Word hotkeys and shortcuts

Common hotkeys in Word to help you be more productive

Hotkeys, also known as keyboard shortcuts, can save a lot of time and typing.  Usually, a hotkey represents a command that would take several steps if used manually.  Many hotkeys work indentically “across the board” in Windows products.  For instance, the “control key” shortcuts are editing commands which cna be used in notepad, Office, and even most other document editing programs, such as HTML editors.  

The following list shows a most of the common keyboard shortcuts used in Microsoft Word.  Note that while many of these hotkeys may beused in most Windows applications, there is no guarantee that they will.  Some were designed for use specifically in Microsoft applications, while others are commonly used in just about everything.

Control Keys are used by holding down Ctrl while pressing the indicated key

Ctrl+A         Selects all in the current document.
Ctrl+B         Bold text.
Ctrl+C         Copies the item or text to the Clipboard and can be pasted using CTRL and V.
Ctrl+D         Displays the Font dialogue box.
Ctrl+E         Centre Alignment.
Ctrl+F         Displays the Find dialog box, to search the current document.
Ctrl+G         Displays the Go to dialog box, to go to a specific location in the current document.
Ctrl+H         Displays the Replace dialogue box.
Ctrl+I         Italic text.
Ctrl+J         Full Justification.
Ctrl+K         Create Hyperlink
Ctrl+L         Left Alignment
Ctrl+M         Tab
Ctrl+N         Creates a new document.
Ctrl+O         Displays the Open File dialogue box.
Ctrl+P         Displays the Print dialog box.
Ctrl+R         Right Alignment.
Ctrl+S         Displays the Save dialog box.
Ctrl+U         Underline text
Ctrl+V         Pastes the copied item or text from the Clipboard into the current position in the document.
Ctrl+X         Cuts the item or text selected to the Clipboard.
Ctrl+Y         Redo the last undone action.
Ctrl+Z         Undoes the last action.
Ctrl+ENTER         Insert Page Break.
Ctrl+F2         Show Print preview.
Ctrl+F4         Closes the active document window.
Ctrl+F6         Opens the next document window.

Function Keys are accessed by pressing the corresponding Function key (F1-F12),
Shift Function Keys require the SHIFT button to be held down while pressing a function key.

F1 key         Get help or use the Office assistant.
F2 Key         Move text or image.
F3 Key         Insert an autotext entry.
F4 Key         Perform last action again.
F5 Key         Displays the Go to dialogue box, from here you can also Find and Replace.
F6 Key         Go to the next frame or pane.
F7 Key         Launch the Spell checker.
F8 Key         Extend the current selection.
F9 Key         Update the selected fields.
F10 Key         Activate the menu bar.
F11 Key         Go to the next field.
F12 Key         Save file As, equivalent to tools menu.
SHIFT and F1 Key         Context sensitive help.
SHIFT and F2 Key         Copy Text.
SHIFT and F3 Key         Change the case of the selected text.
SHIFT and F4 Key         Perform a Find or Go to action again.
SHIFT and F5 Key         Move to a previous revision.
SHIFT and F6 Key         Go to the previous frame or pane.
SHIFT and F7 Key         Launch the Thesaurus.
SHIFT and F8 Key         Shrink the current selection.
SHIFT and F9 Key         Switch between a field code and it’s result.
SHIFT and F10 Key         Display a Shortcut Menu. Same as right clicking.
SHIFT and F11 Key         Go to the previous field.
SHIFT and F12 Key         Save document, equivalent to tools menu.

Article written by MyComputerAid.com