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Input Data / Keyboard

Purpose

We will study so I can to by .

Vocabulary

one
two
three

Section Title

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If you use a keyboard every day, you might not remember how difficult learning to type can be. Our learners ask for typing help more than anything else—and we haven’t found many free resources worth recommending. So we decided to create our own. Because the process of learning to type can be discouraging, we explored a coaching model that includes supportive feedback—and because everyone learns differently, we built in the option to tone it down or turn it off. We built the entire project in HTML5, which made this tutorial a learning experience for us too.

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Section Title

What are keyboard shortcuts?

Keyboard shortcuts are keys or key combinations you can press on your computer’s keyboard to perform a variety of tasks. Because both of your hands can remain on the keyboard, using a shortcut to perform a task is often faster than using a mouse. Keyboard shortcuts are also universal—meaning once you learn them, you can use many of the same shortcuts in a variety of applications. For example, you can use the shortcuts that copy and paste text in a word processor application to perform the same tasks in email, Facebook, and in your blog.

Keyboard shortcuts are different for Windows and macOS computers. In this lesson, we’ll share some of the most common shortcuts for both versions.

Watch the video to learn the basics of performing keyboard shortcuts.

How to perform keyboard shortcuts

Many keyboard shortcuts require pressing two or more keys in a specific order.

How to find keyboard shortcuts

In many applications, you’ll find keyboard shortcuts next to menu items. Occasionally, in some applications like Microsoft Word, you may need to hover over a button to display its keyboard shortcut.

showing a keyboard shortcut in Microsoft Word

Common keyboard shortcuts

Check out the infographic below to learn some of the most common keyboard shortcuts:

Windows shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts can help you when working with text, files, applications, and the Internet. In Windows, you’ll use the Ctrl (Control) or Alt key to perform most keyboard shortcuts.

Working with text

These keyboard shortcuts are useful when working with text in word processor, email, and social media applications (like Twitter). They can help you perform commonly repeated tasks like copying and pasting or bolding text.

Ctrl+X: Cut the selected text.
Ctrl+C: Copy the selected text.
Ctrl+V: Paste the copied or cut text.
Ctrl+A: Select all text on the page or in the active window.
Ctrl+B: Bold the selected text.
Ctrl+I: Italicize the selected text.
Ctrl+U: Underline the selected text.
Home: Skip to the beginning of the current line.
End: Skip to the end of the current line.
Ctrl+right arrow: Skip to the beginning of the next word. You can press the right arrow multiple times to skip several words.
Ctrl+left arrow: Skip to the beginning of the previous word. You can press the left arrow multiple times to skip several words.
Ctrl+Shift+right arrow: Select the next word.
Ctrl+Shift+left arrow: Select the previous word.

Working with files and applications

You can use keyboard shortcuts to open, close, and switch applications. When working with a file (like a Microsoft Word document), shortcuts can be used to create new files, find words, and print.

Ctrl+Alt+Delete: Quit a frozen application. This keyboard shortcut opens the Task Manager. You can then select the unresponsive application and end it.
Delete: Send a selected file to the Recycle Bin.
Enter: Open a selected application or file.
Ctrl+N: Create a new file.
Ctrl+O: Open an existing file.
Ctrl+P: Print an open file.
Ctrl+S: Save the current file.
Ctrl+Z: Undo the previous action. If you’d like to redo the action, press Ctrl+Y.
Ctrl+F: Find a word or phrase in the current file. This shortcut will make a search box appear. You can then type the text you wish to find. If the word or phrase appears more than once, press Enter to move to the next instance.
Ctrl+- (Ctrl+dash key): Zoom out. When viewing a photo in an application like Windows Photo Viewer, this shortcut will make the image appear smaller.
Ctrl+= (Ctrl+equal key): Zoom in. When viewing a photo in an application like Windows Photo Viewer, this shortcut will make the image appear larger.

Alt+F4: Quit the current application.
Windows key: Open the Start menu.
Alt+Tab: Switch between open windows. This shortcut opens the Task Switcher. While continuing to hold the Alt key, you can then use the left and right arrows (or press Tab) to move between open windows.

Internet shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts can also be used to navigate your web browser. Many of the Working with Text shortcuts are useful online, like the shortcuts for selecting, copying, and pasting text into your web browser’s address bar. Because each browser is different, some of these shortcuts may have varying results.

Ctrl+F: Find a word or phrase in the current webpage. This shortcut opens the Find toolbar. You can then type the text you wish to find. If the word or phrase appears more than once, press Enter to move to the next instance.
Ctrl+T: Open a new browser tab.
Ctrl+N: Open a new browser window.
Ctrl+R: Reload the current browser page.
Tab: Skip to the next field in a web form. For example, when filling in your address on a web form, pressing tab will move the cursor to the next field. For more information, check out our article Speed Up Your Workflow with the Tab Key.
Ctrl+D: Bookmark the current page.
Ctrl+B: View bookmarks.
Ctrl+H: View browsing history.
Ctrl+J: View downloads.
Home: Scroll to the top of the webpage.
End: Scroll to the bottom of the webpage.

Using the Alt key to navigate menus

When you press the Alt key, you will have access to all menus in the current application. This means you can perform almost any task with just your keyboard. For example, you can type Alt+F+X to quit an application. When performing these shortcuts, you will not need to hold down the Alt key.

Try using keyboard shortcuts to perform the following tasks:

Open the Start Menu.
Navigate to a word processing application like Microsoft Word.
Open the application, and type a few lines of text.
Select a few of the words. Bold and italicize the selected text.
Undo the italicized formatting.
Find a word or phrase in the document.
Save the document.
Close the application.

Try using keyboard shortcuts to perform the following tasks in your web browser:

Open a new web browser window.
Move through to the webpage to the address bar.
Type the address of a webpage of your choice. For example, type www.weather.com.
Scroll to the bottom of the page, then scroll back to the top of the page.
Add the webpage to your bookmarks.
Copy the web address.
Open a new web browser tab, and paste the copied link into the address bar.
Close the web browser.

Mac shortcuts

Many of the keyboard shortcuts for macOS are similar to Windows shortcuts. However, instead of the Ctrl and Alt keys, Mac keyboards have Control, Option, and Command keys.

viewing the control, option, and command keys on a Mac keyboard

If you are not using a Mac keyboard, you may not have the Command or Option keys. You will need to experiment with key combinations to perform some keyboard shortcuts.

Working with text

Command+X: Cut the selected text.
Command+C: Copy the selected text.
Command+V: Paste the copied or cut text.
Command+A: Select all text on the page or in the active window.
Command+B: Bold the selected text.
Command+I: Italicize the selected text.
Command+U: Underline the selected text.
Command+left arrow: Skip to the beginning of the current line.
Command+right arrow: Skip to the end of the current line.
Option+right arrow: Skip to the beginning of the next word. You can press the right arrow multiple times to skip several words.
Option+left arrow: Skip to the beginning of the previous word. You can press the left arrow multiple times to skip several words.
Shift+Option+right arrow: Select the next word.
Shift+Option+left arrow: Select the previous word.

Working with files and applications

You can use keyboard shortcuts to open, close, and switch applications in Finder and from your desktop. When working with a file (like a Microsoft Word document), shortcuts can be used to create new files, find words, and print.

Option+Command+Esc: Quit a frozen application. This shortcut opens the Force Quit dialog box. You can then select an application and quit it.
Command+Delete: Send a selected file to the Trash.
Command+Down Arrow (or Command+O): Open a selected application or file.
Command+N: Create a new file.
Command+O: Open an existing file.
Command+P: Print an open file.
Command+S: Save the current file.
Command+Z: (or Shift+Command+Z): Undo the previous action. If you’d like to redo the action, press Command+Y.
Command+F: Find a word or phrase in the current page. This shortcut will make a search box appear. You can then type the text you wish to find. If the word or phrase appears more than once, press Enter to move to the next instance.
Command+- (Command+dash key): Zoom out. When viewing a photo in an application like iPhoto, this shortcut will make the image appear smaller.
Command+= (Command+equal key): Zoom in. When viewing a photo in an application like iPhoto, this shortcut will make the image appear larger.
Command+Q: Quit the current application.
Command+W: Close the current file or window.
Command+Tab: Switch between open applications. This shortcut opens the Application Switcher. While continuing to press the Command key, you can then press Tab again to move between open applications.

Internet shortcuts

These shortcuts are designed for navigating your web browser. Many of the Working with Text shortcuts are also useful online, like the shortcuts for selecting, copying, and pasting text into your web browser’s address bar. Because each web browser is different, some of these shortcuts may vary in their effectiveness.

Command+F: Find a word or phrase in the current webpage. This shortcut opens the Find toolbar. You can then type the text you wish to find. If the word or phrase appears more than once, press Enter to move to the next instance.
Command+T: Open a new browser tab.
Command+N: Open a new browser window.
Command+R: Reload the current browser page.
Tab: Skip to the next field in a web form. For example, when filling in your address on a web form, pressing tab will move the cursor to the next field. For more information, check out our article Speed Up Your Workflow with the Tab Key.
Command+D: Bookmark the current page.
Command+B: View bookmarks.
Home: Scroll to the top of the webpage.
End: Scroll to the bottom of the webpage.

Open a word processor like Microsoft Word or TextEdit, and type a few lines of text. Try using keyboard shortcuts to perform the following tasks:

Select a few of the words. Bold the selected text.
Undo the text editing, and italicize the selected words instead.
Find a word or phrase in the document.
Save the document.
Close the application.

If you are unable to add formatting in TextEdit, then go to the Format menu and select Make Rich Text.

Try using keyboard shortcuts to perform the following tasks in your web browser.

Open a new web browser window.
Move through the webpage to the address bar.
Type the address of a webpage of your choice. For example, type www.pinterest.com.
Scroll to the bottom of the page, then scroll back to the top of the page.
Add the webpage to your bookmarks.
Copy the web address.
Open a new web browser tab, and paste the copied link into the address bar.
Close the web browser.

Section Title

Speed up your workflow with the Tab key

Your keyboard can do a lot of things that your mouse can do, and in many cases it can do them more quickly. With a couple of quick keystrokes, you can close programs, copy and paste, select text, and more. We cover many of the most common shortcuts in our Keyboard Shortcuts lesson, but today we’re going focus on one of our favorite shortcuts: the Tab key.

The Tab key isn’t just used to indent text. Many programs and websites allow you to use it to jump to different parts of the screen. For example, let’s say you’re signing up for a Google Account. You’ll need to type your first name, last name, username, password, etc. into different boxes (called fields), as in the image below:

Here’s the way you would do it if you were using the keyboard and mouse:

Type your first name.
Grab the mouse and click on the next field.
Type your last name.
Grab the mouse (again) and click on the next field.
Type your username.
Grab the mouse (yet again!) and click on the next field.
etc.

That gets pretty tedious if you’re filling out a dozen or more fields. But there’s a faster way: Simply press the Tab key to move to each field. Here’s what that would look like:

Type your first name [Tab]. Type your last name [Tab]. Type your username [Tab].

That’s much faster! In many cases, you can fill out the entire form without even picking up the mouse. If you get to a drop-down menu (for example, to select the month of your birthday), you can often just type the first letter of the word you’re looking for. If your birthday is in July, you can type the letter “j” several times until “July” is selected, then press Tab to move to the next field.

What if you make a mistake? Just use the Tab key’s companion shortcut, Shift+Tab, to move the cursor to the previous field. If you hold Shift and press Tab several times, the cursor will continue moving backwards through the form until you get to the field that you want to change.

Where else can you use the Tab key?

One of the great things about the Tab key shortcut is that it is supported by many, many programs. Below are some situations where you might use it:

Email: When composing an email, you can use the Tab key to move between the To, Subject, and Body fields. This works with email programs like Outlook, as well as web services like Gmail.
Spreadsheets: If you’re using Excel or Google Spreadsheets, you can press the Tab key to move to the next cell in a row. You can also press Enter to go to the next row. This allows you to enter a lot of data very quickly.
Switching programs: If you’re using Windows, you can hold the Alt key and press Tab one or more times to switch to a different program. If you’re using a Mac, you can do this by holding Command and pressing Tab.