Computer keyboard shortcut keys
Shortcut keys ABCs
Basic PC shortcut keys
F1 - F12 function keys
Top 10 keyboard shortcuts
Linux and Unix shortcut keys
Apple shortcut keys
Microsoft Windows shortcuts
Microsoft Excel shortcut keys
Microsoft Word shortcut keys
Internet Explorer shortcut keys
Microsoft FrontPage shortcut keys
Microsoft Outlook shortcut keys
Mozilla Firefox
Keyboard terms
How do I create a Windows shortcut key?
Basic PC shortcut keys
F1 - F12 function keys
Top 10 keyboard shortcuts
Linux and Unix shortcut keys
Apple shortcut keys
Microsoft Windows shortcuts
Microsoft Excel shortcut keys
Microsoft Word shortcut keys
Internet Explorer shortcut keys
Microsoft FrontPage shortcut keys
Microsoft Outlook shortcut keys
Mozilla Firefox
Keyboard terms
How do I create a Windows shortcut key?
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.
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
F2
F3
F4
F5
F6
F7
F8
F9
F10
F11
F12
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
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