Below is a listing of all the major shortcut
keys in Microsoft Word. See our main shortcut page if you're looking for other
shortcut keys used in other programs.
Shortcut Keys | Description |
Ctrl + A | Select all contents of the page. |
Ctrl + B | Bold highlighted selection. |
Ctrl + C | Copy selected text. |
Ctrl + E | Aligns the line or selected text to the center of the screen. |
Ctrl + F | Open find box. |
Ctrl + I | Italic highlighted selection. |
Ctrl + J | Aligns the selected text or line to justify the screen. |
Ctrl + K | Insert link. |
Ctrl + L |
Aligns the line or selected text to the left of the screen. |
Ctrl + M | Indent the paragraph. |
Ctrl + P | Open the print window. |
Ctrl + R | Aligns the line or selected text to the right of the screen. |
Ctrl + T | Create a hanging indent. |
Ctrl + U | Underline highlighted selection. |
Ctrl + V | Paste. |
Ctrl + X | Cut selected text. |
Ctrl + Y | Redo the last action performed. |
Ctrl + Z | Undo last action. |
Ctrl + Shift + F | Change the font. |
Ctrl + Shift + > | Increase selected font +1pts up to 12pt and then increases font +2pts. |
Ctrl + ] | Increase selected font +1pts. |
Ctrl + Shift + < | Decrease selected font -1pts if 12pt or lower, if above 12 decreases font by +2pt. |
Ctrl + [ | Decrease selected font -1pts. |
Ctrl + Shift + * | View or hide non printing characters. |
Ctrl + <left arrow> | Moves one word to the left. |
Ctrl + <right arrow> | Moves one word to the right. |
Ctrl + <up arrow> | Moves to the beginning of the line or paragraph. |
Ctrl + <down arrow> | Moves to the end of the paragraph. |
Ctrl + Del | Deletes word to right of cursor. |
Ctrl + Backspace | Deletes word to left of cursor. |
Ctrl + End | Moves the cursor to the end of the document. |
Ctrl + Home | Moves the cursor to the beginning of the document. |
Ctrl + Spacebar | Reset highlighted text to the default font. |
Ctrl + 1 | Single-space lines. |
Ctrl + 2 | Double-space lines. |
Ctrl + 5 | 1.5-line spacing. |
Ctrl + Alt + 1 | Changes text to heading 1. |
Ctrl + Alt + 2 | Changes text to heading 2. |
Ctrl + Alt + 3 | Changes text to heading 3. |
Ctrl + F1 | Open the Task Pane. |
F1 | Open Help. |
Alt + Ctrl + F2 | Open new document. |
Ctrl + F2 | Display the print preview. |
Shift + F3 | Change the text in Microsoft Word from upper to lower case or a capital letter at the beginning of every word. |
Shift + Insert | Paste. |
F4 | Repeat the last action performed (Word 2000+) |
F5 | Open the find, replace, and go to window in Microsoft Word. |
Ctrl + Shift + F6 | Opens to another open Microsoft Word document. |
F7 | Spell and grammar check selected text and/or document. |
Shift + F7 | Runs a Thesaurus check on the word highlighted. |
F12 | Save as. |
Shift + F12 | Save. |
Ctrl + Shift + F12 | Prints the document. |
Alt + Shift + D | Insert the current date. |
Alt + Shift + T | Insert the current time. |
In addition to the above shortcut keys users can also use their mouse as a method of quickly do something commonly performed. Below some are examples of mouse shortcuts.
Mouse shortcuts | Description |
Click, hold, and drag | Selects text from where you click and hold to the point you drag and let go. |
Double-click | If double-click a word, selects the complete word. |
Double-click | Double-clicking on the left, center, or right of a blank line will make the alignment of the text left, center, or right aligned. |
Double-click | Double-clicking anywhere after text on a line will set a tab stop. |
Triple-click | Selects the line or paragraph of the text the mouse triple-clicked. |
Ctrl + Mouse wheel | Zooms in and out of document. |