Most-Used Keyboard Shortcuts

First things first, you’ll need to familiarize yourself with the Ctrl keys one is in the lower right-hand corner of your keyboard, and the other is in the lower left-hand side. The one on the left may be closer to your spacebar than the one on the right, it will just depend on your particular keyboard.

Copy: Ctrl + C   

C for copy. Highlight the text or link (this even works on some pictures), hold down Ctrl and click the C key. Your selection has been copied!

Cut: Ctrl + X 

Think of the X like a pair of open scissors. Select what you want to cut, hold down Ctrl, click the X key, and your selection should disappear because it’s been cut. You can paste it somewhere else with the next shortcut, or use Ctrl + X to make unwanted text disappear.  

Paste: Ctrl + V

V doesn’t make a lot of sense with “paste” so I think of V as being the shape of the orange plastic nozzle on a tube of Elmer’s glue. Glue, paste, same difference, right? Make sure your cursor is in the position of whatever it is you are pasting, hold down Ctrl and press V. If nothing happens, then you probably didn’t successfully copy or cut any content.

Undo: Ctrl + Z

If you cut or paste the wrong thing, or if you just make an error, holding down Ctrl and pressing the Z key will undo the last action. It can be used more than once in a row. 

Redo: Ctrl + Shift + Z

If you do accidentally undo too many times, Ctrl + Shift + Z will redo the action. So, you’re undoing the undo command.

Find: Ctrl + F

To search within a document, a window, or a webpage for a specific word or phrase, hold down Ctrl and click F to pull up a search bar. F for Find. 

Start Menu: Ctrl + Esc 

If for some reason your mouse isn’t working, Ctrl + Esc will open your start menu. You can even navigate through your programs with the up and down arrow keys and hit enter to open your selection.

Open Link: Ctrl + Click

Rather than highlighting, copying, and pasting a link into the search bar–looking at you, Mom–you can just hold down Ctrl and click on the link and it will open it in a new window.

Close Program: Alt + F4 

The Alt key sits underneath your right pinkie finger next to the space bar. If you pair it with F4 above your number keys, it will close whatever window or program is currently up and running. This one is great if you’re surfing the web or applying to other jobs when your boss walks in. Just make sure you have something that looks like work in a window behind the one you’re closing and you can avoid the conspicuous, hurried click of the close X.

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