Shortcut Keys in MS Word

Microsoft is a really big name in the technology field in today’s world, all thanks to Mr. Bill Gates’ vision to change the world forever by his inventions in the computer world.

Microsoft has given the world a lot, take the Windows Operating System for example. But there is one thing that most people know about, but do not appreciate that much, although, without it, their life wouldn’t be easy.

That thing is – Microsoft Office. Here, we are going to talk about Microsoft Office Word (MS Word) in particular. Further, we will discuss shortcut keys in MS Word.

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What is MS WORD?

MS Word is a word processor software and was first released in 1983. It is used to create Documents like reports, letters, and resumes, but its uses are not only limited to the professional field. MS word offers numerous features like Spell Check, Find, Font Formatting, Creating Tables, Using hyperlinks and Watermarks, and I could go on naming them. There are so many of them that it will take you a lot of time to figure them out.

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Now, this article focuses on some of the shortcut keys in MS word and tells you what you can do with them. Read on to know more.

There are so many MS word shortcut keys that a bunch of tables had to be created to explain them. The categories of these shortcuts in MS Word have been divided based on the primary function they perform.

Basic Shortcut Keys in MS Word

These shortcuts are the ones that help you get started with MS word, and are usually performed to do the initial or final tasks while you’re working with a document.

Ctrl + N	Start New Document
Ctrl + S	Save Current Doc
Ctrl + O	Open existing Doc
Ctrl + W	Close a Doc
Ctrl + Z	Undo
Ctrl + Y	Redo
Ctrl + F	Find Something
F1	Open Help Dialogue Box
Ctrl + F2	Print Preview
F7	Spell Check

How to Navigating In a Document?

Navigating in a Document means how to go from one word, character, line, or paragraph to another one. This can be done without using the mouse.

Arrow Keys	To move up, down, left, or right
End	To move to the end of the line
Home	To move to the start of the line
Ctrl + Home	To move to the start of the Document
Ctrl + End	To move to the end of the document
F5	To open the find Dialogue Box
Page Up	Move to the previous page
Page Down	Move to the next page

Microsoft Word Shortcut Keys for Text Selection in a Document

While creating a file or document, you might want to select some text to perform operations like copying, deleting, or formatting. The keys that can be used for this are:

Shift + Arrow Keys	Select words in a certain direction
Shift + End	Selection till the end of the line
Shift + Home	Selection till the start of the line
Ctrl + Shift + Home	Selection till the start of the Doc
Ctrl + Shift + End	Selection till the end of the Doc
Ctrl + A	To select everything in the Doc

Shortcut Keys for MS Word For Text Editing

Basic Shortcut keys will help you to update and delete the text in the word file.

Backspace helps you to delete a character to the left.

Delete Key helps you to remove or delete or eliminate characters to the right.

Shortcut Key For Delete: If You want to Delete a word then Press Ctrl+Delete or Ctrl+Backspace together.

Copy Shortcut Key: Ctrl+C, Press both keys together to copy the selected text.

Select All Shortcut: Ctrl+A, Press Key ‘Ctrl’, and alphabet ‘A’ together to select the whole text.

Cut Shortcut: Ctrl+X, Press together to cut selected portion.

Save As Shortcut Key: Press Only F12 Key

Paste Shortcut: Ctrl+V, Press Shortcut Keys for Paste together.

Search Shortcut: Ctrl+F is used to search word or text

Find and Replace Shortcut Keys: Press Ctrl+H together to find and replace keywords.

Print Shortcut key: Press Ctrl+P together is the shortcut for print.

Shortcut Key for New Folder: Press Ctrl+Shift+N, all keys together to create a new folder.

MS Word Shortcut Key For Character Formatting

If you want to write your text in italics, want to be bold in the character or text then these shortcut keys in MS Word will help you.

Ctrl + B	Make text Bold
Ctrl + U	Underline Text
Ctrl + I	Make text Italic
Ctrl +Shift +D	double texting formatting
Ctrl+ Shift + A	Convert all letters to uppercase
Ctrl + Shift + K	Covert all letters to the local BVI
Ctrl + Shift +C	Copying formatting
Ctrl + Shift + V	TO paste the formatting
Ctrl+Shift+>	To increase font size
Ctrl+Shift+<	To decrease font size
Ctrl+Spacebar	Remove character formatting
Shift+F3	Convert  the case of a letter
Ctrl+Shift+W	Only Underline Words (Except Spaces)
Ctrl+Shift+H	Hidden Text Formatting
Ctrl + equal(=)	Subscript Formatting
Ctrl+Shift+Plus Sign	Subscript Formatting
Ctrl+Shift+Q	Convert to the symbol font

Shortcut Keys in MS Word For Paragraph Formatting

If you want to format or align the text you have written, then this is for you.

Ctrl + E	Center align
Ctrl + L	Left Align
Ctrl +R	Right Align
Ctrl+J	Justify Paragraph
Ctrl + M	Indent a Paragraph from the left
Ctrl+Shift+M	Remove indent Paragraph indent from the left
Ctrl + Shift + S	Open popup for styling
Ctrl +Shift + N	Normal paragraph style
Ctrl + Q	Remove all formatting

Uses of Function Keys in MS Word

Function keys of keyboard F1-F12 will help you in performing various basic functions like select a spelling command, selecting a menu bar, etc.

Online help or Office Assistant	F1
To move the graphics or text	F2
Afterword displays an entry, this is used to insert the auto-text entry	F3
To repeat the previous action	F4
To choose the Go-To command	F5
To navigate to the next frame	F6
To select the spelling command	F7
To extend an existing selection	F8
To update the selected fields	F9
To activate the menu bar	F10
To navigate to the next field	F11
To use the Save-As command	F12

Use of Shift & Function Keys

They help in performing various functions

To reveal formatting or context switching help	Shift + F1
To copy a text	Shift + F2
To change the case of the letters	Shift + F3
To repeat the Find action or Go-To action	Shift + F4
To navigate to a previous revision	Shift + F5
To Navigate to the previous frame	Shift + F6
To select the Thesaurus Command	Shift + F7
To shrink an already existing selection	Shift + F8
To switch between the final result of the code and the code itself	Shift + F9
To Display shortcut menu	Shift + F10
To navigate to the previous field	Shift + F11
To use the save command	Shift + F12

Shortcut Keys of MS Word using Ctrl+F

Below mentioned shortcut keys will help you to see the print preview, to close the current window, etc.

Toggle display	Ctrl + F1
Print Preview Shortcut Key	Ctrl + F2
To cut to the Spike	Ctrl + F3
Shortcut Key to Close Tab	Ctrl + F4
To Restore the size of the doc window	Ctrl + F5
To navigate to the next window	Ctrl + F6
To use the move command	Ctrl + F7
To use the size command	Ctrl + F8
To insert an empty field	Ctrl + F9
To maximize the current document window	Ctrl + F10
To lock a field	Ctrl + F11
To use the open command from the file menu	Ctrl + F12

Shortcut Keys in MS Word Using Ctrl+Shift+F

To insert the spike contents	Ctrl + Shift + F3
To edit an already added bookmark	Ctrl + Shift + F5
To navigate to the previous window	Ctrl + Shift + F6
To update the information in a source doc (word document)	Ctrl + Shift + F7
To extend the already existing selection or block	Ctrl + Shift + F8
To unlink a field	Ctrl + Shift + F9
To activate the ruler command	Ctrl + Shift + F10
To unlock a field	Ctrl + Shift + F11
To use the print command from the file menu	Ctrl + Shift + F12

Shortcut Keys in MS Word Using Alt+F

To navigate to the next field	Alt + F1
To Create an auto text entry	Alt + F3
To quit MS Word	Alt + F4
To Restore the size of the program window	Alt + F5
To find the next grammatical error/misspelling	Alt + F7
To run a macro	Alt + F8
To switch between every final result and its code	Alt + F9
To maximize the program window	Alt + F10
To display Microsoft Visual Basic Code	Alt + F11

Shortcut Keys in Word Using Alt+Shift+F

They help in performing various functions like

To navigate to the previous field	Alt + Shift+ F1
To use the save command from the File menu	Alt + Shift + F2
To use GOTO and Macro button	Alt + Shift + F9
To display Microsoft Visual Studio Code	Alt + Shift + F11

Ctrl+Alt+F Keys

These Shortcut Keys in MS Word help you to display the Microsoft system information and to use the open command from the file menu.

To display the Microsoft System Information	Ctrl + Alt + F1
To use Open Command from the file menu	Ctrl + Alt + F2

To Control The Line Spacing

If you want to give line spacing to your text, So, here are the shortcut keys in MS Word for line spacing.

Single-space lines	Ctrl + 1
Double-space lines	Ctrl + 2
Set 1.5 line spacing	Ctrl + 5
To add or remove one line space preceding a paragraph	Ctrl + 0

Shortcut Keys in MS Word To Apply Various Paragraph styles

To apply a selected style	Ctrl + Shift + S
To start auto-format	Alt + Ctrl + K
To apply the normal Style	Ctrl + Shift + N
To apply the Heading 1 style	Alt + Ctrl + 1
To apply the Heading 2 style	Alt + Ctrl + 2
To apply the Heading 3 style	Alt + Ctrl + 3
To apply the list style	Ctrl + Shift + L

Shortcut Keys in MS Word For Texts & Graphics

To Delete one character to the left	Backspace
To Delete one word to the left	Ctrl + Backspace
To Delete one character to the right	Del
To delete one word to the right	Ctrl + Del
To cut selected text to clipboard	Ctrl + x
To undo the last action	Ctrl + Z
To cut to the spike	Ctrl + F3
To copy text or graphics	Ctrl  + c
To display the clipboard	Ctrl + c
To move text or graphics	F2
To create an Auto text	Alt + F3
To paste the contents of the clipboard	Ctrl + V
To paste the spike contents	Ctrl + Shift + F3
To copy the header or footer used in previous	Alt + Shift + R

To Insert Special Characters

Here is the list of shortcut keys in MS Word, if you want to insert some special characters in your word file.

Field	Ctrl + F9
Auto text entry	Enter
A line break	Shift + Enter
Page break	Ctrl + Enter
Column break	Ctrl + shift + Enter
Hyphen	Ctrl + hyphen
Non-breaking Hyphen	Ctrl + Shift + Hyphen
Non-breaking space	Ctrl + Shift + Space bar
Copyright symbol	Alt + Ctrl + C
Trademark symbol (registered)	Alt + Ctrl + R
Trademark symbol	Alt + Ctrl + T
Ellipsis	Alt + Ctrl + period

Shortcut Keys in MS Word For Text Selection

If you want to select the text written, Here is the list of shortcut keys.

One character to the left	Shift + right arrow
One character to the right	Shift + left arrow
To end of a word	Ctrl + Shift + right arrow
To the word’s starting	Ctrl + Shift + left arrow
To the end of the line	Shift + end
To the beginning of the line	Shift + home
One line below	Shift + down arrow
One line above	Shift + up arrow
To the end of the paragraph	Ctrl + Shift + down arrow
To the beginning of the paragraph	Ctrl + shift + up arrow
To one screen below	Shift + page down
To one screen above	Shift + page up
To the beginning of the document	Ctrl + Shift + home
To the end of the document	Ctrl + shift + end
Entire document	Ctrl + A

How To Select Table Content Using Shortcut Keys in MS Word?

To select the next cell’s contents	Tab
To select the content of the previous cell	Shift + tab
To extend a selection to the cells adjacent	Shift (hold) + arrow key (repeatedly in the wanted direction)
To select a column	Shift + Arrow key
To extend a selection	Ctrl + shift + F8
To reduce the selection size	Shift + F8
To select the entire table	Alt + 5

Shortcut keys To Navigate in a Table

Here is the list of shortcut keys in MS Word to navigate in a table.

To move to the next cell in the row	Tab
To move to the previous cell in the row	Shift + Tab
To move to the first cell in the row	Alt + Home
To move to the last cell in the row	Alt + End
To move to the first cell in the column	Alt + page up
To move to the last cell in the column	Alt + page down
To navigate to the previous row	Up arrow
To navigate to the next row	Down arrow

To Change the View

If you want to view the print layout of one of your documents, then press (All Together) Alt+Ctrl+P (shortcut keys in MS Word).

To switch to print layout view	Alt + Ctrl + P
To switch to outline view	Alt + Ctrl + O
To switch to normal view	Alt + Ctrl + N
To switch between master and sub doc	Ctrl + \

Shortcut Keys in MS Word To review Documents

To insert a comment	Alt+Ctrl+M
To turn track changes on and off	Ctrl+Shift+E
To go to a comment’s beginning	Home
To go to the end of a comment	End
To navigate to the beginning of the list of comments	Ctrl+Home
To navigate to the end of the list of comments	Ctrl+End

If you want to insert footnotes and endnotes in your Word file, here, is the list of shortcut keys in MS Word.

To mark an entry in a table of contents	Alt + Shift + O
To mark an entry in a table of authorities	Alt + Shift + I
To mark an index entry	Alt + Shift + X
To insert a footnote	Alt + Ctrl + F
To insert an endnote	Alt + Ctrl + D

Shortcut Keys in MS Word For Inserting and Managing Links

To insert a Hyperlink	Ctrl + k
To navigate to the previous page	Alt + left arrow
To navigate to the next page	Alt + right arrow
To refresh	F9

Using Office Assistant

If you want help from an office assistant, Press F1. To get information about any topic press Alt+Any number (press these shortcut keys in MS Word altogether).

To display assistant balloon	F1
To select the help topic	Alt + (any number)
To see more help topics	Alt + down arrow
To see previous help topics	Alt + up arrow
To close an assistant message	Esc

Shortcut Keys For Mail Merge

To preview a mail merge	Alt + Shift + K
To merge a document	Alt + Shift + N
To print the merged document	Alt + shift + M
To edit a mail-merge data document	Alt + Shift + E
To insert a merge field	Alt + shift + F

Shortcut Keys in MS Word To Navigate in a Dialog Box

To switch to the next tab	Ctrl + Pg down
To switch to the previous tab	Ctrl + Pg up
To move to the next tab	Tab
To move to the previous tab	Shift + Tab
To navigate through tabs and options	Arrow keys
To perform assigned action	Spacebar
To move to the option starting with the desired letter	‘Press that letter key’
To select or clear an option	Alt + ‘Letter key’
To open the selected list	Alt + down arrow
To close the selected list	Escape
To perform assigned action on the default option	Enter
To close the dialog box and to cancel command	Escape

To Navigate in a Text Box

Here is the list of shortcut keys in MS Word to navigate in a Text Box.

To navigate to the beginning of the line	Home
To navigate to the end of the line	End
To navigate one character	Left/ Right Arrow key
To navigate one word	Shit + (Left/ Right) Arrow key
To select to the beginning of the line	Shift + Home
To select to the end of the line	Shift + End
To select one character to the left	Shift + Left Arrow Key
To select one character to the right	Shift + Right Arrow Key
To select one word to the left	Ctrl + Shift + Left Arrow Key
To select one word to the right	Ctrl + Shift + Right Arrow Key

Some Shortcut Keys in MS Word To control the dialog box 

To display the Open dialog box	Ctrl + F12
To display the save-as dialog box	F12
To navigate to the previous folder	Alt + 1
To up one level button	Alt + 2
To open the www search page	Alt + 3
To delete selected folder/ file	Alt + 4
To create a subfolder	Alt + 5
To switch between list, preview views, and properties	Alt + 6
To show the tools menu	Alt + 7
To update the visible files in the dialog box	F5

Shortcut Keys in MS Word For Toolbars

To activate the menu bar	F10
To select the next or the previous Toolbar	Ctrl + Tab / Ctrl + Shift + Tab
To select the next/previous button on the toolbar menu	Tab / Shift + Tab
To open the menu	Enter
To perform the assigned action	Enter
To enter text in the text box	Enter
To select the desired option	Enter
To navigate through the drop-down menu	Arrow Keys

For Managing Email

If you want to open your email address book, Press altogether Ctrl+Shift+B (Shortcut Keys in MS Word).

To activate the email header	Shift + Tab
To send the current document or message	Alt + S
To open the address book	Ctrl + Shift + B
To check the names	Alt + K
To open the address book in the ‘To’ field	Alt +.
To open the address book in the CC field	Alt + C
To open the address book in the BCC Field	Alt + B
To go to the subject field	Alt + J
To open the MS outlook message options dialog box	Alt + P
To create a Message flag	Ctrl + Shift + G
To select the next box	Tab
To select the previous box	Shift + Tab

Conclusion

Shortcut keys in MS Word can help as they cut down the total time consumed while creating a document or formatting a document. You do not need to memorize them. You will learn them naturally after you practice enough. Peace! Adios!

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