Useful Keyboard Shortcuts

Basic PC shortcut keys

Below there is a list of some of the most commonly used basic shortcut keys that work with almost all computers and software programs. It is highly recommended that all users keep a good reference of these shortcut keys or try to memorize them. Doing so will dramatically increase your productivity.

Most Used shortcuts

Shortcut Keys	Description
Ctrl + S	Save current document file.
Ctrl + X	Cut selected item.
Ctrl + C	Copy selected item.
Ctrl + V	Paste.
Ctrl + Z	Undo.
Ctrl + Y	Redo.
Ctrl + A	Select all text.
Shift + Delete	Delete permanently.
Alt + F4	Close the currently active program
F5	Refresh the current program window.
Ctrl + Alt + Delete	terminate an application task.

Other Basic shortcuts

Shortcut Keys	Description
Alt + F	File menu options in current program.
Alt + E	Edit options in current program.
Alt + Tab	Switch between open programs.
F1	Universal Help in almost every Windows program.
F2	Rename a selected file.
Ctrl + N	Create a new, blank document in some software programs.
Ctrl + O	Open a file in current software program.
Ctrl + B	Change selected text to be Bold.
Ctrl + I	Change selected text to be in Italics.
Ctrl + U	Change selected text to be Underlined.
Ctrl + F	Open find window for current document or window.
Shift + Del	Cut selected item.
Ctrl + Ins	Copy selected item
Shift + Ins	Paste.
Ctrl + K	Insert hyperlink for selected text.
Ctrl + P	Print the current page or document.
Home	Goes to beginning of current line.
Ctrl + Home	Goes to beginning of document.
End	Goes to end of current line.
Ctrl + End	Goes to end of document.
Shift + Home	Highlights from current position to beginning of line.
Shift + End	Highlights from current position to end of line.
Ctrl + Left arrow	Moves one word to the left at a time.
Ctrl + Right arrow	Moves one word to the right at a time.
Ctrl + Esc	Opens the START menu
Ctrl + Shift + Esc	Opens Windows Task Manager
Alt + Enter	Open the Properties for the selected item (file, folder, shortcut, etc.)

PC shortcut keys for Special Characters

Below are some of the more common and popular special characters and the keyboard shortcuts to create them.

Shortcut Keys	Special Character
Alt + 0224	à
Alt + 0232	è
Alt + 0236	ì
Alt + 0242	ò
Alt + 0241	ñ
Alt + 0228	ä
Alt + 0246	ö
Alt + 0252	ü
Alt + 0248	ø
Alt + 0223	ß
Alt + 0198	Æ
Alt + 0231	ç
Alt + 0191	¿
Alt + 0176	°  (degree symbol)
Alt + 0177	±  (plus/minus symbol)
Alt + 0153	™
Alt + 0169	©
Alt + 0174	®
Alt + 0128	€  (Euro currency)
Alt + 0162	¢  (Cent symbol)
Alt + 0163	£  (British Pound currency)
Alt + 0165	¥  (Japanese Yen currency)