
It is not a stretch when declaring that computers have become an essential aspect of everyday life! If you’re a frequent users, then you should be aware about key shortcuts on the keyboard. In essence, a computer shortcut can be described as a combination of keys that trigger a specific command in a program or operating system. This means that you can boost your efficiency by triggering commands using a couple of keystrokes, however, it’s accessible only via a menu, mouse, or some other feature.
Computer keyboard shortcut keys work quickly and make your work easier.
Here is a list of frequently employed shortcut keys that help you to use a faster and easier method of making use of computer applications:
S.NO | Keyboard shortcut | Action |
1 | Ctrl+O | Open |
2 | Ctrl+S | Save |
3 | Ctrl+W | Close |
4 | Ctrl+X | Cut |
5 | Ctrl+C | Copy |
6 | Ctrl+V | Paste |
7 | Ctrl+A | Select all |
8 | Ctrl+B | Bold |
9 | Ctrl+I | Italic |
10 | Ctrl+U | Underline |
11 | Ctrl+[ | Decrease font size 1 point |
12 | Ctrl+] | Increase font size 1 point |
13 | Ctrl+E | Center text |
14 | Ctrl+L | Left align text |
15 | Ctrl+R | Right align text |
16 | Esc | Cancel |
17 | Ctrl+Z | Undo |
18 | Ctrl+Y | Re-do |
19 | Alt+W, Q, then tab in Zoom dialog box to the value you want | Zoom |
Function Keys :- | ||
1 | F1 | Get Help or visit Office.com. |
2 | F2 | Move text or graphics. |
3 | F4 | Repeat the last action. |
4 | F5 | Choose the Go To command (Home tab). |
5 | F6 | Go to the next pane or frame. |
6 | F7 | Choose the Spelling command (Review tab). |
7 | F8 | Extend a selection. |
8 | F9 | Update the selected fields. |
9 | F10 | Show KeyTips. |
10 | F11 | Go to the next field. |
11 | F12 | Choose the Save As command. |
Shift+Function Keys :- | ||
1 | Shift+F1 | Start context-sensitive Help or reveal formatting. |
2 | Shift+F2 | Copy text. |
3 | Shift+F3 | Change the case of letters. |
4 | Shift+F4 | Repeat a Find or Go To action. |
5 | Shift+F5 | Move to the last change. |
6 | Shift+F6 | Go to the previous pane or frame (after pressing F6). |
7 | Shift+F7 | Choose the Thesaurus command (Review tab, Proofing group). |
8 | Shift+F8 | Reduce the size of a selection. |
9 | Shift+F9 | Switch between a field code and its result. |
10 | Shift+F10 | Display a shortcut menu. |
11 | Shift+F11 | Go to the previous field. |
12 | Shift+F12 | Choose the Save command. |
Ctrl+Function Keys :- | ||
1 | Ctrl+F1 | Expand or collapse the ribbon. |
2 | Ctrl+F2 | Choose the Print Preview command. |
3 | Ctrl+F3 | Cut to the Spike. |
4 | Ctrl+F4 | Close the window. |
5 | Ctrl+F6 | Go to the next window. |
6 | Ctrl+F9 | Insert an empty field. |
7 | Ctrl+F10 | Maximize the document window. |
8 | Ctrl+F11 | Lock a field. |
9 | Ctrl+F12 | Choose the Open command. |
Ctrl+Shift+Function Keys :- | ||
1 | Ctrl+Shift+F3 | Insert the contents of the Spike. |
2 | Ctrl+Shift+F5 | Edit a bookmark. |
3 | Ctrl+Shift+F6 | Go to the previous window. |
4 | Ctrl+Shift+F7 | Update linked information in a Word source document. |
5 | Ctrl+Shift+F8, and then press an arrow key | Extend a selection or block. |
6 | Ctrl+Shift+F9 | Unlink a field. |
7 | Ctrl+Shift+F11 | Unlock a field. |
8 | Ctrl+Shift+F12 | Choose the Print command. |
Alt+Function Keys :- | ||
1 | Alt+F1 | Go to the next field. |
2 | Alt+F3 | Create a new Building Block. |
3 | Alt+F4 | Exit Word. |
4 | Alt+F5 | Restore the program window size. |
5 | Alt+F6 | Move from an open dialog box back to the document, for dialog boxes that support this behavior. |
6 | Alt+F7 | Find the next misspelling or grammatical error. |
7 | Alt+F8 | Run a macro. |
8 | Alt+F9 | Switch between all field codes and their results. |
9 | Alt+F10 | Display the Selection task pane. |
10 | Alt+F11 | Display Microsoft Visual Basic code. |
Alt+Shift+Function Keys :- | ||
1 | Alt+Shift+F1 | Go to the previous field. |
2 | Alt+Shift+F2 | Choose the Save command. |
3 | Alt+Shift+F9 | Run GOTOBUTTON or MACROBUTTON from the field that displays the field results. |
4 | Alt+Shift+F10 | Display a menu or message for an available action. |
5 | Alt+Shift+F12 | Choose Table of Contents button in the Table of Contents container when the container is active. |
Ctrl+Alt+Function Keys :- | ||
1 | Ctrl+Alt+F1 | Display Microsoft System Information. |
2 | Ctrl+Alt+F2 | Choose the Open command. |
Navigate the Ribbon with only the Keyboard :- | ||
1 | Alt+F | To use Backstage view, open the File page. |
2 | Alt+G | To use themes, colors, and effects, such as page borders, open the Design tab. |
3 | Alt+H | To use common formatting commands, paragraph styles, or to use the Find tool. open Home tab. |
4 | Alt+M | To manage Mail Merge tasks, or to work with envelopes and labels, open Mailings tab . |
5 | Alt+N | To insert tables, pictures and shapes, headers, or text boxes, open Insert tab. |
6 | Alt+P | To work with page margins, page orientation, indentation, and spacing, open Layout tab. |
7 | Alt+Q, then enter the search term | To type a search term for Help content, open “Tell me” box on ribbon. |
8 | Alt+R | To use Spell Check, set proofing languages, or to track and review changes to your document, open the Review tab. |
9 | Alt+S | To add a table of contents, footnotes, or a table of citations, open the References tab. |
10 | Alt+W | To choose a document view or mode, such as Read Mode or Outline view, open the View tab. You can also set Zoom magnification and manage multiple windows of documents. |
Work with documents in different views :- | ||
1 | Alt+W, F | Switch to Read Mode view |
2 | Alt+Ctrl+P | Switch to Print Layout view. |
3 | Alt+Ctrl+O | Switch to Outline view. |
4 | Alt+Ctrl+N | Switch to Draft view. |
Work with headings in Outline view :- | ||
1 | Alt+Shift+Left Arrow | Promote a paragraph. |
2 | Alt+Shift+Right Arrow | Demote a paragraph. |
3 | Ctrl+Shift+N | Demote to body text. |
4 | Alt+Shift+Up Arrow | Move selected paragraphs up. |
5 | Alt+Shift+Down Arrow | Move selected paragraphs down. |
6 | Alt+Shift+Plus Sign | Expand text under a heading. |
7 | Alt+Shift+Minus Sign | Collapse text under a heading. |
8 | Alt+Shift+A | Expand or collapse all text or headings. |
9 | The slash (/) key on the numeric keypad | Hide or display character formatting. |
10 | Alt+Shift+L | Show the first line of text or all text. |
11 | Alt+Shift+1 | Show all headings with the Heading 1 style. |
12 | Alt+Shift+n | Show all headings up to Heading n. |
13 | Ctrl+Tab | Insert a tab character. |
Navigate in Read Mode view :- | ||
1 | Home | Go to beginning of document. |
2 | End | Go to end of document. |
3 | n (n is the page number you want to go to), Enter | Go to page n. |
4 | Esc | Exit Read mode. |
Edit and move text and graphics :- | ||
1 | F8 | Turn extend mode on. |
2 | F8, and then press Left Arrow or Right Arrow | Select the nearest character. |
3 | F8 (press once to select a word, twice to select a sentence, and so on) | Increase the size of a selection. |
4 | Shift+F8 | Reduce the size of a selection. |
5 | Esc | Turn extend mode off. |
6 | Shift+Right Arrow | Extend a selection one character to the right. |
7 | Shift+Left Arrow | Extend a selection one character to the left. |
8 | Ctrl+Shift+Right Arrow | Extend a selection to the end of a word. |
9 | Ctrl+Shift+Left Arrow | Extend a selection to the beginning of a word. |
10 | Shift+End | Extend a selection to the end of a line. |
11 | Shift+Home | Extend a selection to the beginning of a line. |
12 | Shift+Down Arrow | Extend a selection one line down. |
13 | Shift+Up Arrow | Extend a selection one line up. |
14 | Ctrl+Shift+Down Arrow | Extend a selection to the end of a paragraph. |
15 | Ctrl+Shift+Up Arrow | Extend a selection to the beginning of a paragraph. |
16 | Shift+Page Down | Extend a selection one screen down. |
17 | Shift+Page Up | Extend a selection one screen up. |
18 | Ctrl+Shift+Home | Extend a selection to the beginning of a document. |
19 | Ctrl+Shift+End | Extend a selection to the end of a document. |
20 | Alt+Ctrl+Shift+Page Down | Extend a selection to the end of a window. |
21 | Ctrl+A | Extend a selection to include the entire document. |
22 | Ctrl+Shift+F8, and then use the arrow keys; press Esc to cancel selection mode | Select a vertical block of text. |
23 | F8+arrow keys; press Esc to cancel selection mode | Extend a selection to a specific location in a document. |
Delete Text and Graphics :- | ||
1 | Backspace | Delete one character to the left. |
2 | Ctrl+Backspace | Delete one word to the left. |
3 | Delete | Delete one character to the right. |
4 | Ctrl+Delete | Delete one word to the right. |
5 | Ctrl+X | Cut selected text to the Office Clipboard. |
6 | Ctrl+Z | Undo the last action. |
7 | Ctrl+F3 | Cut to the Spike. (Spike is a feature that allows you to collect groups of text from different locations and paste them in another location). |
Copy and move text and graphics :- | ||
1 | Press Alt+H to move to the Home tab, and then press F,O. | Open the Office Clipboard |
2 | Ctrl+C | Copy selected text or graphics to the Office Clipboard. |
3 | Ctrl+X | Cut selected text or graphics to the Office Clipboard. |
4 | Ctrl+V | Paste the most recent addition or pasted item from the Office Clipboard. |
5 | F2 (then move the cursor and press Enter) | Move text or graphics once. |
6 | Shift+F2 (then move the cursor and press Enter) | Copy text or graphics once. |
7 | Alt+F3 | When text or an object is selected, open the Create New Building Block dialog box. |
8 | Shift+F10 | When the building block — for example, a SmartArt graphic — is selected, display the shortcut menu that is associated with it. |
9 | Ctrl+F3 | Cut to the Spike. |
10 | Ctrl+Shift+F3 | Paste the Spike contents. |
11 | Alt+Shift+R | Copy the header or footer used in the previous section of the document. |
Format Characters and Paragraphs :- | ||
1 | Ctrl+D | Open the Font dialog box to change the formatting of characters. |
2 | Shift+F3 | Change the case of letters. |
3 | Ctrl+Shift+A | Format all letters as capitals. |
4 | Ctrl+B | Apply bold formatting. |
5 | Ctrl+U | Apply an underline. |
6 | Ctrl+Shift+W | Underline words but not spaces. |
7 | Ctrl+Shift+D | Double-underline text. |
8 | Ctrl+Shift+H | Apply hidden text formatting. |
9 | Ctrl+I | Apply italic formatting. |
10 | Ctrl+Shift+K | Format letters as small capitals. |
11 | Ctrl+Equal Sign | Apply subscript formatting (automatic spacing). |
12 | Ctrl+Shift+Plus Sign | Apply superscript formatting (automatic spacing). |
13 | Ctrl+Spacebar | Remove manual character formatting. |
14 | Ctrl+Shift+Q | Change the selection to the Symbol font. |
Change or re-size the font :- | ||
1 | Ctrl+Shift+F | Open the Font dialog box to change the font. |
2 | Ctrl+Shift+> | Increase the font size. |
3 | Ctrl+Shift+< | Decrease the font size. |
4 | Ctrl+] | Increase the font size by 1 point. |
5 | Ctrl+[ | Decrease the font size by 1 point. |
Copy Formatting :- | ||
1 | Ctrl+Shift+C | Copy formatting from text. |
2 | Ctrl+Shift+V | Apply copied formatting to text. |
Change Paragraph Alignment :- | ||
1 | Ctrl+E | Switch a paragraph between centered and left-aligned. |
2 | Ctrl+J | Switch a paragraph between justified and left-aligned. |
3 | Ctrl+R | Switch a paragraph between right-aligned and left-aligned. |
4 | Ctrl+L | Left align a paragraph. |
5 | Ctrl+M | Indent a paragraph from the left. |
6 | Ctrl+Shift+M | Remove a paragraph indent from the left. |
7 | Ctrl+T | Create a hanging indent. |
8 | Ctrl+Shift+T | Reduce a hanging indent. |
9 | Ctrl+Q | Remove paragraph formatting. |
Copy and review text formats:- | ||
1 | Ctrl+Shift+* (asterisk on numeric keypad does not work) | Display nonprinting characters. |
2 | Shift+F1 (then click the text with the formatting you want to review) | Review text formatting. |
3 | Ctrl+Shift+C | Copy formats. |
4 | Ctrl+Shift+V | Paste formats. |
Set Line Spacing:- | ||
1 | Ctrl+1 | Single-space lines. |
2 | Ctrl+2 | Double-space lines. |
3 | Ctrl+5 | Set 1.5-line spacing. |
4 | Ctrl+0 (zero) | Add or remove one line space preceding a paragraph. |
Mail Merge and Fields:- | ||
1 | Alt+Shift+K | Preview a mail merge. |
2 | Alt+Shift+N | Merge a document. |
3 | Alt+Shift+M | Print the merged document. |
4 | Alt+Shift+E | Edit a mail-merge data document. |
5 | Alt+Shift+F | Insert a merge field. |
Read More
Control Keys in Computer and laptop A-Z Control Key Shortcuts