Top 10 Microsoft Word Keyboard Shortcuts to Start Using Now

Using keyboard shortcuts can increase your productivity and help keep you focused. You probably already use the “Ctrl+C” and “Ctrl+V” shortcuts to copy and paste, but here are some extra keys that will significantly improve your editing efficiency in Microsoft Word.

1. Ctrl + Enter (Inserts an automatic page break)

Do yourself a favor and stop using manual page break (Press the enter key repeatedly to bring a chapter/line to the next page). As soon as you enter a line in the document you will have to manually fix all the other pages again. Use automatic page breaks and make your editing easier.

2. F4 (Repeats your most recent action)

This might be the best shortcut of all time. The F4 shortcut will repeat nearly all the actions you take on document text: typing: formatting, and deleting. It will also let you repeat the action of adding or removing table rows, but overall it isn’t well implemented with tables. For instance, changing table properties is not replicable via this shortcut.

3. Shift + F5 (Returns to the last edit point)

This shortcut is very useful when you have to copy some text from other sections of the document and you want to return to where you were in order to paste it.

4. Double Click and Triple Click (Select a word or paragraph)

Double click on a word to select it, and triple click to select the paragraph. Ctrl+click to select a sentence.

5. Shift + Left/Right Arrow keys (Selects text character by character)

When you have selected some text using your mouse and you missed a few characters, this shortcut can save you time by not having to deselect and reselect again.

6. Ctrl + Shift + C (Copies the formatting of selected text)

This is very useful when you only want to copy the formatting of the text only, and not the text itself. Then use Ctrl + Shift + V on a selected text to apply the formatting you just copied. Yes, Format Painter does this too. But Format Painter forgets the formatting as soon as you’re finished with it. This shortcut remembers what you copied until you close out of Word.

7. Ctrl + Shift + N (Applies the Normal style)

If you work with documents that are riddled with obscure and specialized styles (typically from other people), it’s handy to turn them into Normal paragraphs on the fly.

8. Ctrl + F (Opens the Find tab)

Use this shortcut to open the find tab when you want to locate something in a document (or to make sure something isn’t there). Use ‘Ctrl + H’ if you want to use find and replace.

9. A few shortcuts for quick text formatting

Ctrl+B to make bold,  Ctrl+I to make italic, or  Ctrl+U to underline. Use  Ctrl+L to left-justify text,  Ctrl+E to centre it,  Ctrl+J  to justify it, and  Ctrl+R to right-justify it.

10. Ctrl + Z (Undo the last action)

The best part is that it can be repeated several times. And if you went back too many times, you can always redo by using Ctrl+Y

As transcribers, we know that shortcuts save a lot of time and boost performance, but not everybody has the same favorites. Feel free to leave yours in the comment section below.