• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
How2forU

How2forU

easy answers for you and me

  • Laptop & PC
  • Smartphone & Tablet
  • Office
  • Apps & Software
  • Glossary
  • Blog
  • Hobby
Home » Powerful Word Shortcuts everyone needs to know

Powerful Word Shortcuts everyone needs to know

12/09/2020 by Sarah Winter

Shortcuts are powerful tools to enhance the convenience of using Microsoft Word. This article will help you speed up your work by showing you the most important shortcuts you need to know.

Shortcuts for selecting and editing a text in Microsoft Word

For selecting and editing a Word document you will mainly need the arrow keys, the Ctrl button and the Shift button.

  • Ctrl+A: Select the whole document
  • Ctrl+X: Cut selected section to the Clipboard
  • Ctrl+C: Copy selected section to the Clipboard
  • Ctrl+V: Paste contents from the Clipboard
  • Shift+Home: Extend selection to the beginning of the line
  • Shift+End: Extend selection to the end of the line
  • Ctrl+Shift+End/Home: Extend selection to the end or beginning of the document
  • Backspace: Delete one character to the left
  • Ctrl+Backspace: Delete one word to the left
  • Delete: Delete one character to the right
  • Ctrl+Delete: Delete one word to the right
  • Ctrl+Shift+ Arrow Left/Right: Widen the existing selection by one word to the left or right
  • Shift+ Arrow Left/Right: Widen the existing selection by one character to the left or right
  • Ctrl+Shift+ Arrow Up/Down: Widen the existing selection to the beginning or end of the paragraph
  • Shift+ Arrow Up/Down: Extend selection one line up or down
  • Shift+ Page Up/Page Down: Extend selection one screen up or down
  • Alt+Shift+R: Copy the header or footer from the previous section of your document

Shortcuts for formatting a MS Word document

Word offers a big number of shortcuts for formatting characters and paragraphs. We will show you the most important ones.

  • Ctrl+Shift+< or >: Change font size one preset size at a time
  • Ctrl+[ or ]: Change font size one point at a time
  • Ctrl+U: Set underline formatting
  • Ctrl+Shift+D: Set double underline formatting
  • Ctrl+I: Set italic formatting
  • Ctrl+B: Set bold formatting
  • Ctrl+E: Center a paragraph
  • Ctrl+L: Left-align a paragraph
  • Ctrl+R: Right-align a paragraph
  • Ctrl+Shift+C: Copies the character formatting of a selected text
  • Ctrl+Shift+V: Pastes formatting to a selection
  • Ctrl+Shift+K: Formats all letters as lowercase
  • Ctrl+Shift+A: Formats all letters as uppercase
  • Ctrl+Q: Remove all paragraph formatting
  • Alt+Ctrl+1: Change to Heading 1 style
  • Alt+Ctrl+2: Change to Heading 2 style
Human hand touching a black computer keyboard
Using shortcuts in Word can make working and formatting a lot easier. (c) Pixabay/fancycrave1

How to create your own shortcut in Microsoft Word

If there are operations you need very often, you may consider creating your own shortcut for them. This is how it works:

  • Open a Word document and navigate to the area “File” and choose “Options”. A new window will open.
  • Choose “Customize Ribbons” and find the button “Customize”.
How to customize ribbons in Microsoft Word
How to customize ribbons in Microsoft Word (c) Screenshot
  • A new window will open. Here you can choose the function, you want to create a new shortcut for and assign a shortcut.
  • Please keep in mind, that all shortcuts need to include either the “Alt”, the “Ctrl” or “Shift” button.
  • If you are trying to assign a shortcut, which is already used for another function, Microsoft Word will ask you to change this shortcut first.

The next article will tell you all about, how to double space in Microsoft Word without using shortcuts.

💡 Related Posts:

  • Corona-Warn-App Germany: How it works and what you need to know
    Corona-Warn-App Germany: How it works and what you need to…
  • Signal App: Data security - What you need to know
    Signal App: Data security - What you need to know
  • What is Clubhouse? All you need to know about the new social app
    What is Clubhouse? All you need to know about the new social…
  • Microsoft Word: How to track changes
    Microsoft Word: How to track changes
  • Word: How to show and remove formatting marks
    Word: How to show and remove formatting marks
  • Word: How to start page numbering on page 3
    Word: How to start page numbering on page 3
  • How to create templates in Word
    How to create templates in Word
  • How to double space in Microsoft Word
    How to double space in Microsoft Word
  • How to use superscript and subscript in Word
    How to use superscript and subscript in Word
  • How to find and replace: A Guide for Word, Excel and Google Docs
    How to find and replace: A Guide for Word, Excel and Google…

Filed Under: Office Tagged With: Microsoft Office, shortcuts, Word

Tags

Alexa Android app app icon Apple Covid-19 definition DIY documents e-mail Excel Facebook Gaming Gmail Google Halloween health Holidays Instagram iOS iPad iPhone Mac messages messenger Microsoft Office monitor music Netflix network Outlook Samsung screenshot shortcuts Signal Smart Home smartphone social media Telegram video call WhatsApp WiFi Windows10 Word Zoom

Primary Sidebar

Browse our How Tos

Browse by category

  • Glossary
  • Smartphone & Tablet
  • Laptop & PC
  • Hobby
  • Office
  • Apps & Software
Teaser image for the article "USB: Difference between charging and data cable"

USB: This is the difference between charging and data cable

05/12/2021 By Jennifer Fritsch

The difference between a USB data cable and a USB charging cable is not obvious to everyone at first glance. We explain the differences between the two and how to tell them apart.

How to Delete Contacts on iPhone

01/31/2023 By Nadine Noppinger

Keeping your iPhone’s contacts organized can be a challenge, especially as you add more and more contacts over time. If you have duplicate contacts or outdated information, you may want to delete some of your contacts. This article will show you how to delete contacts on your iPhone. How to Delete a Single Contact on […]

mac

How to take a screenshot on your MacBook

04/08/2021 By How2forU

If you’d like to take a screenshot you’ll just need to know simple key combinations. We’ll show you how to take a screenshot.

How to play Skip-Bo

How to play Skip-Bo: Short description of rules

02/02/2022 By Nadine Noppinger

Skip-Bo is a card game for 2-6 people with set rules. The player who gets rid of all the cards the fastest wins. How to prepare and play the game and what the rules are, you can read in this practice tip. Rules of Skip-Bo Skip-Bo has many decks of cards, which makes the game […]

How to Delete a Page in Word

01/31/2023 By Nadine Noppinger

Are you struggling with an extra page in your Word document that you can’t seem to get rid of? Fear not, deleting a page in Word is actually quite simple. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to delete a page in Word. Step-by-Step Guide And that’s it! Now you know how to easily delete a […]

How to delete a discord server

How to Delete a Discord Server

02/01/2023 By Nadine Noppinger

Discord is a popular chat platform used by millions of people around the world. If you no longer need a server, you can easily delete it by following the steps below.

Categories

  • 💡 Laptop & PC
  • 💡 Smartphone & Tablet
  • 💡 Office
  • 💡 Apps & Software
  • 💡 Glossary
  • 💡 Hobby

Smartphone & Tablet

How to change app icons on Android & iOS14💡 iPhone: How to recover deleted text messages💡How to share your iPhone calendar💡Sidecar: How to turn an iPad into a secondary Mac display 💡Huawei: How to take a Screenshot 💡 Samsung Galaxy S8: How to take a screenshot 💡 How to find your IMEI number 💡 iPad: How to take a screenshot

Laptop & PC

How to check your CPU temperature 💡 Is there a snipping tool for Mac? 💡 How to take a screenshot on your MacBook 💡 How to connect laptop to monitor

Office

How to fix slow running Windows 10 💡 How to use emojis in Microsoft Outlook 💡 How to password protect a folder in Windows 10 💡Excel: How to change the background color based on the cell value 💡 How to disable startup programs in Windows 10 💡 Word: How to start page numbering on page 3 💡 How to take screenshots on Windows 10

Apps & Software

How to start a video call on viber 💡 Funny questions you can ask Alexa💡Alexa glows green 💡 How to recover deleted WhatsApp messages 💡 Alexa glows yellow 💡 How to delete your Snapchat account 💡 How to merge several PDF files 💡 How to edit PDF files 💡 How to create a Gmail account 💡 Spotify Family: How to share an account 💡 Spotify costs: Free Account vs. Premium

Hobby

How to make homemade hand sanitizer 💡 What to eat after a colonoscopy 💡 How to keep chickens 

Glossary

What is 5G? 💡 What is 4G and 4G+? 💡 What’s Bixby? 💡 What is a VPN connection? 💡 What is the WPS button and where can I find it? 💡 “Thug life”: What does that mean? 💡What is a hashtag? 💡 What is SSID?

Footer

Pages

  • Blog
  • How2forU
  • Imprint
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 · Genesis Sample on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in