Boost Your Productivity: Essential Keyboard Shortcuts in MS Word for Windows, Mac, and Linux
Discover the ultimate guide to streamline your workflow with keyboard shortcuts on Windows, Mac, and Linux in MS Word! Learn how to navigate effortlessly through your operating system, save time on common tasks, and supercharge your productivity. Whether you're a seasoned user or a beginner, this comprehensive blog unlocks the power of keyboard shortcuts, making computing smoother and more efficient. Say goodbye to tedious clicks and hello to a faster, more productive computing experience!
COMPUTING
4/5/20246 min read
Unlock the power of efficiency in Microsoft Word with these essential keyboard shortcuts! Whether you're a seasoned spreadsheet master or just dipping your toes into the world of data analysis, these shortcuts are the keys to turbocharging your productivity. In today's fast-paced world, every click counts, and mastering these shortcuts will not only save you time but also make you a more efficient Word user. Join us as we explore the top keyboard shortcuts for Windows, Mac, and Linux, and discover how they can revolutionize the way you work with Word
- Ctrl+0: Toggles 6pts of spacing before a paragraph.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + 0.
- Mac: Command + 0.
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- Ctrl+A: Select all contents of the page.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + A.
- Mac: Command + A.
- Linux: Ctrl + A.
- Ctrl+B: Bold highlighted selection.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + B.
- Mac: Command + B.
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- Ctrl+C: Copy selected text.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + C.
- Mac: Command + C.
- Linux: Ctrl + C.
- Ctrl+D: Open the font preferences window.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + D.
- Mac: N/A (No equivalent)
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- Ctrl+E: Aligns the line or selected text to the center of the screen.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + E.
- Mac: Command + E.
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- Ctrl+F: Open find box.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + F.
- Mac: Command + F.
- Linux: Ctrl + F.
- Ctrl+I: Italic highlighted selection.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + I.
- Mac: Command + I.
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- Ctrl+J: Aligns the selected text or line to justify the screen.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + J.
- Mac: Command + J.
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- Ctrl+K: Insert a hyperlink.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + K.
- Mac: Command + K.
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- Ctrl+L: Aligns the line or selected text to the left of the screen.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + L.
- Mac: Command + L.
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- Ctrl+M: Indent the paragraph.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + M.
- Mac: Command + M.
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- Ctrl+N: Opens new, blank document window.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + N.
- Mac: Command + N.
- Linux: Ctrl + N.
- Ctrl+O: Opens the dialog box or page for selecting a file to open.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + O.
- Mac: Command + O.
- Linux: Ctrl + O.
- Ctrl+P: Open the print window.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + P.
- Mac: Command + P.
- Linux: Ctrl + P.
- Ctrl+R: Aligns the line or selected text to the right of the screen.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + R.
- Mac: Command + R.
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- Ctrl+S: Save the open document. Just like Shift+F12.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + S.
- Mac: Command + S.
- Linux: Ctrl + S.
- Alt, F, A: Save the document under a different file name.
- Windows: Press Alt, F, A sequentially.
- Mac: N/A (No equivalent)
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- Ctrl+T: Create a hanging indent.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + T.
- Mac: Command + T.
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- Ctrl+U: Underline the selected text.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + U.
- Mac: Command + U.
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- Ctrl+V: Paste.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + V.
- Mac: Command + V.
- Linux: Ctrl + V.
- Ctrl+W: Close the currently open document.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + W.
- Mac: Command + W.
- Linux: Ctrl + W.
- Ctrl+X: Cut selected text.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + X.
- Mac: Command + X.
- Linux: Ctrl + X.
- Ctrl+Y: Redo the last action performed.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + Y.
- Mac: Command + Shift + Z.
- Linux: Ctrl + Y.
- Ctrl+Z: Undo last action.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + Z.
- Mac: Command + Z.
- Linux: Ctrl + Z.
- Ctrl+Shift+L: Quickly create a bullet point.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + Shift + L.
- Mac: N/A (No equivalent)
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- Ctrl+Shift+F: Change the font.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + Shift + F.
- Mac: Command + T.
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- Ctrl+Shift+>: Increase selected font +1pts up to 12pt and then increase font +2pts.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + Shift + >.
- Mac: N/A (No equivalent)
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- Ctrl+]: Increase selected font +1pts.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + ].
- Mac: N/A (No equivalent)
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- Ctrl+Shift+<: Decrease selected font -1pts if 12pt or lower; if above 12, decreases font by +2pt.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + Shift + <.
- Mac: N/A (No equivalent)
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- Ctrl+[: Decrease selected font -1pts.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + [.
- Mac: N/A (No equivalent)
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- Ctrl+/+c: Insert a cent sign (¢).
- Windows: Press Ctrl + / + c.
- Mac: Option + 4.
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- Ctrl+'+<char>: Insert a character with an accent (grave) mark.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + ' + <char>.
- Mac: Press and hold the key of the letter you want to accent, then choose from the popup.
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- Ctrl+Shift+*: View or hide non-printing characters.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + Shift + *.
- Mac: N/A (No equivalent)
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- Ctrl+<left arrow>: Moves one word to the left.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + Left arrow.
- Mac: Option + Left arrow.
- Linux: Alt + Left arrow.
- Ctrl+<right arrow>: Moves one word to the right.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + Right arrow.
- Mac: Option + Right arrow.
- Linux: Alt + Right arrow.
- Ctrl+<up arrow>: Moves to the beginning of the line or paragraph.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + Up arrow.
- Mac: Command + Up arrow.
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- Ctrl+<down arrow>: Moves to the end of the paragraph.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + Down arrow.
- Mac: Command + Down arrow.
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- Ctrl+Del: Deletes word to the right of cursor.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + Del.
- Mac: Fn + Delete.
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- Ctrl+Backspace: Deletes word to the left of cursor.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + Backspace.
- Mac: Option + Delete.
- Linux: Ctrl + Backspace.
- Ctrl+End: Moves the cursor to the end of the document.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + End.
- Mac: Command + Right arrow.
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- Ctrl+Home: Moves the cursor to the beginning of the document.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + Home.
- Mac: Command + Up arrow.
- Linux: Ctrl + Home.
- Ctrl+Spacebar: Reset highlighted text to the default font.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + Spacebar.
- Mac: Command + Shift + Z.
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- Ctrl+1: Single-space lines.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + 1.
- Mac: Command + 1.
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- Ctrl+2: Double-space lines.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + 2.
- Mac: Command + 2.
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- Ctrl+5: 1.5-line spacing.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + 5.
- Mac: Command + 5.
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- Ctrl+Alt+1: Changes text to heading 1.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + Alt + 1.
- Mac: N/A (No equivalent)
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- Ctrl+Alt+2: Changes text to heading 2.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + Alt + 2.
- Mac: N/A (No equivalent)
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- Ctrl+Alt+3: Changes text to heading 3.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + Alt + 3.
- Mac: N/A (No equivalent)
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- Alt+Ctrl+F2: Open new document.
- Windows: Press Alt + Ctrl + F2.
- Mac: N/A (No equivalent)
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- Ctrl+F1: Open the Task Pane.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + F1.
- Mac: N/A (No equivalent)
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- Ctrl+F2: Display the print preview.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + F2.
- Mac: Command + Option + P.
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- Ctrl+Shift+>: Increases the selected text size by one font size.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + Shift + >.
- Mac: Command + Shift + >.
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- Ctrl+Shift+<: Decreases the selected text size by one font size.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + Shift + <.
- Mac: Command + Shift + <.
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- Ctrl+Shift+F6: Switches to another open Microsoft Word document.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + Shift + F6.
- Mac: N/A (No equivalent)
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- Ctrl+Shift+F12: Prints the document.
- Windows: Press Ctrl + Shift + F12.
- Mac: N/A (No equivalent)
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- F1: Open Help.
- Windows: Press F1.
- Mac: N/A (No equivalent)
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- F4: Repeat the last action performed (Word 2000+).
- Windows: Press F4.
- Mac: Command + Y.
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- F5: Open the Find, Replace, and Go To window in Microsoft Word.
- Windows: Press F5.
- Mac: Command + F.
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- F7: Spellcheck and grammar check selected text or document.
- Windows: Press F7.
- Mac: Command + ; (Semicolon).
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- F12: Save As.
- Windows: Press F12.
- Mac: N/A (No equivalent)
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- Shift+F3: Change the text in Microsoft Word from uppercase to lowercase or a capital letter at the beginning of every word.
- Windows: Press Shift + F3.
- Mac: N/A (No equivalent)
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- Shift+F7: Runs a Thesaurus check on the selected word.
- Windows: Press Shift + F7.
- Mac: N/A (No equivalent)
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- Shift+F12: Save the open document. Just like Ctrl+S.
- Windows: Press Shift + F12.
- Mac: Command + S.
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- Shift+Enter: Create a soft break instead of a new paragraph.
- Windows: Press Shift + Enter.
- Mac: Shift + Return.
- Linux: Shift + Enter.
- Shift+Insert: Paste.
- Windows: Press Shift + Insert.
- Mac: Command + V.
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- Shift+Alt+D: Insert the current date.
- Windows: Press Shift + Alt + D.
- Mac: N/A (No equivalent)
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
- Shift+Alt+T: Insert the current time.
- Windows: Press Shift + Alt + T.
- Mac: N/A (No equivalent)
- Linux: N/A (No equivalent)
These shortcuts can save time and effort, especially for frequent tasks like opening settings or minimizing all windows. By using these combinations, users can perform actions more quickly and efficiently, enhancing their overall workflow.
As we conclude our journey through the realm of Word keyboard shortcuts, it's clear that these simple yet powerful tools are essential for anyone looking to excel in office management. From navigating cells to formatting data and everything in between, these shortcuts offer a faster and more efficient way to work with Word. So why wait? Start incorporating these shortcuts into your workflow today and experience the difference for yourself. With a little practice, you'll be navigating Word like a pro in no time. Happy shortcutting!