Why You need to be using Keyboard Shortcuts
The first time I remember watching someone implement keyboard shortcuts I thought, “Why would you do something on your keyboard when your mouse is right there?”. It was during a high school computer class, and the teacher said that learning them would be useful. I thought he was just being fancy until I landed a job where I type A LOT.
Now I get it; they are almost essential if you want to boost productivity. I never understood what a hassle it was to stop typing...grab your mouse...drag it to the area needing attention...and do all the clicking! So now I’m dedicating time to learn some of the shortcuts (I should have listened to my teacher) and to be honest, they are a game-changer. Listed below are some of the popular ones. Keep in mind, there are hundreds of them, so take your time when you learn, and pace yourself. Taking on too many at one time will be overwhelming, and honestly, you’ll probably forget them in the process.
Alt+F
| File menu options in the current program.
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Alt+E
| Edit options in the current program.
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Alt+Tab
| Switch between open programs.
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F1
| View help information (F1 is used by almost every Windows program to display help).
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F2 | Rename a selected file. |
F5
| Refresh the current program window.
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Ctrl+N
| Create a new or blank document in some software, or open a new tab in most Internet browsers.
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Ctrl+O
| Open a file in the current software.
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Ctrl+A
| Select all the text.
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Ctrl+B
| Change selected text to be bold.
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Ctrl+I
| Change selected text to be in italics.
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Ctrl+U
| Change selected text to be underlined.
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Ctrl+F
| Open find window for the current document or window.
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Ctrl+S
| Save the current document file.
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Ctrl+X
| Cut the selected item.
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Shift+Del
| Cut the selected item. Keep in mind using this function will permanently delete files. Be Careful With It!
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Ctrl+C
| Copy selected item.
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Ctrl+Ins
| Copy selected item
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Ctrl+V
| Paste
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Shift+Ins
| Paste
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Ctrl+Y
| Redo the last action.
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Ctrl+Z
| Undo the last action. This is one of the most commonly used shortcuts other than copy & paste.
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Ctrl+K
| Insert hyperlink for the selected text.
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Ctrl+P
| Print the current page or document.
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Home
| Goes to the beginning of the current line.
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Ctrl+Home
| Goes to the beginning of the document.
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End
| Goes to the end of the current line.
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Ctrl+End
| Goes to the end of the document.
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Shift+Home
| Highlights from the current position to the beginning of the line.
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Shift+End
| Highlights from the current position to the end of the line.
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Ctrl+Left arrow
| Moves one word to the left at a time.
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Ctrl+Right arrow
| Moves one word to the right at a time.
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Ctrl+Esc
| Opens the Start menu.
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Ctrl+Shift+Esc
| Opens the Windows Task Manager.
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