Computer keyboard shortcut keys

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Shortcut keys ABCs
Basic PC shortcut keys
F1 - F12 function keys
Top 10 keyboard shortcuts
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Microsoft Windows shortcuts
Microsoft Excel shortcut keys
Microsoft Word shortcut keys
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Shortcut keys ABCs

Shortcut keys help provide an easier and usually quicker method of navigating and using computer software programs. Shortcut keys are commonly accessed by using the Alt (on IBM compatible computers), command key (on Apple computers), Ctrl, or Shift in conjunction with a single letter. The de facto standard for listing a shortcut is listing the modifier key, a plus symbol, and the single character. In other words, "ALT+S" is telling you to press the Alt key and while continuing to hold the Alt key, press the S key to perform the shortcut.

In addition to the shortcuts listed on this page, users can find the shortcut keys to their most popular program by looking for underlined letters in their menus. For example, in the picture to the right you'll can notice that the "F" in File has been underlined. This means you can press the Alt key and F to access the File menu. Note: Some programs require the user press and hold ALT to see the underlined characters. Finally, as can also be seen some of the common features such as Open (Ctrl+O) and Save (Ctrl+S) have shortcut keys assigned to them.

As you begin to memorize shortcut keys, you'll notice that many applications share the same shortcut keys. We have the most commonly shared shortcut keys in the below basic PC shortcut keys section.

Tip: Users outside the United States or users using a foreign copy of a Microsoft Windows or Microsoft application may not be able to get all the below shortcut keys to perform the function listed below.

Basic PC shortcut keys

The below basic shortcut keys are a listing of shortcut keys that will work with almost all IBM compatible computers and software programs. It is highly recommended that all users keep a good reference of the below shortcut keys or try to memorize the below keys. Doing so will dramatically increase your productivity.

Shortcut Keys	Description
Alt + F	File menu options in current program.
Alt + E	Edit options in current program
F1	Universal Help in almost every Windows program.
Ctrl + A	Select all text.
Ctrl + F	Open find window for current document or window.
Ctrl + X	Cut selected item.
Shift + Del	Cut selected item.
Ctrl + C	Copy selected item.
Ctrl + Ins	Copy selected item
Ctrl + V	Paste
Shift + Ins	Paste
Ctrl + P	Print the current page or document.
Home	Goes to beginning of current line.
Ctrl + Home	Goes to beginning of document.
End	Goes to end of current line.
Ctrl + End	Goes to end of document.
Shift + Home	Highlights from current position to beginning of line.
Shift + End	Highlights from current position to end of line.
Ctrl + Left arrow	Moves one word to the left at a time.
Ctrl + Right arrow	Moves one word to the right at a time.

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.
F3	After a name has been created F3 will paste names.
F4	Repeat last action. For example, if you changed the color of text in another cell pressing F4 will change the text in cell to the same color.
F5	Go to a specific cell. For example, C6.
F7	Spell check selected text or document.
F11	Create chart from selected data.
Ctrl + Shift + ;	Enter the current time.
Ctrl + ;	Enter the current date.
Alt + Shift + F1	Insert New Worksheet.
Alt + Enter	While typing text in a cell pressing Alt + Enter will move to the next line allowing for multiple lines of text in one cell.
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 + 1	Change the format of selected cells.
Ctrl + 5	Strikethrough highlighted selection.
Ctrl + P	Bring up the print dialog box to begin printing.
Ctrl + Z	Undo last action.
Ctrl + F3	Open Excel Name Manager.
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. What are the F1 through F12 keys? Question What are the F1 through F12 keys? Answer Commonly known as "function keys", F1 through F12 may have a variety of different uses or no use at all. Depending on the installed operating system and the software program currently open will change how each of these keys operate. A program is capable of not only using each of the function keys, but also combining the function keys with the ALT or CTRL key, for example, Microsoft Windows users can press ALT + F4 to close the program currently active. Below is a short-listing of some of the common functions of the functions keys. As mentioned above not all programs support function keys and may perform different tasks then those mentioned below. If you are looking for more specific shortcut keys and function key examples we suggest seeing our shortcut key page. F1 Almost always used as the help key, almost every program will open the help screen when this key is pressed. Enter CMOS Setup. Windows Key + F1 would open the Microsoft Windows help and support center. Open the Task Pane. F2 In Windows renames a highlighted icon, file, or folder in all versions of Windows. Alt + Ctrl + F2 opens document window in Microsoft Word. Ctrl + F2 displays the print preview window in Microsoft Word. Quickly rename a selected file or folder. Enter CMOS Setup. F3 Often opens a search feature for many programs including Microsoft Windows when at the Windows Desktop.. In MS-DOS or Windows command line F3 will repeat the last command. Shift + F3 will change the text in Microsoft Word from upper to lower case or a capital letter at the beginning of every word. Windows Key + F3 opens the Advanced find window in Microsoft Outlook. Open Mission Control on an Apple computer running Mac OS X. F4 Open find window in Windows 95 to XP. Open the address bar in Windows Explorer and Internet Explorer. Repeat the last action performed (Word 2000+) Alt + F4 will close the program window currently active in Microsoft Windows. Ctrl + F4 will close the open window within the current active window in Microsoft Windows. F5 In all modern Internet browsers pressing F5 will refresh or reload the page or document window. Open the find, replace, and go to window in Microsoft Word. Starts a slideshow in PowerPoint. F6 Move the cursor to the Address bar in Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and most other Internet browsers. Ctrl + Shift + F6 opens to another open Microsoft Word document. F7 Commonly used to spell check and grammar check a document in Microsoft programs such as Microsoft Word, Outlook, etc. Shift + F7 runs a Thesaurus check on the word highlighted. Turns on Caret browsing in Mozilla Firefox. F8 Function key used to enter the Windows startup menu, commonly used to access Windows Safe Mode. F9 Opens the Measurements toolbar in Quark 5.0. With Mac OS 10.3 or later shows all open Windows. Using the Fn key and F9 at the same time will open Mission Control on an Apple computer running Mac OS X. F10 In Microsoft Windows activates the menu bar of an open application. Shift + F10 is the same as right-clicking on a highlighted icon, file, or Internet link. Access the hidden recovery partition on HP and Sony computers. Enter CMOS Setup. With Mac OS 10.3 or later shows all open Windows for active program. F11 Full-screen mode in all modern Internet browsers. Ctrl + F11 as computer is starting to access the hidden recovery partition on many Dell computers. Access the hidden recovery partition on eMachines, Gateway, and Lenovo computers. With Mac OS 10.4 or later hides all open windows and shows the Desktop. F12 Open the Save as window in Microsoft Word. Shift + F12 save the Microsoft Word document. Ctrl + Shift + F12 prints a document in Microsoft Word. Preview a page in Microsoft Expression Web Open Firebug. With an Apple running Mac OS 10.4 or later F12 will show or hides the Dashboard. F13 - F24 Early IBM computers also had keyboards with F13 through F24 keys. However, because these keyboards are no longer used they are not listed on this page. Additional information Computer keyboard keys and explanations. Computer keyboard shortcuts See the function keys definition for further information about this term and related terms.