Keyboard Shortcuts That Save More Time Than Typing Faster

Raising your typing speed from 50 to 60 WPM takes weeks of practice. Learning ten keyboard shortcuts takes an afternoon, and for many people it saves more time. The reason is simple: a lot of time at a computer is not spent typing new text. It is spent moving the cursor, selecting, correcting, and switching between windows. Each trip to the mouse and back takes a second or two and pulls your hands off the home row.

The shortcuts below work in almost every program. On a Mac, use Command where the list says Ctrl unless a Mac version is given.

Moving through text

Arrow keys move one character at a time. Add a modifier and they move in bigger steps.

• Ctrl + Left or Right jumps one word at a time. On a Mac, use Option + Left or Right.
• Home and End jump to the start and end of the line. On a Mac, use Command + Left or Right.
• Ctrl + Home and Ctrl + End jump to the start and end of the document. On a Mac, use Command + Up or Down.

These alone change how editing feels. Fixing a word in the middle of a sentence no longer needs the mouse.

Selecting text

Hold Shift with any movement shortcut and it selects instead of moving.

• Shift + arrow selects one character or line.
• Ctrl + Shift + Left or Right selects a word at a time. On a Mac, Option + Shift + arrow.
• Shift + Home or End selects to the start or end of the line.
• Ctrl + A selects everything.

Once text is selected, typing replaces it. There is no need to delete first.

Deleting faster

• Ctrl + Backspace deletes the whole word to the left. On a Mac, Option + Delete.
• Ctrl + Delete deletes the word to the right.

When you mistype a word badly, deleting the whole word and typing it again is usually quicker than repairing it letter by letter. This one shortcut is worth learning even if you ignore the rest.

Editing basics

Most people know some of these. Few use all of them.

• Ctrl + C, Ctrl + X, Ctrl + V: copy, cut, paste.
• Ctrl + Shift + V: paste as plain text, without the fonts and colours of the source. It works in most browsers and many applications.
• Ctrl + Z: undo. Ctrl + Y, or Ctrl + Shift + Z, brings back what you undid.
• Ctrl + F: find in the page or document.
• Ctrl + S: save. Press it whenever you pause.

Windows and applications

• Alt + Tab switches between open applications. On a Mac, Command + Tab.
• Windows key + arrow snaps a window to half the screen or maximises it.
• Windows key + D shows the desktop.
• Alt + F4 closes the application. On a Mac, Command + Q.
• Windows key, then the first letters of a program's name, then Enter, opens it. On a Mac, Command + Space opens the search.

In the browser

• Ctrl + T opens a new tab. Ctrl + W closes the current one.
• Ctrl + Shift + T reopens the tab you just closed by accident.
• Ctrl + L puts the cursor in the address bar, ready for a search or an address.
• Ctrl + Tab moves to the next tab.
• Space scrolls down a screen. Shift + Space scrolls back up.
• Tab moves to the next field in a form, and Shift + Tab to the previous one. Filling in a form never needs the mouse.

How to learn them

Reading a list does not change habits. The mouse is familiar, and under pressure you will reach for it.

• Learn three at a time. Pick the three that match what you do most often. Write them on a note and stick it to the edge of your screen.
• Force the habit for a week. Each time you catch yourself doing the action with the mouse, undo it and repeat it with the keys. This is slow for a day or two and then becomes automatic.
• Add three more. Only when the first three need no thought.

After a month you will have a dozen shortcuts that you use without noticing, which is the only state in which they save time.

Shortcuts and touch typing

Shortcuts are quickest when your hands start from the home row, because the modifier keys sit in fixed places around it. Use the little fingers for Ctrl and Shift, and the thumbs for Alt, or Command on a Mac. When a combination needs a letter on the left side, such as Ctrl + C, either press both with the left hand or hold the modifier with the right hand. Use whichever keeps your wrist straight.

If you still look at the keyboard to type, shortcuts help less, because you lose your place each time anyway. The two skills support each other: touch typing keeps your hands in position, and shortcuts remove the reasons to leave it.

Where the time goes

Try this once. During an ordinary hour of work, count how many times your hand moves to the mouse for something a shortcut could do: switching windows, selecting a word, opening a tab, saving. For most people the count is well over a hundred. Each one is small. Together they add up to more time than the difference between an average typist and a fast one, and they are much easier to remove.