Keyboard Shortcut For Highlighting Text In Word Mac

Newer versionsOffice 2011
  1. Nov 22, 2018  Keyboard Shortcut for Text Highlight (Mac Powerpoint) I'm wondering if I can set up a keyboard shortcut for text highlighting in PowerPoint. Instead of using the mouse keypad to click the highlighting button each time.
  2. Ctrl+End: Move cursor to end of the text field (Cmd+Down Arrow on Mac). Shift+Left/Right Arrow: Select characters one at a time. Shift+Ctrl+Up/Down: Select paragraphs.

Jan 18, 2017  Keyboard Shortcut for Highlighting in Pages for Mac If you find yourself highlighting sections of documents often, you can speed up your highlighting in Pages by using a keystroke: Select the text to highlight, then hit Shift + Command + H on the keyboard to immediately highlight the selected section of the document.

For users with mobility or vision disabilities, keyboard shortcuts are an essential alternative to using a mouse.

Notes:

  • The shortcuts in this topic refer to the US keyboard layout. Keys for other layouts might not correspond exactly to the keys on a US keyboard.

  • Commands that require you to press and release multiple keys together are indicated with a plus sign (+). Commands that require you to press multiple keys in order are indicated by a comma sign (,).

  • The settings in some versions of the Mac operating system (OS) and some utility applications might conflict with keyboard shortcuts and function key operations in Office for Mac. For information about changing the key assignment of a keyboard shortcut, see Mac Help for your version of the Mac OS or see your utility application. Also see Shortcut conflicts later in this topic.

In this topic

Frequently used shortcuts

This table provides the frequently used shortcuts in Word 2016 for Mac.

To do this

Press

Undo the last action

+ Z or Control + Z

Cut selected text or graphics

+ X or Control + X

Copy selected text or graphics to the Clipboard

+ C or Control + C

Paste the Clipboard contents

+ V or Control + V

Choose the Go To command (Edit menu)

Option + + G

Open the Spelling and Grammar dialog box

Option + + L

Extend a selection

F8

Go to the next window

+ Grave accent ( ` )

Choose the Save As command (File menu).

+ Shift + S

Copy selected text

Shift + F2

Change letters to uppercase, lowercase, or mixed case

Shift + F3

Find or Find and Replace

Control+F for Find; places the focus in the Search box

Control+H for Find and Replace

Print a document

+ P or Control + P

Move to the previous insertion point

Shift + F5

Go to the previous window

+ Shift + `

Open the Thesaurus pane

Shift+ F7

Shrink a selection

Shift+ F8

Switch between a field code and its result

Shift + F9

Cut the selection to the Spike

+ F3

Close the window

+ F4

Expand or minimize the ribbon

Option + + R

Edit a bookmark

+ Shift + F5

Find the next misspelling or grammatical error. The Check spelling as you type check box must be selected (Word menu, Preferences command, Spelling and Grammar).

Option + F7

Look up selected text on the Internet

+ Shift + L

Get started

For the best experience using your keyboard with the ribbon, try switching your keyboard settings to All Controls, as follows:

  1. Open System Preferences ( + Space, type system preference, and hit Enter).

  2. Go to Keyboard Settings (type keyboard and hit Enter).

  3. Go to Shortcuts (press Tab, then Right-arrow three times, and then Space).

  4. Change the Full Keyboard Access setting from Text boxes and lists only to All Controls (Control + F7)

Many keyboards assign special functions to function keys, by default. To use the function key for other purposes, you have to press Fn+the function key. For more information about how to enable and use function keys without having to press Fn, see Use function key shortcuts later in this topic.

Shortcut conflicts

Some Windows keyboard shortcuts conflict with the corresponding default Mac OS keyboard shortcuts. To use these shortcuts, you may have to change your Mac keyboard settings to change the Show Desktop shortcut for the key.

Change system preferences for keyboard shortcuts with the mouse

  1. On the Apple menu, press System Preferences.

  2. Click Keyboard.

  3. Press the Shortcuts tab.

  4. Click Mission Control.

  5. Clear the check box for the keyboard shortcut that you want to use.

Move the cursor

To do this

Press

Move one character to the left

Left arrow

Move one character to the right

Right arrow

Move one word to the left

Option + Left arrow

Move one word to the right

Option + Right arrow

Move one paragraph up

+ Up arrow

Move one paragraph down

+ Down arrow

Move one cell to the left (in a table)

Shift + Tab

Move one cell to the right (in a table)

Tab

Move up one line

Up arrow

Move down one line

Down arrow

Move to the end of a line

+ Right arrow or End

Move to the beginning of a line

+ Left arrow or Home

Move up one screen (scrolling)

Page Up

Move down one screen (scrolling)

Page Down

Move to the top of the next page

+ Page Down

Move to the top of the previous page

+ Page Up

To the end of a document

+ End

On a MacBook keyboard:
+ FN + Right arrow

To the beginning of a document

+ Home

On a MacBook keyboard:
+ FN + Left arrow

To the previous insertion point

Shift + F5

Select text and graphics

Tip: If you know the key combination to move the cursor, you can generally select the text by using the same key combination while holding down Shift. For example, + Right arrow moves the cursor to the next word, and + Shift + Right arrow selects the text from the cursor to the beginning of the next word.

To do this

Press

Select multiple items not next to each other

Select the first item that you want, hold down , and then select any additional items

Select one character to the right

Shift + Right arrow

Select one character to the left

Shift + Left arrow

Select one word to the right

Shift + Option + Right arrow

Select one word to the left

Shift + Option + Left arrow

Select to the end of a line

+ Shift + Right arrow or Shift + End

Select to the beginning of a line

+ Shift + Left arrow or Shift + Home

Select one line down

Shift + Down arrow

Select one line up

Shift + Up arrow

Select to the end of a paragraph

+ Shift + Down arrow

Select to the beginning of a paragraph

+ Shift + Up arrow

Select one screen down

Shift + Page Down

Select one screen up

Shift + Page Up

Select to the beginning of a document

+ Shift + Home

Select to the end of a document

+ Shift + End

Select to the end of a window

Option + + Shift + Page Down

Select to select the entire document

+ A

Select to a vertical block of text

+ Shift + F8 , and then use the arrow keys; press Esc to cancel selection mode

Select to a specific location in a document

F8 , and then use the arrow keys; press Esc to cancel selection mode

Select text and graphics in a table

To do this

Press

Select the next cell's contents

Tab

Select the preceding cell's contents

Shift + Tab

Extend a selection to adjacent cells

Hold down Shift and press an arrow key repeatedly

Select a column

Click in the column's top or bottom cell. Hold down Shift and press the Up arrow or Down arrow key repeatedly

Extend a selection (or block)

+ Shift + F8 , and then use the arrow keys; press Esc to cancel selection mode

Reduce the selection size

Shift + F8

Select multiple cells, columns, or rows that are not next to each other

Select the first item that you want, hold down , and then select any additional items

Extend a selection

To do this

Press

Turn on extend mode

F8

In extended selection mode, clicking a location in the document extends the current selection to that location.

Select the nearest character to the left

F8, Left arrow

Select the nearest character to the right

F8, Right arrow

Expand a selection

Press F8 repeatedly to expand the selection to the entire word, sentence, paragraph, section, and document.

Reduce the size of a selection

Shift + F8

Turn off extend mode

Esc

Edit text and graphics

To do this

Press

Copy text or graphics

+ C or F3

Copy a style

+ Shift + C

Paste a style

+ Shift + V

Copy text or graphics to the Scrapbook

Control + Option + C

Cut selected text to the clipboard

+ X or F2

Move text or graphics

+ X or F2 (then move the cursor and press + V or F4 )

Create AutoText

Option + F3

Insert AutoText

+ Option + Shift + V

Paste the Clipboard contents

+ V or F4

Paste special

+ Control + V

Paste and match the formatting of the surrounding text

+ Option + Shift + V

Paste the Spike contents

+ Shift + F3

Delete one character to the left

Delete

Delete one word to the left

+ Delete

Delete one character to the right

or Clear

Delete one word to the right

+

Cut selected text to the Clipboard

+ X or F2

Undo the last action

+ Z

Redo the last action

+ Y

Cut to the Spike

+ F3

Drawing

To do this

Press

Center a paragraph

+ E

Justify a paragraph

+ J

Left-align a paragraph

+ L

Right-align a paragraph

+ R

Indent a paragraph from the left

Control + Shift + M

Remove a paragraph indent from the left

+ Shift + M

Create a hanging indent

+ T

Remove a hanging indent

+ Shift + T

Start AutoFormat

+ Option + K

Apply the Normal style

+ Shift + N

Apply the Heading 1 style

+ Option + 1

Apply the Heading 2 style

+ Option + 2

Apply the Heading 3 style

+ Option + 3

Apply the List style when the cursor is at the beginning of a line

+ Shift + L

Insert a nonbreaking space

Option + Spacebar

Set line spacing

To do this

Press

Set lines as single-spaced

+ 1

Set lines as double-spaced

+ 2

Set lines as 1.5-line spacing

+ 5

Add or remove one line of space directly preceding a paragraph

+ 0 (zero)

Format characters

To do this

Press

Change the font

+ Shift + F

Increase the font size

+ Shift + >

Decrease the font size

+ Shift + <

Increase the font size by 1 point

+ ]

Decrease the font size by 1 point

+ [

Change the formatting of characters (Font command, Format menu)

+ D

Change the case of letters

Shift + F3

Format in all capital letters

+ Shift + A

Apply bold formatting

+ B

Apply an underline

+ U

Underline words but not spaces

+ Shift + W

Double-underline text

+ Shift + D

Apply italic formatting

+ I

Format in all small capital letters

+ Shift + K

Apply subscript formatting (automatic spacing)

+ Equal sign

Apply superscript formatting (automatic spacing)

+ Shift + Plus sign

Apply strike-through formatting

+ Shift + X

Insert special characters

To do this

Press

Insert an empty field

+ F9

Insert a line break

Shift + Return

Insert a page break

+ Enter

Insert a column break

+ Shift + Return

Insert a nonbreaking hyphen

+ Shift + Hyphen

Insert the copyright symbol

Option + G

Insert the registered trademark symbol

Option + R

Insert the trademark symbol

Option + 2

Insert an ellipsis

Option + Semicolon

Work with fields

To do this

Press

Insert a DATE field

Control + Shift + D

Insert a LISTNUM field

+ Option + Shift + L

Insert a PAGE field

Control + Shift + P

Insert a TIME field

Control + Shift + T

Insert an empty field

+ F9

Update selected fields

F9

Unlink a field

+ Shift + F9

Switch between a field code and its result

Shift + F9

Switch between all field codes and their results

Option + F9

Run GOTOBUTTON or MACROBUTTON from the field that displays the field results

Option + Shift + F9

Go to the next field

F11

Go to the previous field

Shift + F11

Lock a field

+ F11

Unlock a field

+ Shift + F11

Outline a document

To do this

Press

Promote a paragraph

Control + Shift + Left arrow

Demote a paragraph

Control + Shift + Right arrow

Demote to body text

+ Shift + N

Move selected paragraphs up

This keyboard shortcut conflicts with a default Mission Control key. To use this Office keyboard shortcut, you must first change the Mission Control shortcut for this key. On the Apple menu, click System Preferences > Mission Control. Under Keyboard and Mouse, choose another shortcut for Mission Control, or choose – (minus sign) to turn it off.

Control + Shift + Up arrow

Move selected paragraphs down

This keyboard shortcut conflicts with a default Mission Control key. To use this Office keyboard shortcut, you must first change the Application windows shortcut for this key. On the Apple menu, click System Preferences > Mission Control. Under Keyboard and Mouse, choose another shortcut for Application windows, or choose – (minus sign) to turn it off.

Control + Shift + Down arrow

Expand text under a heading

Control + Shift + Plus sign

Collapse text under a heading

Control + Shift + Minus sign

Expand all body text and headings or collapse all body text

Control + Shift + A

Show the first line of body text or all body text

Control + Shift + L

Show all headings with the specified heading level

Control + Shift +<Heading level>

Review a document

To do this

Press

Insert a comment

+ Option + A

Turn track changes on or off

+ Shift + E

Go to the beginning of a comment

Home

Go to the end of a comment

End (The End key is not available on all keyboards)

Go to the beginning of the list of comments when in the Reviewing Pane

+ Home

Go to the end of the list of comments when in the Reviewing Pane

+ End

Print a document

To do this

Press

Move to the next cell

Tab (If the cursor is in the last cell of a table, pressing Tab adds a new row)

Move to the preceding cell

Shift + Tab

Move to the preceding or next row

Up arrow or Down arrow

Move to the first cell in the row

Control + Home

Move to the last cell in the row

Control + End

Move to the first cell in the column

Control + Page Up

Move to the last cell in the column

Control + Page Down

Start a new paragraph

Return

Add a new row at the bottom of the table

Tab at the end of the last row

Add text before a table at the beginning of a document

Return at the beginning of the first cell

Insert a row

+ Control + I

Resize table columns

by using the ruler

To do this

Press the shortcut keys, andthen drag a column boundary

Move a single column line

Retain table width

Shift

Equally resize all columns to the right

Retain table width

+ Shift

Proportionally resize all columns to the right

Retain table width

Resize table columns directly in a table

Tips:

  • To display a column's measurements in the ruler when you resize the column, press Option with these shortcut keys.

  • To finely adjust a column width, turn off snap-to functionality by pressing Option with the shortcut keys.

Keyboard Shortcut For Highlight Color

To do this

Press the shortcut keys, andthen drag a column boundary

Move a single column line

Retain table width

No key

Retain column sizes to the right

Change table width

Shift

Equally resize all columns to the right

Retain table width

+ Shift

Proportionally resize all columns to the right

Retain table width

Insert paragraphs and tab characters in a table

To do this

Press

Insert a new paragraph in a cell

Return

Insert a Tab character in a cell

Option + Tab

Use footnotes and endnotes

To do this

Press

Insert a footnote

+ Option + F

Insert an endnote

+ Option + E

Right-to-left language features

Word supports right-to-left functionality for languages that work in a right-to-left or a combined right-to-left, left-to-right environment for writing, editing, and displaying text. In this context, right-to-left languages refers to any writing system that is written from right to left and includes languages that require contextual shaping, such as Arabic, and languages that do not.

Before you can use these keyboard shortcuts, you need to ensure keyboard shortcuts are enabled for the language you are using:

  1. Go to Apple > System Preferences > Keyboard.

  2. On the Input Sources tab, select the language for which you want to enable shortcuts.

  3. On the right side of the tab, select the check box for Enable keyboard shortcuts.

To switch

Press

Paragraph direction to right to left

Control + + Left arrow

Paragraph direction to left to right

Control + + Right arrow

Use function key shortcuts

Word for Mac uses the function keys for common commands, including Copy and Paste. For quick access to these shortcuts, you can change your Apple system preferences so you don't have to press the Fn key every time you use a function key shortcut.

Note: Changing system function key preferences affects how the function keys work for your Mac, not just Word. After changing this setting, you can still perform the special features printed on a function key. Just press the Fn key. For example, to use the F12 key to change your volume, press Fn+F12.

Change function key preferences with the mouse

  1. On the Apple menu, press System Preferences.

  2. Select Keyboard.

  3. On the Keyboard tab, select the check box for Use all F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys.

Function key shortcuts

Keyboard

To do this

Press

Undo the last action

F1

Cut selected text or graphics

F2

Copy selected text or graphics to the clipboard

F3

Paste the Clipboard contents

F4

Choose the Go To command (Edit menu)

F5

Open the Spelling and Grammar dialog box

F7

Extend a selection

F8

Update selected fields.

F9

Go to the next window

+ F6

Copy selected text

Shift + F2

Change letters to uppercase, lowercase, or mixed case

Shift + F3

Repeat a Find or Go To action

Shift + F4 or + Shift + F4

Move to the previous insertion point

Shift + F5

Open the Thesaurus pane

Shift+ F7

Shrink a selection

Shift+ F8

Switch between a field code and its result.

Shift + F9

Go to the previous field

This keyboard shortcut conflicts with a default Mission Control key for Show Desktop. To use this Office keyboard shortcut, you must first change the Show Desktop shortcut for this key. On the Apple menu, click System Preferences > Mission Control. Under Keyboard and Mouse, choose another shortcut for Show Desktop, or choose (minus sign) to turn it off.

Shift + F11

Cut the selection to the Spike

+ F3

Close the window

+ F4

Go to the next window

+ F6

Insert an empty field

+ F9

Lock a field

+ F11

Insert the contents of the Spike

+ Shift + F3

Edit a bookmark

+ Shift + F5

Update linked information in a Word source document

+ Shift + F7

Extend a selection as a block selection

+ Shift + F8, an arrow key

Unlink a field

+ Shift + F9

Unlock a field

+ Shift + F11

Create an AutoText entry

Option + F3

Find the next misspelling or grammatical error

Option + F7

Run a macro

Option + F8

Switch between all field codes and their results

Option + F9

Look up selected text on the Internet

+ Shift + L

Run GOTOBUTTON or MACROBUTTON from the field that displays the field results

Option + Shift + F9

You can quickly perform tasks by using keyboard shortcuts — one or more keys that you press on the keyboard to complete a task. For example, when you press + P the Print dialog box opens.

Notes:

  • Keyboard shortcut descriptions refer to the U.S. keyboard layout. Keys on other keyboard layouts might not correspond to the keys on a U.S. keyboard. Keyboard shortcuts for laptop computers might also differ.

  • The settings in some versions of the Macintosh operating system and some utility applications might conflict with keyboard shortcuts and function key operations in Office. For information about changing the key assignment of a keyboard shortcut, see Mac Help for your version of the Macintosh operating system or see your utility application.

  • The following list includes keyboard shortcuts for only the most common tasks. To list all Word commands and keyboard shortcuts, on the Tools menu, point to Macro, and then click Macros. On the Macros in pop-up menu, click Word commands, and then in the Macro name box, type ListCommands, click Run, and then select the options that you want.

In this topic

Function keys

Note: If you are using a MacBook, to use a function key, you must press the fn key (the lower left key on the keyboard) at the same time.

To

Press

Undo the last action

F1

Cut text or graphics

F2

Copy text or graphics

F3

Paste the Clipboard contents

F4

Choose the Go To command (Edit menu)

F5

Go to the next pane or frame

F6

Choose the Spelling and Grammar command (Tools menu)

F7

Extend a selection

This keyboard shortcut conflicts with a default Mac OS X key assignment. To use this Office keyboard shortcut, you must first turn off the Mac OS X keyboard shortcut for this key. On the Apple menu, click System Preferences. Under Hardware, click Keyboard. Click the Keyboard Shortcuts tab, and then clear the On check box for the key assignment that you want to turn off.

F8

Update selected fields.

This keyboard shortcut conflicts with a default Exposé key assignment in Mac OS X version 10.3 or later. To use this Office keyboard shortcut, you must first turn off the Exposé keyboard shortcut for this key. On the Apple menu, click System Preferences. Under Personal, click Exposé & Spaces. Under Keyboard and Mouse Shortcuts, on the pop-up menu for the shortcut that you want to turn off, click .

F9

Go to the next field.

This keyboard shortcut conflicts with a default Exposé key assignment in Mac OS X version 10.3 or later. To use this Office keyboard shortcut, you must first turn off the Exposé keyboard shortcut for this key. On the Apple menu, click System Preferences. Under Personal, click Exposé & Spaces. Under Keyboard and Mouse Shortcuts, on the pop-up menu for the shortcut that you want to turn off, click .

F11

Choose the Save As command (File menu).

+ SHIFT + S

Copy text

SHIFT + F2

Change letters to upper, lower, or mixed case

SHIFT + F3

Repeat a Find or Go To action

SHIFT + F4

Move to the previous insertion point

SHIFT + F5

Go to the previous pane or frame

SHIFT + F6

Choose the Thesaurus command (Tools menu)

SHIFT + F7

Shrink a selection

This keyboard shortcut conflicts with a default Exposé key assignment in Mac OS X version 10.3 or later. To use this Office keyboard shortcut, you must first turn off the Exposé keyboard shortcut for this key. On the Apple menu, click System Preferences. Under Personal, click Exposé & Spaces. Under Keyboard and Mouse Shortcuts, on the pop-up menu for the shortcut that you want to turn off, click .

SHIFT + F8

Switch between a field code and its result.

This keyboard shortcut conflicts with a default Exposé key assignment in Mac OS X version 10.3 or later. To use this Office keyboard shortcut, you must first turn off the Exposé keyboard shortcut for this key. On the Apple menu, click System Preferences. Under Personal, click Exposé & Spaces. Under Keyboard and Mouse Shortcuts, on the pop-up menu for the shortcut that you want to turn off, click .

SHIFT + F9

Display a shortcut menu.

This keyboard shortcut conflicts with a default Exposé key assignment in Mac OS X version 10.3 or later. To use this Office keyboard shortcut, you must first turn off the Exposé keyboard shortcut for this key. On the Apple menu, click System Preferences. Under Personal, click Exposé & Spaces. Under Keyboard and Mouse Shortcuts, on the pop-up menu for the shortcut that you want to turn off, click .

SHIFT + F10

Go to the previous field.

This keyboard shortcut conflicts with a default Exposé key assignment in Mac OS X version 10.3 or later. To use this Office keyboard shortcut, you must first turn off the Exposé keyboard shortcut for this key. On the Apple menu, click System Preferences. Under Personal, click Exposé & Spaces. Under Keyboard and Mouse Shortcuts, on the pop-up menu for the shortcut that you want to turn off, click .

SHIFT + F11

Cut to the Spike

+ F3

Close the window

+ F4

Go to the next window

+ F6

Expand or minimize the ribbon

OPTION + + R

Insert an empty field

+ F9

Lock a field

+ F11

Insert the contents of the Spike

+ SHIFT + F3

Repeat a Find or Go To action

+ SHIFT + F4

Edit a bookmark

+ SHIFT + F5

Go to the previous window

+ SHIFT + F6

Update linked information in a Word source document

+ SHIFT + F7

Extend a selection or block (then press an arrow key)

+ SHIFT + F8

Unlink a field

+ SHIFT + F9

Unlock a field

+ SHIFT + F11

Create an AutoText entry

OPTION + F3

Go to the next window

OPTION + F6

Find the next misspelling or grammatical error. The Check spelling as you type check box must be selected (Word menu, Preferences command, Spelling and Grammar).

OPTION + F7

Run a macro

OPTION + F8

Switch between all field codes and their results

OPTION + F9

Go to the previous window

OPTION + SHIFT + F6

Open the Dictionary

OPTION + SHIFT + F7

Run GOTOBUTTON or MACROBUTTON from the field that displays the field results

OPTION + SHIFT + F9

Moving the cursor

To move

Press

One character to the left

LEFT ARROW

One character to the right

RIGHT ARROW

One word to the left

OPTION + LEFT ARROW

One word to the right

OPTION + RIGHT ARROW

One paragraph up

+ UP ARROW

One paragraph down

+ DOWN ARROW

One cell to the left (in a table)

SHIFT + TAB

One cell to the right (in a table)

TAB

Up one line

UP ARROW

Down one line

DOWN ARROW

To the end of a line

+ RIGHT ARROW or END

To the beginning of a line

+ LEFT ARROW or HOME

Up one screen (scrolling)

PAGE UP

Down one screen (scrolling)

PAGE DOWN

To the top of the next page

+ PAGE DOWN

+ FN + DOWN ARROW (on a MacBook keyboard)

To the top of the previous page

+ PAGE UP

+ FN + UP ARROW (on a MacBook keyboard)

To the end of a document

+ END

+ FN + RIGHT ARROW (on a MacBook keyboard)

To the beginning of a document

+ HOME

+ FN + LEFT ARROW (on a MacBook keyboard)

To the previous insertion point

SHIFT + F5

Selecting text and graphics

Tip: If you know the key combination to move the cursor, you can generally select the text by using the same key combination while holding down SHIFT . For example, + RIGHT ARROW moves the cursor to the next word, and + SHIFT + RIGHT ARROW selects the text from the cursor to the beginning of the next word.

To extend a selection

Press

By selecting multiple items that are not next to each other

Select the first item that you want, hold down , and then select any additional items

One character to the right

SHIFT + RIGHT ARROW

One character to the left

SHIFT + LEFT ARROW

One word to the right

SHIFT + OPTION + RIGHT ARROW

One word to the left

SHIFT + OPTION + LEFT ARROW

To the end of a line

+ SHIFT + RIGHT ARROW or SHIFT + END

To the beginning of a line

+ SHIFT + LEFT ARROW or SHIFT + HOME

One line down

SHIFT + DOWN ARROW

One line up

SHIFT + UP ARROW

To the end of a paragraph

+ SHIFT + DOWN ARROW

To the beginning of a paragraph

+ SHIFT + UP ARROW

One screen down

SHIFT + PAGE DOWN

One screen up

SHIFT + PAGE UP

To the beginning of a document

+ SHIFT + HOME

To the end of a document

+ SHIFT + END

To the end of a window

OPTION + + SHIFT + PAGE DOWN

To select the entire document

+ A

To a vertical block of text

+ SHIFT + F8 , and then use the arrow keys; press + PERIOD to cancel selection mode

To a specific location in a document

F8 , and then use the arrow keys; press + PERIOD to cancel selection mode

Selecting text and graphics in a table

To

Press

Select the next cell's contents

TAB

Select the preceding cell's contents

SHIFT + TAB

Extend a selection to adjacent cells

Hold down SHIFT and press an arrow key repeatedly

Select a column

Click in the column's top or bottom cell. Hold down SHIFT and press the UP ARROW or DOWN ARROW key repeatedly

Extend a selection (or block)

+ SHIFT + F8 , and then use the arrow keys; press + PERIOD to cancel selection mode

Reduce the selection size

SHIFT + F8

Select multiple cells, columns, or rows that are not next to each other

Select the first item that you want, hold down , and then select any additional items

Extending a selection

To

Press

Turn extend mode on

F8

This keyboard shortcut conflicts with a default Mac OS X key assignment. To use this Office keyboard shortcut, you must first turn off the Mac OS X keyboard shortcut for this key. On the Apple menu, click System Preferences. Under Hardware, click Keyboard. Click the Keyboard Shortcuts tab, and then clear the On check box for the key assignment that you want to turn off.

Select the nearest character to the left

F8 , and then press LEFT ARROW

Select the nearest character to the right

F8 , and then press RIGHT ARROW

Expand a selection

Continue to press F8 to expand the selection to the entire word, sentence, paragraph, section, and so on.

Reduce the size of a selection

SHIFT + F8

Turn extend mode off

+ PERIOD

Editing text and graphics

To

Press

Copy text or graphics

+ C or F3

Copy a style

+ SHIFT + C

Paste a style

+ SHIFT + V

Copy text or graphics to the Scrapbook

CONTROL + OPTION + C

Move text or graphics

+ X or F2 (then move the cursor and press + V or F4 )

Insert graphics using the Media Browser

+ CONTROL + M

Create AutoText

OPTION + F3

Insert AutoText

+ OPTION + SHIFT + V

Paste the Clipboard contents

+ V or F4

Paste the selected clipping from the Scrapbook

CONTROL + OPTION + V

Paste special

+ CONTROL + C

Paste and match the formatting of the surrounding text

+ OPTION + SHIFT + V

Paste to the Scrapbook

CONTROL + OPTION + V

Paste the Spike contents

+ SHIFT + F3

Delete one character to the left

DELETE

Delete one word to the left

+ DELETE

Delete one character to the right

or CLEAR

Delete one word to the right

+

Cut selected text to the Clipboard

+ X or F2

Undo the last action

+ Z

Cut to the Spike

+ F3

Aligning and formatting paragraphs

To

Press

Center a paragraph

+ E

Justify a paragraph

+ J

Left align a paragraph

+ L

Right align a paragraph

+ R

Indent a paragraph from the left

CONTROL + SHIFT + M

Remove a paragraph indent from the left

+ SHIFT + M

Create a hanging indent

+ T

Remove a hanging indent

+ SHIFT + T

Start AutoFormat

+ OPTION + K

Apply the Normal style

+ SHIFT + N

Apply the Heading 1 style

+ OPTION + 1

Apply the Heading 2 style

+ OPTION + 2

Apply the Heading 3 style

+ OPTION + 3

Apply the List style

+ SHIFT + L

Insert a nonbreaking space

OPTION + SPACEBAR

Setting line spacing

To set line spacing to

Press

Single-spaced lines

+ 1

Double-spaced lines

+ 2

1.5-line spacing

+ 5

Add or remove one line of space directly preceding a paragraph

+ 0 (zero)

Formatting characters

To

Press

Change the font

+ SHIFT + F

Increase the font size

+ SHIFT + >

Decrease the font size

+ SHIFT + <

Increase the font size by 1 point

+ ]

Decrease the font size by 1 point

+ [

Change the formatting of characters (Font command, Format menu)

+ D

Change the case of letters

SHIFT + F3

Format in all capital letters

+ SHIFT + A

Apply bold formatting

+ B

Apply an underline

+ U

Underline words but not spaces

+ SHIFT + W

Double-underline text

+ SHIFT + D

Apply italic formatting

+ I

Format in all small capital letters

+ SHIFT + K

Apply subscript formatting (automatic spacing)

+ EQUAL SIGN

Apply superscript formatting (automatic spacing)

+ SHIFT + PLUS SIGN

Remove manual character formatting

+ SHIFT + Z

Apply strike-through formatting

+ SHIFT + X

Inserting special characters

To insert

Press

A field

+ F9

A line break

SHIFT + RETURN

A page break

SHIFT + ENTER

A column break

+ SHIFT + RETURN

A nonbreaking hyphen

+ SHIFT + HYPHEN

The copyright symbol

OPTION + G

The registered trademark symbol

OPTION + R

The trademark symbol

OPTION + 2

An ellipsis

OPTION + SEMICOLON

Inserting fields

To insert

Press

A DATE field

CONTROL + SHIFT + D

A LISTNUM field

+ OPTION + SHIFT + L

A PAGE field

CONTROL + SHIFT + P

A TIME field

CONTROL + SHIFT + T

An empty field

+ F9

Working with fields

To

Press

Update selected fields

F9

Unlink a field

+ SHIFT + F9

Switch between a field code and its result

SHIFT + F9

Switch between all field codes and their results

OPTION + F9

Run GOTOBUTTON or MACROBUTTON from the field that displays the field results

OPTION + SHIFT + F9

Go to the next field

F11

Go to the previous field

SHIFT + F11

Lock a field

+ F11

Unlock a field

+ SHIFT + F11

Document outline

To

Press

Promote a paragraph

CONTROL + SHIFT + LEFT ARROW

Demote a paragraph

CONTROL + SHIFT + RIGHT ARROW

Demote to body text

+ SHIFT + N

Move selected paragraphs up

CONTROL + SHIFT + UP ARROW

Move selected paragraphs down

CONTROL + SHIFT + DOWN ARROW

Expand text under a heading

CONTROL + SHIFT + PLUS SIGN

Collapse text under a heading

This keyboard shortcut conflicts with a default Mac OS X key assignment. To use this Office keyboard shortcut, you must first turn off the Mac OS X keyboard shortcut for this key. On the Apple menu, click System Preferences. Under Hardware, click Keyboard. Click the Keyboard Shortcuts tab, and then clear the On check box for the key assignment that you want to turn off.

CONTROL + SHIFT + MINUS SIGN

Expand all body text and headings or collapse all body text

CONTROL + SHIFT + A

Show the first line of body text or all body text

CONTROL + SHIFT + L

Show all headings with the specified heading level

CONTROL + SHIFT +<HEADING LEVEL>

Reviewing documents

To

Press

Insert a comment

+ OPTION + A

Turn track changes on or off

+ SHIFT + E

Go to the beginning of a comment

HOME

Go to the end of a comment

END (The END key is not available on all keyboards)

Go to the beginning of the list of comments when in the Reviewing Pane

+ HOME

Go to the end of the list of comments when in the Reviewing Pane

+ END

Printing documents

To

Press

Move to the next cell

TAB (If the cursor is in the last cell of a table, pressing TAB adds a new row)

Move to the preceding cell

SHIFT + TAB

Move to the preceding or next row

UP ARROW or DOWN ARROW

Move to the first cell in the row

CONTROL + HOME

Move to the last cell in the row

CONTROL + END

Move to the first cell in the column

CONTROL + PAGE UP

Move to the last cell in the column

CONTROL + PAGE DOWN

Start a new paragraph

RETURN

Add a new row at the bottom of the table

TAB at the end of the last row

Add text before a table at the beginning of a document

RETURN at the beginning of the first cell

Insert a row

+ CONTROL + I

Resizing table columns using a ruler

To

Press the shortcut keys, and then drag a marker on the ruler

Retain column sizes to the right

Change table width

No key

Move a single column line

Retain table width

SHIFT

Equally resize all columns to the right

Retain table width

+ SHIFT

Proportionally resize all columns to the right

Retain table width

Resizing table columns directly in a table

Tips:

  • To display a column's measurements in the ruler when you resize the column, press OPTION with these shortcut keys.

  • To finely adjust a column width, turn off snap-to functionality by pressing OPTION with the shortcut keys.

To

Press the shortcut keys, andthen drag a column boundary

Move a single column line

Retain table width

No key

Retain column sizes to the right

Change table width

SHIFT

Equally resize all columns to the right

Retain table width

+ SHIFT

Proportionally resize all columns to the right

Retain table width

Inserting paragraphs and tab characters in a table

To insert

Press

New paragraphs in a cell

RETURN

Tab characters in a cell

OPTION + TAB

Data merge

To use the following keyboard shortcuts, you must first set up a data merge.

To

Press

Merge a document

CONTROL + SHIFT + N

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Technical support for customers with disabilities

Microsoft wants to provide the best possible experience for all our customers. If you have a disability or questions related to accessibility, please contact the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk for technical assistance. The Disability Answer Desk support team is trained in using many popular assistive technologies and can offer assistance in English, Spanish, French, and American Sign Language. Please go to the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk site to find out the contact details for your region.

If you are a government, commercial, or enterprise user, please contact the enterprise Disability Answer Desk.

Whether you’re typing an email in your browser or writing in a word processor, there are convenient keyboard shortcuts usable in almost every application. You can copy, select, or delete entire words or paragraphs with just a few key presses.

Some applications may not support a few of these shortcuts, but most applications support the majority of them. Many are built into the standard text-editing fields on Windows and other operating systems.

Working With Words

We’re used to the arrow, Backspace, and Delete keys working with a single character at a time. However, we can add the Ctrl key to have them effect entire words or paragraph at the same time.

Ctrl+Left Arrow – Move cursor to beginning of previous word.

Ctrl+Right Arrow – Move cursor to beginning of next word

Ctrl+Backspace – Delete previous word.

Ctrl+Delete – Delete next word.

Ctrl+Up Arrow – Move cursor to beginning of paragraph.

Ctrl+Down Arrow – Move cursor to end of paragraph.

Mac Users: Use the Option key instead of the Ctrl key.

Image Credit: Renato Targa on Flickr

Moving the Cursor

Keyboard Shortcut Highlight Line

The Ctrl key can also be combined with the Home and End keys.

Home – Move cursor to beginning of current line.

End – Move cursor to end of current line.

Ctrl+Home – Move cursor to top of the text entry field.

Ctrl+End – Move cursor to bottom of the text entry field.

Page Up – Move cursor up a frame.

Page Down – Move cursor down a frame.

Image Credit: Book Glutton on Flickr

Selecting Text

All of the above shortcuts can be combined with the Shift key to select text.

Shift+Left or Right Arrow Keys – Select characters one at a time.

Shift+Up or Down Arrow Keys – Select lines one at a time.

Shift+Ctrl+Left or Right Arrow Keys – Select words – keep pressing the arrow keys to select additional words.

Shift+Ctrl+Up or Down Arrow Keys – Select paragraphs.

Shift+Home – Select the text between the cursor and the beginning of the current line.

Shift+End – Select the text between the cursor and the end of the current line.

Shift+Ctrl+Home – Select the text between the cursor and the beginning of the text entry field.

Shift+Ctrl+End – Select the text between the cursor and the end of the text entry field.

Shift+Page Down – Select a frame of text below the cursor.

Shift+Page Up – Select a frame of text above the cursor.

Ctrl+A – Select all text.

You can use several of these shortcuts to fine-tine your selected text. For example, you could press Shift+End to select the text to the end of the current line, and then press Shift+Down to also select the line below it.

After selecting text, you can start typing immediately to replace the text – you don’t have to press Delete first.

Image Credit: James_jhs on Flickr

Editing

You can really speed up text-editing by using the Ctrl keyboard shortcuts to copy and paste text.

Ctrl+C, Ctrl+Insert – Copy selected text.

Ctrl+X, Shift+Delete – Cut selected text.

Ctrl+V, Shift+Insert – Paste text at cursor.

Ctrl+Z – Undo.

Ctrl+Y – Redo.

Formatting

Formatting shortcuts only work if the application or website you’re using supports text formatting. If you have text selected, the shortcut will apply the formatting to your selected text. If you don’t have text selected, the shortcut will toggle the associated formatting option.

Word Shortcut For Highlighting

Ctrl+B – Bold.

Ctrl+I – Italic.

Ctrl+U – Underline.

Image Credit: Tess Watson on Flickr

Functions

These function keys are common to most text-editing applications. If you use them in your web browser, you’ll open your browser’s associated dialogs.

Ctrl+F – Find. This opens the find dialog in most applications to search for text — I’ve even seen it work in some applications that didn’t have a Find option in their menus.

F3 – Find next.

Shift+F3 – Find previous.

Ctrl+O – Open.

Ctrl+S – Save.

Ctrl+N – New document.

Ctrl+P – Print.

These keys work in most applications, but are particularly useful in text editors:

Alt – Activate application’s menu bar. You can use the arrow keys to select a menu option and the Enter key to activate it.

Alt+F – Open File menu.

Alt+E – Open Edit menu.

Mac Shortcut For Highlighting Text

Alt+V – Open View menu.

Shortcut For Highlighting Text

Image Credit: Kenny Louie on Flickr

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