Quickly scroll to an item in a list or drop-down

Updated: 08/02/2019 by Computer Hope
scroll quickly in list

Quickly find text, icon, or other items in a group or list by highlighting one of the icons or list items and pressing the beginning letter. Below are examples of how to use this tip.

Internet drop-down list

Instead of scrolling through a list of options on an Internet drop-down list, click the list and press the first letter you want. For example, to get to United States in the following example click the down arrow and press "u" to get the first "u" item, which in Uganda. If you continued to type United, it would continue to scroll down as long as something is matched.

Tip

You can also use the up or down arrow keys to move to the item you want. For example, you could press "u" and then the down arrow until you get to United States.

Windows desktop icons

If you have many icons on your desktop or in another folder highlight one of the icons and press the first letter. For example, if you were looking for an icon named test highlight any desktop icon and press T to jump to the first icon starting with "t."

Tip

Press T multiple times to highlight each option in the list that starts with T.