Microsoft Word Shortcuts

Holly Sheriff MSLS • July 18, 2018

 Keyboard shortcuts

As a paralegal, business coach, and entrepreneur Microsoft Word Shortcuts are my favorite productivity tool.  It’s incredible how many paralegals and attorneys don’t use word shortcuts. I’m hoping this blog can help a few attorneys and paralegals start using a few word shortcuts.

SHORTCUT DESCRIPTION
Ctrl+0 Toggles 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 a hyperlink.
Ctrl+L Aligns the line or selected text to the left of the screen.
Ctrl+M Indent the paragraph.
Ctrl+N Opens new, blank document window.
Ctrl+O Opens the dialog box or page for selecting a file to open.
Ctrl+P Open the print window.
Ctrl+R Aligns the line or selected text to the right of the screen.
Ctrl+S Save the open document. Just like Shift+F12.
Ctrl+T Create a hanging indent.
Ctrl+U Underline the selected text.
Ctrl+V Paste.
Ctrl+W Close the currently open document.
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 increase 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 the right of the cursor.
Ctrl+Backspace Deletes word to the left of the 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 selected text size by one font size.
Ctrl+Shift+< Decreases the selected text size by one font size.
Ctrl+Shift+F6 Switches to another open Microsoft Word document.
Ctrl+Shift+F12 Prints the document.

*Function keys may not be available on all devices.*

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 selected word.
Shift+F12 Save the open document. Just like Ctrl+S.
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.

Best Virtual Paralegal LLC Contact us Any questions Unfortunately, some of the shortcuts mentioned above may not work in all versions of Microsoft Word. I suggest you start by testing one or two of the shortcuts before relying on the entire list.  Nonetheless, if you are a touch key typist, like me Microsoft Word shortcuts is one of the best free ways to improve your productivity.

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