You do not need hundreds of shortcuts. These few save time every day. On a Mac, use Cmd wherever Windows uses Ctrl.
Learn five first
Trying to memorise a whole table at once does not work. Pick these five, use them deliberately for a week, and they become automatic. The rest can wait.
- Ctrl + Z undoes the last thing you did. It works in Word, in a browser form, in File Explorer after you move a file by accident, and in most phone keyboards by shaking the phone. More documents have been rescued by this than by any other key.
- Ctrl + F finds a word on the page. On a long policy document or a thirty-page PDF this is the difference between a minute and twenty.
- Ctrl + S saves. Make it a twitch you do at the end of every paragraph and a power cut costs you a sentence rather than an afternoon. See protecting devices through power cuts.
- Windows key + L locks the screen. If you ever leave a laptop in an office, a lab or a cafe, this is the one that matters.
- Alt + Tab moves between open windows without reaching for the mouse.
Everywhere
| Shortcut | Does |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + C / Ctrl + V | Copy / paste |
| Ctrl + X | Cut |
| Ctrl + Z | Undo. The most useful shortcut there is |
| Ctrl + Y | Redo |
| Ctrl + A | Select all |
| Ctrl + S | Save |
| Ctrl + F | Find a word on the page or in the document |
| Ctrl + P | Print, or save as PDF |
| Alt + Tab | Switch between open windows (Cmd + Tab on a Mac) |
Windows
| Shortcut | Does |
|---|---|
| Windows key + E | Open File Explorer |
| Windows key + D | Show the desktop |
| Windows key + L | Lock the computer when you step away |
| Windows key + Shift + S | Screenshot a part of the screen |
| Windows key + V | Clipboard history: paste something you copied earlier |
| Windows key + . | Emoji and symbols, including ₵ |
| Windows key + P | Projector and second screen options |
| Ctrl + Shift + Esc | Task Manager, to close a frozen program |
| Windows key + left or right arrow | Snap a window to half the screen |
In the browser
| Shortcut | Does |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + T | New tab |
| Ctrl + W | Close tab |
| Ctrl + Shift + T | Reopen the tab you just closed |
| Ctrl + L | Jump to the address bar |
| Ctrl + + / Ctrl + – | Zoom in / out. Ctrl + 0 resets |
| Ctrl + Shift + N | Private (incognito) window |
Typing
| Shortcut | Does |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + Backspace | Delete a whole word |
| Ctrl + left or right arrow | Move by a word |
| Shift + arrow keys | Select text |
| Home / End | Start or end of the line |
| Ctrl + B / I / U | Bold / italic / underline in Word and Google Docs |
The Ghana cedi sign
On Windows, the Windows key + . panel has symbols including ₵. On a phone keyboard, press and hold the $ key in the symbols view; most keyboards offer ₵ there.
If a shortcut does nothing
- On a laptop, the top row may need the Fn key. Many laptops set F1 to F12 to do brightness and volume by default, so a shortcut using F2 or F5 needs Fn held down as well. Most machines let you reverse this permanently in the BIOS setup, listed as "function key behaviour" or "action keys mode".
- A program can claim a shortcut for itself. If Ctrl + S does something strange, the program you are in has its own idea of it.
- Some are blocked on a work computer. Task Manager and the registry are commonly locked down by whoever manages the machine.
- Check which keyboard layout is set. A laptop sold for one country and used in another sometimes types the wrong symbol, which makes shortcuts look broken. On Windows this is under Time and language, then Language and region.
Two worth knowing on a phone
Phones have few shortcuts, but two save real time. Press and hold the space bar on most keyboards turns it into a trackpad, so you can move the cursor precisely instead of poking at the screen. And press and hold a key in the symbols view to reach what is hidden behind it, which is where the ₵ sign lives.