In an effort to be more productive on my keyboard I have brought in these 10 shortcuts for Word into my Arsenal!
You will see that there are 10 categories but many suggestions sitting within those categories.
Combine these shortcuts with speed typing and knocking out your next assignment, research paper or any other document will be much more efficient, leading to a more productive you!
1) Open New Folder
A quick-fire way to open a new folder is to hit:
Ctrl + shift + N
2) Navigating the Document
Ok so there is several shortcuts for navigating a Word document. These are my top 8! Instead of using your mouse and lining up the cursor use these shortcuts for faster movement around your page.
| What You Want to Do | 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 up by down paragraph | Ctrl + Down arrow key |
| Move the cursor to the end of the line | End |
| Move the cursor to the beginning of the 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 |
3) Ribbon Shortcuts
The ribbon at the top of Word gives you access to almost all the program’s features and all of the features can be accessed via the keyboard.
To do this:
- Hit and release the alt key. The ribbon will light up with a range of access keys
- Press the key aligned to the ribbon that you want to access.
- Press the access key for the command that you want to use. For some commands there will be more than one key to press. Follow the access key as it will guide you.
4) Editing Documents
Again, I have gone with my top 10 shortcuts but there are many more! Start with these and continue exploring!
| Number | What You Want to Do | Press |
| 1. | Cut current selection | Ctrl + X |
| 2. | Copy the current selection | Ctrl + C |
| 3. | Paste the current selection | Ctrl + V |
| 4. | Bold | Ctrl + B |
| 5. | Italics | Ctrl + I |
| 6. | Underline | Ctrl + U |
| 7. | Centre | Ctrl + E |
| 8. | Reduce Font Size | Ctrl + left bracket ([) |
| 9 | Increase Font Size | Ctrl + right bracket (]) |
| 10. | Insert Page Break | Ctrl + Enter to insert a page break at the insertion point |
5) Selecting Text
| I Want To | Then do This |
| Select All | Pressing Ctrl + A will select the entire document |
| Select one text character at a time | Shift + Arrow |
| Select one word at a time | Ctrl + Shift + Arrow dependent on whether the word is to the left or right |
| Select from the insertion point to the beginning of the line | Shift + Home |
| Select from the insertion point to the end of the line | Shift + End |
6) Using Tables
| I Want To | Then do This |
| Move to the previous cell | Shift + Tab |
| Move to the first cell of the table | Alt + Home |
| Move to the last cell of the table | Alt + End |
| Move to the top of the current column | Alt + Page Up |
| Move to the bottom of the current column | Alt + Page Down |
7) Working With Your Document
| I Want To | Then do This |
| Split the Window | Alt + Ctrl + S |
| Open a document | Ctrl + O |
| Close the document | Ctrl + W |
| Create a new document | Ctrl + N |
| Save the current document | Ctrl + S |
| Save As | F12 |
8) Work With Web Content
| I Want To | Then do This |
| 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 |
9) Work With References, Citations and Indexing
| I Want To | Then do This |
| Inert a Contents Entry | Alt + Shift + O |
| Insert a Citation | Alt + Shift + I |
| 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 (<) |
10) General Tasks
| I Want To | Then do This |
| Undo | Ctrl + Z |
| Redo | Ctrl + Y |
| Help | F1 |
| Zoom | Alt + W, Q |
| Cancel | Esc |