# Word Shortcuts: an overview of the best ones

Whether you use Microsoft Word professionally or privately, knowing the right Word shortcuts allows you to use the popular word processing programme in a **faster and more effective way**. The entire operation is designed to be extremely **simple and intuitive.** But the range of available Word shortcuts extends well beyond the popular copy-and-paste or print command.

However, much like learning [Excel shortcuts](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/online-marketing/web-analytics/excel-shortcuts/ "Excel shortcuts"), it needs a little practice to learn Word shortcuts. However, it’s worth the effort if you regularly work with [Microsoft Word](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/online-marketing/online-sales/word-is-not-responding/ "Word is not responding"). An **overview of the most important Microsoft Word shortcuts** is summarised in the table below.

## General Word keyboard shortcuts

<table>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>Shortcut</th>
      <th>Command</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + X</td>
      <td>Cut</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + C</td>
      <td>Copy</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + V</td>
      <td>Insert</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + A</td>
      <td>Select all</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + F</td>
      <td>Find</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + H</td>
      <td>Find and replace</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + G</td>
      <td>Go to</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>F4</td>
      <td>Redo or repeat</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + Y</td>
      <td>Redo</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + Z</td>
      <td>Undo</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + S</td>
      <td>Save</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>F12</td>
      <td>Save as</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + P</td>
      <td>Print</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + N</td>
      <td>New document</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + O</td>
      <td>Open</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + W</td>
      <td>Close document</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + Alt + F</td>
      <td>Insert footnote</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + Alt + E</td>
      <td>Insert endnote</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + F2</td>
      <td>Page view/Page preview</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + K</td>
      <td>Insert hyperlink</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

## Word Shortcuts: positioning and navigating

<table>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>Shortcut</th>
      <th>Command</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + left arrow</td>
      <td>One word to the left</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + right arrow</td>
      <td>One word to the right</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + up arrow</td>
      <td>One paragraph up</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + down arrow</td>
      <td>One paragraph down</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Shift + F5</td>
      <td>Go back to previous edit</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Shift + right arrow</td>
      <td>Select text: one character to the right</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Shift + left arrow</td>
      <td>Select text: one character to the left</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + Shift + right arrow</td>
      <td>Select text: to the end of the word</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl+ Shift + left arrow</td>
      <td>Select text: to the beginning of the word</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Shift + down arrow</td>
      <td>Select text: one line down</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Shift + up arrow</td>
      <td>Select text: one line up</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

## Word Shortcuts: formatting commands

<table>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>Shortcut</th>
      <th>Command</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + B</td>
      <td>Apply bold formatting to text</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + I</td>
      <td>Apply italic formatting to text</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + U</td>
      <td>Apply underline formatting to text</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + Shift + W</td>
      <td>Underline word</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + Shift + D</td>
      <td>Double underline</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + Shift + +</td>
      <td>Apply superscript formatting</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + =</td>
      <td>Apply subscript formatting</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + Shift + A</td>
      <td>All large caps</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + Shift + K</td>
      <td>All small caps</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + D</td>
      <td>Change font</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Shift + F3</td>
      <td>Switch between upper and lower case</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + \[</td>
      <td>Decrease font size by 1 pt</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + \]</td>
      <td>Increase font size by 1 pt</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + E</td>
      <td>Centre the text</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + R</td>
      <td>Align text to the right</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + L</td>
      <td>Align text to the left</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + B</td>
      <td>Justification</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + M</td>
      <td>Indent paragraph</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + Shift + M</td>
      <td>Remove paragraph indent from the left</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + T</td>
      <td>Hanging indent</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + Shift + T</td>
      <td>Undo hanging indent</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + 1</td>
      <td>Single line spacing</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + 2</td>
      <td>Double space</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + 5</td>
      <td>1.5 line spacing</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + 0</td>
      <td>Remove paragraph formatting</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Ctrl + Shift + J</td>
      <td>Distribute paragraph alignment</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>


This is a markdown version of: [https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/online-marketing/online-sales/word-shortcuts/](https://www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/online-marketing/online-sales/word-shortcuts/) for AI/LLM consumption.