The shortcuts in Microsoft Word are a great way of boosting efficiency while writing. They are also much cheaper than going on a professional typing course. Consequently, we recommend learning a few of the function and formatting shortcuts we’ve compiled below.
These shortcuts control some common functions in Microsoft Word:
Function
PC Shortcut
Mac Shortcut
Open a new document
Ctrl + N
Command + N
Open a saved document
Ctrl + O
Command + O
Save
Ctrl + S
Command + S
Undo
Ctrl + Z
Command + Z
Redo
Ctrl + Y
Command + Y
Copy
Ctrl + C
Command + C
Cut
Ctrl + X
Command + X
Paste
Ctrl + V
Command + V
Select all
Ctrl + A
Command + A
Insert comment
Ctrl + Alt + M
Command + Option + A
Search document
Ctrl + F
Find and replace
Ctrl + H
Insert current date
Shift + Alt + D
Control + Shift + D
Insert current time
Shift + Alt + T
Control + Shift + T
These shortcuts provide quick and simple ways to format text:
Formatting
Bold
Ctrl + B
Command + B
Italics
Ctrl + I
Command + I
Underlining
Ctrl + U
Command + U
Change selected text to all caps
Ctrl + Shift + A
Command + Shift + A
Increase font size by one
Ctrl + ]
Command + Shift + >
Decrease font size by one
Ctrl + [
Command + Shift + <
Align centre
Ctrl + E
Command + E
Align left
Ctrl + L
Command + L
Align right
Ctrl + R
Command + R
Justify text
Ctrl + J
Command + J
Single space lines
Ctrl + 1
Command + 1
Double space lines
Ctrl + 2
Command + 2
Set line spacing to 1.5
Ctrl + 5
Command + 5
Heading 1
Ctrl + Alt + 1
Cmd + Option + 1
Heading 2
Ctrl + Alt + 2
Cmd + Option + 2
Heading 3
Ctrl + Alt + 3
Cmd + Option + 3
Find yourself doing something over and over in Microsoft Word but there isn’t a shortcut for it? Then you’ll be happy to hear you can create your own. To do this in Word for Windows:
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Customising shortcuts.
In Word for Mac, meanwhile, you can assign shortcuts using the shortcut functions in Mac OS X.
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