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Computer Keyboard Shortcuts

Copy

On a PC: press "Ctrl" and "C"

On a Mac: press "Command" and "C"

If you want to copy text to use it again somewhere else, use your mouse or touchpad to highlight the text that you want to copy, then use the key presses noted above. These temporarily save the text you’ve copied. You place what you copied somewhere else in the same document, or in a different document, using Paste, below.

*NOTE
Your computer only keeps one copied or cut item at a time. If you copy or cut an item and want to use it somewhere else, you need to relocate it by pasting it before you copy or cut another item.

Cut

On a PC: press “Ctrl” and “X”

On a Mac: press “Command” and “X”

If you want to remove a portion of text or move it to another location, use your mouse or touchpad to highlight the text you want to cut, then use the key presses noted above. These remove the text you highlighted. If you want to insert the text somewhere else in the same document, or insert it in a different document, use Paste, below.

Paste

On a PC: press “Ctrl” and “V”

On a Mac: press “Command” and “V”

Whatever you copied or cut can be “pasted” in a new location by using these key presses. To do so, place your cursor wherever you want the text you copied or cut to be located, left-click the spot, and then use the key presses noted above. Again, you can paste anywhere in the original document or in a different document.

Save

On a PC: press “Ctrl” and “S”

On a Mac: press “Command” and “S”

When you are working on a document or project, it’s really helpful to save it as often as possible. It’s always frustrating to lose hard work, so make a habit of saving your document often by using this keyboard shortcut.

Select All

On a PC: press “Ctrl” and “A”

On a Mac: press “Command” and “A”

If you want to select all of the content in a document, these key presses automatically highlight everything for you. Once highlighted, you’re ready to copy, cut, or delete that content.

Undo

On a PC: press “Ctrl” and “Z”

On a Mac: press “Command” and “Z”

This shortcut is very helpful if you accidently make a mistake on your keyboard, such as deleting something you didn’t want to delete. Use Undo immediately and your mistake will be automatically undone.

Search for Text

On a PC: press “Ctrl” and “F”

On a Mac: press “Command” and “F”

If you want to find specific words or phrases in a document, you can use the keys noted above to open the search area. Just type the word or phrase you want to searc. The word or phrase will be highlighted in the document so it’s easy for you to find and even to replace.

Switch Between Open Programs

On a PC: press “Ctrl” and “Tab”

On a Mac: press “Command” and “Tab”

Sometimes you’d like to work using more than one program at-a-time. For example, you might want to do work on email messages and write a document at the same time. The key presses above allow you to keep different programs open and easily switch from one to another.

Right Click

On a PC: click the right button of your mouse

On a Mac: press “Crtl” and click the mouse

The “right click” provides extra options in context with what you’re doing at the time. For PCs, this isn’t a keyboard shortcut (because you just use the right button on your mouse), but for those with a Mac that have a single-button mouse, this is the way.

Print

On a PC: press “Ctrl” and “P”

On a Mac: press “Command” and “P”

There are usually a variety of ways to print a document, but none is more convenient or quicker than this simple set of key presses.

Force Quit

On a PC: press “Ctrl”, “Alt,” and “Delete” at the same time to open the Task Manager.Click on the program you’d like to close and select “End task”

On a Mac: press “Command,” “Option,” and “Escape” at the same time

For reasons we usually can’t figure out, the program we’re working in locks up and simply does not respond to any of our attempts for it to do something—anything. There is little we can do but to shut it down and start over; that is, to force it to quit.