Reaching out for the trackpad or mouse on a PC or a Mac for simple tasks can take away its and bits of your time. Sure the particular hand movement takes no less than half a second but if you add it all up, it accounts for a substantial amount of time. This is where keyboard shortcuts come into play if you really want to ace your productivity game while working on a computer. It can take days and weeks to adjust using them, but once you get hold of these shortcut keys, it may result in efficient work outputs. In this article, we’ll list some of the most useful shortcuts for both Windows laptop/PC and Mac.
What are keyboard shortcuts?
Keyboard shortcuts are nothing but the combination of two or more keys on a keyboard to perform a variety of functions such as copying and pasting a piece of text, saving a word document and many more. Although these functions can be carried out by using the onscreen menu but shortcut keys are quicker as your hands always stay on the keyboard as opposed to using a mouse which requires you to drag the cursor even for a basic task.
Windows keyboard shortcuts
Here are some handy Windows/PC keyboard shortcuts for efficient work output.
General shortcut keys for Windows
| Action | Keyboard Shortcut | Result |
| Cut | Ctrl + X | Delete selected items like a text or file in order to move it to somewhere else |
| Copy | Ctrl + C | To copy selected items |
| Paste | Ctrl + V | Paste items that were earlier cut or copied |
| Select Text | Shift + left/right arrow keys | To manually select a text or file |
| Bold Text | Ctrl +B | Make selected text bold on word software such as MS Word and Google Docs |
| Underline Text | Ctrl + U | Make selected text underlined on word software |
| Italic Text | Ctrl + I | Change highlighted text into Italics style on word software |
| New document/ tab | Ctrl + N | Create or open a fresh document and a new tab in most browsers |
| Select all | Ctrl + A | Select all items present on a document or window |
| Undo | Ctrl + Z | Reverse any action. Comes in handy when you perform an action mistakenly such as deleting a file or typing a wrong word in a document file. |
| Ctrl + P | Print the contents of the currently opened window. It can also be used to save pages as PDFs | |
| Refresh | Ctrl + R | Refreshes a page or opened window |
| Find | Ctrl + F | Used to find any text on an opened application such as browsers, file managers and word processors. |
| Insert link | Ctrl + K | Hyperlinks the highlighted text |
| Close a window | Alt + F4 | Completely close the application you’re currently using. |
| Delete a file | Ctrl + D | Used to delete a file in the Windows file manager. The deleted file move to the recyclable bin. |
| Open Task Manager | Ctrl + Shift + Esc | Shows crucial stats related to the performance of your computer such as Internet Speeds and RAM usage among others. |
| Lock computer/laptop | Win + L | Used to lock the computer and take you to the login screen without affecting tasks or applications. |
| Activate Cortana | Win + C | Access Cortana right away. |
Navigational shortcut keys for Windows
| Action | Keyboard Shortcut | Result |
| Minimize applications | Win + D | Used to minimize all opened applications and go directly to the desktop screen. |
| Open task view | Win + Tab | View all your opened applications and select the one you want to work on. |
| Split Screen | Win + Left/Right arrow key | Used to snap the current application to either side of the screen and select another application to use in split screen. |
| Switch between tabs | Alt + Tab | Easily switch between open applications. Comes in handy to gain info from multiple windows. |
| Zoom in and Zoom out | Ctrl + scroll mouse wheel | Tap and hold Ctrl and scroll the muse wheel either upwards or downwards to zoom in and out respectively. |
| Restore down | Win + up arrow key | Restore a window into a smaller size. |
| Maximize | Win + down arrow key | Maximize a window and take up the full screen of the laptop/computer. |
Mac keyboard shortcuts
Here are some handy Mac keyboard shortcuts for an efficient work output
General shortcut keys for Mac
| Action | Keyboard Shortcut | Result |
| Cut | Command + X | Used to delete selected items like a text or file in order to move it somewhere else. |
| Copy | Command + C | Used to copy selected items. |
| Paste | Command + V | Used to paste items that were earlier copied. |
| Select Text | Shift + left/right arrow keys | Press and hold shift and either arrow key till you’ve selected the words you wish to select. |
| Bold Text | Command + B | On any word software such as Google Docs or MS Word, simply select the text and use the keyboard shortcut. |
| Underline Text | Command + U | Simply select the text and use this keyboard shortcut. |
| Italics text | Command + I | To change text into the Italics, Simply select the text and use this keyboard shortcut. |
| New document/ tab | Command + T | Used to create a fresh document in certain software and also opens a new tab in most browsers. |
| Select all | Command + A | Used to select all the items present on a document or window. |
| Undo | Command + Z | Used to undo an action. Comes in handy when ypu make a mistake such as deleting a file or typing a wrong word. |
| Refresh | Command + R | Used to refresh an open window. Using it on browsers refreshes the website you’re currently on. |
| Command + P | Used to print contents of the currently opened window. Can be used to save Web pages as PDFs as well. | |
| Find | Command + F | Used to find any opened text on an opened application such as browsers or file managers. |
| Insert Link | Command + K | After selecting a word or text, this shortcut can be used to insert hyperlinks or any URL. |
| Close a window | Command + W | Used to completely close the application you’re using. |
| Delete a file | Command + delete | Used to delete a file from file manager. Deleted files will be moved to Trash. |
| Open Activity Monitor | Command + Shift + U | The Activity Monitor presents you with all running processes like disc usage and memory usage. |
| Lock computer/ laptop | Ctrl + Command + Q | Used to lock the computer and take you the login screen without affecting any tasks or applications in the background. |
| Activate Siri | Command + Tap & hold spacebar | Use this key combo to summon Siri from anywhere. |
Navigational shortcut keys for Mac
| Action | Keyboard Shortcut | Result |
| Minimize an application | Command + M | Minimize your currently opened application to the dock. |
| Minimize all applications | Option + Command + M | Minimize all currently opened applications to the dock. |
| Split Screen | Ctrl + up arrow key | This shortcut will automatically reduce all opened applications into split screen view. From there you can resize and drag particular windows. |
| Switch between tabs | Command + Tab | Allows you to switch between open applications. Comes in handy to gather information from multiple windows. |
| Zoom In | Option + Command + Equal Key (=) | Use this combo to zoom in at a particular window according to your liking. |
| Zoom Out | Option + Command + Minus Key (-) | Use this combo to zoom out of a window according to your liking. |
So folks, these were some of the most useful Windows and Mac keyboard shortcuts that can come in handy on a daily basis.
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