Efficiency is key in today’s digital world. Whether you are working on your computer to finish personal projects or professional tasks, mastering keyboard shortcuts can help boost your productivity and efficiency. By mastering these shortcuts, you can save precious time and make navigating through applications a breeze.
If you are a beginner, learning keyboard shortcuts can be a game-changer. In this guide, we will walk you through some of the essential shortcuts you must know to finish tasks faster and save time.
Benefits of using keyboard shortcuts
- Increased speed – Learning keyboard shortcuts will allow you to perform tasks so much quicker than using a mouse or trackpad. Simple actions like switching between applications, copying text, or opening new tabs can be done in seconds.
- Enhanced productivity – You can accomplish so much more in less time by mastering shortcuts. This enhanced efficiency leads to increased productivity, especially when you are on a deadline or have to perform repetitive tasks.
- Decreased strain – You might not be aware of this, but physical strain is caused when you have to constantly switch between the keyboard and mouse/trackpad. By using shortcuts, you can reduce this movement and decrease the risk of strain injuries.
- Improved focus – You can maintain focus by keeping your hands fixed on the keyword. This is because you don’t need to look anywhere else but your screen.
Basic keyboard shortcuts: Getting started
- Universal shortcuts
| Action | Shortcut |
| Copy | Command + C (Mac), Control + C (Windows) |
| Cut | Command + X (Mac). Control + X (Windows) |
| Paste | Command/Control + V |
| Undo | Command/Control + Z |
| Redo | Command + Shift + Z (Mac), Control + Y (Windows) |
| Select All | Command/Control + A |
- Navigating tabs and windows
You can manage your workspace and quickly complete tasks by using these shortcuts to switch between open windows and tabs –
- If you have multiple open applications, you can press Alt + Tab. The Mac equivalent to Alt Tab is Command + Tab.
- You can open a new tab by pressing Command + T (Mac) or Control + T (Windows).
- To reopen closed tabs, you can press Command + Shift + T (Mac) or Control + Shift + T. Knowing this shortcut comes in handy if you end up accidentally closing essential tabs.
Plus, it would help to learn how to close, minimize, and maximize windows without reaching for your mouse or trackpad. These can be done by pressing Command/Control + W (close), Command + M (Mac), or Windows key for minimizing windows, and maximizing can be done by pressing Command + Control + F (Mac) or Windows key (Windows).
- Managing files
Don’t waste your precious time managing your files and folders when you could be doing something far more important. With these shortcuts, you can become a pro at file management:
- Press Command + Shift + N or Control + Shift + N on your Mac and Windows, respectively, to create a new folder.
- Quickly rename files by pressing Return (Mac) or F2 (Windows).
- Move your files to the Trash/Recycle Bin by pressing Command + Delete (Mac) or Control + Delete (Windows).
These are basic file management shortcuts that you must know. As you get savvy using your Mac or Windows computer, you would learn more shortcuts to ease your daily work.
- Text editing shortcuts
If you are a writer or editor and have to deal with lots of documents, learning text editing shortcuts can ease your job.
Use the right arrow on your Mac or Windows to quickly go to the beginning of the next line break or to the right. Similarly, you can use the left arrow to go left or to the previous line break.
You can go to the beginning of the current line by pressing Home (Windows) or Command + left arrow (Mac).
Basically, play around with the arrow keys to navigate documents without the use of the mouse or trackpad. As for Mac users, you have to experiment with the different arrow keys plus Command, Option, or Fn keys.
Even when it comes to selecting text, you can use Shift + left/right arrow (Windows and Mac). This will select all the characters to the left or right.
For text formatting, you can press Command/Control + B to make the selected text bold or Command/Control + I to make the selected text italics, and so on.
As for the universal functions of copy, cut, and paste, you can refer to the table on top of this page.
Can you customize keyboard shortcuts?
Windows users can customize keyboard shortcuts by going to File > Options > Customize Ribbon > choose Customize at the bottom of the Customize the Ribbon and keyboard shortcuts pane. Then, don’t forget to save the changes.
When creating custom shortcuts, remember not to use the shortcuts that are already in use.
As for Mac users, you can create keyboard shortcuts for apps. This can be done by going to System Settings > Keyboard.
So, master keyboard shortcuts so you can save precious time and boost your productivity. These are a small list of shortcuts. Keep exploring to augment your skills.
