Microsoft Office: Handy shortcuts

Microsoft Office has several types of applications, each designed to do a different job. The applications are designed to make computer tasks more efficient. For example, there is Word for creating documents, PowerPoint for creating presentations and Excel for creating spreadsheets. Microsoft also offers other complementary applications, depending on the package you choose. The packages are tailored to different groups, such as students, individuals, small businesses and large companies. To make it as easy as possible for the user, shortcuts have also been created in the applications so that the user does not have to search for a setting each time. Below are the shortcuts available for each application. 

General Shortcuts

There are a number of shortcuts that are quite common and can be used in any application. Below are the most commonly used shortcuts in a handy table. The article also lists the most useful and commonly used shortcuts for each application.

Action

Shortcut

Copy selection 

Ctrl + C

Cut selection

Ctrl + X

Paste selection

Crtl + V

Undoing an action

Ctrl + Z

Performing an action again

Ctrl + Y

Apply cursive formatting to text

Ctrl+I

Apply bold formatting to text

Ctrl+B

Applying underlining formatting to text

Ctrl+U

Centre a paragraph

Ctrl+E

Align the text on the left

Ctrl+L

Align the text on the right

Ctrrl+R

 

Read more about the differences between Office Standard vs Office Professional Plus.

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Word is a word processor that allows you to format documents. Word also allows you to format the document, so it can sometimes take some searching to find the right setting. Fortunately, Microsoft has created some shortcuts to make things easier for the user.

Action

Shortcut

Open a document

Ctrl+O 

Create a new document

Ctrl+N

Save the document

Ctrl+S

Select all document content

Ctrl+A

Apply the style Normal

Ctrl+Shift+N

Apply Head 1 style

Ctrl+Alt+1

Apply the style Heading 2

Ctrl+Alt+2

Apply the Kop 3 style

Ctrl+Alt+3

Indent the paragraph

Ctrl+M

Deleting a paragraph indentation

Ctrl+Shift+M

Create a hanging indentation

Ctrl+T

Remove a hanging notch

Ctrl+Shift+T

Delete paragraph formatting

Ctrl+Q

Increase font size by 1 point

Ctrl+Right hook (])

Reduce font size by 1 point

Ctrl+hook left ([)

Microsoft PowerPoint

Microsoft PowerPoint is a presentation programme that allows you to create presentations. Presentations are a good visualisation and tool for presenting or pitching. It is therefore important that the presentation looks good and this can take some time.

Action

Shortcut

Create new presentation

Ctrl+N

Add a new slide

Ctrl+M

Insert a hyperlink

Ctrl+K

Save the presentation

Ctrl+S

Open a recent file

Ctrl+O

Group the selected objects

Ctrl+G

Group the selected group

Ctrl+Shift+G

Play or pause media

Ctrl+spacebar

Increase font size

Ctrl+Shift+Right hook (>)

Reduce the font size

Ctrl+Shift+Left hook (

Switch to Slideshow

F5

Switch to presenter view

Alt+F5

Insert WordArt

Alt+N, W

Insert an image from your device

Alt+N, P, D

Insert a shape

Alt+N, S, H

 Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet program. Excel has calculation functions, graphical tools and pivot tables. It is most commonly used for processing data, especially numbers. This is because Excel works with formulas, allowing data to be processed quickly.

Action

Shortcut

Close a workbook

Ctrl+W

Open a workbook

Ctrl+O

Save a workbook

Ctrl+S

Delete cell contents

Delete

Centre the cell content

Alt+H, A, C

Choose a fill colour

Alt+H, H

Go to the Formula tab

Alt+M

Hide the selected rows

Ctrl+9

Hide selected columns

Ctrl+0

Enter the current time

Ctrl+Shift+Colon (:)

Enter the current date

Ctrl+colon (;)

Copy a formula from the cell above the active cell to the cell or formula bar

Ctrl+Apostrof (')

Apply the general number format

Ctrl+Shift+Tilde sign (~)

Apply the currency format with two decimal places (negative numbers in brackets).

Ctrl+Shift+Dollar sign ($)

Apply the percentage format without decimals

Ctrl+Shift+percent sign (%)

Apply the scientific number format with two decimal places

Ctrl+Shift+Caret sign (^)

Apply date format with day, month and year

Ctrl+Shift+digit sign (#)

Apply the time format with the hour and minute, and AM or PM

Ctrl+Shift+Amp (@)

Select the whole worksheet

Ctrl+A or Ctrl+Shift+spacebar

Expand cell selection by one cell

Shift+arrow key

Select an entire column in a worksheet

Ctrl+spacebar

Select an entire row in a worksheet

Shift+spacebar

Expand or collapse the formula bar

Ctrl+Shift+U

Calculate all worksheets in all open workbooks

F9

Calculate the active worksheet

Shift+F9

Microsoft Access

Microsoft Access is a database management system that combines a graphical user interface with software development tools. Microsoft Access is a member of the Office suite of applications, but is only included with the Professional and higher editions. It is also available as a standalone application.

Action

Shortcut

Display the shortcut menu for the selected item

Shift+F10 or the Windows menu key

Select the active tab of the ribbon and activate KeyTips

Alt or F10
(Use KeyTips or the arrow keys to move to another ribbon tab).

Move focus to another pane of the window

F6

Open an existing database

Ctrl+O or Ctrl+F12

Show or hide the navigation pane 

F11

Show or hide a property sheet

F4

Open a new database

Ctrl+N

Open an existing database

Ctrl+O or Ctrl+F12

Move forward through the options

Tab key

Backwards through options

Shift+Tab

Microsoft OneNote

Microsoft OneNote is a note-taking software that is also part of the Office suite of applications. The software is designed for information gathering and collaboration between multiple users. OneNote collects notes, screen shots, drawings and audio comments from users. It is also possible to share OneNote files with other OneNote users.

Action

Shortcut

Open a new OneNote window

Ctrl+M

Make a quick note

Ctrl+Shift+M or Alt+Windows logo key+N

Dock the OneNote window

Ctrl+Alt+D

Select all items on the current page

Ctrl+A

To expand the selection, press Ctrl+A again.

Go to beginning of line

Home

Go to the end of the line

End

Move one word to the left

Ctrl+left arrow

Move one word to the right

Ctrl+right arrow

Check spelling

F7

Insert a line break without starting a new paragraph

Shift+Enter

Open the thesaurus for the currently selected word

Shift+F7

Display the context menu for the currently focused object

Shift+F10 or Windows Menu key

Play the selected audio recording

Ctrl+Alt+P

Stop playback of audio recordings

Ctrl+Alt+S

Highlight the selected text

Ctrl+Alt+H

Copy the formatting of the selected text ( Format Painter )

Ctrl+Shift+C

Paste the formatting into the selected text ( Copy/Paste formatting )

Ctrl+Shift+V

Apply or remove strike-through formatting

Ctrl+ hyphen (-)

Applying or removing superscript formatting

Ctrl+Shift+Equal sign ( = )

Applying or removing subscript formatting

Ctrl+similar ( = )

Apply or remove bulleted list formatting

Ctrl+point (.)

Apply a Heading 1 style to the current note

Ctrl+Alt+1

Apply a Heading 2 style to the current note

Ctrl+Alt+2

Apply a Heading 3 style to the current note

Ctrl+Alt+3

Apply a Heading 4 style to the current note

Ctrl+Alt+4

Apply a Heading 5 style to the current note

Ctrl+Alt+5

Apply a Heading 6 style to the current note

Ctrl+Alt+6

Erase all formatting applied to the selected text. (Apply the style Normal.)

Ctrl+Shift+N

Microsoft Publisher

Microsoft Publisher is a desktop publishing application. It focuses on page layout and graphic design, as opposed to the text composition of Word. Microsoft Publisher is included in the Office suite of applications, but is only available in the Professional and higher editions.

Action

Shortcut

Open a new copy of Publisher

Ctrl+N

Display the Open Publication dialog box

Ctrl+O

Check spelling

F7

Display the Thesaurus task window

Shift+F7

Display the Investigation task window

Alt + click on a word

Enable or disable special characters

Ctrl+Shift+Y

Reset the character format to the current text style

Ctrl+Spacebar

Applying or removing subscript formatting

Ctrl+=

Applying or removing superscript formatting

Ctrl+Shift+=

Increasing the space between letters in a word (spacing)

Ctrl+Shift+]

Reduce the space between letters in a word (spacing)

Ctrl+Shift+[

Enlarge to the following size in the Font Size box

Ctrl+Shift+>

Reduce to the following size in the Font Size box

Ctrl+Shift+

Enter the current page number

Alt+Shift+P

Enter the current date

Alt+Shift+D

Enter the current time


 Alt+Shift+T

Above are the most common shortcuts for each Microsoft Office application. However, there are many more shortcuts, so if you are interested, you can take a look at the Microsoft website. It can be difficult to learn all the shortcuts, so we recommend that you only learn the shortcuts for the functions that you use most often.

Any questions? Get in touch!

For more information on which Microsoft software and which licences are best for you, contact us. We can be reached through the channels below Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm.