We’re all guilty of it at some point. I know I certainly am.
Glamorizing writing is an easy trap to fall into …
You forget about the countless hours of drafting and imagine a cushy writing life where the right words flow effortlessly from your finger tips as you sit in your ideal setting and sip on your favorite beverage.
Those moments do come along, so it’s important to savor them when they do — and then continue working to strengthen your ability to write with such ease. 🙂
Just for fun, the five keyboard shortcuts I’m going to share with you today will indulge that writing life fantasy a bit … by helping keep your fingers vigorously working away at your craft without interruption.
1. Select text
When I’m reviewing a draft, I often see what I want the text to look like faster than I can rearrange it to fit my vision.
So, to edit as quickly as possible, I can use keyboard commands instead of moving my hand over to the trackpad on my laptop.
Once I’ve selected a portion of text, I can copy or cut it, and then paste it somewhere else in the draft. We’ll get to those actions next.
For all the keyboard shortcuts below, a plus symbol (+) will be used to show that you press one key first and then another to get your desired result.
To select text on a Mac
Place your cursor on either side of the text that you want to select, then you can choose from the key combinations below to highlight the proper section:
- Shift key + Left Arrow key (+ Up Arrow key or Down Arrow key to select a larger portion of text)
- Shift + Right Arrow key (+ Up Arrow key or Down Arrow key to select a larger portion of text)
You press down the Shift key and then tap on the appropriate Arrow keys until you have your selection. You can also keep the Arrow keys pressed down, but tapping gives you more precise control over which text you highlight.
When you release your fingers from the Shift and Arrow keys, the text will remain highlighted, awaiting your next action for what you want to do with the selection.
To select text on a PC
It’s the same!
2. Copy text
Once you’ve selected text, you might want to copy it so you can paste it and put the exact same word or phrase elsewhere.
To copy text on a Mac
Command (⌘) + C
To copy text on a PC
Ctrl + C
3. Cut text
Sometimes you’ll want to delete or cut a selection of text.
Delete or Backspace keys do the trick if you just want to delete, but cutting text allows you to paste it in a different part of your draft.
To cut text on a Mac
Command (⌘) + X
To cut text on a PC
Ctrl + X
4. Paste text
If you’ve selected text, then copied or cut it and now want to paste it, here’s how you accomplish that.
To paste text on a Mac
Command (⌘) + V
To paste text on a PC
Ctrl + V
5. Find a word or phrase
When you read your text aloud or proofread from the end of your document to the beginning, you often notice words you overuse.
You might also spot misspellings or style errors you’ve made multiple times.
To locate specific words or phrases in your draft, you can use the “find� function that makes a search box appear on your screen. It will list the number of instances of the words or phrases that you type in the box and direct you to each.
To find a word or phrase on a Mac
Command (⌘) + F
To find a word or phrase on a PC
Ctrl + F
What’s your favorite keyboard shortcut?
With practice, these shortcuts become second nature and you don’t even realize you use them.
Is there a keyboard command that keeps you in the flow of writing and editing? Perhaps one that saves you time or helps you improve your content?
Share with us in the comments below.
Reader Comments (26)
Anna says
On a Mac, you can also use Shift + Option/Alt and then use left/right arrow keys. This will select one word at a time and is great for selections that stop mid-line.
Brent says
CMD + left arrow takes you to the beginning of the line and CMD right arrow takes you to the end. OPT + left arrow takes you to the end of the previous word and/or to the beginning of the previous word. OPT + right arrow takes you to the end of the word and/or the beginning of the next word. (Important to note that opt+left or right arrows with stop at the hyphen if it’s hyphenated.)
Brady says
Command + Tab to switch programs.
Command + ~ to switch windows within the same program.
williamjones says
🙂 I wont say this shortcut is my favourite one but I would say this is the only shortcut key that I use often! And that is.. Alt + Tab to switch between windows!
Tobias Hyldeborg says
Command + H to hide windows on Mac.
Lemarc Gentles says
Hey Stefanie, great article. For me, I particularly love Command (⌘) + F as I m using a macbook. What I do is I normally just write an article and then go through searching for keywords/synonyms to optimize my articles accordingly.
I also have a mouse even though am using a laptop and I find that very useful. Still haven’t got use to the pad itself on my macbook haha.
HL says
Cmd/Ctrl + Z (go back a step) This one has saved me heartache so many times.
I’m a firm believer in shortcuts. I use all the letters on the left of the qwerty board. And to select text ( 2 clicks for a word, 3 clicks for a paragraph, 2 clicks and a drag for a word and to where you end the drag).
Cmd/Ctrl + S – Save (I use this every 5-10 minutes or so. It’s automatic now.)
Cmd/Ctrl + C and Cmd/Ctrl + V – Copy and paste (Use X for Cut and paste)
Cmd/Ctrl + A – Select everything
Cmd/Ctrl + W – Close the application window
Cmd/Ctrl + N – Create new document in application
Cmd/Ctrl + B – Bold selected text
Cmd/Ctrl + I – Italicize selected text
Cmd/Ctrl + U – Underline selected text
Antoniya Koleva Zorluer says
My favorite is Command + A because it selects the whole text, easy for copy pasting 🙂
Barry Pearman says
I like to use Control K and Control V
This opens up ‘add a link’ and of course Control V is ‘paste’
Control Z is also useful. It’s an undo command.
What I would like is a key where I could add a preloaded paste item, like my email address (so I could quickly fill out comment boxes like the one below) or some other often used text. Any ideas out there people?
Stefanie Flaxman says
I’m not sure about adding a preloaded paste item, Barry, but whenever I’m working I have a plain text “template” file open that has URLs, html, and other text that I commonly use. So instead of typing those items, I just copy/paste them. I hope that helps give you some ideas!
Barry Pearman says
Thanks Stephanie, great idea.
Victoria says
Cmd/Ctrl + A – Select everything
Cmd/Ctrl + W – Close the application window
Cmd/Ctrl + N – Create new document in application
Cmd/Ctrl + B – Bold selected text
Cmd/Ctrl + I – Italicize selected text
Cmd/Ctrl + U – Underline selected text
Stefanie Flaxman says
Great additions, everyone!
Sharon Bratcher says
Ctrl Z (or Command Z) to undo your last action – or keep going and undo several of them.
Ctrl A (or Command Z) to highlight your entire text – comes in handy if you want to change the font type or size.
Saurabh Saha says
And, you can create your own custom keyboard shortcuts by using AutoHotkey. It requires you to go through a small manual and you can easily create quick shortcuts for otherwise complicated tasks.
X-Mouse Button Control is another useful software to create custom shortcuts but for Mouse buttons. You can assign right-click to paste copied button or middle button double-click to open a new Text document, etc.
Adeel Sami says
Hello, Stefanie!
Good tips! 🙂
I do the few shortcuts but wasn’t familiar with many ones which you mentioned.
I wasn’t doing the selecting shortcut in the particular. I know it’s the time-saving tip to not touch the mouse while writing and do all the magic right from the keyboard. 🙂
Thanks for the good one! 🙂
~ Adeel
Freddy G. Cabrera says
Hey Stefanie!
I use all of these!
I also like to use quick commands (on a Windows PC) like: ctrl + u – for Underline, ctrl + b – for Bold. ctrl + z – to Undo last action.
There are a few more that you can use but you these are the basic ones for simple writing and editing.
Thanks for sharing! 😀
Cheers!
Susan Velez says
Hi Stefanie,
I actually am still quite new to using my Mac. I finally made the switch from PC. I’ve got to say that I love it.
However, the keyboard shortcuts that I used to be familiar with on PC are totally different than the Mac.
It’s definitely taking me some time to get used to using the Mac. However, I have no doubt once I do, I’ll love it.
Thanks for introducing me to the shortcut to find a word or phrase on a Mac. I had no clue about that one.
I’m going to run through these comments as I have no doubt that I’ll find several other shortcuts that will help me out.
Thanks for taking the time to share these with us.
Have a great day 🙂
Susan
Garrison says
In Windows, Shift + F3 toggles through lower case, Initial Caps, and ALL CAPS. I use it more than you’d think.
Philips says
My favorite is selecting, copy pasting and ctrl+F 😀
H Hanson says
Yes, Garrison, I love that one. I use it all the time.
I also use Ctrl + Alt + R (for registered trademark – ® ) and Ctrl + Alt + T (for trademark – â„¢) frequently.
Abdul Muneeb says
Hi, Stefanie!
I daily use these shortcuts many times a day,
There are a few more that I use to save time, you can use it too.
Alt + Tab – Switch b/w Multiple Windows.
Ctrl + Tab – Switch b/w Chrome tabs.
Ctrl + Shift +O – To open bookmark manager in Chrome
These might help you too, Cheers!
– Abdul Muneeb
Ken William says
My favorite is Ctrl + Z – to go back when you deleted it
Ctrl + A – Select everything
Chiino says
Ctrl+F changed my world. This is no exaggeration
Danielle Scherer says
Haha!! Right? I love Control + H even more! So great for global replaces of everything or “nothing,” if you want to eliminate a particular character.
Danielle Scherer says
The one I use the most probably is Control + Y to repeat the last action. I also use Alt + O + S to get to styles quickly and Alt + O + N to restart numbering in a new list. And Control + Shift + Space to keep text together. So many good ones!
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