Mastering keyboard shortcuts is a giant step towards productivity. This post is here to let you learn all the best keyboard shortcuts that are listed below. If you make this effort to learn them, you will see a huge difference in the speed at which you can work.
Rule to read shortcuts:
Keys are separated by a "+" sign if they need to be pressed simultaneously
Keys are separated by a "-" sign if they need to be press successively
File management
CTRL+N : Create new document
CTRL+O : Open new document
CTRL+S : Save
F12 : Save as
CTRL+W : Close document
ALT+F4 : Close application
CTRL+NextPage / PreviousPage : Move to the next / previous page
Copy and paste
CTRL+C : Copy
CTRL+V : Paste
CTRL+X : Cut
Cancel and repeat
CTRL+Z : Cancel
CTRL+Y : Cancel cancellation
F4 : Repeat last action
Formatting shortcuts
CTRL+B : Bold
CTRL+U : Underline
CTRL+I : Italic
CTRL+SHIFT+" + " : Superscript
CTRL+SHIFT+C : Copy selection format
CTRL+SHIFT+V : Paste copied format
SHIFT+F3 : Change letter case
CTRL+] : Increase font size
CTRL+SHIFT+> : Decrease font size
Selection
CTRL+A : Select all
CTRL+Left/Right Arrows : Move one word to the left/right
CTRL+Up/Down Arrows : Move one paragraph up or down
SHIFT+Left/Right Arrows : Extend selection by one character to the left/right
SHIFT+Up/Down Arrows : Extend selection by one line up/down
CTRL+SHIFT+Left/Right Arrows : Extend selection by one word to the left/right
CTRL+SHIFT+Up/Down Arrows : Extend selection by one paragraph up/down
ALT+SHIFT+Up/Down Arrows : Move items up or down in a bulleted or numbered list
F8 : Activate Selection Mode
Text
CTRL+F : Find
CTRL+H : Replace
Backspace : Delete one character to the left
CTRL+Backspace : Delete one word to the left
SHIFT+F10 : Contextual menu (=right click)
F7 : Run a Spelling and Grammar Check
Paragraph formatting
CTRL+E : Center paragraph
CTRL+L : Left-align paragraph
CTRL+R : Right-align paragraph
CTRL+J : Justify paragraph
TAB : Increase Indent
SHIFT+TAB : Reduce Indent
Insertion
SHIFT+Enter : Insert line break
CTRL+Enter : Insert page break
Navigate in Windows
Windows+D : Go to desktop
Windows+E : Open Computer
Windows+V : Open Clipboard history
Windows+L : Lock computer
Windows+H : Launch speech-to-text
Windows+SHIFT+S : Launch screen snipping tool
Windows+V : Open clipboard
Windows+Arrow : Move a window to corresponding corner of the screen
Windows+. : Insert emoji and animated Gifs
Alt+Left Arrow : Move to previous folder
Alt+Up Arrow : Move to parent folder
CTRL+T : Open new tab
CTRL+W : Close current tab
CLTR+SHIFT+T : Re-open the last closed tab
Alt+F4 : Close current program
CTRL+P : Print
Final tip#1: check also our list of the best keyboard shortcuts for Excel and for PowerPoint.
Final tip#2: remember these shortcuts with the Power-user add-in for PowerPoint, Excel and Word. Among other features, it adds a list of keyboard shortcuts directly into Word but also tons of templates, icons, maps, diagrams and more!