Basic PC shortcut keys

Below is a list of some of the most commonly used basic 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 these shortcut keys or try to memorize them. 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
Alt + Tab	Switch between open programs
F1	Universal Help in almost every Windows program.
F2	Rename a selected file
F5	Refresh the current program window
Ctrl + N	Create a new, blank document in some software programs
Ctrl + O	Open a file in current software program
Ctrl + A	Select all text.
Ctrl + B	Change selected text to be Bold
Ctrl + I	Change selected text to be in Italics
Ctrl + U	Change selected text to be Underlined
Ctrl + F	Open find window for current document or window.
Ctrl + S	Save current document file.
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 + K	Insert hyperlink for selected text
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.
Ctrl + Esc	Opens the START menu
Ctrl + Shift + Esc	Opens Windows Task Manager
Alt + F4	Close the currently active program
Alt + Enter	Open the Properties for the selected item (file, folder, shortcut, etc.)

PC shortcut keys for Special Characters

There are many special characters that can be created using keyboard shortcuts. Below are some of the more common and popular special characters and the keyboard shortcuts to create them.

Shortcut Keys	Special Character
Alt + 0224	à
Alt + 0232	è
Alt + 0236	ì
Alt + 0242	ò
Alt + 0241	ñ
Alt + 0228	ä
Alt + 0246	ö
Alt + 0252	ü
Alt + 0248	ø
Alt + 0223	ß
Alt + 0198	Æ
Alt + 0231	ç
Alt + 0191	¿
Alt + 0176	° (degree symbol)
Alt + 0177	± (plus/minus symbol)
Alt + 0153	™
Alt + 0169	©
Alt + 0174	®
Alt + 0128	€ (Euro currency)
Alt + 0162	¢ (Cent symbol)
Alt + 0163	£ (British Pound currency)
Alt + 0165	¥ (Japanese Yen currency)

What are the F1 through F12 keys?

Commonly known as function keys, F1 through F12 may have a variety of different uses or no use at all. The operating system installed on the computer and the software program currently open can 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.

Note: Some keyboards include additional functions on the function keys, which can be activated by pressing the FN key, usually located near the CTRL key, and the appropriate function key. The additional functions available with the use of the FN key will differ depending on the type and brand of keyboard being used.

If your keyboard does not have a row of function keys, they are probably set up as secondary functions on other keys. Some laptop keyboards are set up this way to save space. They can be activated by pressing another key plus the key with the secondary F key functionality.

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 opens a 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 closes the program window currently active in Microsoft Windows.
Ctrl + F4 closes 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.
Used by some computers to access the Windows Recovery system, but may require a Windows installation CD
Displays a thumbnail image for all workspaces in Mac OS

F9

Refresh document in Microsoft Word.
Send and receive e-mail in Microsoft Outlook.
Opens the Measurements toolbar in Quark 5.0.
With Mac OS 10.3 or later, displays a thumbnail for each window in a single workspace.
Using the Fn key and F9 at the same time opens 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 the active program.

F11

Enter and exit 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.
Ctrl + F12 opens a document In Word.
Shift + F12 saves the Microsoft Word document (like Ctrl + S).
Ctrl + Shift + F12 prints a document in Microsoft Word.
Preview a page in Microsoft Expression Web.
Open Firebug or browser debug tool.
With an Apple running Mac OS 10.4 or later, F12 shows or hides the Dashboard.
Access the list of bootable devices on a computer at startup, allowing you to select a different device to boot from (Hard drive, CD or DVD drive, Floppy drive, USB drive, Network)

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.

Top 10 keyboard shortcuts everyone should know

Using keyboard shortcuts can greatly increase your productivity, reduce repetitive strain, and help keep you focused. For example, highlighting text with the keyboard and pressing Ctrl + C is much faster than taking your hand from the keyboard, highlighting the text using the mouse, clicking copy from the file menu, and then putting your hand back in place on the keyboard. Below are our top 10 keyboard shortcuts we recommend everyone memorize and use.

Ctrl + C or Ctrl + Insert

Both Ctrl + C and Ctrl + Insert will copy the highlighted text or selected item. If you want to cut instead of copy press Ctrl + X.

Ctrl + V or Shift + Insert

Both the Ctrl + V and Shift + Insert will paste the text or object that's in the clipboard.

Ctrl + Z and Ctrl + Y

Undo any change. For example, if you cut text, pressing this will undo it. This can also often be pressed multiple times to undo multiple changes. Pressing Ctrl + Y would redo the undo.

Ctrl + F

Pressing Ctrl + F opens the Find in any program. This includes your Internet browser to find text on the current page.

Alt + Tab or Ctrl + Tab

Quickly switch between open programs moving forward.

Tip: Press Ctrl + Tab to switch between tabs in a program.

Tip: Adding the Shift key to Alt + Tab or Ctrl + Tab will move backwards. For example, if you are pressing Alt + Tab and pass the program you want to switch to, press Alt + Shift + Tab to move backwards to that program.

Tip: Windows Vista and 7 users can also press the Windows Key + Tab to switch through open programs in a full screenshot of the Window.

Ctrl + Back space and Ctrl + Left or Right arrow

Pressing Ctrl + Backspace will delete a full word at a time instead of a single character.

Holding down the Ctrl key while pressing the left or right arrow will move the cursor one word at a time instead of one character at a time. If you wanted to highlight one word at a time, you can hold down Ctrl + Shift and then press the left or right arrow key to move one word at a time in that direction while highlighting each word.

Ctrl + S

While working on a document or other file in almost every program, pressing Ctrl + Ssaves that file. This shortcut key should be used frequently anytime you're working on anything important.

Ctrl + Home or Ctrl + End

Ctrl + Home will move the cursor to the beginning of the document and Ctrl + End will move the cursor to the end of a document. These shortcuts work with most documents, as well as web pages.

Ctrl + P

Open a print preview of the current page or document being viewed. For example, pressCtrl + P now to view a print preview of this page.

Page Up, Space bar, and Page Down

Pressing either the page up or page down key will move that page one page at a time in that direction. When browsing the Internet, pressing the space bar also moves the page down one page at a time.

Tip: If you are using the space bar to go down one page at a time, press the Shift key and space bar to go up one page at a time.

Other Recommended Shortcuts

We also recommend the following keyboard shortcuts, as they can be very useful:

Ctrl + O

Allows you to select and open a file within the current software program. This works in most programs, including Internet browsers.

F2

After highlighting or selecting a file, pressing F2 changes the file name to be editable, allowing you to rename the file.

Unix and Linux shortcut keys

Introduction

Shortcuts are designed to help shorten the time required to perform frequently used commands or actions. In the below sections we have listed keyboard shortcut keys that can be performed by pressing two or more keys at once. In addition to keyboard shortcut keys, we have also listed command line shortcut keys that can be typed in at the shell.

Tip: Not all of the following shortcut keys and command line shortcuts are universally compatible with every variant of Unix and Linux.

Keyboard shortcut keys

CTRL+B	Moves the cursor backward one character.
CTRL+C	Cancels the currently running command.
CTRL+D	Logs out of the current session.
CTRL+F	Moves the cursor forward one character.
CTRL+H	Erase one character. Similar to pressing backspace.
CTRL+P	Paste previous line(s).
CTRL+S	Stops all output on screen (XOFF).
CTRL+Q	Turns all output stopped on screen back on (XON).
CTRL+U	Erases the complete line.
CTRL+W	Deletes the last word typed in. For example, if you typed 'mv file1 file2' this shortcut would delete file2.
CTRL+Z	Cancels current operation, moves back a directory or takes the current operation and moves it to the background. See bg command for additional information about background.

Command line shortcuts

In addition to the below command line shortcuts, it is also helpful to use the alias command that allows you to specify a keyword for frequently used commands or mistakes.

~	Moves to the user's home directory.
!!	Repeats the line last entered at the shell. See history command for previous commands.
!$	Repeats the last argument for the command last used. See history command for previous commands.
reset	Resets the terminal if terminal screen is not displaying correctly.
shutdown -h now	Remotely or locally shuts the system down.

Apple Macintosh shortcut keys
Note that not all of the below shortcut keys will work in all versions of Mac OS.
Note: You may be able to use the Command key in place of the "Open Apple" key in the shortcuts below for later versions of Mac OS.

Open Apple + Down	Opens the selected icon.
Shift + Click	Select the icon and add it to the set of those selected.
Tab	Highlight the next icon inside the folder, in alphabetical order.
Shift + Tab	Highlight the previous icon inside the folder, in alphabetical order.
Left arrow	Used when viewing by icon to select the icon to the left of the one highlighted.
Right arrow	Used when viewing by icon to select icon to the right of the one highlighted.
Up arrow	Used to select the icon above the one currently highlighted.
Down arrow	Used to select the icon below the one currently highlighted.
Open Apple + ?	Mac help
Open Apple + E	Eject
Open Apple + Shift + Up Arrow	Used to direct the input focus to the desktop level.
Open Apple + M	Minimize window
Open Apple + N	New finder window
Open Apple + Shift + N	New folder
Open Apple + W	Close the current window.
Open Apple + C	Copy the selected item to the clipboard.
Open Apple + X	Cut the selected item.
Open Apple + V	Paste item from the clipboard
Open Apple + L	Make alias
Open Apple + R	Show original item
Open Apple + T	Add to favorites
Open Apple + O	Open the selected icon.
Open Apple + F	Display the find dialog box.
Open Apple + G	Repeat the last find operation.
Open Apple + Shift + G	Takes a snapshot of the screen and saves it to a PICT file.
Command + A	Select all text and objects
Command + B	Change selected text to boldface
Command + F	Open the Find window
Command + I	Italicize the selected text
Command + P	Open the Print dialog window
Command + U	Underline the selected text
Command + Shift + P	Open the Page Setup window, to change document parameters
Command + Shift + Control + 3	Capture screenshot of current screen and save to the Clipboard

Shourtcut Keys