There are very few software programs used by nearly every business.

One of these programs is Microsoft Office which is available on nearly every major operating system, and has captured a large user base. Word is Office’s word processor and is an integral part of most knowleddge work, yet some struggle to master it. To make using Word even easier, you can use keyboard shortcuts.

Here are 20 handy keyboard shortcuts for Word that can help improve your productivity, or make navigating easier.

General These shortcuts will do the same thing in all Microsoft programs.

• Ctrl + P: prints the document, spreadsheet or presentation. If you have more than one window open, the item you’re currently looking at will be printed.
• Ctrl + W: closes the window you have open.
• Ctrl + O: brings up the Open document window.
• F12: opens the Save As window.
• Ctrl + S: will save the document.
• Ctrl + C: copies what you’ve selected.
• Ctrl + X: cuts what you’ve selected.
• Ctrl + V: pastes what you’ve copied or cut.
• Ctrl + A: selects everything.

Word specific These shortcuts can be used in nearly any version of Word. Note: Ctrl may be Control on some keyboards.

• Ctrl + F: will allow you to search the document for a word or sentence. If you press Replace in the window that opens, you’ll be able to find and replace words.
• Ctrl + Up arrow: moves up one paragraph from where the cursor – black, blinking line – is.
• Ctrl + Down arrow: moves down one paragraph from where the cursor is.
• Ctrl + Page Up: switches to the top of the previous page.
• Ctrl + Page Down: switches to the top of the next page.
• Ctrl + Shift + E: turns on track changes which will show any changes made to the document, convenient for editing. Pressing it again will turn track changes off.
• Ctrl + Shift + C: will copy the format of the selected text.
• Ctrl + Shift + V: pastes the previously copied format. Note: you need to select text to apply the copied format to.
• Ctrl + B/I/U: applies bold, italic or underlined formatting to selected text. If no text is selected, the respective formatting will be enabled.
• Tab: will move to the next selection. If you have a list with numbers or bullets, pressingTab will indent the number or bullet in once, and change it to a subheading under the previous point. i.e., 2. will be indented and changed to a. as a subheading under 1.
• Shift + Tab: moves back, or moves one indent back (to the right). For lists, this will move the point up the hierarchy i.e., a. will be moved back to 2.

These are some of the most useful keyboard shortcuts for Word. For a full list of shortcuts you can go to the Microsoft Help and How-to page. If you’re interested in learning more about Word’s features and how they can be implemented, please contact us.