Microsoft word & Excel basic shortcut keys

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.
F5	Go to a specific cell. For example, C6.
F7	Spell check selected text 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 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 + 5	Strikethrough highlighted selection.
Ctrl + P	Bring up the print dialog box to begin printing.
Ctrl + Z	Undo last action.
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

We use Keyboard shortcut keys all the time, because it helps us to do the work quickly. So, below is a listing of all the major shortcut keys in Microsoft Word.

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 + ' + <char>	Insert a character with an accent (grave) mark, where <char> 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 + <left arrow>	Moves one word to the left.
Ctrl + <right arrow>	Moves one word to the right.
Ctrl + <up arrow>	Moves to the beginning of the line or paragraph.
Ctrl + <down arrow>	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.