot of businesses will spell out their phone number to help you remember it. That’s great for remembering but it’s worthless for those of us using a Blackberry Pearl. If you compare the keyboard on your Pearl with one on a traditional phone, you’ll notice the letters don’t land on the same numbers.

So 1-888-HIT-RADIO just doesn’t work. I’ve had to look at another phone to see what the numbers are supposed to be on my Blackberry. Not any more! If you start to dial the number from your home screen (1-888) and then press and hold the ALT key (that’s the one in the lower left corner with the up and down arrows on it) and use the multi-tap feature you can spell out the phone number.

What is multi-tap? If you’ve ever had to type in a password on a website with your Blackberry Pearl, you’ve most likely used multi-tap. For example, if you want to type the letter “K” using multi-tap, you’d press the number 6 twice since “K” is the second letter on that key (”J” is the first).

This also works if you’re phone company gives you short cuts to find out your Balance (#BAL) or make a payment (#PMT). Just hold down the ALT key and use the “multi-tap” technique to spell whatever you would normally spell on a traditional keypad. That tip right there will save you MANY headaches.

Managing Your Messages With Shortcuts

There have been several occasions where I read an email and didn’t reply to it right away. It happens all the time. Later, I’ll look through my list of message and reply. The keyboard shortcut is to reply is to highlight the message you want (or have it open already) and press the “!” key. That’s it.

Normally you’d have to select the message, open it, press the Blackberry button, scroll down to reply and press the pearl button. Kind of a pain when instead you can just press ! and start typing your message. You can reply to all by pressing “?” key or if you want to forward a message just press “.” on the right side of the keyboard. Commit those to memory and you’ll save a lot of time.

Here’s another quick tip that can save you hundreds of key punches. At the end of a sentence, instead of pressing ALT and “.” just double space and your Blackberry will add in the period automatically. This will speed up your typing considerably since it doesn’t require the use of both hands. If you’re ever typing an email address, you can do something similar. Just press space where the @ symbol goes and Blackberry adds it automatically.

If you’re inbox is like mine, it can fill up quite fast with text messages, emails, voice mail and of course phone calls. Scrolling down to find a phone call you made earlier in the day can sometimes prove more difficult than it sounds. Try this next time. If you just want to see your phone calls (made and receieved) press and hold ALT while you press the letter P. There they are, only phone calls. Just want your your text or SMS message listed? Press and hold ALT while you press S. Just want voice mail? Press and hold ALT while you press V. When you’re done, either press and hold ALT and I or just press escape.

Those are just a few of the shortcuts available on your Blackberry Pearl. Spend some time really learning and mastering these before you bog yourself down with any more. Spend a week using these regularly and before you know it, you’ll be flying through your emails and SMS messages and back to some quality time with Brick Breaker.

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