If you are still translating documents on notebook paper or a typewriter then I wish you all the luck in the world, but this post is not for you. Keyboard shortcuts may first appear to be more trouble than they’re worth, given that you can navigate through Microsoft Word and Trados just fine with the cursor. And while there are indeed lots of shortcuts that 99% of us will never need, anyone who spends a good amount of time translating or editing can most likely benefit from a few tips.

Microsoft Word
These are the five most basic shortcuts and the ones that I find myself using the most.

CTRL + X — Cut the selected text.
CTRL + C — Copy the selected text.
CTRL + V — Paste the selected text.
CTRL + Z — Undo last action.
CTRL + F — Open Find and Replace window

Trados
There are a number of shortcuts built into Trados, TagEditor and WinAlign as well. These are the ones I get lots of use out of in Trados.

CTRL + ALT + U — Fix document (see previous post Trados Fix Document Magic)
ALT + Home — Open/Get
ALT + End — Set/Close
ALT + Insert — Copy source.

I really recommend trying out the Trados keyboard shortcuts if you haven’t done so already. If anyone has got any other good shortcuts, feel free to post them!

Anyone using Trados is going to break a few tags at some point. It happens. There’s no way around it (that I’ve found), and it can be an extremely frustrating experience. If you are translating with Microsoft Word and you haven’t yet tried to close the segment or done any other Trados operation, you can undo your last action (Ctrl+Z) and hopefully fix it that way.

If you have however tried to use Trados, your best bet is the “Fix Document” command. This is the second to last option in the Trados menu ( Alt+Ctrl+U) and will usually fix small errors and broken tags. It finds the damaged tag, repairs it and then takes you back to the beginning of your document. Unfortunately, it is not always so “magical.” If it does not work for you, you can try to copy source and re-translate or try and copy a good tag and paste it over the damaged one.

Trados Fix Document should not be seen as a failsafe way to fix tags, but rather as a first attempt that will sometimes save you a big headache. In my experience, it has worked about 2/3 of the time. So keep it in mind, watch your tags and good luck!