What Microsoft Word Keyboard Shortcuts Do You Need to Know?

You may have heard the phrase, “There are no shortcuts in life,” but when it comes to using Microsoft Office 365 applications, there are shortcuts—and they can make your work life a lot easier! Microsoft Office 365 applications are designed to help you work more efficiently by providing quick access to common commands and features.

Using keyboard shortcuts can save you significant time and effort while helping you be more productive. Microsoft Word is one of the most popular Microsoft Office 365 suite applications. As a result, many keyboard shortcuts are specific to Word. Learning just a few shortcuts can help you work more efficiently in Word.

Navigating With the Keyboard in Microsoft Word

When navigating in Word, you will quickly discover that several keyboard shortcuts can save you time and effort. For example, the shortcut Ctrl+Home takes you to the beginning of your document, while Ctrl+End takes you to the end. If you need to move quickly to a specific location, you can use the shortcut Ctrl+G. This shortcut opens the Go To dialog box, which allows you to enter a specific page number, line number, or character number.

There are shortcuts for moving up and down by one line, paragraph, or page. The shortcut Ctrl+Up Arrow moves up by one line, while Ctrl+Down Arrow moves down by one line. You can use Ctrl+Shift+Up Arrow and Ctrl+Shift+Down Arrow to move up or down by one paragraph. Finally, the shortcuts Ctrl+Page Up and Ctrl+Page Down move up and down by one page, respectively.

Arrow Keys: Use the arrow keys on your keyboard to move around the document one character at a time.
Ctrl+Arrow Keys: Hold down the Ctrl key while using the arrow keys to move around the document one word at a time.
Home/End Keys: The Home key moves the cursor to the beginning of the line, while the End key moves the cursor to the end.
PgUp/PgDn Keys: ThePgUp and PgDn keys act like arrow keys but move up and down one page at a time.
Ctrl+Home/Ctrl+End Keys: These keys move the cursor to the beginning or end of the document, respectively.

Selecting Text in Microsoft Word Using Keyboard Shortcuts

One way to save time working in Word is to use keyboard shortcuts to select text. Selecting text makes it easy to apply changes to the specific text you want. When you select the specific text, you can format it, delete it, or copy and paste it elsewhere.

Shift+Arrow Keys: Use the Shift key with the arrow keys to select text one character at a time.
Ctrl+Shift+Arrow Keys: Use the Ctrl and Shift keys together with the arrow keys to select text one word at a time.
Home/End Keys (with Shift): Select text from the cursor’s current position to the beginning or end of the line by holding down the Shift key while pressing the Home or End key.
PgUp/PgDn Keys (with Shift): Select text from the cursor’s current position to the top or bottom of the page by holding down the Shift key while pressing the PgUp or PgDn key.

Editing Text in Microsoft Word Using Keyboard Shortcuts

Once you’ve selected the text that you want to edit, there are a few different ways that you can edit it using keyboard shortcuts. Editing text can be as simple as adding or deleting characters or more complex, such as cutting, copying, and pasting text.

Cut/Copy/Paste: The Cut, Copy, and Paste commands are probably the most commonly used commands in any application. They can be accessed using the following keyboard shortcuts:
Cut: Ctrl+X
Copy: Ctrl+C
Paste: Ctrl+V
Undo/Redo: The Undo and Redo commands allow you to undo or redo your last action. They can be accessed using the following keyboard shortcuts:
Undo: Ctrl+Z
Redo: Ctrl+Y
Find/Replace: The Find and Replace commands allow you to search for specific text in the document and replace it with other text. They can be accessed using the following keyboard shortcuts:
Find: Ctrl+F
Replace: Ctrl+H

Formatting Text in Microsoft Word Using Keyboard Shortcuts

Formatting text can be time-consuming, especially if you have a lot of text to format. Fortunately, there are keyboard shortcuts that can make formatting text in Microsoft Word a little easier.

Bold/Italic/Underline: The Bold, Italic, and Underline commands can format text quickly. They can be accessed using the following keyboard shortcuts:
Bold: Ctrl+B
Italic: Ctrl+I
Underline: Ctrl+U
Font/Font Size: The Font and Font Size commands can change text’s appearance. They can be accessed using the following keyboard shortcuts:
Font: Ctrl+Shift+F
Font Size: Ctrl+Shift+P

Final Thoughts

These are just a few of the many keyboard shortcuts that you can use in Microsoft Word. Learning and using keyboard shortcuts can save you a lot of time, and once you get used to them, they can become second nature. Give some of these shortcuts a try the next time you’re working in Word, and see how they can help you work more efficiently.

As thought leaders in the Microsoft space, our team at K2 Technologies wants users to be able to work as efficiently as possible in all Microsoft applications. Check out our other keyboard shortcut guides for more tips on how to work smarter, not harder, in Word and other Microsoft applications.

What Microsoft Word Keyboard Shortcuts Do You Need to Know?