Computer Shortcut Keys You Should Know, Basic Computer Shortcut Keys For Word, Excel, PowerPoint, WIN, And Others

Shortcut keys in computer help provide an easier and quicker method of navigating and executing commands when using any of the computer software. It is a set of two or more keys in the computer system that when pressed together invokes a command in software or an operating system.

The computer shortcut keys increase your productivity during operation by invoking commands with a few keystrokes. It doesn’t mean that the computer cannot be accessible without the shortcut keys. Without the computer shortcut keys, the computer can be accessed only through a menu, a mouse, or through any other means.

The shortcut keys in any computer are commonly accessed by using the Alternate (Alt) key on the IBM compatible computers, Command key on the Apple computers, Control (Ctrl) key, or the Shift key in conjunction with another key or keys when using Windows, Mac or any other operating system (OS).

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Applying Shortcut Keys

In the application of shortcut keys in the computer system, it is done by pressing and holding either the Ctrl key, Alt key, Shift key and then presses any other key or both keys at the same time. For example, the shortcut key “Ctrl+S” is telling you to press and hold the Ctrl key, and then press the S key at the same time. This command simply means ADDITIONAL SAVE when you have done the first time saving, and also means SAVE AS (first time saving) if you have not saved your work before.

Following the advancement of the computer today, there is no doubt in saying that it has become a very important part of our daily activities! If you’re a frequent computer user then you must know about the keyboard shortcut keys. Contain in this post is a list of commonly used shortcut keys that can provide an easier and quicker method of using any computer programs instead of using the mouse and navigating around the monitor screen.

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Basic Computer Shortcut Keys For Word, Excel, PowerPoint, WIN, And Others.

List of basic computer shortcut keys

The basic PC shortcut keys are those shortcuts frequently used in the computer window environments. See below for the computer basic shortcut keys:

Shortcut Keys	Meaning
Alt+F	File menu options in current program.
Alt+E	Open Edit options in current program.
Alt+Tab	Switch between open programs.
F1	View help information (Note, F1 key is used by almost every Windows program to display help).
F2	Turn ON and OFF the computer WIFI
Fn+F2	Rename a selected file.
F5	Refresh the current program window or Open the browser
Ctrl+D	Bookmarks the current page in most Internet browsers or Open the Font dialog box.
Ctrl+N	Create a new or blank document in some software, or open a new tab in most Internet browsers.
Ctrl+O	Open a file in the current software.
Ctrl+A	Select all highlighted text.
Ctrl+B	Make selected text to be bold.
Ctrl+I	Make selected text to be in italics.
Ctrl+U	Make selected text to be underlined.
Ctrl+F	Open find window for current document or window.
Ctrl+S	Save current document file (Additional saving)
Ctrl+X	Cut selected item or text.
Shift+Del	Cut selected item.
Ctrl+C	Copy selected item.
Ctrl+Ins	Copy selected item
Ctrl+V	Paste
Shift+Ins	Paste
Ctrl+Y	Redo last action.
Ctrl+Z	Undo last action.
Ctrl+K	Insert hyperlink for selected text.
Ctrl+P	Opens the Print Properties box for 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.
Ctrl+Esc	Open the Start menu.
Ctrl+Shift+Esc	Open Windows Task Manager.
Alt+F4	Close the currently active program.
Alt+Enter	Open the properties for the selected item (file, folder, shortcut, etc.).

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Microsoft Windows shortcut keys list

Microsoft windows are one of the world’s best, and also the popular OS (operating system), it has numerous shortcut keys that will enhance its users working conditions and help them carry out their works easily instead of navigating the mouse around the monitor screen. The table below shows Microsoft Windows shortcut keys you should know:

Shortcut Keys	Meaning
Alt + Tab	Switch between open applications.
Alt + Shift + Tab	Switch backward between open applications.
Alt + Print Screen	Create screenshot for the current program.
Ctrl + Alt + Del	Reboot/Windows task manager.
Ctrl + Esc	Bring up the start menu.
Alt + Esc	Switch between applications on the taskbar.
F2	Rename selected icon.
F3	Start find from the desktop.
F4	Open the drive selection when browsing.
F5	Refresh contents.
Alt + F4	Close current open program.
Ctrl + F4	Close window in program.
Ctrl + Plus Key	Automatically adjust widths of all columns in Windows Explorer.
Alt + Enter	Open properties window of selected icon or program.
Shift + F10	Simulate right-click on selected item.
Shift + Del	Delete programs/files permanently.
Holding Shift During Boot up	Boot safe mode or bypass system files.
Holding Shift During Boot up	When putting in an audio CD, will prevent CD Player from playing.

Special Characters Computer Shortcut Keys

This shortcut keys in the table below helps you to insert special characters using the keyboard shortcut keys:

Shortcut Keys	Special Character Meaning
Alt+0224	à
Alt+0232	è
Alt+0236	ì
Alt+0242	ò
Alt+0241	ñ
Alt+0228	ä
Alt+0246	ö
Alt+0252	ü
Alt+0248	ø
Alt+0223	ß
Alt+0198	Æ
Alt+0231	ç
Alt+0191	¿
Alt+0176	°  (degree symbol)
Alt+0177	±  (plus/minus symbol)
Alt+0153	™
Alt+0169	©
Alt+0174	®
Alt+0128	€  (Euro currency)
Alt+0162	¢  (Cent symbol)
Alt+0163	£  (British Pound currency)
Alt+0165	¥  (Japanese Yen currency)

Word shortcut keys (Microsoft word and others)

Microsoft word is one of the popular word processing (word document) applications used worldwide and as such, they are never left out when there are any updates. The table below shows Microsoft Word shortcut keys:

Shortcut Keys	Meaning
Ctrl + A	Select all contents of the page.
Ctrl + B	Bold highlighted selection.
Ctrl + C	Copy selected text.
Ctrl + X	Cut selected text.
Ctrl + N	Open new/blank document.
Ctrl + O	Open options.
Ctrl + P	Open the print window.
Ctrl + F	Open find box.
Ctrl + I	Italicise highlighted selection.
Ctrl + K	Insert link.
Ctrl + U	Underline highlighted selection.
Ctrl + V	Paste.
Ctrl + Y	Redo the last action performed.
Ctrl + Z	Undo last action.
Ctrl + G	Find and replace options.
Ctrl + H	Find and replace options.
Ctrl + J	Justify paragraph alignment.
Ctrl + L	Align selected text or line to the left.
Ctrl + Q	Align selected paragraph to the left.
Ctrl + E	Align selected text or line to the center.
Ctrl + R	Align selected text or line to the right.
Ctrl + M	Indent the paragraph.
Ctrl + T	Hanging indent.
Ctrl + D	Font options box.
Ctrl + Shift + F	Change the font.
Ctrl + Shift + >	Increase selected font +1.
Ctrl + ]	Increase selected font +1.
Ctrl + [	Decrease selected font -1.
Ctrl + Shift + *	View or hide non printing characters.
Ctrl + (Left arrow)	Move one word to the left.
Ctrl + (Right arrow)	Move one word to the right.
Ctrl + (Up arrow)	Move to the beginning of the line or paragraph.
Ctrl + (Down arrow)	Move to the end of the paragraph.
Ctrl + Del	Delete word to the right of the cursor.
Ctrl + Backspace	Delete word to the left of the cursor.
Ctrl + End	Move cursor to end of the document.
Ctrl + Home	Move cursor to the beginning of the document.
Ctrl + Space	Reset highlighted text to default font.
Ctrl + 1	Single-space lines.
Ctrl + 2	Double-space lines.
Ctrl + 5	1.5-line spacing.
Ctrl + Alt + 1	Change text to heading 1.
Ctrl + Alt + 2	Change text to heading 2.
Ctrl + Alt + 3	Change text to heading 3.
F1	Open help.
Shift + F3	Change case of selected text.
Shift + Insert	Paste.
F4	Repeat the last action performed (Word 2000+).
F7	Spell check selected text and/or document.
Shift + F7	Activate the thesaurus.
F12	Save as.
Ctrl + S	Save.
Shift + F12	Save.
Alt + Shift + D	Insert the current date.
Alt + Shift + T	Insert the current time.
Ctrl + W	Close document.

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Outlook shortcut keys

The following are Microsoft Outlook shortcut keys:

Alt + S	Send the email.
Ctrl + C	Copy selected text.
Ctrl + X	Cut selected text.
Ctrl + P	Open print dialog box.
Ctrl + K	Complete name/email typed in address bar.
Ctrl + B	Bold highlighted selection.
Ctrl + I	Italicize highlighted selection.
Ctrl + U	Underline highlighted selection.
Ctrl + R	Reply to an email.
Ctrl + F	Forward an email.
Ctrl + N	Create a new email.
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.

Excel shortcut keys

See the table for Microsoft Excel shortcut keys:

Shortcut Keys	Meaning
F2	Edit the selected cell.
F5	Go to a specific cell.
F7	Spell check selected text and/or document.
F11	Create chart
Ctrl + Shift + ;	Enter the current time.
Ctrl + ;	Enter the current date
Alt + Shift + F1	Insert new worksheet.
Shift + F3	Open the Excel formula window.
Shift + F5	Bring up the search box
Ctrl + A	Select all contents of a worksheet.
Ctrl + B	Bold highlighted selection.
Ctrl + I	Italicize highlighted selection.
Ctrl + C	Copy selected text.
Ctrl + V	Paste
Ctrl + D	Fill
Ctrl + K	Insert link
Ctrl + F	Open find and replace options.
Ctrl + G	Open go-to options.
Ctrl + H	Open find and replace options.
Ctrl + U	Underline highlighted selection.
Ctrl + Y	Underline selected text.
Ctrl + 5	Strikethrough highlighted selection.
Ctrl + O	Open options.
Ctrl + N	Open new excel work book.
Ctrl + P	Open print dialog box.
Ctrl + S	Save.
Ctrl + Z	Undo last action.
Ctrl + F9	Minimize current window.
Ctrl + F10	Maximize currently selected window.
Ctrl + F6	Switch between open workbooks/windows.
Ctrl + Page up & Page Down	Move between Excel worksheets in the same document.
Ctrl + Tab	Move between two or more open Excel files
Alt + =	Create the formula to sum all of the above cells.
Ctrl +	Insert the value of above cell into the current cell.
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 + (Right arrow)	Move to next section of text.
Ctrl + Space	Select entire column.
Shift + Space	Select entire row.
Ctrl + W	Close document.

Basic PowerPoint shortcut keys

See the table for Microsoft Power Point shortcut keys:

Shortcut Keys	Meaning
Ctrl + N	Create a new presentation document
Ctrl + O	Open an existing presentation document
Ctrl + S	Save a presentation
Alt + F2 or F12	Open the Save As dialog box
Ctrl + W or Ctrl + F4	Close a presentation
Ctrl + Q	Save and close a presentation
Ctrl + Z	Undo an action
Ctrl + Y	Redo an action
Ctrl + F2	Print Preview View
F1	Open the Help pane
Alt + Q	Directs to the “Tell me what you want to do” box
F7	Check for spellings
Alt or F10	Turn the key tips to ‘on’ or ‘off’
Ctrl + F1	Show or hide the ribbon
Ctrl + F	Search in a presentation or use Find and Replace
Alt + F	Open the File tab menu
Alt + H	Go to the Home tab
Alt + N	Open the Insert tab
Alt + G	Open the Design tab
Alt + K	Go to the Transitions tab
Alt + A	Go to the Animations tab
Alt + S	Go to the Slide Show tab
Alt + R	Go to the Review tab
Alt + W	Go to View tab
Alt + X	Go to the Add-ins tab
Alt + Y	Go to the Help tab
Ctrl + Tab	Switch between open presentations

Click Here to See more Power Point Shortcut Keys.

WINKEY Shortcuts Keys

The following are WINKEY shortcuts keys you should know:

Shortcut Keys	Meaning
WINKEY + D	Bring desktop to the top of other windows.
WINKEY + M	Minimize all windows.
WINKEY + SHIFT + M	Undo the minimize done by WINKEY + M and WINKEY + D.
WINKEY + E	Open Microsoft Explorer.
WINKEY + Tab	Cycle through open programs on the taskbar.
WINKEY + F	Display the Windows Search/Find feature.
WINKEY + CTRL + F	Display the search for computers window.
WINKEY + F1	Display the Microsoft Windows help.
WINKEY + R	Open the run window.
WINKEY + Pause /Break	Open the system properties window.
WINKEY + U	Open utility manager.
WINKEY + L	Lock the computer (Windows XP & later).

Conclusion

This article aims to enlighten you on the basic computer keyboard shortcuts to enhance your works faster and easier. Compiled in the above tables are all the keyboard combinations in Microsoft PowerPoint, Excel, Word, and others that will forever help you in speeding up your work and improving your efficiency when working on any computer environment (window). Let’s know your question on this and will reply to you as soon as possible.