Quicksilver is a program for people who love to use their keyboard rather than the mouse. It allows you to do almost anything by a serious of quick keyboard commands, instead of a lot of imprecise mouse clicks. By using the keyboard to open applications and perform actions you develop muscle memory — computer reflexes — and work gets done with less thought.

Download the latest version of quicksilver from here and let’s get started

After installing Quicksilver, call it by using the keyboard command: control-space. This brings up Quicksilver, which looks like so:

When you start typing, quicksilver will search for whatever programs or files you have that match what you’re typing. When Quicksilver’s found what you’re looking for, just hit return to launch it. For example, if you start typing ‘iph’, Quicksilver will find iPhoto like this:

The great thing about quicksilver is that it learns what you want. While you might have to type ‘google e’ the first time you want to get Google Earth, after a few times it will just pop up when you reach the ‘g’.

Using Quicksilver to find your files allows you to skip searching through nested folders to get to what you’re looking for. As long as the file has a memorable name, you’ll be able to quickly access it.

If you never use quicksilver for more than launching programs, you’ve already gained a lot of time. But there’s much, much more that can be done. Check out the quicksilver category for more tips in the future.

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Header photograph by piddy77