Word Shortcuts: an overview of the best ones

Whether you use Microsoft Word professionally or privately, knowing the right Word shortcuts allows you to use the popular word processing program in a faster and more effective way. The entire operation is designed to be extremely simple and intuitive. But the range of available Word shortcuts extends well beyond the popular copy-and-paste or print command.

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However, much like learning Excel shortcuts, it needs a little practice to learn Word shortcuts. However, it’s worth the effort if you regularly work with Microsoft Word. An overview of the most important Microsoft Word shortcuts is summarized in the table below.

General Word keyboard shortcuts

Shortcut Command
Ctrl + X Cut
Ctrl + C Copy
Ctrl + V Insert
Ctrl + A Select all
Ctrl + F Find
Ctrl + H Find and replace
Ctrl + G Go to
F4 Redo or repeat
Ctrl + Y Redo
Ctrl + Z Undo
Ctrl + S Save
F12 Save as
Ctrl + P Print
Ctrl + N New document
Ctrl + O Open
Ctrl + W Close document
Ctrl + Alt + F Insert footnote
Ctrl + Alt + E Insert endnote
Ctrl + F2 Page view/Page preview
Ctrl + K Insert hyperlink

Word Shortcuts: positioning and navigating

Shortcut Command
Ctrl + left arrow One word to the left
Ctrl + right arrow One word to the right
Ctrl + up arrow One paragraph up
Ctrl + down arrow One paragraph down
Shift + F5 Go back to previous edit
Shift + right arrow Select text: one character to the right
Shift + left arrow Select text: one character to the left
Ctrl + Shift + right arrow Select text: to the end of the word
Ctrl+ Shift + left arrow Select text: to the beginning of the word
Shift + down arrow Select text: one line down
Shift + up arrow Select text: one line up

Word Shortcuts: formatting commands

Shortcut Command
Ctrl + B Apply bold formatting to text
Ctrl + I Apply italic formatting to text
Ctrl + U Apply underline formatting to text
Ctrl + Shift + W Underline word
Ctrl + Shift + D Double underline
Ctrl + Shift + + Apply superscript formatting
Ctrl + = Apply subscript formatting
Ctrl + Shift + A All large caps
Ctrl + Shift + K All small caps
Ctrl + D Change font
Shift + F3 Switch between upper and lower case
Ctrl + [ Decrease font size by 1 pt
Ctrl + ] Increase font size by 1 pt
Ctrl + E Center the text
Ctrl + R Align text to the right
Ctrl + L Align text to the left
Ctrl + B Justification
Ctrl + M Indent paragraph
Ctrl + Shift + M Remove paragraph indent from the left
Ctrl + T Hanging indent
Ctrl + Shift + T Undo hanging indent
Ctrl + 1 Single line spacing
Ctrl + 2 Double space
Ctrl + 5 1.5 line spacing
Ctrl + 0 Remove paragraph formatting
Ctrl + Shift + J Distribute paragraph alignment
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