Create a new document
Ctrl+N
N for New.
84 shortcuts
MS Word shortcuts
Write and format documents. Here are the most useful key combinations, each with a short explanation. Practise them in the AlphaType trainer afterwards.
Practise these shortcuts nowAll MS Word shortcuts
Open document
Ctrl+O
O for Open.
Save document
Ctrl+S
S for Save.
Save as
F12
Opens Save As.
Print document
Ctrl+P
Opens the print view.
Close active document
Ctrl+W or Ctrl+F4
Closes the current document.
Close Word
Alt+F4
Practice this one only with the on-screen keyboard.
Show or hide the ribbon
Ctrl+F1
Hides or shows the Word ribbon.
Activate or exit the ribbon
Alt
Use the arrow keys to switch between tabs.
Open context menu
Shift+F10
The keyboard alternative to right-clicking.
Delete last character
Backspace
Deletes to the left of the insertion point.
Delete next character
Del
Deletes to the right of the insertion point.
Delete word to the left
Ctrl+Backspace
Deletes to the start of the previous word.
Delete word to the right
Ctrl+Del
Deletes to the start of the next word.
Jump to the beginning of the document
Ctrl+Home
Jumps to the very beginning.
Jump to end of document
Ctrl+End
Jumps to the very end.
Jump to beginning of line
Home
On German keyboards Pos1 (Home).
Jump to end of line
End
Jumps to the end of the line.
Jump to previous word
Ctrl+←
Jumps word by word to the left.
Jump to next word
Ctrl+→
Jumps word by word to the right.
Jump to previous paragraph
Ctrl+↑
Jumps to the start of the previous paragraph.
Jump to next paragraph
Ctrl+↓
Jumps to the start of the next paragraph.
Scroll up one page
PageUp
Scrolls up one screen.
Scroll down one page
PageDown
Scrolls down one screen.
Select entire document
Ctrl+A
Selects the entire document content.
Select a character
Shift+→ or Shift+←
Extends the selection by one character.
Select a word
Ctrl+Shift+→ or Ctrl+Shift+←
Extends the selection word by word.
Select to beginning of line
Shift+Home
Selects to the start of the line.
Select to end of line
Shift+End
Selects to the end of the line.
Select to beginning of document
Ctrl+Shift+Home
Selects to the start of the document.
Select to end of document
Ctrl+Shift+End
Selects to the end of the document.
Copy
Ctrl+C
Copies the selection.
Cut
Ctrl+X
Cuts the selection.
Paste
Ctrl+V
Pastes the clipboard.
Undo action
Ctrl+Z
Undoes the last action.
Redo action
Ctrl+Y
Repeats the last action.
Find
Ctrl+F
Opens the Navigation pane with search.
Find and replace
Ctrl+H
Opens Replace.
Go to
Ctrl+G or F5
Jumps to a page, heading or other element.
Find next match
Shift+F4
Repeats the search forward.
Open font dialog
Ctrl+D or Ctrl+Shift+F
Opens the font settings.
Format as bold
Ctrl+B
Turns bold on or off.
Format as italic
Ctrl+I or Ctrl+Shift+K
Turns italic on or off.
Underline
Ctrl+U or Ctrl+Shift+U
Turns underline on or off.
Remove character formatting
Ctrl+Space
Resets character formatting.
Remove paragraph formatting
Ctrl+Q
Resets paragraph formatting.
Apply Normal style
Ctrl+Shift+N
Applies the Normal style.
Open Apply Styles task pane
Ctrl+Shift+S
Opens the Apply Styles task pane.
Apply Heading 1
Ctrl+Alt+1
Applies Heading 1.
Apply Heading 2
Ctrl+Alt+2
Applies Heading 2.
Apply Heading 3
Ctrl+Alt+3
Applies Heading 3.
Align left
Ctrl+L
Aligns the current paragraph to the left.
Center
Ctrl+E
Centers the current paragraph.
Align right
Ctrl+R
Aligns the current paragraph to the right.
Justify
Ctrl+J
Justifies the current paragraph.
Apply single line spacing
Ctrl+1
Sets single spacing.
Apply double line spacing
Ctrl+2
Sets double spacing.
Apply 1.5 line spacing
Ctrl+5
Sets 1.5 line spacing.
Create hanging indent
Ctrl+T
Indents all lines except the first.
Remove hanging indent
Ctrl+Shift+T
Removes the hanging indent.
Create bulleted list
Ctrl+.
Turns a bulleted list on or off.
Create numbered list
Ctrl+/
Turns numbering on or off.
Insert line break
Shift+Enter
Breaks the line without starting a new paragraph.
Insert page break
Ctrl+Enter
Starts a new page.
Insert non-breaking space
Ctrl+Shift+Space
Prevents a line break between words.
Insert non-breaking hyphen
Ctrl+Shift+-
Prevents a line break at the hyphen.
Insert optional hyphen
Ctrl+-
Becomes visible only at a line break.
Insert date
Alt+Shift+D
Inserts a date field.
Insert time
Alt+Shift+T
Inserts a time field.
Check spelling and grammar
F7
Starts the check.
Add new comment
Ctrl+Alt+M
Adds a comment to the selection.
Update fields
F9
Updates the selected field.
Toggle field codes in document
Alt+F9
Switches between result and field code.
Change case
Shift+F3
Cycles through capitalization styles.
Copy formatting
Ctrl+Shift+C
Copies the formatting of the selection.
Paste formatting
Ctrl+Alt+V
Current Word version for Windows. Older versions may use different keys.
Open document via Open dialog
Ctrl+F12
Opens a document. This combination does not insert a table.
Move to next table cell
Tab
In the last cell, a new row is added.
Move to previous table cell
Shift+Tab
Moves to the previous cell.
Jump to first cell in table row
Alt+Home
Jumps to the start of the table row.
Jump to last cell in table row
Alt+End
Jumps to the end of the table row.
Jump to first cell in table column
Alt+PageUp
Jumps to the top of the column.
Jump to last cell in table column
Alt+PageDown
Jumps to the bottom of the column.
Insert tab in table cell
Ctrl+Tab
Inserts a tab stop within a cell.
Learning MS Word efficiently
Start with a few combinations you use often and repeat them in context. AlphaType shows the task, lets you practise the keys and gives immediate feedback.