Computer keyboard shortcut keys Quick links Basic PC shortcut keys F1 - F12 function keys Top 10 keyboard shortcuts Linux and Unix shortcut keys Apple shortcut keys Microsoft Windows shortcuts Microsoft Excel shortcut keys Microsoft Word shortcut keys Internet Explorer shortcut keys Microsoft FrontPage shortcut keys Microsoft Outlook shortcut keys Mozilla Firefox Keyboard terms How do I create a Windows shortcut key? Shortcut keys ABCs Shortcut keys help provide an easier and usually quicker method of navigating and using computer software programs. Shortcut keys are commonly accessed by using the Alt (on IBM compatible computers), command key (on Apple computers), Ctrl, or Shift in conjunction with a single letter. The de facto standard for listing a shortcut is listing the modifier key, a plus symbol, and the single character. In other words, ALT+S is telling you to press the Alt key and while continuing to hold the Alt key, press the S key to perform the shortcut. In addition to the shortcuts listed on this page, users can find the shortcut keys to their most popular program by looking for underlined letters in their menus. For example, in the picture to the right youll can notice that the F in File has been underlined. This means you can press the Alt key and F to access the File menu. Note: Some programs require the user press and hold ALT to see the underlined characters. Finally, as can also be seen some of the common features such as Open (Ctrl+O) and Save (Ctrl+S) have shortcut keys assigned to them. As you begin to memorize shortcut keys, youll notice that many applications share the same shortcut keys. We have the most commonly shared shortcut keys in the below basic PC shortcut keys section. Tip: Users outside the United States or users using a foreign copy of a Microsoft Windows or Microsoft application may not be able to get all the below shortcut keys to perform the function listed below. Top 10 keyboard shortcuts everyone should know Using keyboard shortcuts can greatly increase your productivity, reduce repetitive strain, and help keep you focused. For example, highlighting text with the keyboard and pressing Ctrl + C is much faster than taking your hand from the keyboard, highlighting the text using the mouse, clicking copy from the file menu, and then putting your hand back in place on the keyboard. Below are our top 10 keyboard shortcuts we recommend everyone memorize and use. Ctrl + C or Ctrl + Insert Copy the highlighted text or selected item. Ctrl + V or Shift + Insert Paste the text or object thats in the clipboard. Ctrl + Z and Ctrl + Y Undo any change. For example, if you cut text, pressing this will undo it. This can also often be pressed multiple times to undo multiple changes. Pressing Ctrl + Y would redo the undo. Ctrl + F Open the Find in any program. This includes your Internet browser to find text on the current page. Alt + Tab or Alt + Esc Quickly switch between open programs moving forward. Tip: Press Ctrl + Tab to switch between tabs in a program. Tip: Adding the Shift key to Alt + Tab or Ctrl + Tab will move backwards. For example, if you are pressing Alt + Tab and pass the program you want to switch to, press Alt + Shift + Tab to move backwards to that program. Tip: Windows Vista and 7 users can also press the Windows Key + Tab to switch through open programs in a full screenshot of the Window. Ctrl + Back space and Ctrl + Left or Right arrow Pressing Ctrl + Backspace will delete a full word at a time instead of a single character. Holding down the Ctrl key while pressing the left or right arrow will move the cursor one word at a time instead of one character at a time. If you wanted to highlight one word at a time you can hold down Ctrl + Shift and then press the left or right arrow key to move one word at a time in that direction while highlighting each word. Ctrl + S While working on a document or other file in almost every program pressing Ctrl + S will save that file. This shortcut key should be used frequently anytime youre working on anything important. Ctrl + Home or Ctrl + End Move the cursor to the beginning or end of a document. Ctrl + P Print the page being viewed. For example, the document in Microsoft Word or the web page in your Internet browser. Page Up, Space bar, and Page Down Pressing either the page up or page down key will move that page one page at a time in that direction. When browsing the Internet pressing the space bar will also move the page down one page at a time. If you press Shift and the Space bar the page will go up a page at a time. Tip: If you are using the space bar to go down one page at a time press the Shift key and space bar to go up one page at a time. Basic PC shortcut keys The below basic shortcut keys are a listing of shortcut keys that will work with almost all IBM compatible computers and software programs. It is highly recommended that all users keep a good reference of the below shortcut keys or try to memorize the below keys. Doing so will dramatically increase your productivity. Shortcut Keys Description Alt + F File menu options in current program. Alt + E Edit options in current program F1 Universal Help in almost every Windows program. Ctrl + A Select all text. Ctrl + F Open find window for current document or window. Ctrl + X Cut selected item. Shift + Del Cut selected item. Ctrl + C Copy selected item. Ctrl + Ins Copy selected item Ctrl + V Paste Shift + Ins Paste Ctrl + P Print the current page or document. Home Goes to beginning of current line. Ctrl + Home Goes to beginning of document. End Goes to end of current line. Ctrl + End Goes to end of document. Shift + Home Highlights from current position to beginning of line. Shift + End Highlights from current position to end of line. Ctrl + Left arrow Moves one word to the left at a time. Ctrl + Right arrow Moves one word to the right at a time. What are the F1 through F12 keys? Commonly known as function keys, F1 through F12 may have a variety of different uses or no use at all. Depending on the installed operating system and the software program currently open will change how each of these keys operate. A program is capable of not only using each of the function keys, but also combining the function keys with the ALT or CTRL key, for example, Microsoft Windows users can press ALT + F4 to close the program currently active. Below is a short-listing of some of the common functions of the functions keys. As mentioned above not all programs support function keys and may perform different tasks then those mentioned below. If you are looking for more specific shortcut keys and function key examples we suggest seeing our shortcut key page. F1 • Almost always used as the help key, almost every program will open the help screen when this key is pressed. • Enter CMOS Setup. • Windows Key + F1 would open the Microsoft Windows help and support center. • Open the Task Pane. F2 • In Windows renames a highlighted icon, file, or folder in all versions of Windows. • Alt + Ctrl + F2 opens document window in Microsoft Word. • Ctrl + F2 displays the print preview window in Microsoft Word. • Quickly rename a selected file or folder. • Enter CMOS Setup. F3 • Often opens a search feature for many programs including Microsoft Windows when at the Windows Desktop.. • In MS-DOS or Windows command line F3 will repeat the last command. • Shift + F3 will change the text in Microsoft Word from upper to lower case or a capital letter at the beginning of every word. • Windows Key + F3 opens the Advanced find window in Microsoft Outlook. • Open Mission Control on an Apple computer running Mac OS X. F4 • Open find window in Windows 95 to XP. • Open the address bar in Windows Explorer and Internet Explorer. • Repeat the last action performed (Word 2000+) • Alt + F4 will close the program window currently active in Microsoft Windows. • Ctrl + F4 will close the open window within the current active window in Microsoft Windows. F5 • In all modern Internet browsers pressing F5 will refresh or reload the page or document window. • Open the find, replace, and go to window in Microsoft Word. • Starts a slideshow in PowerPoint. F6 • Move the cursor to the Address bar in Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and most other Internet browsers. • Ctrl + Shift + F6 opens to another open Microsoft Word document. F7 • Commonly used to spell check and grammar check a document in Microsoft programs such as Microsoft Word, Outlook, etc. • Shift + F7 runs a Thesaurus check on the word highlighted. • Turns on Caret browsing in Mozilla Firefox. F8 • Function key used to enter the Windows startup menu, commonly used to access Windows Safe Mode. F9 • Opens the Measurements toolbar in Quark 5.0. • With Mac OS 10.3 or later shows all open Windows. • Using the Fn key and F9 at the same time will open Mission Control on an Apple computer running Mac OS X. F10 • In Microsoft Windows activates the menu bar of an open application. • Shift + F10 is the same as right-clicking on a highlighted icon, file, or Internet link. • Access the hidden recovery partition on HP and Sony computers. • Enter CMOS Setup. • With Mac OS 10.3 or later shows all open Windows for active program. F11 • Full-screen mode in all modern Internet browsers. • Ctrl + F11 as computer is starting to access the hidden recovery partition on many Dell computers. • Access the hidden recovery partition on eMachines, Gateway, and Lenovo computers. • With Mac OS 10.4 or later hides all open windows and shows the Desktop. F12 • Open the Save as window in Microsoft Word. • Shift + F12 save the Microsoft Word document. • Ctrl + Shift + F12 prints a document in Microsoft Word. • Preview a page in Microsoft Expression Web • Open Firebug. • With an Apple running Mac OS 10.4 or later F12 will show or hides the Dashboard. F13 - F24 Early IBM computers also had keyboards with F13 through F24 keys. However, because these keyboards are no longer used they are not listed on this page. Other computer keyboard shortcuts General Windows keyboard shortcuts Alt + Tab Switch between open applications in all versions of Windows. Reverse the direction by pressing Alt + Shift + Tab at the same time. Ctrl + Tab Switches between program groups, tabs, or document windows in applications that support this feature. Reverse the direction by pressing Ctrl + Shift + Tab at the same time. Alt + double-click Display the properties of the object you double-click on in Windows 95 and later. For example, doing this on a file would display its properties. Alt + Print Screen Create a screen shot only for the active program window in all versions of Windows. For example, if you opened the calculator and did this only the calculator window would be created as a screen shot. If just the Print Screen key is pressed the whole screen will be made into a screen shot. Ctrl + Alt + Del Open the Windows option screen for locking computer, switching user, Task Manager, etc. in later versions of Windows. Pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del multiple times will reboot the computer. Ctrl + Shift + Esc Immediately bring up the Windows Task Manager in Windows 2000 and later. Ctrl + Esc Open the Windows Start menu in most versions of Windows. In Windows 8 this will open the Start screen and in Windows 3.x this would bring up the Task Manager. Alt + Esc Switch between open applications on Taskbar in Windows 95 and later. Alt + Space bar Drops down the window control menu for the currently open Windows program in Windows 95 and later. Alt + Enter Opens properties window of selected icon or program in Windows 95 and later. Shift + Del Will delete any file or other object without throwing it into the Recycle Bin in Windows 95 and later. Hold down the Shift key When putting in an audio CD or other CD that uses Autoplay, holding down the Shift key will prevent that CD from playing. Microsoft Windows shortcut keys Windows 7 and 8 only WINKEY + 1-0 Pressing the Windows key and any of the top row number keys from 1 to 0 will open the program corresponding to the number of icon on the Taskbar. For example, if the first icon on the Taskbar was Internet Explorer pressing WINKEY + 1 would open that program or switch to it if already open. WINKEY + (Plus (+) or Minus (-)) Open Windows Magnifier and zoom in with the plus symbol (+) and zoom out with the minus symbol (-). • Press the WINKEY + ESC to close the Magnifier WINKEY + Home Minimize all windows except the active window. WINKEY + P Change between the monitor and projection display types or how second screen displays computer screen. WINKEY + T Set the focus on the Taskbar icons WINKEY + Left arrow Shrinks the window to 1/2 screen on the left side for side by side viewing. WINKEY + Right arrow Shrinks the window to 1/2 screen on the right side for side by side viewing. WINKEY + Up arrow When in the side by side viewing mode, this shortcut takes the screen back to full size. WINKEY + Down arrow Minimizes the screen. Also, when in the side by side viewing mode, this shortcut takes the screen back to a minimized size. Windows 8 only WINKEY + , Peek at the Windows Desktop. WINKEY + . Snap a Windows App to the sides of the screen. Pressing it multiple times will switch between the right and left-hand side of the screen or unsnap the app. WINKEY + Enter Open Windows Narrator WINKEY + C Open the Charms. WINKEY + G Cycle through Desktop gadgets. WINKEY + H Open Share in Charms. WINKEY + I Open the Settings in Charms. WINKEY + J Switch between snapped apps. WINKEY + K Open Devices in Charms. WINKEY + O Lock the screen orientation. WINKEY + X Open the power user menu, which gives you access to many of the features most power users would want to use such as Device Manager, Control Panel, Event Viewer, Command Prompt, and much more. Windows keyboard key shortcuts Below is a listing of Windows keys that can be used on computers running a Microsoft Windows 95 or later and using a keyboard with a Windows key. In the below list of shortcuts, the Windows key is represented by WINKEY and because not all these shortcuts will work in all versions of Windows weve mentioned what versions of Windows support each Windows key shortcut key. All versions of Windows WINKEY Pressing the Windows key alone will open or hide the Windows Start menu. In Windows 8, this will open or hide the Start screen. WINKEY + F1 Open the Microsoft Windows help and support center. WINKEY + Pause / Break key Open the System Properties window. WINKEY + D Opens the Desktop to the top of all other windows. WINKEY + E Open Microsoft Windows Explorer. WINKEY + F Display the Windows Search or Find feature. WINKEY + Ctrl + F Display the search for computers window. WINKEY + L Lock the computer and switch users if needed (Windows XP and above only). WINKEY + M Minimizes all windows. WINKEY + Shift + M Undo the minimize done by WINKEY + M and WINKEY + D. WINKEY + R Open the run window. WINKEY + U Open Utility Manager or the Ease of Access Center. Mozilla Firefox shortcut keys Below is a listing of all the major shortcut keys in Mozilla Firefox. See the computer shortcut page if you are looking for other shortcut keys used in other programs. Shortcut Keys Description Alt + Home Open your home page. Alt + Left Arrow Back a page. Alt + Right Arrow Forward a page. F5 Refresh current page, frame, or tab. F11 Display the current website in full screen mode. Pressing F11 again will exit this mode. Esc Stop page or download from loading. Ctrl + (- or +) Increase or decrease the font size, pressing - will decrease and + will increase. Ctrl + 0 will reset back to default. Ctrl + Enter Quickly complete an address. For example, type computerhope in the address bar and press CTRL + ENTER to get computerhope. Ctrl + Shift + Del Open the Clear Data window to quickly clear private data. Ctrl + D Add a bookmark for the page currently opened. Ctrl + I Display available bookmarks. Ctrl + J Display the download window. Ctrl + K or Ctrl + E Move the cursor to the search box. Ctrl + N Open New browser window. Ctrl + P Print current page or frame. Ctrl + T Opens a new tab. Ctrl + F4 or Ctrl + W Closes the currently selected tab. Ctrl + Shift + T Undo the close of a window. Ctrl + Tab Moves through each of the open tabs. Spacebar Moves down a page at a time. Shift + Spacebar Moves up a page at a time. Alt + Down arrow Display all previous text entered in a text box and available options on drop down menu. Microsoft Excel shortcut keys Below is a listing of all the major shortcut keys in Microsoft Excel. See the computer shortcut page if you are looking for other shortcut keys used in other programs. Shortcut Description F2 Edit the selected cell. F3 After a name has been created F3 will paste names. F4 Repeat last action. For example, if you changed the color of text in another cell pressing F4 will change the text in cell to the same color. F5 Go to a specific cell. For example, C6. F7 Spell check selected text or document. F11 Create chart from selected data. Ctrl + Shift + ; Enter the current time. Ctrl + ; Enter the current date. Alt + Shift + F1 Insert New Worksheet. Alt + Enter While typing text in a cell pressing Alt + Enter will move to the next line allowing for multiple lines of text in one cell. Shift + F3 Open the Excel formula window. Shift + F5 Bring up search box. Ctrl + A Select all contents of the worksheet. Ctrl + B Bold highlighted selection. Ctrl + I Italic highlighted selection. Ctrl + K Insert link. Ctrl + U Underline highlighted selection. Ctrl + 1 Change the format of selected cells. Ctrl + 5 Strikethrough highlighted selection. Ctrl + P Bring up the print dialog box to begin printing. Ctrl + Z Undo last action. Ctrl + F3 Open Excel Name Manager. Ctrl + F9 Minimize current window. Ctrl + F10 Maximize currently selected window. Ctrl + F6 Switch between open workbooks or windows. Ctrl + Page up Move between Excel work sheets in the same Excel document. Ctrl + Page down Move between Excel work sheets in the same Excel document. Ctrl + Tab Move between Two or more open Excel files. Alt + = Create a formula to sum all of the above cells Ctrl + Insert the value of the above cell into cell currently selected. Ctrl + Shift + ! Format number in comma format. Ctrl + Shift + $ Format number in currency format. Ctrl + Shift + # Format number in date format. Ctrl + Shift + % Format number in percentage format. Ctrl + Shift + ^ Format number in scientific format. Ctrl + Shift + @ Format number in time format. Ctrl + Arrow key Move to next section of text. Ctrl + Space Select entire column. Shift + Space Select entire row. Ctrl + - Delete the slected column or row. Ctrl + Shift + = Insert a new column or row. Ctrl + Home Move to cell A1. Ctrl + ~ Switch between showing Excel formulas or their values in cells. Microsoft Word shortcut keys Below is a listing of all the major shortcut keys in Microsoft Word. See the computer shortcut page if you are looking for other shortcut keys used in other programs. Shortcut Description Ctrl + 0 Adds or removes 6pts of spacing before a 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 Aligns the line or selected text to the center of the screen. Ctrl + F Open find box. Ctrl + I Italic highlighted selection. Ctrl + J Aligns the selected text or line to justify the screen. Ctrl + K Insert link. Ctrl + L Aligns the line or selected text to the left of the screen. Ctrl + M Indent the paragraph. Ctrl + P Open the print window. Ctrl + R Aligns the line or selected text to the right of the screen. Ctrl + T Create a hanging indent. Ctrl + U Underline highlighted selection. Ctrl + V Paste. Ctrl + X Cut selected text. Ctrl + Y Redo the last action performed. Ctrl + Z Undo last action. Ctrl + Shift + L Quickly create a bullet point. Ctrl + Shift + F Change the font. Ctrl + Shift + > Increase selected font +1pts up to 12pt and then increases 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 + + Insert a character with an accent (grave) mark, where is the character you want. For example, if you wanted an accented è you would use Ctrl + + e as your shortcut key. To reverse the accent mark use the opposite accent mark, often on the tilde key. Ctrl + Shift + * View or hide non printing characters. Ctrl + Moves one word to the left. Ctrl + Moves one word to the right. Ctrl + Moves to the beginning of the line or paragraph. Ctrl + Moves to the end of the paragraph. Ctrl + Del Deletes word to right of cursor. Ctrl + Backspace Deletes word to left of cursor. Ctrl + End Moves the cursor to the end of the document. Ctrl + Home Moves the cursor to the beginning of the document. Ctrl + Spacebar Reset highlighted text to the default font. Ctrl + 1 Single-space lines. Ctrl + 2 Double-space lines. Ctrl + 5 1.5-line spacing. Ctrl + Alt + 1 Changes text to heading 1. Ctrl + Alt + 2 Changes text to heading 2. Ctrl + Alt + 3 Changes text to heading 3. Alt + Ctrl + F2 Open new document. Ctrl + F1 Open the Task Pane. Ctrl + F2 Display the print preview. Ctrl + Shift + > Increases the highlighted text size by one. Ctrl + Shift + < Decreases the highlighted text size by one. Ctrl + Shift + F6 Opens to another open Microsoft Word document. Ctrl + Shift + F12 Prints 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 Runs a Thesaurus check on the word highlighted. Shift + F12 Save. 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. In addition to the above shortcut keys users can also use their mouse as a method of quickly do something commonly performed. Below some are 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-click a word, selects the complete word. Double-click Double-clicking on the left, center, or right of a blank line will make the alignment of the text left, center, or right aligned. Double-click Double-clicking anywhere after text on a line will set a tab stop. Triple-click Selects the line or paragraph of the text the mouse triple-clicked. Ctrl + Mouse wheel Zooms in and out of document. Internet Explorer shortcut keys Below is a listing of all the major shortcut keys in Microsoft Internet Explorer. See the computer shortcut page if you are looking for other shortcut keys used in other programs. Shortcut Keys Description Alt + Left Arrow Back a page. Backspace Back a page. Alt + Right Arrow Forward a page. F5 Refresh current page, frame, or tab. F11 Display the current website in full screen mode. Pressing F11 again will exit this mode. Esc Stop page or download from loading. Ctrl + (- or +) Increase or decrease the font size, pressing - will decrease and + will increase. Ctrl + Enter Quickly complete an address. For example, type computerhope in the address bar and press CTRL + ENTER to get computerhope. Ctrl + D Add a Favorite for the page currently opened. Ctrl + I Display available bookmarks. Ctrl + N Open New browser window. Ctrl + P Print current page or frame. Ctrl + T Opens a new tab. Ctrl + F4 Closes the currently selected tab. Ctrl + Tab Moves through each of the open tabs. Spacebar Moves down a page at a time. Shift + Spacebar Moves up a page at a time. Alt + Down arrow Display all previous text entered in a text box or available options on drop down menu. Alt + D Highlights the text in the address bar Microsoft FrontPage shortcut keys Below is a listing of all the major shortcut keys in Microsoft FrontPage. See the computer shortcut page if you are looking for other shortcut keys used in other programs. Shortcut Description Ctrl + C Copy selected text. Ctrl + X Cut selected text. Ctrl + P Paste selected text. Ctrl + K Create a hyperlink. Ctrl + B Bold highlighted selection. Ctrl + I Italic highlighted selection. Ctrl + U Underline highlighted selection. Ctrl + L Left align the text. Ctrl + R Right align the text. Ctrl + E Center the text. Ctrl + / Turn on or off the display of HTML tags. Ctrl + S Save document. Ctrl + Tab Switch between open web pages. Ctrl + Ins Enter Line break. Ctrl + Enter Move cursor above or below a table. Ctrl + Shift + B Preview in web browser window. Ctrl + Shift + < Decrease font size. Ctrl + Shift + > Increase font size. Ctrl + Del Deletes word to right of cursor. Ctrl + Backspace Deletes word to left of cursor. Alt + mouse double-click View the properties of a selected item. For example, doing this on a table cell would display the properties for that cell. Microsoft Outlook shortcut keys Below is a listing of all the major shortcut keys in Microsoft Outlook. See the computer shortcut page if you are looking for other shortcut keys used in other programs. Shortcut Description Alt + S Send the e-mail Ctrl + Enter Send the e-mail youre composing. Ctrl + C Copy selected text. Ctrl + X Cut selected text. Ctrl + P Print selected text. Ctrl + K Complete the name or e-mail being typed in the e-mail address bar. Ctrl + B Bold highlighted selection Ctrl + I Italic highlighted selection Ctrl + M Send and receive all Ctrl + U Underline highlighted selection Ctrl + R Reply to an e-mail. Ctrl + F Forward an e-mail. Ctrl + N Create a new e-mail. Ctrl + Y Go to folder. Ctrl + Shift + A Create a new appointment to your calendar. Ctrl + Shift + O Open the Outbox. Ctrl + Shift + I Open the Inbox. Ctrl + Shift + K Add a new task. Ctrl + Shift + C Create a new contact. Ctrl + Shift + J Create a new journal entry. Ctrl + Shift + V Move folder. How do I create a Windows shortcut key? Create a shortcut 1. Open the folder or directory that contains the program you wish to create a shortcut for. 2. Right-click on the program and click Create Shortcut. 3. This will create a shortcut named Shortcut to in the directory you are in. If you wish to rename this shortcut, right-click the file and click rename. 4. Once the above steps have been completed, you can copy or cut this shortcut and paste it anywhere to execute this program. Assign shortcut key to that Windows shortcut Once the shortcut has been created to assign a shortcut key to that Windows shortcut follow the below steps. 1. Right-click the shortcut and click Properties. 2. Click the Shortcut tab. 3. Click in the Shortcut key box and press a letter. For example, if you press p the shortcut key will automatically be made Ctrl + Alt + P. Which means if saved when pressing Ctrl and Alt and P all at the same time will run that shortcut.
Posted on: Tue, 04 Mar 2014 18:23:59 +0000
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