Best Keyboard Shortcuts

keyboard keys with blue back light







Hotkeys



Keyboard shortcuts, also known by the much cooler term hotkeys, help typists reduce the number of keystrokes they make throughout the workday.



This not only boosts productivity but helps reduce wrist fatigue and staves off the ever-present risk of carpal tunnel. Now, you may be aware of the common shortcuts like Copy and Paste, but there are others that you probably haven't heard of.



Shortcut Description
Ctrl + C Shortcut for copy
Ctrl + V Shortcut for paste
Ctrl + X Shorcut for cut
Ctrl + Z Undo an action
Ctrl + Y Re-do the previous action
Ctrl + A Select all the data elements in the area you clicked. This is surprisingly helpful doing system admin work as you can target specific areas and save yourself a mouse clicks.
Ctrl + D Delete the selected item and move it to the Recycle Bin
Ctrl + R Refresh the page you're on.
Ctrl + P Open up the print dialog box. This won't print immediately, rather it'll give you a few options on what and where to print.
Ctrl + S Save the document or web page you are own. Do this often if you're working in Visual Studio or big Excel documents
Ctrl + O Open a new document
Ctrl + W Close the current window
Ctrl + E Select the search box or address bar
Ctrl + F Find items in a document or open a find window
Ctrl + H Open the history for the current document or window
Ctrl + B Make the selected text bold
Ctrl + I Make the selected text italic
Ctrl + U Underline the selected text
Ctrl + Shift + S Save the document with a new name or format
Ctrl + Shift + T Open the last tabs you closed in Chrome. This is really good for unexpected crashes.
Ctrl + Shift + P Open a new private browsing window in a browser
Ctrl + Shift + N Open up incognito mode in Chrome. Contrary to popular belief this not hide what you're browsing from your Internet Service Provider or wherever you work. But, it is really good for debugging issues with web pages and applications.
Ctrl + Shift + W Close all tabs in a browser
Alt + F4 Close the current app or window
Alt + Tab Switch between open apps or windows
Alt + Esc Cycle through items in the order they were opened
Alt + Enter Display properties of the selected item
Alt + Spacebar Open the shortcut menu for the active window
Alt + Left Arrow Go back in a browser
Alt + Right Arrow Go forward in a browser
Shift + Delete Delete the selected item permanently without moving it to the Recycle Bin
Shift + Tab Move back through options
Shift + F10 Display the shortcut menu for the selected item
Shift+Ctrl+N Create a new folder in file explorer
Shift+Ctrl + T Reopen the last closed tab in the browser
Shift + Ctrl + Tab Move to the previous tab in a browser
Ctrl + Tab Move to the next tab in a browser
Ctrl + Shift + Esc Open Task Manager
Ctrl + Alt + Del Open options for locking or logging out of the current account, changing password, and accessing Task Manager
Ctrl + Alt + Tab View open apps or windows
Ctrl + Shift + Arrow Key Select a block of text
Ctrl + Arrow Key Move the cursor to the beginning of the next word
Ctrl + Shift + Arrow Key Select a block of text
Ctrl + Arrow Key Move the cursor to the beginning of the next word
Ctrl + Spacebar Select or deselect individual
Ctrl + Spacebar Select or deselect individual items in a window or on the desktop
Ctrl + Shift + Spacebar Select the entire column in Excel
Ctrl + Alt + Spacebar Open the Emoji Picker in Windows 10 and 11
Ctrl + Alt + Up Arrow Rotate the screen to its normal orientation
Ctrl + Alt + Right Arrow Rotate the screen 90 degrees to the right
Ctrl + Alt + Down Arrow Rotate the screen 180 degrees
Ctrl + Alt + Left Arrow Rotate the screen 90 degrees to the left
Ctrl + Shift + Right Arrow Select or unselect text to the right of the cursor
Ctrl + Shift + Left Arrow Select or unselect text to the left of the cursor
Ctrl + Home Move to the beginning of a document
Ctrl + End Move to the end of a document
Ctrl + Page Up Move up one screen
Ctrl + Page Down Move down one screen
Ctrl + Enter Insert a page break
Ctrl + Delete Delete text to the end of the line
Ctrl + Shift + Enter Enter a formula as an array formula (Excel)
Ctrl + Alt + V Paste special
Ctrl + Shift + V Paste formatting only
Ctrl + Alt + Shift + V Paste values only (Excel)
Ctrl + Shift + L Apply or remove the filter (Excel)
Ctrl + Shift + F Open the Find and Replace window with the "Find" tab selected
Ctrl + Shift + H Open the Find and Replace window with the "Replace" tab selected
Ctrl + Shift + K Insert a hyperlink
Ctrl + Shift + O Select all cells that contain comments (Excel)
Ctrl + Shift + U Toggle expand or collapse of the formula bar (Excel)
Ctrl + Shift + Q Apply the General number format (Excel)
Ctrl + Shift + 1 Apply the Number format with two decimal places (Excel)
Ctrl + Shift + 2 Apply the Time format (Excel)
Ctrl + Shift + 3 Apply the Date format (Excel)
Ctrl + Shift + 4 Apply the Currency format (Excel)
Ctrl + Shift + 5 Apply the Percentage format (Excel)
Ctrl + Shift + 6 Apply the Scientific number format (Excel)
Ctrl + Shift + 7 Apply the border around the selected cells (Excel)
Ctrl + Shift + 8 Select the current region around the active cell (Excel)
Ctrl + Shift + 9 Unhide the selected rows (Excel)
Ctrl + Shift + 0 Unhide the selected columns (Excel)
Ctrl + Shift + Minus Delete the selected cells (Excel)
Ctrl + Shift + Plus Insert cells (Excel)
Ctrl + Shift + F3 Create names by using row and column labels (Excel)
Ctrl + Shift + F5 Display the Go To dialog box (Excel)
Ctrl + Shift + F12 Print (Excel)


For my fellow software engineers, here are some of the best hotkeys for debugging.



Debugging Keyboard Shortcuts



Shortcut Description
F5 Start Debugging / Continue Debugging
F6 Step Over
F7 Step Into
F8 Step Out
F9 Toggle Breakpoint
F10 Run to Cursor
Ctrl+F5 Start Without Debugging
Ctrl+Shift+F5 Restart Debugging
Ctrl+Shift+F9 Clear All Breakpoints
Ctrl+Alt+P Attach to Process
Ctrl+Alt+Q Quick Watch
Ctrl+Shift+I Immediate Window
Ctrl+D, L Locals Window
Ctrl+D, W Watch Window
Ctrl+D, S Call Stack
Ctrl+D, T Threads Window
Ctrl+D, M Memory Window
Ctrl+D, C Code Window
Ctrl+D, K Task List
Ctrl+D, A Disassembly
Ctrl+D, B Breakpoints
Ctrl+D, E Exception Settings
Ctrl+D, O Output
Ctrl+D, R Registers
Ctrl+D, U Document Outline
Ctrl+D, X List of Running Documents
Ctrl+D, N Auto Window
Ctrl+D, Y Find Symbol Results
Ctrl+D, G Modules
Ctrl+D, H Command Window
Ctrl+D, J Error List
Ctrl+D, P Properties Window
Ctrl+D, Q Quick Watch
Ctrl+D, V Object Browser
Ctrl+D, Z Processes
Ctrl+D, F Find in Files
Ctrl+D, D Data Tips


If you really want to level up your productivity game, map a few of these hotkeys on your gaming mouse. Once you do, you'll never use your keyboard the same again.



Matt Irving is the CEO of Super Easy Tech, LLC.
 
Matt is the CEO of Super Easy Tech and creator of Super Easy CRM. He is a passionate software engineer, tech blogger, and gamer. Feel free to connect on any of the platforms listed below.

Posted by: Matt Irving on 5/15/2023