Handy Shortcuts in Microsoft Word

As proofreaders, we’re generally against shortcuts. After all, editing a document requires painstaking attention to detail, so we can’t afford to cut corners! Nevertheless, whether you’re writing or editing a document, knowing a few shortcuts in Microsoft Word is a good idea. Check out our suggestions below to save a little time and effort while you write.

Function Shortcuts

One type of shortcut is the function shortcut. These control common (and less common) commands, such as saving a document or cutting and pasting text. They include:

In case you are new to Mac computers, the ‘Command’ key is sometimes represented by the ⌘ symbol. You can find out more about the Command and Option keys here.

Formatting Shortcuts

The other type of shortcut you are likely to need is a formatting shortcut. These control how text appears on the page. Some important options here include the following:

Setting Custom Keyboard Shortcuts

But what if there isn’t a shortcut for what you want to do in Microsoft Word? Good news! You can create your own shortcuts as required! In Word for Windows, you can do this as follows:

• Go to File > Options > Customize Ribbon > Keyboard shortcuts…
• Click Customize to access the shortcuts menu
  
• Find the function required under in the Categories and Commands lists
• Go to Press new shortcut key and hold down a key combination
• Select whether to save the shortcut to the template (so that it is usable in all documents) or just the current document in the Save changes in menu
• Click Assign to assign the shortcut

You can assign shortcuts in Word for Mac, meanwhile, via the standard shortcut options in Mac OS X.