What are shortcut keys in word

This article describes the keyboard shortcuts and function keys in Word for Windows.

Notes: 

  • To quickly find a shortcut in this article, you can use Search. Press Ctrl+F, and then type your search words.

  • If an action that you use often does not have a shortcut key, you can record a macro to create one. For instructions, go to Create or run a macro or Use a screen reader to create a macro in Word.

  • If you are using Microsoft Word Starter, be aware that not all the features listed for Word are supported in Word Starter. For more information about the features available in Word Starter, go to Word features that are not fully supported in Word Starter.

  • Get these keyboard shortcuts in a Word document at this link: Word 2016 for Windows keyboard shortcuts.

In this topic

  • Frequently used shortcuts

  • Ribbon keyboard shortcuts

  • Navigate the document

  • Preview and print documents

  • Select text and graphics

  • Edit text and graphics

  • Work with web content

  • Work with tables

  • Review a document

  • Work with references, citations, and indexing

  • Work with mail merge and fields

  • Work with text in other languages

  • Work with document views

  • Use function key shortcuts

Frequently used shortcuts

This table shows the most frequently used shortcuts in Microsoft Word.

To do this

Press

Open a document.

Ctrl+O

Create a new document.

Ctrl+N

Save the document.

Ctrl+S

Close the document.

Ctrl+W

Cut the selected content to the Clipboard.

Ctrl+X

Copy the selected content to the Clipboard.

Ctrl+C

Paste the contents of the Clipboard.

Ctrl+V

Select all document content.

Ctrl+A

Apply bold formatting to text.

Ctrl+B

Apply italic formatting to text.

Ctrl+I

Apply underline formatting to text.

Ctrl+U

Decrease the font size by 1 point.

Ctrl+Left bracket ([)

Increase the font size by 1 point.

Ctrl+Right bracket (])

Center the text.

Ctrl+E

Align the text to the left.

Ctrl+L

Align the text to the right.

Ctrl+R

Cancel a command.

Esc

Undo the previous action.

Ctrl+Z

Redo the previous action, if possible.

Ctrl+Y

Adjust the zoom magnification.

Alt+W, Q, then use the Tab key in the Zoom dialog box to go to the value you want.

Split the document window.

Ctrl+Alt+S

Remove the document window split.

Alt+Shift+C or Ctrl+Alt+S

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Close a task pane

To close a task pane using the keyboard:

  1. Press F6 until the task pane is selected.

  2. Press Ctrl+Spacebar.

  3. Use the arrow keys to select Close, and then press Enter.

Ribbon keyboard shortcuts

The ribbon groups related options on tabs. For example, on the Home tab, the Font group includes the Font Color option. Press the Alt key to display the ribbon shortcuts, called Key Tips, as letters in small images next to the tabs and options as shown in the image below.

Key Tips in the ribbon in Word 365

Note: Add-ins and other programs can add new tabs to the ribbon and might provide access keys for those tabs.

You can combine the Key Tips letters with the Alt key to make shortcuts called Access Keys for the ribbon options. For example, press Alt+H to open the Home tab, and Alt+Q to move to the Tell Me or Search field. Press Alt again to see Key Tips for the options for the selected tab.

Depending on the version of Microsoft 365 you are using, the Search text field at the top of the app window might be called Tell Me instead. Both offer a largely similar experience, but some options and search results can vary.

In Office 2013 and Office 2010, most of the old Alt key menu shortcuts still work, too. However, you need to know the full shortcut. For example, press Alt, and then press one of the old menu keys E (Edit), V (View), I (Insert), and so on. A notification pops up saying you’re using an access key from an earlier version of Microsoft 365. If you know the entire key sequence, go ahead and use it. If you don’t know the sequence, press Esc and use Key Tips instead.

Use the Access Keys for ribbon tabs

To go directly to a tab on the ribbon, press one of the following access keys. Additional tabs might appear depending on your selection in the document.

To do this

Press

Move to the Tell Me or Search field on the Ribbon to search for assistance or Help content.

Alt+Q, then enter the search term.

Open the File page to use Backstage view.

Alt+F

Open the Home tab to use common formatting commands, paragraph styles, and the Find tool.

Alt+H

Open the Insert tab to insert tables, pictures and shapes, headers, or text boxes.

Alt+N

Open the Design tab to use themes, colors, and effects, such as page borders.

Alt+G

Open the Layout tab to work with page margins, page orientation, indentation, and spacing.

Alt+P

Open the References tab to add a table of contents, footnotes, or a table of citations.

Alt+S

Open the Mailings tab to manage Mail Merge tasks and to work with envelopes and labels.

Alt+M

Open the Review tab to use Spell Check, set proofing languages, and to track and review changes to your document.

Alt+R

Open the View tab to choose a document view or mode, such as Read Mode or Outline view. You can also set the zoom magnification and manage multiple document windows.

Alt+W

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Work in the ribbon with the keyboard

To do this

Press

Select the active tab on the ribbon and activate the access keys.

Alt or F10. To move to a different tab, use access keys or the arrow keys.

Move the focus to commands on the ribbon.

Tab key or Shift+Tab

Move between command groupings on the ribbon.

Ctrl+Left or Right arrow key

Move among the items on the ribbon.

Arrow keys

Show the tooltip for the ribbon element currently in focus.

Ctrl+Shift+F10

Activate the selected button.

Spacebar or Enter

Open the list for the selected command.

Down arrow key

Open the menu for the selected button.

Alt+Down arrow key

When a menu or submenu is open, move to the next command.

Down arrow key

Expand or collapse the ribbon.

Ctrl+F1

Open the context menu.

Shift+F10

Or, on a Windows keyboard, the Windows Menu key (between the right Alt and right Ctrl keys)

Move to the submenu when a main menu is open or selected.

Left arrow key

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Navigate the document

To do this

Press

Move the cursor one word to the left.

Ctrl+Left arrow key

Move the cursor one word to the right.

Ctrl+Right arrow key

Move the cursor up by one paragraph.

Ctrl+Up arrow key

Move the cursor down by one paragraph.

Ctrl+Down arrow key

Move the cursor to the end of the current line.

End

Move the cursor to the beginning the current line.

Home

Move the cursor to the top of the screen.

Ctrl+Alt+Page up

Move the cursor to the bottom of the screen.

Ctrl+Alt+Page down

Move the cursor by scrolling the document view up by one screen.

Page up

Move the cursor by scrolling the document view down by one screen.

Page down

Move the cursor to the top of the next page.

Ctrl+Page down

Move the cursor to the top of the previous page.

Ctrl+Page up

Move the cursor to the end of the document.

Ctrl+End

Move the cursor to the beginning of the document.

Ctrl+Home

Move the cursor to the location of the previous revision.

Shift+F5

Move the cursor to the location of the last revision made before the document was last closed.

Shift+F5, immediately after opening the document.

Cycle through floating shapes, such as text boxes or images.

Ctrl+Alt+5, and then the Tab key repeatedly

Exit the floating shape navigation and return to the normal navigation.

Esc

Display the Navigation task pane, to search within the document content.

Ctrl+F

Display the Go To dialog box, to navigate to a specific page, bookmark, footnote, table, comment, graphic, or other location.

Ctrl+G

Cycle through the locations of the four previous changes made to the document.

Ctrl+Alt+Z

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Navigate the document using the browse options in Word 2007 and 2010

In Word 2007 and 2010, you can browse the document by various types of objects, such as fields, footnotes, headings, and graphics.

To do this

Press

Open the list of browse options to define the type of object to browse by.

Ctrl+Alt+Home

Move to the previous object of the defined type.

Ctrl+Page up

Move to the next object of the defined type.

Ctrl+Page down

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Preview and print documents

To do this

Press

Print the document.

Ctrl+P

Switch to print preview.

Ctrl+Alt+I

Move around the preview page when zoomed in.

Arrow keys

Move by one preview page when zoomed out.

Page up or Page down

Move to the first preview page when zoomed out.

Ctrl+Home

Move to the last preview page when zoomed out.

Ctrl+End

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Select text and graphics

To do this

Press

Select text.

Shift+Arrow keys

Select the word to the left.

Ctrl+Shift+Left arrow key

Select the word to the right.

Ctrl+Shift+Right arrow key

Select from the current position to the beginning of the current line.

Shift+Home

Select from the current position to the end of the current line.

Shift+End

Select from the current position to the beginning of the current paragraph.

Ctrl+Shift+Up arrow key

Select from the current position to the end of the current paragraph.

Ctrl+Shift+Down arrow key

Select from the current position to the top of the screen.

Shift+Page up

Select from the current position to the bottom of the screen.

Shift+Page down

Select from the current position to the beginning of the document.

Ctrl+Shift+Home

Select from the current position to the end of the document.

Ctrl+Shift+End

Select from the current position to the bottom of the window.

Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Page down

Select all document content.

Ctrl+A

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Extend a selection

To do this

Press

Start extending the selection.

F8

In the extend selection mode, clicking a location in the document extends the current selection to that location.

Select the nearest character to the left or right.

F8, Left or Right arrow key

Expand the selection.

F8 repeatedly to expand the selection to the entire word, sentence, paragraph, section, and document.

Reduce the selection.

Shift+F8

Select a vertical block of text.

Ctrl+Shift+F8, then press the arrow keys

Stop extending the selection.

Esc

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Edit text and graphics

To do this

Press

Delete one word to the left.

Ctrl+Backspace

Delete one word to the right.

Ctrl+Delete

Open the Clipboard task pane and enable the Office Clipboard, which allows you to copy and paste content between Microsoft 365 apps.

Alt+H, F, O

Cut the selected content to the Clipboard.

Ctrl+X

Copy the selected content to the Clipboard.

Ctrl+C

Paste the contents of the Clipboard.

Ctrl+V

Move the selected content to a specific location.

F2, move the cursor to the destination, and then press Enter.

Copy the selected content to a specific location.

Shift+F2, move the cursor to the destination, and then press Enter.

Define an AutoText block with the selected content.

Alt+F3

Insert an AutoText block.

The first few characters of the AutoText block, and then press Enter when the ScreenTip appears.

Cut the selected content to the Spike.

Ctrl+F3

Paste the contents of the Spike.

Ctrl+Shift+F3

Copy the selected formatting.

Ctrl+Shift+C

Paste the selected formatting.

Ctrl+Shift+V

Copy the header or footer used in the previous section of the document.

Alt+Shift+R

Display the Replace dialog box, to find and replace text, specific formatting, or special items.

Ctrl+H

Display the Object dialog box, to insert a file object into the document.

Alt+N, J, J

Insert a SmartArt graphic.

Alt+N, M

Insert a WordArt graphic.

Alt+N, W

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Align and format paragraphs

To do this

Press

Center the paragraph.

Ctrl+E

Justify the paragraph.

Ctrl+J

Align the paragraph to the left.

Ctrl+L

Align the paragraph to the right.

Ctrl+R

Indent the paragraph.

Ctrl+M

Remove a paragraph indent.

Ctrl+Shift+M

Create a hanging indent.

Ctrl+T

Remove a hanging indent.

Ctrl+Shift+T

Remove paragraph formatting.

Ctrl+Q

Apply single spacing to the paragraph.

Ctrl+1

Apply double spacing to the paragraph.

Ctrl+2

Apply 1.5-line spacing to the paragraph.

Ctrl+5

Add or remove space before the paragraph.

Ctrl+0 (zero)

Enable AutoFormat.

Ctrl+Alt+K

Apply the Normal style.

Ctrl+Shift+N

Apply the Heading 1 style.

Ctrl+Alt+1

Apply the Heading 2 style.

Ctrl+Alt+2

Apply the Heading 3 style.

Ctrl+Alt+3

Display the Apply Styles task pane.

Ctrl+Shift+S

Display the Styles task pane.

Ctrl+Alt+Shift+S

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Format characters

To do this

Press

Display the Font dialog box.

Ctrl+D or Ctrl+Shift+F

Increase the font size.

Ctrl+Shift+Right angle bracket (>)

Decrease the font size.

Ctrl+Shift+Left angle bracket (<)

Increase the font size by 1 point.

Ctrl+Right bracket (])

Decrease the font size by 1 point.

Ctrl+Left bracket ([)

Switch the text between upper case, lower case, and title case.

Shift+F3

Change the text to all upper case.

Ctrl+Shift+A

Hide the selected text.

Ctrl+Shift+H

Apply bold formatting.

Ctrl+B

Add a bulleted list.

Ctrl+Shift+L

Apply underline formatting.

Ctrl+U

Apply underline formatting to the words, but not the spaces.

Ctrl+Shift+W

Apply double-underline formatting.

Ctrl+Shift+D

Apply italic formatting.

Ctrl+I

Apply small caps formatting.

Ctrl+Shift+K

Apply subscript formatting.

Ctrl+Equal sign ( = )

Apply superscript formatting.

Ctrl+Shift+Plus sign (+)

Remove manual character formatting.

Ctrl+Spacebar

Change the selected text to the Symbol font.

Ctrl+Shift+Q

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Manage text formatting

To do this

Press

Display all nonprinting characters.

Ctrl+Shift+8 (do not use the numeric keypad)

Display the Reveal Formatting task pane.

Shift+F1

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Insert special characters

To do this

Press

Insert a line break.

Shift+Enter

Insert a page break.

Ctrl+Enter

Insert a column break.

Ctrl+Shift+Enter

Insert an em dash (—).

Ctrl+Alt+Minus sign (on the numeric keypad)

Insert an en dash (–).

Ctrl+Minus sign (on the numeric keypad)

Insert an optional hyphen.

Ctrl+Hyphen (-)

Insert a nonbreaking hyphen.

Ctrl+Shift+Hyphen (-)

Insert a nonbreaking space.

Ctrl+Shift+Spacebar

Insert a copyright symbol (©).

Ctrl+Alt+C

Insert a registered trademark symbol (®).

Ctrl+Alt+R

Insert a trademark symbol (™).

Ctrl+Alt+T

Insert an ellipsis (…)

Ctrl+Alt+Period (.)

Insert the Unicode character for the specified Unicode (hexadecimal) character code. For example, to insert the euro currency symbol (Euro currency symbol), type 20AC, and then hold down Alt and press X.

Tip: To find out the Unicode character code for a selected character, press Alt+X.

The character code, then press Alt+X

Insert the ANSI character for the specified ANSI (decimal) character code. For example, to insert the euro currency symbol, hold down Alt and press 0128 on the numeric keypad.

Alt+the character code (on the numeric keypad)

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Work with web content

To do this

Press

Insert a hyperlink.

Ctrl+K

Go back one page.

Alt+Left arrow key

Go forward one page.

Alt+Right arrow key

Refresh the page.

F9

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Work with tables

Move around in a table

To do this

Press

Move to the next cell in the row and select its content.

Tab key

Move to the previous cell in the row and select its content.

Shift+Tab

Move to the first cell in the row.

Alt+Home

Move to the last cell in the row.

Alt+End

Move to the first cell in the column.

Alt+Page up

Move to the last cell in the column.

Alt+Page down

Move to the previous row.

Up arrow key

Move to the next row.

Down arrow key

Move one row up.

Alt+Shift+Up arrow key

Move one row down.

Alt+Shift+Down arrow key

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Select table content

To do this

Press

Select the content in the next cell.

Tab key

Select the content in the previous cell.

Shift+Tab

Extend a selection to adjacent cells.

Shift+Arrow keys

Select a column.

Select the top or bottom cell of the column, and then press Shift+Up or Down arrow key

Select a row.

Select the first or last cell in the row, and then press Shift+Alt+End or Home.

Select the whole table.

Alt+5 on the numeric keypad, with Num Lock switched off

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Insert paragraphs and tab characters in a table

To do this

Press

Insert a new paragraph in a cell.

Enter

Insert a tab character in a cell.

Ctrl+Tab

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Review a document

To do this

Press

Insert a comment.

Ctrl+Alt+M

Turn change tracking on or off.

Ctrl+Shift+E

Close the Reviewing Pane.

Alt+Shift+C

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Work with references, citations, and indexing

Use the following shortcuts to add references to your document, such as a table of contents, footnotes, and citations.

To do this

Press

Mark a table of contents entry.

Alt+Shift+O

Mark a table of authorities entry (citation).

Alt+Shift+I

Choose citation options.

Alt+Shift+F12, Spacebar

Mark an index entry.

Alt+Shift+X

Insert a footnote.

Ctrl+Alt+F

Insert an endnote.

Ctrl+Alt+D

Go to the next footnote.

Alt+Shift+Right angle bracket (>)

Go to the previous footnote.

Alt+Shift+Left angle bracket (<)

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Work with mail merge and fields

To use the following keyboard shortcuts, the Mailings ribbon tab must be selected. To select the Mailings tab, press Alt+M.

Perform a mail merge

To do this

Press

Preview the mail merge.

Alt+Shift+K

Merge a document.

Alt+Shift+N

Print the merged document.

Alt+Shift+M

Edit a mail-merge data document.

Alt+Shift+E

Insert a merge field.

Alt+Shift+F

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Work with fields

To do this

Press

Insert a DATE field.

Alt+Shift+D

Insert a LISTNUM field.

Ctrl+Alt+L

Insert a PAGE field.

Alt+Shift+P

Insert a TIME field.

Alt+Shift+T

Insert an empty field.

Ctrl+F9

Update the linked information in a Word source document.

Ctrl+Shift+F7

Update the selected fields.

F9

Unlink a field.

Ctrl+Shift+F9

Switch between a selected field code and its result.

Shift+F9

Switch between all field codes and their results.

Alt+F9

Run GOTOBUTTON or MACROBUTTON from a field displaying field results.

Alt+Shift+F9

Go to the next field.

F11

Go to the previous field.

Shift+F11

Lock a field.

Ctrl+F11

Unlock a field.

Ctrl+Shift+F11

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Work with text in other languages

Set the proofing language

Every document has a default language, typically the same default language as your computer’s operating system. If your document also contains words or phrases in a different language, it’s a good idea to set the proofing language for those words. This not only makes it possible to check spelling and grammar for those phrases, but it also enables assistive technologies like screen readers to handle them appropriately.

To do this

Press

Display the Language dialog box to set the proofing language.

Alt+R, U, L

Set default languages.

Alt+R, L

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Insert international characters

To type a lowercase character by using a key combination that includes the Shift key, hold down the Ctrl+Shift+symbol keys simultaneously, and then release them before you type the letter.

Note: If you type extensively in another language, you might prefer to switch to a different keyboard instead.

To insert this

Press

à, è, ì, ò, ù,
À, È, Ì, Ò, Ù

Ctrl+Grave accent (`), the letter

á, é, í, ó, ú, ý
Á, É, Í, Ó, Ú, Ý

Ctrl+Single quotation mark (‘), the letter

â, ê, î, ô, û
Â, Ê, Î, Ô, Û

Ctrl+Shift+Caret (^), the letter

ã, ñ, õ
Ã, Ñ, Õ

Ctrl+Shift+Tilde (~), the letter

ä, ë, ï, ö, ü, ÿ,
Ä, Ë, Ï, Ö, Ü, Ÿ

Ctrl+Shift+Colon (:), the letter

å, Å

Ctrl+Shift+At sign (@), a or A

æ, Æ

Ctrl+Shift+Ampersand (&), a or A

œ, Œ

Ctrl+Shift+Ampersand (&), o or O

ç, Ç

Ctrl+Comma (,), c or C

ð, Ð

Ctrl+Single quotation mark (‘), d or D

ø, Ø

Ctrl+Forward slash (/), o or O

¿

Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Question mark (?)

¡

Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Exclamation point (!)

ß

Ctrl+Shift+Ampersand (&), s

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Use Input Method Editors for East Asian languages

To do this

Press

Switch to the Japanese Input Method Editor (IME) for a 101-key keyboard, if available.

Alt+Tilde (~)

Switch to the Korean Input Method Editor (IME) for a 101-key keyboard, if available.

Right Alt

Switch to the Chinese Input Method Editor (IME) for a 101-key keyboard, if available.

Ctrl+Spacebar

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Work with document views

Word offers several different views of a document. Each view makes it easier to do certain tasks. For example, Read Mode enables you view the document as a horizontal sequence of pages, which you can quickly browse using the Left and Right arrow keys.

Switch the document view

To do this

Press

Switch to the Read Mode view.

In Word 2007 and 2010, this is called Full Screen Reading view.

Alt+W, F

Switch to the Print Layout view.

Ctrl+Alt+P

Switch to the Outline view.

Ctrl+Alt+O

Switch to the Draft view.

Ctrl+Alt+N

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Outline a document

These shortcuts only apply when the document is in the Outline view.

To do this

Press

Promote a paragraph.

Alt+Shift+Left arrow key

Demote a paragraph.

Alt+Shift+Right arrow key

Demote the paragraph to body text.

Ctrl+Shift+N

Move the selected paragraphs up.

Alt+Shift+Up arrow key

Move the selected paragraphs down.

Alt+Shift+Down arrow key

Expand the text under a heading.

Alt+Shift+Plus sign (+)

Collapse the text under a heading.

Alt+Shift+Minus sign (-)

Expand or collapse all text or headings.

Alt+Shift+A

Hide or display the character formatting.

Forward slash (/) (on the numeric keypad)

Switch between showing the first line of body text and showing all body text.

Alt+Shift+L

Show all headings with the Heading 1 style.

Alt+Shift+1

Show all headings with the specified heading level.

Alt+Shift+Heading level number

Insert a tab character.

Ctrl+Tab

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Move through the document in Read Mode

To do this

Press

Move to the beginning of the document.

Home

Move to the end of the document.

End

Go to a specific page.

Type the page number, then press Enter

Exit Read Mode.

Esc

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Use function key shortcuts

Key

Description

F1

  • F1 alone: displays the Word help task pane.

  • Shift+F1: displays or hides context-sensitive help or the Reveal Formatting task pane.

  • Ctrl+F1: displays or hides the ribbon.

  • Alt+F1: moves to the next field.

  • Alt+Shift+F1: moves to the previous field.

F2

  • F2 alone: moves the selected text or graphic. Use the arrow keys to place the cursor where you want to move the text or graphic, and then press Enter to move, or press Esc to cancel.

  • Shift+F2: copies the selected text or graphic. Use the arrow keys to place the cursor where you want to copy the text or graphic, and then press Enter to copy, or press Esc to cancel.

  • Ctrl+F2: displays the print preview area on the Print tab in the Backstage view.

  • Alt+Shift+F2: saves the document.

  • Ctrl+Alt+F2: displays the Open dialog box.

F3

  • Shift+F3: switches the selected text between upper case, lower case, and title case.

  • Ctrl+F3: cuts the selected content to the Spike. You can cut multiple texts and graphics to the Spike, and paste them as a group to another location.

  • Ctrl+Shift+F3: pastes the contents of the Spike.

  • Alt+F3: creates a new Building Block.

F4

  • F4 alone: repeats the last command or action, if possible.

  • Shift+F4: repeats the last Find or Go To action.

  • Ctrl+F4: closes the current document.

  • Alt+F4: closes Word.

F5

  • F5 alone: displays the Go To dialog box.

  • Shift+F5: moves the cursor to the last change.

  • Ctrl+Shift+F5: displays the Bookmark dialog box.

  • Alt+F5: restores the document window size.

F6

  • F6 alone: switch between the document, task pane, status bar, and ribbon. In a document that has been split, F6 includes the split panes when switching between panes and the task pane.

  • Shift+F6: switches between the document, ribbon, status bar, and task pane.

  • Ctrl+F6: switches to the next document window when more than one document is open.

  • Ctrl+Shift+F6: switches to the previous document window when more than one document is open.

  • Alt+F6: moves from an open dialog box back to the document, for dialog boxes that support this behavior.

F7

  • F7 alone: displays the Editor task pane to check spelling and grammar in the document or the selected text.

  • Shift+F7: displays the Thesaurus task pane.

  • Ctrl+Shift+F7: updates the linked information in a Word source document.

  • Alt+F7: finds the next spelling or grammatical error.

  • Alt+Shift+F7: in Word 2013 and newer, displays the Translator task pane. In Word 2007 and 2010, displays the Research task pane.

F8

  • F8 alone: extends the selection. For example, if a word is selected, the selection size is extended to one sentence.

  • Shift+F8: reduces the selection. For example, if a paragraph is selected, the selection size is reduced to one sentence.

  • Ctrl+Shift+F8: turns extend selection mode on and off. In the extend selection mode, the arrow keys extend the selection.

  • Alt+F8: displays the Macro dialog box to create, run, edit, or delete a macro.

F9

  • F9 alone: updates the selected fields.

  • Shift+F9: switches between a field code and its result.

  • Ctrl+F9: inserts an empty field.

  • Ctrl+Shift+F9: unlinks the current field.

  • Alt+F9: switches between all field codes and their results.

  • Alt+Shift+F9: runs GOTOBUTTON or MACROBUTTON from a field displaying field results.

F10

  • F10 alone: turns KeyTips on or off.

  • Shift+F10: displays the shortcut menu for the selected item.

  • Ctrl+F10: maximizes or restores the document window size.

  • Alt+F10: displays the Selection task pane.

  • Alt+Shift+F10: displays the menu or message for available actions, for example, for pasted text or an AutoCorrect change.

F11

  • F11 alone: moves to the next field.

  • Shift+F11: moves to the previous field.

  • Ctrl+F11: locks the current field.

  • Ctrl+Shift+F11: unlocks the current field.

  • Alt+F11: opens the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications editor, in which you can create a macro using Visual Basic for Applications (VBA).

F12

  • F12 alone: displays the Save As dialog box.

  • Shift+F12: saves the document.

  • Ctrl+F12: displays the Open dialog box.

  • Ctrl+Shift+F12: displays the Print tab in the Backstage view.

  • Alt+Shift+F12: selects the Table of Contents button in the Table of Contents container when the container is active.

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See also

Word help center

Basic tasks using a screen reader with Word

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate Word

Screen reader support for Word

This article describes the keyboard shortcuts and function keys in Word for Mac.

Notes: 

  • The settings in some versions of the Mac operating system (OS) and some utility applications might conflict with keyboard shortcuts and function key operations in Microsoft 365 for Mac. For information about changing the key assignment for a keyboard shortcut, see Mac Help for your version of macOS, your utility application, or refer to Shortcut conflicts.

  • If you don’t find a keyboard shortcut here that meets your needs, you can create a custom keyboard shortcut. For instructions, go to Create a custom keyboard shortcut for Office for Mac.

  • Many of the shortcuts that use the Ctrl key on a Windows keyboard also work with the Control key in Word for Mac. However, not all do.

  • To quickly find a shortcut in this article, you can use Search. Press Command+F, and then type your search words.

For the best experience using your keyboard with the ribbon, enable your keyboard to access all controls.

  1. To open the System Preferences, press The Command button.+Spacebar, type system preferences, and press Return.

  2. To go to Keyboard Settings, type keyboard and press Return.

  3. In the Shortcuts tab, press Control+F7 to change the Full Keyboard Access setting from Text boxes and lists only to All Controls.

In this topic

  • Frequently used shortcuts

  • Shortcut conflicts

  • Navigate the document

  • Select text and graphics

  • Edit text and graphics

  • Work with tables

  • Drawing

  • Work with fields

  • Outline a document

  • Review a document

  • Use footnotes and endnotes

  • Work with right-to-left languages

  • Use function key shortcuts

Frequently used shortcuts

This table lists frequently used shortcuts in Word for Mac.

To do this

Press

Undo the previous action.

The Command button.+Z or F1

Redo the previous action, if possible.

The Command button.+Y

Cut the selected content to the Clipboard.

The Command button.+X or F2

Copy the selected content to the Clipboard.

The Command button.+C or F3

Paste the contents of the Clipboard.

The Command button.+V or F4

Display the shortcut menu for the selected item. *

Shift+F10

Display the Go To dialog box.

The Command button.+Option+G or F5

Display the Spelling and Grammar dialog box.

The Command button.+Option+L or F7

Enable extended selection mode.

F8

Switch to the next window.

The Command button.+Grave accent ( ` )

Switch to the previous window.

The Command button.+Shift+Grave accent (`)

Display the Save As dialog box.

The Command button.+Shift+S

Find text (move focus to the Search in Document box).

The Command button.+F

Display the Find and Replace pane.

Control+H

Display the Print dialog box.

The Command button.+P

Close the current document.

The Command button.+F4

Expand or minimize the ribbon.

The Command button.+Option+R

Find the next spelling or grammatical error. The Check spelling as you type feature must be enabled.

Option+F7

Open the Dictionary.

In Word 2011, Option+Shift+F7

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Shortcut conflicts

Some Word for Mac keyboard shortcuts conflict with default macOS keyboard shortcuts. This topic flags such shortcuts with an asterisk ( * ). To use these shortcuts, you may have to change your Mac keyboard settings to change the shortcut for the key.

Change system preferences for keyboard shortcuts

  1. From the Apple menu, select System Preferences.

  2. Select Keyboard.

  3. Select the Shortcuts tab.

  4. Select Mission Control.

  5. Clear the check box for the keyboard shortcut conflicting with the Word for Mac shortcut that you want to use.

Navigate the document

To do this

Press

Move the cursor one word to the left.

Option+Left arrow key

Move the cursor one word to the right.

Option+Right arrow key

Move the cursor up by one paragraph.

The Command button.+Up arrow key

Move the cursor down by one paragraph.

The Command button.+Down arrow key

Move the cursor to the beginning of the current line.

The Command button.+Left arrow

Home

Move the cursor to the end of the current line.

The Command button.+Right arrow key

End

Move the cursor to the top of the previous page.

The Command button.+Page up

On a MacBook, press The Command button.+Fn+Up arrow key

Move the cursor to the top of the next page.

The Command button.+Page down

On a MacBook, press The Command button.+Fn+Down arrow key

Move the cursor to the beginning of the document.

The Command button.+Home

On a MacBook, press The Command button.+Fn+Left arrow key

Move the cursor to the end of the document.

The Command button.+End

On a MacBook, press The Command button.+Fn+Right arrow key

Move the cursor to the previous insertion point.

Shift+F5

Move the cursor by scrolling the document view up by one screen.

Page up

Move the cursor by scrolling the document view down by one screen.

Page down

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Select text and graphics

Tip: If you know the key combination to move the cursor, you can generally select the text by using the same key combination while holding down Shift. For example, The Command button.+Right arrow moves the cursor to the next word, and The Command button.+Shift+Right arrow selects the text from the cursor to the beginning of the next word.

To do this

Press

Select multiple items that are not next to each other.

Select the first item that you want, hold down The Command button., and then mouse click the additional items.

Select text.

Shift+Arrow keys

Select the word to the left.

Shift+Option+Left arrow key

Select the word to the right.

Shift+Option+Right arrow key

Select from the current position to the beginning of the current line.

The Command button.+Shift+Left arrow key

Shift+Home

Select from the current position to the end of the current line.

The Command button.+Shift+Right arrow key

Shift+End

Select from the current position to the beginning of the current paragraph.

The Command button.+Shift+Up arrow key

Select from the current position to the end of the current paragraph.

The Command button.+Shift+Down arrow key

Select from the current position to the top of the screen.

Shift+Page up

Select from the current position to the bottom of the screen.

Shift+Page down

Select from the current position to the beginning of the document.

The Command button.+Shift+Home

Select from the current position to the end of the document.

The Command button.+Shift+End

Select from the current position to the bottom of the window.

The Command button.+Shift+Option+Page down

Select all document content.

The Command button.+A

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Extend a selection

To do this

Press

Start extending the selection. *

F8

In the extend selection mode, clicking a location in the document extends the current selection to that location.

Select the nearest character to the left.

F8, Left arrow key

Select the nearest character to the right.

F8, Right arrow key

Expand the selection.

F8 repeatedly to expand the selection to the entire word, sentence, paragraph, section, and document.

Reduce the selection. *

Shift+F8

Select a vertical block of text.

The Command button.+Shift+F8, then press the arrow keys

Stop extending the selection.

Esc

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Edit text and graphics

To do this

Press

Cut the selected content to the Clipboard.

The Command button.+X

F2

Copy the selected content to the Clipboard.

The Command button.+C

F3

Paste the contents of the Clipboard.

The Command button.+V

F4

Display the Paste Special dialog box.

The Command button.+Control+V

Cut the selected content to the Spike.

The Command button.+F3

Paste the contents of the Spike.

The Command button.+Shift+F3

Copy the selected formatting.

The Command button.+Shift+C

Paste the copied formatting.

The Command button.+Shift+V

Create an AutoText entry.

Option+F3

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Align and format paragraphs

To do this

Press

Center the paragraph.

The Command button.+E

Justify the paragraph.

The Command button.+J

Align the paragraph to the left.

The Command button.+L

Align the paragraph to the right.

The Command button.+R

Indent the paragraph.

Control+Shift+M

Remove a paragraph indent.

The Command button.+Shift+M

Create a hanging indent.

The Command button.+T

Remove a hanging indent.

The Command button.+Shift+T

Apply single-spacing to the paragraph.

The Command button.+1

Apply double-spacing to the paragraph.

The Command button.+2

Apply 1.5-line spacing to the paragraph.

The Command button.+5

Enable AutoFormat.

The Command button.+Option+K

Apply the Normal style.

The Command button.+Shift+N

Apply the Heading 1 style.

The Command button.+Option+1

Apply the Heading 2 style.

The Command button.+Option+2

Apply the Heading 3 style.

The Command button.+Option+3

Apply the List style.

The Command button.+Shift+L, when the cursor is at the beginning of a line

Insert a nonbreaking space.

Option+Spacebar

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Format characters

To do this

Press

Increase the font size.

The Command button.+Shift+Right angle bracket (>)

Decrease the font size.

The Command button.+Shift+Left angle bracket (<)

Increase the font size by 1 point.

The Command button.+Right bracket (])

Decrease the font size by 1 point.

The Command button.+Left bracket ([)

Display the Font dialog box.

The Command button.+D

Switch the text between upper case, lower case, and title case.

Shift+F3

Change the text to all upper case.

The Command button.+Shift+A

Apply bold formatting.

The Command button.+B

Add a bulleted list.

The Command button.+Shift+L

Apply underline formatting.

The Command button.+U

Apply underline formatting to the words, but not the spaces.

The Command button.+Shift+W

Apply double-underline formatting.

The Command button.+Shift+D

Apply italics formatting.

The Command button.+I

Apply small caps formatting.

The Command button.+Shift+K

Apply strike-through formatting.

The Command button.+Shift+X

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Insert special characters

To do this

Press

Insert an empty field.

The Command button.+F9

Insert a line break.

Shift+Return

Insert a page break.

The Command button.+Return

Insert a column break.

The Command button.+Shift+Return

Insert a nonbreaking hyphen.

The Command button.+Shift+Hyphen (-)

Insert a registered trademark symbol (®).

Option+R

Insert a trademark symbol (™).

Option+2

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Work with tables

Move around in a table

To do this

Press

Move to the next cell and select its content.

Tab key

Move to the previous cell and select its content.

Shift+Tab

Move to the next row.

Down arrow key

Move to the previous row.

Up arrow key

Move to the first cell in the row.

Control+Home

Move to the last cell in the row.

Control+End

Move to the first cell in the column.

Control+Page up

Move to the last cell in the column.

Control+Page down

Add a new row to the bottom of the table.

Tab key, at the end of the last row

Insert a row.

The Command button.+Control+I

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Select table content

To do this

Press

Select the content in the next cell.

Tab key

Select the content in the previous cell.

Shift+Tab

Extend a selection to adjacent cells.

Shift+Arrow keys

Select a row.

Select the first or last cell in the row, and then press Shift+Alt+End or Home.

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Resize table columns with the ruler

To do this

Press

Retain the column sizes to the right and change the table width.

Drag the column boundary in the ruler

Move a single column line and retain the table width.

Shift+Drag the column boundary in the ruler

Equally resize all columns to the right and retain the table width.

The Command button.+Shift+Drag the column boundary in the ruler

Proportionally resize all columns to the right and retain the table width.

The Command button.+Drag the column boundary in the ruler

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Resize table columns directly in a table

Tip: To finely adjust the column width and display the column’s measurements in the ruler when you resize the column, turn off the snap-to functionality by pressing Option with the shortcut keys.

To do this

Press

Move a single column line and retain the table width.

Drag the column boundary

Retain column sizes to the right and change the table width.

Shift+Drag the column boundary

Equally resize all columns to the right and retain the table width.

The Command button.+Shift+Drag the column boundary

Proportionally resize all columns to the right and retain the table width.

The Command button.+Drag the column boundary

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Insert paragraphs and tab characters in a table

To do this

Press

Insert a new paragraph in a cell.

Return

Insert a Tab character in a cell.

Option+Tab

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Drawing

To do this

Press

Toggle drawing mode.

The Command button.+Control+Z

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Work with fields

To do this

Press

Insert a DATE field.

Control+Shift+D

Insert a LISTNUM field.

The Command button.+Option+Shift+L

Insert a PAGE field.

Control+Shift+P

Insert a TIME field.

Control+Shift+T

Insert an empty field.

The Command button.+F9

Update the selected fields. *

F9

Switch between a field code and its result. *

Shift+F9

Switch between all field codes and their results.

Option+F9

Run GOTOBUTTON or MACROBUTTON from a field displaying field results.

Option+Shift+F9

Lock a field.

The Command button.+F11

Unlock a field.

The Command button.+Shift+F11

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Outline a document

These shortcuts only apply when the document is in the Outline view.

To do this

Press

Promote a paragraph.

Control+Shift+Left arrow key

Demote a paragraph.

Control+Shift+Right arrow key

Demote the paragraph to body text.

The Command button.+Shift+N

Move the selected paragraphs up. *

Control+Shift+Up arrow key

Move the selected paragraphs down. *

Control+Shift+Down arrow key

Expand the text under a heading.

Control+Shift+Plus sign (+)

Collapse text under a heading. *

Control+Shift+Minus sign (-)

Expand all body text and headings, or collapse all body text.

Control+Shift+A

Switch between showing the first line of body text and showing all body text.

Control+Shift+L

Show all headings with the specified heading level.

Control+Shift+Heading level number

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Review a document

To do this

Press

Insert a comment.

The Command button.+Option+A

Turn change tracking on or off.

The Command button.+Shift+E

Move to the beginning of a comment.

Home

Move to the end of a comment.

End

(The End key is not available on all keyboards.)

Move to the beginning of the list of comments.

The Command button.+Home, in the Reviewing Pane.

Move to the end of the list of comments.

The Command button.+End, in the Reviewing Pane.

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Use footnotes and endnotes

To do this

Press

Insert a footnote.

The Command button.+Option+F

Insert an endnote.

The Command button.+Option+E

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Work with right-to-left languages

Word supports right-to-left functionality for languages that work in a right-to-left or a combined right-to-left, left-to-right environment for writing, editing, and displaying text. In this context, right-to-left languages refers to any writing system that is written from right to left and includes languages that require contextual shaping, such as Arabic, and languages that do not.

Before you can use these keyboard shortcuts, you need to ensure keyboard shortcuts are enabled for the language you are using:

  1. Go to Apple > System Preferences > Keyboard.

  2. On the Input Sources tab, select the language for which you want to enable shortcuts.

  3. On the right side of the tab, select the check box for Enable keyboard shortcuts.

To do this

Press

Switch the writing direction to right-to-left.

Control+The Command button.+ Left arrow key

Switch the writing direction to left-to-right.

Control+The Command button.+ Right arrow key

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Use function key shortcuts

Word for Mac uses the function keys for common commands, including Copy and Paste. For quick access to these shortcuts, you can change your Apple system preferences so you don’t have to press the Fn key every time you use a function key shortcut.

Note: Changing system function key preferences affects how the function keys work on your Mac, not just in Word. After changing this setting, you can still perform the special features printed on a function key. Just press the Fn key. For example, to use the F12 key to change your volume, press Fn+F12.

If a function key doesn’t work as you expect it to, press the Fn key in addition to the function key. If you don’t want to press the Fn key each time, you can change your Apple system preferences. For instructions, go to Change function key preferences.

The following table provides the function key shortcuts for Word for Mac.

Key

Description

F1

  • F1 alone: undoes the previous action.

F2

  • F2 alone: cuts the selected content to the Clipboard.

  • Shift+F2: copies the selected text or graphic. Use the arrow keys to place the cursor where you want to copy the text or graphic, and then press Return to copy, or press Esc to cancel.

F3

  • F3 alone: copies the selected content to the Clipboard.

  • Shift+F3: switches the selected text between upper case, lower case, and title case.

  • The Command button.+F3: cuts the selected content to the Spike. You can cut multiple texts and graphics to the Spike, and paste them as a group to another location.

  • The Command button.+Shift+F3: pastes the contents of the Spike.

  • Option+F3: creates an AutoText entry.

F4

  • F4 alone: pastes the content from the Clipboard.

  • Shift+F4: repeats the last Find or Go To action.

  • The Command button. Shift+F4: repeats the last Find or Go To action.

F5

  • F5 alone: displays the Go To dialog box.

  • Shift+F5: moves the cursor to the last change.

  • The Command button.+Shift+F5: displays the Bookmark dialog.

F6

  • F6 alone: switch between the document, task pane, status bar, and ribbon. In a document that has been split, F6 includes the split panes when switching between panes and the task pane.

  • Shift+F6: switches between the document, ribbon, status bar, and task pane.

  • The Command button.+F6: switches to the next document window when more than one document is open.

  • The Command button.+Shift+F6: switches to the previous document window when more than one document is open.

F7

  • F7 alone: displays the Spelling and Grammar dialog box.

  • Shift+F7: displays the Thesaurus task pane.

  • The Command button.+Shift+F7: updates the linked information in a Word source document.

  • Option+F7: finds the next spelling or grammatical error.

  • Option+Shift+F7: opens the Dictionary.

F8

  • F8 alone *: extends the selection. For example, if a word is selected, the selection size is extended to one sentence.

  • Shift+F8 *: reduces the selection. For example, if a paragraph is selected, the selection size is reduced to one sentence.

  • The Command button.+Shift+F8: turns extend selection mode on and off. In the extend selection mode, the arrow keys extend the selection.

  • Option+F8: displays the Macro dialog box to create, run, edit, or delete a macro.

F9

  • F9 alone *: updates the selected fields.

  • Shift+F9 *: switches between a field code and its result.

  • The Command button.+F9: inserts an empty field.

  • The Command button.+Shift+F9: unlinks the current field.

  • Option+F9: switches between all field codes and their results.

  • Option+Shift+F9: runs GOTOBUTTON or MACROBUTTON from a field displaying field results.

F10

  • Shift+F10 *: displays the shortcut menu for the selected item.

F11

  • F11 alone *: moves to the next field.

  • Shift+F11 *: moves to the previous field.

  • The Command button.+F11: locks the current field.

  • The Command button.+Shift+F11: unlocks the current field.

  • Option+F11: opens the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications editor, in which you can create a macro using Visual Basic for Applications (VBA).

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Change function key preferences

  1. In the Apple menu, select System Preferences.

  2. Select Keyboard.

  3. On the Keyboard tab, select the check box for Use all F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys.

See also

Word help center

Basic tasks using a screen reader with Word

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate Word

Screen reader support for Word

This article describes the keyboard shortcuts in Word for the web.

Notes: 

  • If you use Narrator with the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, you have to turn off scan mode in order to edit documents, spreadsheets, or presentations with Microsoft 365 for the web. For more information, refer to Turn off virtual or browse mode in screen readers in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update.

  • To quickly find a shortcut in this article, you can use Search. Press Ctrl+F and then type your search words.

  • When you use Word for the web, we recommend that you use Microsoft Edge as your web browser. Because Word for the web runs in your web browser, the keyboard shortcuts are different from those in the desktop program. For example, you’ll use Ctrl+F6 instead of F6 for jumping in and out of the commands. Also, common shortcuts like F1 (Help) and Ctrl+O (Open) apply to the web browser – not Word for the web.

In this topic

  • Frequently used shortcuts

  • Ribbon keyboard shortcuts

  • Navigate the document

  • Edit and format the document

  • Work with comments

Frequently used shortcuts

This table lists the most frequently used shortcuts in Word for the web.

Tip: To quickly create a new document in Word for the web, open your browser, type Word.new in the address bar, and then press Enter.

To do this

Press

In the Reading view, open a PDF-based view tagged to work with screen readers.

Press the Tab key until you reach the Accessibility Mode button, and then press Enter

Find text in the Reading view.

Ctrl+F or F3

Find text in the Editing view.

Ctrl+F or Ctrl+G

Find and replace text in the Editing view.

Ctrl+H

Hide the task pane, if one is open.

Esc

Switch to the Zoom control.

Alt+Period, W, then Q or Alt+Windows logo key, W, then Q

Print the document.

Ctrl+P

Move to the next landmark region.

Ctrl+F6

Go to the Tell Me or Search text field.

Alt+Q

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Ribbon keyboard shortcuts

Word for the web offers shortcuts called access keys to navigate the ribbon. If you’ve used access keys to save time on Word for desktop computers, you’ll find access keys very similar in Word for the web.

On a Windows computer, access keys all start with Alt+Period (.) or Alt+Windows logo key, then add a letter for the ribbon tab. For example, to go to the Review tab, press Alt+Period, R or Alt+Windows logo key, R.

If you’re using Word for the web on a Mac computer, press Control+Period (.) to start.

The ribbon with the access keys in  Word for Web

  • To get to the ribbon, press Alt+Period or Alt+Windows logo key. You can alternatively press Ctrl+F6 until you reach the Home tab.

  • To move between tabs on the ribbon, press the Tab key.

  • To hide the ribbon so you have more room to work, press Ctrl+F3. Repeat to display the ribbon again.

Go to the access keys for the ribbon

To go directly to a tab on the ribbon, press one of the following access keys:

To do this

Press

Open the Tell Me or Search text field on the ribbon to type a search term.

Alt+Period, Q or Alt+Windows logo key, Q

Open the File tab to use the Backstage view.

Alt+Period, F or Alt+Windows logo key, F

Open the Home tab to format text and use the Find tool.

Alt+Period, H or Alt+Windows logo key, H

Open the Insert tab to insert a picture, link, comment, header or footer, or a page number. You can also access the Symbol gallery.

Alt+Period, N or Alt+Windows logo key, N

Open the Page Layout tab to set page margins, orientation, and size, and paragraph spacing.

Alt+Period, A or Alt+Windows logo key, A

Open the References tab to insert a table of contents, footnotes, or endnotes.

Alt+Period, S or Alt+Windows logo key, S

Open the Review tab to check spelling, add comments, or track and review changes to your document.

Alt+Period, R or Alt+Windows logo key, R

Open the View tab to choose a view, open the Navigation pane, edit the Header & Footer, and to Zoom the document view.

Alt+Period, W or Alt+Windows logo key, W

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Use Search

To find an option or perform an action quickly, use the Search text field. To learn more about the Search feature, go to Find what you need with Microsoft Search.

Note: Depending on the version of Microsoft 365 you are using, the Search text field at the top of the app window might be called Tell Me instead. Both offer a largely similar experience, but some options and search results can vary.

  1. Select the item or place in your document, presentation, or spreadsheet where you want to perform an action.

  2. To go to the Search text field, press Alt+Q.

  3. Type the search words for the action that you want to perform. For example, if you want to add a bulleted list, type bullets.

  4. Press the Down arrow key to browse through the search results.

  5. Once you’ve found the result that you want, press Enter to select it and to perform the action.

Work in the ribbon tabs and menus

The following shortcuts can save time when you work with the ribbon tabs and ribbon menus.

To do this

Press

Select the active tab on the ribbon, and activate the access keys.

Alt+Period or Alt+Windows logo key. To move to a different tab, use an access key or the Tab key.

When a Ribbon tab is selected, move the focus to the tab commands.

Enter, then Tab key or Shift+Tab

Activate a selected button.

Spacebar or Enter

Open the list for a selected command.

Spacebar or Enter

Open the menu for a selected button.

Alt+Down arrow key

When a menu or submenu is open, move to the next command.

Down arrow key

Collapse or expand the ribbon.

Ctrl+F3

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Navigate the document

To do this

Press

Move the cursor right by one word.

Ctrl+Right arrow key

Move the cursor left by one word.

Ctrl+Left arrow key

Move the cursor up by one paragraph.

Ctrl+Up arrow key

Move the cursor down by one paragraph.

Ctrl+Down arrow key

Move the cursor to the beginning of the current line.

Home

Move the cursor to the end of the current line.

End

Move the cursor to the beginning of the document.

Ctrl+Home

Move the cursor to the end of the document.

Ctrl+End

Select text.

Shift+Arrow keys

Select the word to the right.

Shift+Ctrl+Right arrow key

Select the word to the left.

Shift+Ctrl+Left arrow key

Select the paragraph above.

Shift+Ctrl+Up arrow key

Select the paragraph below.

Shift+Ctrl+Down arrow key

Select from the current position to the beginning of the line.

Shift+Home

Select from the current position to the end of the line.

Shift+End

Select from the current position to the beginning of the document.

Shift+Ctrl+Home

Select from the current position to the end of the document.

Shift+Ctrl+End

Select all document content.

Ctrl+A

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Edit and format the document

To do this

Press

Cut the selected content to the Clipboard.

Ctrl+X

Copy the selected content to the Clipboard.

Ctrl+C

Paste the content from the Clipboard.

Ctrl+V

Undo the previous action.

Ctrl+Z

Redo the previous action.

Ctrl+Y

Shrink the font size.

Ctrl+Left bracket ([)

Grow the font size.

Ctrl+Right bracket (])

Apply bold formatting to the selected text.

Ctrl+B

Apply italic formatting to the selected text.

Ctrl+I

Underline the selected text.

Ctrl+U

Align the paragraph to the left.

Ctrl+L

Align the paragraph to the right.

Ctrl+R

Center the paragraph.

Ctrl+E

Justify the paragraph.

Ctrl+J

Create a bulleted list.

Ctrl+Period (.)

Create a numbered list.

Ctrl+Slash (/)

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See also

Word help center

Basic tasks using a screen reader with Word

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate Word

Screen reader support for Word

Updated: 12/31/2022 by

Microsoft Word

Below is a listing of the more commonly used shortcut keys in Microsoft Word. See the computer shortcuts page if you are looking for a list of shortcut keys used in other programs. Please be aware that some shortcuts may not work in all versions of Microsoft Word.

Note

If the device you are using does not have function keys (F1-F12) on its keyboard, like a Chromebook, certain shortcuts are unavailable to you.

Note

Some Microsoft Word shortcut keys below may not work in Word 365, and most shortcut keys do not work in Word on a mobile device.

Shortcut Description
Ctrl+0 Toggle 6pts of spacing above the paragraph.
Ctrl+A Select all contents of the page.
Ctrl+B Bold highlighted selection.
Ctrl+C Copy selected text.
Ctrl+D Open the font preferences window.
Ctrl+E Align the line or selected text to the center of the screen.
Ctrl+F Open find box.
Ctrl+I Italic highlighted selection.
Ctrl+J Align the selected text or line to justify the screen.
Ctrl+K Insert a hyperlink.
Ctrl+L Align the line or selected text to the left of the screen.
Ctrl+M Indent the paragraph.
Ctrl+N Open new, blank document window.
Ctrl+O Open the dialog box or page for selecting a file to open.
Ctrl+P Open the print window.
Ctrl+R Align the line or selected text to the right of the screen.
Ctrl+S Save the open document. Like Shift+F12.
Alt+F, A Save the document under a different file name.
Alt+X Show the Unicode code of a highlighted character.
Ctrl+T Create a hanging indent.
Ctrl+U Underline the selected text.
Ctrl+V Paste.
Ctrl+W Close the currently open document.
Ctrl+X Cut selected text.
Ctrl+Y Redo the last action performed.
Ctrl+Z Undo last action.
Ctrl+Shift+A Sets the selected text to all capital letters.
Ctrl+Shift+D Adds double underline to the selected text.
Ctrl+Shift+E Enable or disable revision tracking.
Ctrl+Shift+F Open Font window to change the font.
Ctrl+Shift+L Quickly create a bullet point.
Ctrl+Shift+> Increase selected font +1pts up to 12pt and then increase 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+/+C Insert a cent sign (¢).
Ctrl+'+<char> Insert a character with an accent (acute) mark, where <char> is the character you want. For example, if you wanted an accented é you would use Ctrl+’+e as your shortcut key. To reverse the accent mark, use the opposite accent mark, often found on the tilde key.
Ctrl+Shift+* View or hide non printing characters.
Ctrl+Left arrow Move one word to the left.
Ctrl+Right arrow Move one word to the right.
Ctrl+Up arrow Move to the beginning of the line or paragraph.
Ctrl+Down arrow Move to the end of the paragraph.
Ctrl+Del Delete word to right of cursor.
Ctrl+Backspace Delete word to left of cursor.
Ctrl+End Move the cursor to the end of the document.
Ctrl+Home Move the cursor to the beginning of the document.
Ctrl+Spacebar Reset highlighted text to the default font.
Ctrl+Enter Insert a page break.
Ctrl+1 Single-space lines.
Ctrl+2 Double-space lines.
Ctrl+5 1.5-line spacing.
Ctrl+= Set selected text as subscript.
Ctrl+Pg Up Move one page up in the document.
Ctrl+Pg Dn Move one page down in the document.
Ctrl+Shift+= Set selected text as superscript.
Ctrl+Alt+T Insert trademark (TM) symbol.
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+Alt+F2 Open new document.
Ctrl+F1 Open the Task Pane.
Ctrl+F2 Display the print preview.
Ctrl+Shift+> Increase the font size of selected text by one point.
Ctrl+Shift+< Decrease the font size of selected text by one point.
Ctrl+Shift+F6 Switch to another open Microsoft Word document.
Ctrl+Shift+F12 Print the document.
F1 Open help.
F4 Repeat the last action performed (Word 2000+).
F5 Open the Find, Replace, and Go To window in Microsoft Word.
F7 Spellcheck and grammar check selected text or document.
F12 Save As.
Shift+F3 Change the text in Microsoft Word from uppercase to lowercase or a capital letter at the beginning of every word.
Shift+F7 Run a Thesaurus check on the selected word.
Shift+F12 Save the open document. Like Ctrl+S.
Shift+Enter Create a soft break instead of a new paragraph.
Shift+Insert Paste.
Shift+Alt+D Insert the current date.
Shift+Alt+T Insert the current time.

You can also utilize the mouse to perform many common actions. The following section contains 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-clicking a word, selects the complete word.
Double-click Double-clicking the left, center, or right of a blank line makes the alignment of the text left, center, or right aligned.
Double-click Double-clicking anywhere after text on a line sets a tab stop.
Triple-click Selects the line or paragraph of the text where the mouse is triple-clicked.
Ctrl+Mouse wheel Zooms in and out of document.

Microsoft Word Shortcut Keys

Introduction to Microsoft Word Shortcut Keys

The following article provides an outline for Microsoft Word Shortcut Keys. Microsoft word is a word processor developed by Microsoft company. Microsoft word provides various functions ranges from basic to advanced to make the work easy and makes the document attractive and effective. There are some shortcuts key that will help you carry out the same function easily and save your time.

For example, if you want to copy the whole document, you need to select the content with a mouse’s help and need to click on the copy option, which is present in the home tab. Instead of doing these all steps, you can just click ctrl + A to select the whole content and ctrl + C to copy the same.

Different Microsoft Word Shortcut Keys

Given below are the different Microsoft word shortcut keys:

  • Ctrl + A: This shortcut is used to select all contents of the word document.
  • Ctrl + C: This shortcut is used to copy the text selected by the user.
  • Ctrl + V: This shortcut is used to paste the copied text.
  • Ctrl + X: It is used to cut the selected text.
  • Ctrl + Y: It is used to redo the last task performed.
  • Ctrl + Z: It is used to undo the last task performed.
  • Ctrl + B: Highlight the selected text in bold.
  • Ctrl + D: It is used to open the font preference window.
  • Ctrl + F: It is used to open the find dialog box.
  • Ctrl + P: This shortcut key opens the print window.
  • Ctrl + I: Highlight the selected text in italic form.
  • Ctrl + U: It is used to underline the selected text.
  • Ctrl + Shift + D: It is used to highlight double underline for the selected text.
  • Ctrl + E: It is used to set the alignment of the line or selected text to the center of the screen.
  • Ctrl + L: It is used to set the alignment of the line or selected text to the left of the screen.
  • Ctrl + J: It is used to set the alignment of the line or selected text to justify the screen.
  • Ctrl + R: It is used to set the alignment of the line or selected text to the right of the screen.
  • Ctrl + K: It is used to add a hyperlink to the text.
  • Ctrl + N: This shortcut key is used to open the new blank document.
  • Ctrl + W: It is used to close the currently open word document.
  • Ctrl + M: It is used to indent the paragraph.
  • Ctrl + S: It is used to save the document.
  • Ctrl + O: It is used to open the dialog box, where the user can select the file that needs to be open.
  • Ctrl + Shift + A: It is used to set all the selected text letters to capital.
  • Ctrl + Shift + L: It is used to add a bullet point to the text.
  • Ctrl + Home: It is used to move the cursor at the beginning of the document.
  • Ctrl + End: It is used to move the cursor at the end of the document.
  • Ctrl + Spacebar: It is used to set the selected text to the default font.
  • Ctrl + Alt + 1: It is used to change the text to heading 1.
  • Ctrl + Alt + 2: It is used to change the text to heading 2.
  • Ctrl + Alt + 3: It is used to change the text to heading 3.
  • Shift + Alt + T: It is used to add the current time.
  • Shift + Alt + D: It is used to add the current date.
  • F12: It is used to prompt the save as a window.
  • F1: This shortcut key will open the help window.
  • F7: It is used to open the Spellcheck and grammar check window.
  • F5: It is used to open the find, replace, and go to the window.
  • F4: It is used to repeat the last performed action.
  • Ctrl + Left Arrow: It is used to move the one word to the left.
  • Ctrl + Right Arrow: It is used to move the one word to the right.
  • Ctrl + Up Arrow: It is used to move to the start of the line or paragraph.
  • Ctrl + Down Arrow: It is used to move to the end of the line or paragraph.
  • Ctrl + Del: It is used to delete the word to the right of the cursor.
  • Ctrl + Backspace: It is used to delete the word to the left of the cursor.
  • Ctrl + Shift+ <: It is used to decrease the size of the font by one point.
  • Ctrl + Shift+ >: It is used to increase the size of the font by one point.
  • Ctrl + Shift+ *: It is used to hide or view the non-printing characters.
  • Ctrl + T: It is used to create a hanging indent.

Conclusion

Instead of performing the number of steps, Microsoft word shortcut keys help users to carried out the task by clicking two-three buttons on the keyboard and saves them time and makes the task easier.

Recommended Articles

This is a guide to Microsoft Word Shortcut Keys. Here we discuss the introduction and different Microsoft word shortcut keys, respectively. You may also have a look at the following articles to learn more –

  1. What is Microsoft Planner
  2. Microsoft Word Features
  3. What is Microservices?
  4. What is Microservices Architecture?

Even if you’re familiar with Microsoft Word, you might be surprised by the number and variety of keyboard shortcuts you can use to speed up your work, and just generally make things more convenient.

Now, does anyone expect you to memorize all these keyboard combos? Of course not! Everyone’s needs are different, so some will be more useful to you than others. And even if you just pick up a few new tricks, it’s worth it. We’ve also tried to keep the list clean and simple, so go ahead and print it that helps!

Also, even though our list of shortcuts here is pretty long, it’s by no means a complete list of every keyboard combo available in Word. We’ve tried to keep it to the more generally useful shortcuts. And, you’ll be happy to know that almost all of these shortcuts have been around for a long time, so they should be useful no matter what version of Word you’re using.

General Program Shortcuts

There are many general program shortcuts in Microsoft Word that make it easier for you to do everything from save your document to undo a mistake.

  • Ctrl+N: Create a new document
  • Ctrl+O: Open an existing document
  • Ctrl+S: Save a document
  • F12: Open the Save As dialog box
  • Ctrl+W: Close a document
  • Ctrl+Z: Undo an action
  • Ctrl+Y: Redo an action
  • Alt+Ctrl+S: Split a window or remove the split view
  • Ctrl+Alt+V: Print Layout View
  • Ctrl+Alt+O: Outline View
  • Ctrl+Alt+N: Draft View
  • Ctrl+F2: Print Preview View
  • F1: Open the Help pane
  • Alt+Q: Go to the “Tell me what you want to do” box
  • F9: Refresh the field codes in the current selection
  • Ctrl+F: Search a document
  • F7: Run a spelling and grammar check
  • Shift+F7: Open the thesaurus. If you have a word selected, Shift+F7 looks up that word in the thesaurus.

Moving Around in a Document

You can use keyboard shortcuts to easily navigate throughout your document. This can save time if you have a long document and don’t want to scroll through the entire thing, or simply want to easily move between words or sentences.

  • Left/Right Arrow: Move the insertion point (cursor) one character to the left or right
  • Ctrl+Left/Right Arrow: Move one word to the left or right
  • Up/Down Arrow: Move up or down one line
  • Ctrl+Up/Down Arrow: Move up or down one paragraph
  • End: Move to the end of the current line
  • Ctrl+End: Move to the end of the document
  • Home: Move to the beginning of the current line
  • Ctrl+Home: Move to the beginning of the document
  • Page Up/Page Down: Move up or down one screen
  • Ctrl+Page Up/Page Down: Move to the previous or next browse object (after performing a search)
  • Alt+Ctrl+Page Up/Page Down: Move to the top or bottom of the current window
  • F5: Open the Find dialog box with the “Go To” tab selected, so you can quickly move to a specific page, section, bookmark, and so on.
  • Shift+F5: Cycle through the last three locations where the insertion point was placed. If you just opened a document, Shift+F5 moves you to the last point you were editing before closing the document.

Selecting Text

You may have noticed from the previous section that the arrow keys are used for moving your insertion point around, and the Ctrl key is used to modify that movement. Using the Shift key to modify a lot of those key combos lets you select text in different ways.

  • Shift+Left/Right Arrow: Extend your current selection by one character to the left or right
  • Ctrl+Shift+Left/Right Arrow: Extend your current selection by one word to the left or right
  • Shift+Up/Down Arrow: Extend selection up or down one line
  • Ctrl+Shift+Up/Down Arrow: Extend selection to the beginning or end of the paragraph
  • Shift+End: Extend selection to the end of the line
  • Shift+Home: Extend selection to the beginning of the line
  • Ctrl+Shift+Home/End: Extend selection to the beginning or end of the document
  • Shift+Page Down/Page Up: Extend selection down or up one screen
  • Ctrl+A: Select the entire document
  • F8: Enter selection mode. While in this mode, you can use the arrow keys to extend your selection. You can also press F8 up to five times to extend the selection outward. The first press enters selection mode, the second press selects the word next to the insertion point, the third selects the whole sentence, the fourth all the characters in the paragraph, and the fifth the whole document. Pressing Shift+F8 works that same cycle, but backwards. And you can press Esc any time to leave selection mode. It takes a little playing with to get the hang of it, but it’s pretty fun!
  • Ctrl+Shift+F8: Selects a column. Once the column is selected, you can use the left and right arrow keys to extend the selection to other columns.

Editing Text

Word also provides a number of keyboard shortcuts for editing text.

  • Backspace: Delete one character to the left
  • Ctrl+Backspace: Delete one word to the left
  • Delete: Delete one character to the right
  • Ctrl+Delete: Delete one word to the right
  • Ctrl+C: Copy or graphics to the Clipboard text
  • Ctrl+X: Cut selected text or graphics to the Clipboard
  • Ctrl+V: Paste the Clipboard contents
  • Ctrl+F3: Cut selected text to the Spike. The Spike is an interesting variant on the regular clipboard. You can keep cutting text to the Spike and Word remembers it all. When you paste the Spikes contents, Word pastes everything you cut, but places each item on its own line.
  • Ctrl+Shift+F3: Paste the Spike contents
  • Alt+Shift+R: Copy the header or footer used in the previous section of the document

Applying Character Formatting

Word also has loads of keyboard combos for applying character formatting (and paragraph formatting, but that’s covered in the next section. You can use the shortcuts to apply formatting to selected text or to whatever you type next if no text is selected.

  • Ctrl+B: Apple bold formatting
  • Ctrl+I: Apply italic formatting
  • Ctrl+U: Apply underline formatting
  • Ctrl+Shift+W: Apply underline formatting to words, but not the spaces between words
  • Ctrl+Shift+D: Apply double underline formatting
  • Ctrl+D: Open the Font dialog box
  • Ctrl+Shift+< or >: Decrease or increase font size one preset size at a time
  • Ctrl+[ or ]: Decrease or increase font size one point at a time
  • Ctrl+=: Apply subscript formatting
  • Ctrl+Shift+Plus key: Apply superscript formatting
  • Shift+F3: Cycle through case formats for your text. Available formats are sentence case (capital first letter, everything else lower case), lowercase, uppercase, title case (first letter in each word capitalized), and toggle case (which reverses whatever’s there).
  • Ctrl+Shift+A: Formats all letters as uppercase
  • Ctrl+Shift+K: Formats all letters as lowercase
  • Ctrl+Shift+C: Copies the character formatting of a selection
  • Ctrl+Shift+V: Pastes formatting onto selected text
  • Ctrl+Space: Removes all manual character formatting from a selection

Applying Paragraph Formatting

And just like with character formatting, Word has a bunch of shortcuts particular to formatting paragraphs.

  • Ctrl+M: Increases a paragraph’s indent one level each time you press it
  • Ctrl+Shift+M: Reduces a paragraph’s indent one level each time you press it
  • Ctrl+T: Increases a hanging indent each time you press it
  • Ctrl+Shift+T: Reduces a hanging indent each time you press it
  • Ctrl+E: Center a paragraph
  • Ctrl+L: Left-align a paragraph
  • Ctrl+R: Right-align a paragraph
  • Ctrl+J: Justify a paragraph
  • Ctrl+1: Set single-spacing
  • Ctrl+2: Set double-spacing
  • Ctrl+5: Set 1.5 line Spacing
  • Ctrl+0: Remove one line spacing preceding a paragraph
  • Ctrl+Shift+S: Open a popup window for applying styles
  • Ctrl+Shift+N: Apply the normal paragraph style
  • Alt+Ctrl+1: Apply the Heading 1 style
  • Alt+Ctrl+2: Apply the Heading 2 style
  • Alt+Ctrl+3: Apply the Heading 3 style
  • Ctrl+Shift+L: Apply the List style
  • Ctrl+Q: Remove all paragraph formatting

Inserting Things

Whether you’re looking to insert a section break in your document, or you just don’t feel like digging for a common symbol, Word’s keyboard combos have you covered.

  • Shift+Enter: Insert a line break
  • Ctrl+Enter: Insert a page break
  • Ctrl+Shift+Enter: Insert a column break
  • Ctrl+hyphen (-): Insert an optional hyphen or en dash. An optional hyphen tells Word not to use a hyphen, unless the word breaks at the end of a line. If it does, Word will use a hyphen where you placed it.
  • Alt+Ctrl+hyphen (-): Insert an em dash
  • Ctrl+Shift+hyphen (-): Insert a non-breaking hyphen. This tells Word not to break a word at the end of a line, even if there’s a hyphen there. This would be useful, for example, if you included something like a telephone number and wanted to make sure it all appeared on one line.
  • Ctrl+Shift+Spacebar: Insert a non-breaking space
  • Alt+Ctrl+C: Insert a copyright symbol
  • Alt+Ctrl+R: Insert a registered trademark symbol
  • Alt+Ctrl+T: Insert a trademark symbol

Working with Outlines

Hopefully, you outline before cracking into a long document. If you’re among those organized, outlining souls, here are a few shortcuts to help you out.

  • Alt+Shift+Left/Right Arrow: Promote (move to the left) or demote (move to the right) a line
  • Ctrl+Shift+N: Demote an outline level to regular body text
  • Alt+Shift+Up/Down Arrow: Move the line with the insertion point up or down in the outline
  • Alt+Shift+Plus or Minus keys: Expand or collapse text under a heading
  • Alt+Shift+A: Expand or collapse all text or headings in an outline
  • Alt+Shift+L: Show the first line of body text or all body text
  • Alt+Shift+1: Show all headings that have the Heading 1 style applied
  • Alt+Shift+any other number key: Show all headings up to that level

Working with Tables

Moving around in tables doesn’t work quite like moving around in regular text. Instead of clicking where you want to go, check out these combos:

  • Tab: Move to the next cell in a row and select its contents, if there are any
  • Shift+Tab: Move to the previous cell in a row and select its contents, if there are any
  • Alt+Home/End: Move to the first or last cell in a row
  • Alt+Page Up/Page Down: Move to the first or last cell in a column
  • Up/Down Arrow: Move to the previous or next row
  • Shift+Up/Down Arrow: Select the cell in the row above or below the insertion point or selection. Keep pressing this combo to keep selecting more cells. If you have multiple cells in a row selected, this combo selects those same cells in the row above or below.
  • Alt+5 on keypad (with NumLock off): Select an entire table

And that’s about it. Hopefully, you’ve found a few new keyboard shortcuts to make your life in Word a little easier!

But if that’s not quite enough for you, Word also allows you to create your own keyboard shortcuts for things like commands, styles, and even autotext entries. Plus, we’ve got a handy guide for printing out a list of any custom keyboard shortcuts you’ve created. Enjoy!

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Microsoft Word was launched in 1983 and since then it has been an indispensable tool for many. Many users use this program on a daily basis to write assignments, scripts and much more. But sometimes performing each action by dragging the cursor can become time-consuming and annoying at the same time.

best keyboard shortcuts word

Do you want to speed up the writing and formatting process? Do you want to take your productivity up a notch? We have it all for you. Today, we are taking an in-depth look at some of the best Microsoft Word keyboard shortcuts that will help you write or edit your next document with ease.

1. Frequently used Microsoft Word Shortcut Keys

The following table contains the list of some of the most frequently and commonly used keyboard shortcuts in Microsoft Word.

Action Shortcut
Open a Word document Ctrl + O Command + O
Create a new document

Ctrl + N

Command + N

Save the document Ctrl + S Command + S
Close the document. Ctrl + W Command + F4
Cut the selected content to the Clipboard

Ctrl + X

Command + X

Copy the selected content to the Clipboard

Ctrl + C

Command + C

Paste the contents of the Clipboard

Ctrl + V

Command + V

Select all document content

Ctrl + A Command + A
Apply bold formatting to text Ctrl + B Command + B

Apply italic formatting to text

Ctrl + I Command + I

Apply underline formatting to text

Ctrl + U Command + U

Decrease the font size by 1 point

Ctrl + [

Command + [
Increase the font size by 1 point

Ctrl + ]

Command + ]

Center the text

Ctrl + E

Command + E

Align the text to the left

Ctrl + L

Command + L

Align the text to the right

Ctrl + R

Command + R

Cancel a command

Esc Esc

Undo the previous action

Ctrl + Z

Command + Z

Redo the previous action, if possible

Ctrl + Y

Command + Y

Adjust the zoom magnification

Alt + W Option + W

Split the document window

Ctrl + Alt + S Command + Option + S

2. Shortcuts for Ribbon Panel

The following shortcuts will help you access different tabs in the ribbon panel like home, insert, layout tab, and more.

Action Shortcut
Move to the Tell me or Search field Alt + Q Command + c
Open the File page

Alt + F

Option + F
Open the Home tab

Alt + H

Command + v
Open the Insert tab

Alt + N

Option + N
Open the Design tab

Alt + G

Option + G
Open the Layout tab Alt + P Option + P
Open the References tab

Alt + S

Option + S
Open the Mailings tab

Alt + M

Option + M
Open the Review tab

Alt + R

Option + R
Open the View tab

Alt + W

Option + W

3. Shortcuts to Navigate the Document

When writing, there are multiple instances when we navigate between different parts of the document. These shortcuts help us in doing exactly that.

Action Shortcut

Move the cursor one word to the left

Ctrl + Left arrow key Command + Left arrow key

Move the cursor one word to the right

Ctrl + Right arrow key

Command + Right arrow key

Move the cursor up by one paragraph

Ctrl + Up arrow key

Command + Up arrow key

Move the cursor down by one paragraph

Ctrl + Down arrow key

Command + Down arrow key

Move the cursor to the end of the current line

End

End

Move the cursor to the beginning the current line

Home Home

Move the cursor to the top of the screen

Ctrl + Alt + Page up Command + Option + Page up

Move the cursor to the bottom of the screen

Ctrl + Alt + Page down Command + Option + Page down

Move the cursor by scrolling the document view up by one screen

Page up

Page up

Move the cursor by scrolling the document view down by one screen

Page down

Page down

Move the cursor to the top of the next page

Ctrl + Page down

Command + Page down

Move the cursor to the top of the previous page

Ctrl + Page up

Command + Page up

Move the cursor to the end of the document

Ctrl + End

Command + End
Move the cursor to the beginning of the document

Ctrl + Home

Command + Home

Move the cursor to the location of the previous revision

Shift + F5

Shift + F5

Move the cursor to the location of the last revision made before the document was last closed

Shift + F5 Shift + F5

Cycle through floating shapes, such as textboxes or images

Ctrl + Alt + 5 Command + Option + 5

Exit the floating shape navigation and return to the normal navigation

Esc Esc

Display the Navigation task pane

Ctrl + F

Command + F
Display the Go To dialog

Ctrl + G

Command + Option + G

Cycle through the locations of the four previous changes made to the document

Ctrl + Alt + Z

Command + Option + Z

4. Shortcuts for Selecting the Text and Graphics

Now that you know how to navigate the Word document using shortcut keys, let’s take a look at how to select the text or graphic easily using keyboard shortcuts.

Action Shortcut

Select text one character at a time

Shift + Arrow key Shift + Arrow key

Select text one word at a time

Ctrl + Shift + Arrow

Cmd + Shift + Arrow

Select from insertion point back to start of the line

Shift + Home

Cmd + Shift + Arrow right

Select from the insertion point to end of the line

Shift + End

Cmd+Shift+Arrow left

Enter selection mode

F8

F8

Cut text to the spike

Ctrl + F3 Command + F3

Paste the spike

Ctrl + Shift + F3 Command + Shift + F3

5. Shortcuts to Align and Format Paragraphs

The following shortcuts will help you align and format the paragraphs in a document with ease.

Action Shortcut

Center the paragraph

Ctrl + E

Command + E

Justify the paragraph

Ctrl + J

Command + J
Align the paragraph to the left Ctrl + L Command + L

Align the paragraph to the right

Ctrl + R

Command + R

Indent the paragraph.

Ctrl + M

Command + Shift + M

Remove a paragraph indent

Ctrl + Shift + M

Command + Shift + M

Create a hanging indent

Ctrl + T

Command + T

Remove a hanging indent

Ctrl + Shift + T

Command + Shift + T

Remove paragraph formatting

Ctrl + Q

Command + Q

Apply single spacing to the paragraph

Ctrl + 1

Command + 1

Apply double spacing to the paragraph

Ctrl + 2

Command + 2

Apply 1.5-line spacing to the paragraph

Ctrl + 5

Command + 5

Add or remove space before the paragraph

Ctrl + 0

Command + 0
Enable AutoFormat

Ctrl + Alt + K

Command + Option + K

Apply the Normal style

Ctrl + Shift + N

Command + Shift + N

Apply the Heading 1 style

Ctrl + Alt + 1

Command + Option + 1
Apply the Heading 2 style

Ctrl + Alt + 2

Command + Option + 2

Apply the Heading 3 style

Ctrl + Alt + 3

Command + Option + 3

Display the Apply Styles task pane

Ctrl + Shift + S Command + Shift+ S

Display the Styles task pane

Ctrl + Alt +Shift +S

Command + Alt + Shift + S

6. Shortcuts for Text Formatting

These keyboard shortcuts will help you in formatting text like changing font size and more.

Action Shortcut

Display the Font dialog

Ctrl + D

Command + D

Increase the font size

Ctrl + Shift + (>)

Command + Shift + (>)

Decrease the font size

Ctrl + Shift + (<) Command + Shift + (<)

Increase the font size by 1 point

Ctrl + (]) Command + (])

Decrease the font size by 1 point.

Ctrl + ([) Command + ([)

Switch the text between upper case, lower case, and title case

Shift + F3

Shift + F3

Change the text to all upper case

Ctrl + Shift + A

Command + Shift + A

Hide the selected text

Ctrl + Shift + H

Command + Shift + H
Apply bold formatting.

Ctrl + B

Command + B

Apply underline formatting

Ctrl + U

Command + U

Apply underline formatting to the words, but not the spaces

Ctrl + Shift + W

Command + Shift + W

Apply double-underline formatting

Ctrl + Shift + D

Command + Shift + D
Apply italics formatting.

Ctrl + I

Command + I

Apply small caps formatting

Ctrl + Shift + K

Command + Shift + K

Apply subscript formatting

Ctrl + (=)

Command + (=)

Apply superscript formatting

Ctrl + Shift + (+)

Command + Shift + (+)
Remove manual character formatting

Ctrl + Spacebar

Command + Spacebar
Change the selected text to the Symbol font

Ctrl + Shift + Q

Command + Shift + Q

7. Shortcuts for Table Formatting

This list of shortcuts will help you navigate the table and control various elements of the table.

Action Shortcut
Select the content in the next cell

Tab key

Tab key

Select the content in the previous cell

Shift + Tab

Shift + Tab

Extend a selection to adjacent cells

Shift + Arrow keys Shift + Arrow keys
Select a column Shift + Up or Down arrow keys Shift + Up or Down arrow keys

Select a row

Shift + Alt + End or Home. Shift + Alt + End or Home.
Select the whole table Alt + 5 Option + 5

Insert a new paragraph in a cell

Enter Enter

Insert a tab character in a cell

Ctrl + Tab

Command + Tab

Move to the first cell in the row

Alt + Home

Option + Home

Move to the last cell in the row

Alt + End

Option + End
Move to the first cell in the column

Alt + Page up

Option + Page up
Move to the last cell in the column

Alt + Page down

Option + Page down

Move to the previous row

Up arrow key

Up arrow key
Move to the next row

Down arrow key

Down arrow key

Move one row up

Alt + Shift + Up arrow key

Option + Shift + Up arrow key
Move one row down

Alt + Shift + Down arrow key

Option + Shift + Down arrow key

Move to the next cell in the row and select its content

Tab key

Tab key

Move to the previous cell in the row and select its content

Shift + Tab

Shift + Tab

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, you can definitely create a custom keyboard shortcut. Microsoft allows users to create or customize the existing keyboard shortcut key to match their preferences and increase their speed.

Steps to create custom shortcuts in Microsoft Word

  1. Open Word
  2. Navigate to the options tab in the bottom left corner
  3. Choose customize ribbon from the drop-down menu
  4. Now choose the customize icon right next to the keyboard shortcuts option.
  5. Boom! Now you can customize default keyboard shortcuts or also create your own keyboard shortcuts easily.

Yes, most of them will work just fine in word 2007 but do note some shortcuts are designed for newer generations of Microsoft word and so might not work with the 2007 version.

Microsoft Word corrects common spelling errors with autocorrect in a pretty decent way. But sometimes you need to edit someone else’s document or write a quick draft and check the spelling later. You can use the key combination Alt + F7 and it will start with the first misspelled word. If the first highlighted word at the top of the list is correct, just press Enter. You can also use the arrow to go to the correct word, ignore it, or add it to the dictionary.

Looking for a shortcut key to open the dictionary or synonym dialog box for a word directly after typing it? There are multiple ways to do that:

  • If you want to spell check, highlight the word with the keyboard and press F7. (If you press F7 without selecting the word, the entire document will be spell-checked.)
  • If you want to display the thesaurus, make sure the insertion point is inside the word and press Shift+F7.

Just pressing the F5 will open the «Go To» tab on the Find and Replace window. This allows you to quickly jump to a page, section, bookmark, etc.

Shift + F5 will jump the previous edit you made in MS Word. Press it again to go one more edit back. MS Word remembers the last two edits you made.

Ctrl+Shift+F5 will open the Bookmark window so you can edit the bookmarks.

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Jump to: Word Shortcuts to Navigate Documents, Word Shortcuts to select Words and Paragraphs, Word Shortcuts to Format Text and Align Text, Word Shortcuts to Align Text, Headings, and Paragraph Spacing, Undo, Redo, Cut, Copy and Paste Word Shortcuts, Word Shortcuts for Special Characters, Word Shortcuts for Find and Replace, Word Shortcuts to Open, Close, Manage, and Print Documents, Word Shortcuts to Manage Views, Split Screen and Multiple Documents, Word Shortcuts for Date, Time, and other Fields, Word Shortcuts for Outline View, Word Shortcuts for Tables

Arrow Keys

Move one character to left/right or one line up/down

Ctrl+Arrow Left/Arrow Right

Move one word to the left/ to the right

Home/End

Jump to beginning/ to end of the line

Ctrl+Arrow Down/Arrow Up

Jump to next/ to previous paragraph

Page Down/Page Up

Jump up one screen/ down one screen

Ctrl+Alt+Page Up/Page Down

Jump to beginning/ end of the screen

Ctrl+Home/End

Jump to beginning/ to end of document

Ctrl+G or F5

Go to a page, bookmark, footnote, table, comment, graphic, or other location

Alt+Ctrl+Z

Go back to previously edited location in document (up to 4 places)

Shift+F5

Go to the last change or revision. Also works after opening document.

Ctrl+Shift+F5

Set, go to and edit bookmarks

Shift+Arrow Keys

Select/ extend selection by one character left/ right or one line up/ down

Ctrl+Shift+Arrow Left/Arrow Right

Select/ extend selection by one word

Shift+Home/End

Select/ extend selection to beginning/ to end of the line

Ctrl+Shift+Arrow Up/Arrow Down

Select/ extend selection by one paragraph up/ down

Shift+Page Up/Page Down

Select/ extend selection up one screen/ down one screen

Shift+Ctrl+Alt+Page Up/Page Down

Jump to beginning/ end of the screen

Ctrl+A

Select All

Click left of line

Select line

Double-click left of line

Select paragraph

Triple-click left of line

Select document

Double-click on word

Select word

Triple-click on word

Select paragraph

F8

Set extended selection mode; use arrow keys

2x F8

Select word, then press Escape to exit selection mode.

3x F8

Select sentence , then press Escape to exit selection mode

4x F8

Select paragraph, then press Escape to exit selection mode

5x F8

Select document, then press Escape to exit selection mode

Shift+F8

Go backwards in extending selection

Esc

Exit selection mode

Press and hold Alt+left-drag mouse

Select vertically

Ctrl+Shift+F8, then arrow keys

Select vertically

Delete

Delete character to the right of cursor

Ctrl+Delete

Delete word to the right of cursor

Backspace

Delete character to the left of cursor

Ctrl+Backspace

Delete word to the left of cursor

Alt+Shift+F or Ctrl+D

Open the Font dialog box (or Font Dialog box if you prefer to memorize D)

Ctrl+Space

Clear most formatting from selection (bold, underline, italic, color, etc)

Ctrl+Shift+N

Apply Normal style

Ctrl+Shift+8

Toggle display of hidden formatting symbols

Ctrl+B

Apply/remove Bold

Ctrl+I

Apply/remove Italic

Ctrl+U

Apply/remove Underline

Ctrl+Shift+D

Apply/remove Double-underline

Ctrl+Shift+W

Apply/remove Words underline (only words, no spaces)

Shift+F3

Change text between all upper-, first letter upper- and all lower-case

Ctrl+Shift+A

Apply/remove Capitalization format

Ctrl+Shift+K

Apply/remove Small Caps format

Ctrl+=

Apply/remove subscript

Ctrl+Shift+=

Apply/remove superscript

Ctrl+[/]

Decrease / Increase font size one point

Ctrl+Shift+</>

Decrease / Increase font size one value as defined in font style

Shift+F1

Reveal Formatting (show all formats of selection)

Ctrl+Alt+H

Apply/remove text Highlight to selection

Ctrl+Shift+H

Hide selected text; e.g. for sharing and letting others focus on specific sections in a document only. Not a security feature.

Ctrl+A, then Ctrl+D, then 2x Alt+H

Show all hidden text via Select All, Font Dialog, remove Hidden text format

H, FF

Change Font Face, then start typing for autocomplete, or Alt+Arrow Down to open drop down

H, FS

Change Font Size, type number and hit Enter

H, FC

Change Font Color. Press Escape, then Enter to apply current color

Alt+H+4

Apply strikethrough formatting

Ctrl+R

Right-align selected text

Ctrl+L

Left-align selected text

Ctrl+J

Justify-align selected text (straight edges on both sides)

Ctrl+E

Center-align selected text

Ctrl+M

Indent Text (Move text to the right)

Ctrl+Shift+M

Outdent Text

Ctrl+T

Create/ increase hanging indent

Ctrl+Shift+T

Remove/ decrease hanging indent

Ctrl+0

Toggle spacing before paragraph

Ctrl+1

Single line spacing

Ctrl+2

Double line spacing

Ctrl+5

Apply line spacing of 1.5

Alt+Ctrl+1

Apply Heading 1 style

Alt+Ctrl+2

Apply Heading 2 style

Alt+Ctrl+3

Apply Heading 3 style

Alt+Shift+Arrow Right/Arrow Left

Promote / demote Headings

Ctrl+Shift+S

Open Apply Styles task pane (will not close with pressing it a second time)

Ctrl+Z

Undo previous action (up to 100 by default; limit can be changed)

Ctrl+Y

Redo undone action

F4

Repeat action

Ctrl+C

Copy selected content to clipboard

Ctrl+X

Cut selected content to clipboard

Ctrl+V

Paste clipboard content into document

Alt+H, VT

Paste text only via Home Ribbon, Paste (V), Text only

Ctrl+Shift+C

Copy format of selection into Format Clipboard

Ctrl+Shift+V

Paste format to selection from Format Clipboard

Ctrl+F3

Cut text into to Spike (additive clipboard). Add as many non-adjacent areas as desired

Ctrl+Shift+F3

Paste text from Spike and reset Spike

Shift+Alt+Arrow Up/Arrow Down

Move current paragraph or (if selected) multiple paragraphs in text. Cannot move part of paragraph with this

Ctrl+Drag

Move selected text

F2, move cursor to new location, then enter

Moves selected text to new location

Shift+F2, move cursor to new location, then enter

Copies selected text to new location

Alt+Ctrl+C

Insert Copyright symbol

Alt+Ctrl+T

Insert Ttrademark symbol

Alt+Ctrl+R

Insert Registered Trademark symbol

Alt+Ctrl+E

Insert Euro Currency symbol

Alt+Ctrl+.

Insert horizontal ellipsis (…)

Alt, then n,u

Insert Symbol (insert menu)

Ctrl+Shift+Space

Insert nonbreaking space

Ctrl+Shift+ (Hyphen)

Insert nonbreaking hyphen

Ctrl+

Insert optional hyphen

Type character code and press Alt+X

Insert Unicode character, e.g. 20ac

Alt+character code on numeric keyboard

Insert ANSI character

Ctrl+K

Insert a hyperlink

Ctrl+H

Open classic find and replace window

Ctrl+H, then Alt+D

Open classic find window

Alt+F

Find next

Shift+F4

Repeat last find after closing find window

Ctrl+Tab

Jump between find menu and document

Alt+Space, Arrow keys and Enter

Move find menu window

Esc

Close traditional search window if active

Ctrl+F

Open (new) search menu in navigation task pane

Alt,W,K

Open and close Navigation pane (View, Navigation)

Ctrl+N

Create new document

Ctrl+O

Open document

Ctrl+W

Close document (Close Window)

Ctrl+S

Save document

F12

Save document as

Alt, then F, R

Open Recent (File, Recent)

Ctrl+P

Go to Print document/ print preview

Ctrl+P, then Enter

Print document

Ctrl+mouse wheel

Zoom in/ zoom out in preview

Page Up/Page Down

Up a page/ down a page in preview

Ctrl+Home/Ctrl+End

Jump to beginning/ end of document in preview

Esc

Exit print preview and return to document

Alt+Ctrl+S

Toggle Split of document window

Ctrl+scroll mouse up/down

Zoom in/ out

Alt then w, q

Open Zoom Menu (no native shortcut exists for zoom in/ zoom out)

Alt+Ctrl+O

Switch to Outline view

Alt+Ctrl+P

Switch to Print Layout view

Alt+Ctrl+N

Switch to Draft view (used to be normal view)

Ctrl+F6

Switch forward to next open Word documents (easier than Alt+Tab as only word documents are iterated)

Ctrl+Shift+F6

Switch backwards to previous open Word documents (easier than Alt+Tab as only word documents are iterated)

Alt+Shift+D

Insert current Date field

Alt+Shift+T

Insert current Tate field

Alt+Shift+P

Insert Page number field

Alt+Shift+O

Insert Table of Content field

Alt+Shift+X

Insert Index field

Alt+Shift+L

Insert LISTNUM field

Alt+F9

Toggle show/ hide fields

F9

Update all fields

F11/Shift+F11

Go to next/ go to previous field

Ctrl+F11

Lock field

Ctrl+Shift+F11

Unlock field

Ctrl+Shift+O

Switch to Outline View

Tab/Shift+Tab

Promote / Demote a paragraph (or Alt+Shift+Arrow Left/Arrow Right)

Alt+Shift+Arrow Up/Arrow Down

Move selected paragraphs up / down

Ctrl+Shift+N

Demote to body text (set style to normal)

Alt+Shift+plus /

Expand / Collapse text under a heading

Alt+Shift+A

Expand or collapse all text or headings

/ key on the numeric keypad

Hide or display character formatting

Alt+Shift+L

Show the first line of body text or all body text

Alt+Shift+1

Show all headings with the Heading 1 style

Alt+Shift+N

Show all headings up to Heading n

Ctrl+Tab

Insert a tab character

Arrow Down/Arrow Up

Jump one row down / one row up

Tab/Shift+Tab

Jump to (and select) next / previous table cell

Alt+Home/Alt+End

Jump to first column/ jump to last column

Alt+Page Up/Alt+Page Down

Jump to first row / jump to last row

Ctrl+Arrow Left/Ctrl+Arrow Right

One cell to the left / to the right

Shift+End

Select current table cell

end, then shift+Home

Select content of current table cell

Press and hold shift and press arrow keys repeatedly

Extend selection to adjacent cells

Ctrl+Shift+f8, then press

Extend selection or block

Alt+5 on numeric keypad (with numLock off)

Select an entire table

Alt+Shift+Arrow Up/Alt+Shift+Arrow Down

Move current row up or down

In first column, press shift+End

Select row*

In first row press Alt+Shift+Page Down

Select column

Shift+Delete

Delete columns with columns selected

Created by rank17 on 3/4/2017. Last updated by max on 1/14/2021

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Microsoft Word Shortcuts

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Go to “Tell me what you want to do” Alt + Q Zoom Alt + W, Q, Tab to value you want Select an entire word Double-click anywhere in the word Select an entire sentence Press Ctrl while clicking anywhere in the sentence Select an entire paragraph Triple-click anywhere in the paragraph Move to the beginning of the current word Ctrl + Left arrow Move to the beginning of the next word Ctrl + Right arrow Move to the beginning of the next paragraph Ctrl + Down arrow Undo Ctrl + Z Redo Ctrl + Y Toggle between last 4 edit positions Alt + Ctrl + Z Show/Hide character formatting / (slash) key on numeric keypad Create a New document Ctrl + N Open a document Ctrl + O Save a document Ctrl + S Close a document Ctrl + W Split a window Alt + Ctrl + S Remove window split Alt + Ctrl + S Delete one word to the left Ctrl + Backspace Delete one word to the right Ctrl + Delete Indent a paragraph Ctrl + M Remove an indent Ctrl + Shift + M Hanging indent Ctrl + T Remove a hanging indent Ctrl + Shift + T Center a paragraph Ctrl + E Left-align a paragraph Ctrl + L Right-align a paragraph Ctrl + R Justify a paragraph Ctrl + J Create a non-breaking space Ctrl + Shift + Spacebar Create a page break Ctrl + Enter Create a line break Shift + Enter Remove all Formatting Ctrl + Shift + N Open the page setup dialog box Double-click the ruler margin Open the paragraph dialog box Double-click an indent marker Open the tab dialog box Double-click a tab marker Insert the current date Alt + Shift + D Insert the current time Alt + Shift + T Insert hyperlink Ctrl + K Set single-space line spacing Ctrl + 1 Set double-space line spacing Ctrl + 2 Set 1.5-line spacing Ctrl + 5 Open the macros dialog box Alt + F8 Search a document (Navigation task pane) Ctrl + F Replace items in a document Ctrl + H Open Go To dialog box Ctrl + G Open the thesaurus Shift + F7 Open the word count dialog box Ctrl + Shift + G Create a non-breaking hyphen Ctrl + Hyphen Decrease font size one value Ctrl + Shift + < Increase font size one value Ctrl + Shift + > Decrease font size 1 point Ctrl + [ Increase font size 1 point Ctrl + ] Remove paragraph or character formatting Ctrl + spacebar Paste Special Ctrl + Alt + V Switch to Print Layout view Ctrl + Alt + P Switch to Outline view Ctrl + Alt + O Switch to Draft view Ctrl + Alt + N Copy formatting from text Ctrl + Shift + C Paste formatting only Ctrl + Shift + V Change case Shift + F3 Switch to Print Preview Ctrl + F2 or Alt + Ctrl + I Insert a comment Alt + Ctrl + M Beginning of Document CTRL+HOME End of Document CTRL+END Beginning of line Home End of line END Print CTRL+P Bold Text CTRL + B Italic Text CTRL + I Underline Text CTRL + U Convert the selected text to capital letters or vice versa CTRL+SHIFT+A Moves to the Next Misspelling ALT+F7 Turn on/off Tracking Changes Ctrl + Shift + E Close Reviewing pane Alt + Shift + C Cancel Esc Outline view: Promote a paragraph in an outline Alt + Shift + Left arrow Outline view: Demote a paragraph in an outline Alt + Shift + Right arrow Outline view: Move selected outline paragraphs up Alt + Shift + Up arrow Outline view: Move selected outline paragraphs down Alt + Shift + Down arrow Outline view: Expand outline text below a heading Alt + Shift + + Outline view: Collapse outline text below a heading Alt + Shift + – Outline view: Collapse or show all text or headings Alt + Shift +A Move to File tab ribbon Alt + F, use letters to navigate Move to Home tab ribbon Alt + H, use letters to navigate Move to Insert tab ribbon Alt + N, use letters to navigate Move to Design tab ribbon Alt + G, use letters to navigate Move to Layout tab ribbon Alt + P, use letters to navigate Move to References tab ribbon Alt + S, use letters to navigate Move to Mailings tab ribbon Alt + M, use letters to navigate Move to Review tab ribbon Alt + R, use letters to navigate Move to View tab ribbon Alt + W, use letters to navigate On the ribbon, to move between commands Tab or Shift-tab To move between groups on a ribbon Ctrl + Right Arrow or Ctrl + Left Arrow Activate a selected command on the ribbon Spacebar or Enter key Open a gallery on the ribbon Spacebar or Enter key Finish with a control on the ribbon and move back to the document Enter key Expand or collapse the ribbon Ctrl + F1 Help F1 Move selected text Select text, press F2, click in paste location, press Enter Copy selected text Select text, press Shift + F2, click in paste location, press Enter Insert Building Block F3 Repeat F4 Go To F5 Skip to next frame/pane F6 Spell check F7 Activate extended selection mode F8 Refresh F9 Display ribbon key tip letters F10 Go to next field in document F11 Save as F12

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