Inserts a footnote at the bottom of the page, linked to the word your cursor was currently nearest to. Note: this only works when you’re using the minus sign on a numeric keypad, not the minus on a laptop’s number bar. Inserts an em-dash (the longer dash used to separate phrases-like this). Inserts an en-dash (the shorter dash used in ranges of numbers or dates, like this: 2000–2018). CTRL + J: Justifyĭistributes selected text and images evenly between the margins, giving your document crisp, clean edges. Right-aligns selected text or images, or whatever paragraph your cursor is currently on. CTRL + E: Center-justifyĬenters selected text or images, or whatever paragraph your cursor is currently on.
Left-aligns selected text or images, or whatever paragraph your cursor is currently on. Underline, or removes underline from, selected text. Italicizes selected text, or removes italics from italicized text. CTRL + B: Boldīolds selected text, or un-bolds text that is already bold. Entering the command multiple times will reinsert multiple changes in the order in which they were made, until there are no more changes left “undid.” 12. Reinstates a change erased by the Undo command. Entering the command multiple times will erase multiple changes in the reverse order of which they were made. CTRL + Z: UndoĮrases the last change made to your document. Save a new version of your document under a new name. No sense losing hours of work to a power surge or unexpected crash just because you forgot to save-and with a keyboard shortcut, it’s never been simpler! 9. Opens a preview of your printed document and allows you to change your print settings before you pull the trigger. Quick-prints whatever document you’re working on using your default settings. I use this for finding and replacing “ crutch words”-words and phrases I rely on too much in my writing. You can also use this tab to replace any instance of this word or phrase with something else. Opens a tab that allows you to search for any instance of a word or phrase in your document. Text will be inserted in its original format. Inserts the copied item from your clipboard. Useful for moving things around on a document, instead of click-dragging. CTRL + X: Cutĭeletes the selected item from the text while copying it to your clipboard. CTRL + C: CopyĬopies the selected item to your clipboard. If you want to copy the entirety of a document, or change its typeface or font size, this is infinitely quicker than click-dragging your cursor across a 7-page document. CTRL + A: Select allĪ favorite of mine for editing huge blocks of text.
Using these shortcuts often in your work will build muscle memory, and allow you to use multiple commands automatically, saving you time and headache.Ģ7 Great Keyboard Shortcuts for Writing and EditingĮditor’s Note: The commands on this list are for PCs, but almost all of them have equivalent keystrokes on Macs simply substitute the ⌘ key for CTRL and the command should work as advertised. Use the writing shortcuts often! These commands are meant to save you time and effort-and they can’t do that if you have to consult this list every time you want to use a shortcut.In the meantime, choose four or five that will be the most useful in your day-to-day writing, and memorize them. Unless you’re some kind of savant (or a robot from the future!) memorizing the commands for all 27 of these keyboard shortcuts will take you quite a bit of time. Choose the shortcuts you’re actually going to use.
Now, put finger to QWERTY… and begin! How to Use This List
Keyboard shortcuts are a fantastic way to speed up writing at a computer-or any kind of computer work.Īnd since there are hundreds of individual keyboard shortcut commands programmed into your PC or Mac, we’ve compiled a list of our top 27 keyboard shortcuts you can use to write your next project quicker and more efficiently.
We’re always looking for new ways to write more, write faster, and eliminate distractions and interruptions from our work-and we like to share what we find with you folks at home. You might have noticed that here at TCK Publishing, we’re big into productivity.