Keyboard Shortcuts for PC and Mac
Sep 06, 2022Welcome to the first September Tips & Tricks!
Today I'm going to talk about keyboard shortcuts because if you're more keyboard orientated like I am, then knowing the relevant shortcuts WILL save you time!
Keyboard Shortcuts for PC and Mac
I have put together a list of the ones I use most often, with specific reference to working with Instagram and creating content, so the list will not be exhaustive.
They are here for your reference, in case you've wondered what they are but have never found out or you don't use them that often, so you keep having to Google them each time you want to use them.
The list shows shortcuts for both PC and Mac keyboards as I use both and they are not the same in both instances. I'm sure you'll probably know some of them!
Most of the keyboard shortcuts I'm documenting apply once you've selected something—either a file, a page, a piece of text etc. There are a few that apply to actions taken but I'll indicate those.
The shortcut will be indicated by the key name i.e. Ctrl (PC & Mac), Cmd (Mac), Alt (PC), Opt (Mac) the plus sign + and the key that needs to be pressed i.e. A, C, V etc. The key letter will always be in capitals but you don't have to press the Shift key as well, just the corresponding letter key. You also don't need to press the + key, that's just to indicate that you have to press both keys.
In order to use the shortcut, press and hold the relevant command key and then press the required letter to perform the action.
Keyboard Shortcut Key Combinations
|
Application |
PC |
Mac |
Additional |
|
All: Directional text selection. |
Shift + left or right arrow keys |
Shift + left or right arrow keys |
|
|
OneNote: Selects current paragraph. |
Ctrl + A |
Cmd + A |
PC & Mac: Pressing Cmd + A again while a paragraph is highlighted, selects all the text on that page. |
|
Word: Selects all text in the current document. |
Ctrl + A |
Cmd + A or Ctrl + A |
|
|
Excel: Selects entire contents of current sheet. |
Ctrl + A |
Cmd + A or Ctrl + A |
|
|
Canva: Selects all the elements on the current page of the design. |
Ctrl + A |
Cmd + A |
|
|
Files: Selects the contents of the current folder—all files and sub-folders. |
Ctrl + A |
Cmd + A |
|
|
All: Makes selected text bold. |
Ctrl + B |
Ctrl + B or Cmd + B |
|
|
All: Copies selected text, elements or files to the clipboard. |
Ctrl + C |
Ctrl + C or Cmd + C |
|
|
All: Pastes what's been copied to the clipboard to the new destination which mostly is where the cursor is located. In Canva it pastes the copied elements into the same position on the new page as the page they were copied from. |
Ctrl + V |
Ctrl + V or Cmd + V |
|
|
All: Cuts selected text, elements or files. If files are not pasted elsewhere they are not deleted. If text and elements are not pasted elsewhere it's deleted the next time a copy or cut command is performed. |
Ctrl + X |
Ctrl + X or Cmd + X |
|
|
All: Reverses previous action. In some applications multiple previous actions can be reversed by continuing to hold the Ctrl or Cmd key and pressing the Z key repeatedly. |
Ctrl + Z |
Ctrl + Z or Cmd + Z |
|
|
All: Reinstates the last Ctrl + Z action. In some applications only the last action can be reinstated but in others multiple previous actions can be reinstated by holding down both Ctrl or Cmd + Shift and pressing the Z key repeatedly. |
Ctrl + shift + Z |
Cmd + shift + Z |
PC & Mac: Hold down the Ctrl or Cmd key, then press and hold the shift key and then press and release the Z key. |
|
All: This enters a soft return. This is useful when writing replies to comments or messages in Instagram as you can put spaces between paragraphs this way by pressing Shift + Enter twice at the end of the paragraph. If you just press Enter it is the same as clicking the Post or Send buttons. This also applies in applications like LinkedIn, Messenger, Skype, Teams, WhatsApp etc.
|
Shift + Enter |
Shift + Enter |
|
|
OneNote & Word: Deletes selected text. |
Delete |
Delete |
|
|
Excel: Deletes contents of selected cell. |
Delete |
Delete |
|
|
Selected files or folders: Deletes selected files or folders and moves them to the Recycle Bin. |
Delete |
Cmd + backspace |
Mac: Delete key does nothing in this instance. |
|
Cycles through open applications or windows. |
Alt + Tab |
Cmd + Tab |
|
|
Opens additional Windows Explorer windows from any application. |
Windows + E |
Cmd + N |
Mac: Opens a new Finder window but only if you are in the Finder app. |
|
Word: Moves you to the beginning of the document. |
Ctrl + Home |
Cmd + Home or |
|
|
OneNote: Moves you to the beginning of the current page. |
Ctrl + Home |
No keyboard shortcut |
|
|
Excel: Moves you to the top left hand corner of the current sheet. |
Ctrl + Home |
Ctrl + Home |
|
|
Word: Moves you to the end of the document. |
Ctrl + End |
Cmd + End or |
|
|
OneNote: Moves you to the end of the current page. |
Ctrl + End |
No keyboard shortcut |
|
|
Excel: Moves you to the bottom right hand corner of the current sheet. |
Ctrl + End |
Ctrl + End |
|
|
Browser: Refresh the current browser page. |
F5 |
Cmd + R |
|
That's probably enough shortcuts to get you going!! If you want more, you can Google 'keyboard shortcuts for Mac or PC' as there are many sources.
I would suggest that when you find one you like referencing, you create a page in your OneNote or Evernote called Useful Links and you paste it in there for future reference. Remember to give the link a title so you know what it refers to!
As always, if you have any questions please let me know as I am always happy to help where I can!
Have an amazing rest of your week!!
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