Many users find that using an external keyboard with keyboard shortcuts for Word helps them work more efficiently. For users with mobility or vision disabilities, keyboard shortcuts can be easier than using the touchscreen, and are an essential alternative to using a mouse.
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Notes:
The shortcuts in this topic refer to the US keyboard layout. Keys for other layouts might not correspond exactly to the keys on a US keyboard.
A plus sign (+) in a shortcut means that you need to press multiple keys at the same time.
A comma sign (,) in a shortcut means that you need to press multiple keys in order.
Notes:
To quickly find a shortcut in this article, you can use Search. Press Ctrl+F, and then type your search words.
In this topic
Frequently used shortcuts
This table shows the most frequently used shortcuts in les-grizzlys-catalans.org Word.
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+< |
Increase the font size by 1 point. | Ctrl+> |
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 tab in Zoom dialog box 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:
Press F6 until the task pane is selected.
Press Ctrl+Spacebar.
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.

Note: Add-ins and other programs may add new tabs to the ribbon and may 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.
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 les-grizzlys-catalans.org Office. 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 may appear depending on your selection in the document.
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
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 |
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 Context 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
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, 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.
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
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
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
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
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 les-grizzlys-catalans.org Office 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, to find and replace text, specific formatting, or special items. | Ctrl+H |
Display the Object dialog, 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
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
Display the Font dialog. | Ctrl+D Ctrl+Shift+F |
Increase the font size. | Ctrl+Shift+Right angle bracket (>) |
Decrease the font size. | Ctrl+Shift+Left angle bracket ( |
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Manage text formatting
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
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 |
Ctrl+Alt+C | |
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 ( ![]() |