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Computer Keyboard Shortcut Keys - Computer Awareness - Lucent For GK -
Introduction
Keyboard shortcuts are combinations of two or more keys that perform a command or operation faster than using on-screen menus. For engineers and students in Civil Engineering, Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, learning common shortcuts increases efficiency while coding, preparing reports, analysing data in spreadsheets, drafting presentations, and navigating operating systems. This document lists essential, widely supported shortcuts with explanations and practical examples relevant to coursework, programming, lab reports and numerical work.
How to Read Shortcut Notation
- Ctrl - Control key
- Alt - Alternate key
- Shift - Shift key
- Win or ⊞ Win - Windows (Super) key on PC keyboards
- Fn - Function modifier on laptops
- Plus sign (+) between keys means press together (e.g., Ctrl + C).
- Single keys such as F1, Esc, Enter are shown plainly.
Essential keys
- Enter - Accept command or insert new line.
- Esc - Cancel dialog or exit full-screen modes.
- Backspace - Delete character left of cursor.
- Delete (Del) - Delete character right of cursor or selected objects.
- Tab - Move focus / indent in editors.
- Caps Lock - Toggle capital letters.
- Shift - Modify key for capital letters and alternate characters.
- Ctrl and Alt - Modifier keys used with other keys for shortcuts.
- Function keys (F1-F12) - Program-specific actions (F1 commonly opens Help).
- Arrow keys - Move cursor, navigate menus and spreadsheets.
- Home / End - Move to start / end of line or document depending on context.
- Page Up / Page Down - Scroll by pages in documents.
- Print Screen (PrtSc) - Capture screen image (behaviour varies by OS).
- Insert - Toggle between insert and overwrite modes (rarely used today).
- Num Lock - Toggle numeric keypad input.
General operating-system shortcuts (Windows focus)
- Ctrl + C - Copy selected item(s).
- Ctrl + V - Paste from clipboard.
- Ctrl + X - Cut selected item(s).
- Ctrl + Z - Undo last action.
- Ctrl + Y - Redo last undone action.
- Ctrl + A - Select all content in the active window or document.
- Alt + Tab - Switch between open applications.
- Alt + Esc - Cycle through all open windows.
- Win + D - Show desktop (minimise/restore windows).
- Win + L - Lock the computer.
- Win + E - Open File Explorer.
- Win + R - Open Run dialog.
- Alt + F4 - Close active window or application.
- Ctrl + Shift + Esc - Open Task Manager quickly.
- Win + Tab - Open Task View / virtual desktops.
Text editing and navigation
- Ctrl + Left / Right Arrow - Move cursor word by word.
- Ctrl + Up / Down Arrow - Move paragraph by paragraph in many editors.
- Shift + Arrow - Select text character by character.
- Shift + PageUp - Select everything between the cursor and a page previous
- Shift + PageDown - Select everything between the cursor and a page after
- Shift + Home - Select everything between the cursor and the beginning of the line
- Shift + End - Select everything between the cursor and the end of the line
- Shift + Ctrl + Home - Select everything between the cursor and the beginning of the document
- Shift + Ctrl + End - Select everything between the cursor and the end of the document
- Shift + Ctrl + ← - Select the word to the left
- Shift + Ctrl + → - Select the word to the right
- Home / End - Jump to line start/end.
- Ctrl + Home / Ctrl + End - Jump to top / bottom of document.
- Ctrl + Backspace - Delete previous word.
- Ctrl + Delete - Delete next word.
- Ctrl + F - Find in document or page.
- Ctrl + H - Find and replace.
Web browser shortcuts
- Ctrl + T - Open new tab.
- Ctrl + N - Open a new window
- Ctrl + R - Refresh
- Ctrl + W - Close current tab.
- Ctrl + Shift + T - Reopen last closed tab.
- Ctrl + Tab / Ctrl + Shift + Tab - Move forward / backward between tabs.
- Ctrl + L or Alt + D - Focus address bar.
- Ctrl + F - Find on page.
- Ctrl + D - Bookmark current page.
- Ctrl + Shift + B - Toggle bookmarks bar.
- F5 / Ctrl + F5 - Refresh / hard refresh page.
- Alt + ← - Back
- Alt + → - Forward
- Alt + Home - Go to your homepage
- Ctrl + Enter - Add "http://www." and ".com" around an address
- MiddleClick - Middle-clicking a tab will close it, even if it's not the active tab
Microsoft Word shortcuts
- Ctrl + B - Bold selected text.
- Ctrl + I - Italicise selected text.
- Ctrl + U - Underline selected text.
- Ctrl + S - Save document.
- Ctrl + P - Print document.
- Ctrl + K - Insert hyperlink.
- Ctrl + Enter - Insert page break.
- Ctrl + Shift + N - Apply Normal style (version differences may apply).
- Ctrl + Shift + > / Ctrl + Shift + < - Increase / decrease font size.
Microsoft Excel shortcuts
- Ctrl + C / Ctrl + V / Ctrl + X - Copy / Paste / Cut cells.
- Ctrl + Z / Ctrl + Y - Undo / Redo.
- Ctrl + A - Select all cells in current region / worksheet.
- Ctrl + Arrow - Jump to edge of data region.
- Shift + Space - Select entire row.
- Ctrl + Space - Select entire column.
- Ctrl + Shift + L - Toggle filters on selected range.
- Alt + = - Insert AutoSum formula for selected column/row.
- F4 - Repeat last action; in a formula toggle absolute/relative reference for cell address (e.g., A1 → $A$1).
- Ctrl + ; - Insert current date into a cell.
- Ctrl + Shift + : - Insert current time into a cell.
- Ctrl + ← - Move the cursor left one word.
- Ctrl + → - Move the cursor Right one word.
- Ctrl + ` - Toggle show formulas.
- Ctrl + Shift + "+" - Insert new row/column; Ctrl + "-" - Delete row/column.
Microsoft PowerPoint shortcuts
- Ctrl + M - Insert new slide.
- F5 - Start slideshow from first slide.
- Shift + F5 - Start slideshow from current slide.
- Ctrl + D - Duplicate selected slide or object.
- Ctrl + G / Ctrl + Shift + G - Group / ungroup objects.
Command-line and terminal
- Ctrl + C - Interrupt running command (SIGINT).
- Ctrl + Z - Suspend job (Unix shells) or send EOF in some contexts.
- Ctrl + D - End-of-file / logout in many shells.
- Ctrl + L - Clear screen (similar to clear command).
- Tab - Autocomplete file names and commands.
- Ctrl + R - Reverse incremental search through command history (bash).
- Up / Down Arrow - Browse command history.
Editor / IDE shortcuts
- Ctrl + S - Save file.
- Ctrl + F - Find text in file.
- Ctrl + H - Replace (often file or project scope).
- Ctrl + / - Toggle comment on the selected line(s) in many editors.
- Ctrl + Shift + F - Find in all files / project-wide search.
- F5 - Run program or start debugging (varies by IDE).
- Ctrl + B or Ctrl + Click - Go to declaration / definition in many IDEs.
- Ctrl + D or Alt + Shift + Arrow - Duplicate line (editor specific).
Documents and Files
- Ctrl + N - Create a new document
- Ctrl + O - Open an existing document
- Ctrl + W - Close the current document
Function keys
- F1 - Open Help for the active program.
- F2 - Rename selected file in File Explorer; edit cell in Excel.
- F3 - Search for files in many applications; repeat last search.
- F4 - Address behaviour in browsers and MS Office; repeat last action in Excel.
- F5 - Refresh web page or start debugging / run script.
- F11 - Toggle full-screen mode in browsers.
Accessibility and productivity features
- Sticky Keys - Allows pressing modifier keys sequentially instead of together (useful for users with limited dexterity).
- On-screen keyboard - Virtual keyboard for accessibility or when keys are unavailable.
- Custom shortcuts - Many applications permit defining custom key bindings for frequently used commands; use them to speed repetitive tasks.
- Macros and scripting - Use Excel macros, editor snippets, or shell scripts to automate repetitive engineering calculations and report generation.
Cheat sheet (most important)
- Ctrl + C / Ctrl + V / Ctrl + X - Copy / Paste / Cut
- Ctrl + Z / Ctrl + Y - Undo / Redo
- Ctrl + S - Save
- Ctrl + F - Find
- Ctrl + A - Select All
- Alt + Tab - Switch applications
- Win + D - Show desktop
- F1 - Help
- F5 - Refresh / Run
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FAQs on Computer Keyboard Shortcut Keys - Computer Awareness
| 1. What are some commonly used keyboard shortcut keys? |  |
Ans. Some commonly used keyboard shortcut keys include: - Ctrl+C: Copy - Ctrl+V: Paste - Ctrl+X: Cut - Ctrl+Z: Undo - Ctrl+S: Save
| 2. How can I open a new tab in a web browser using a keyboard shortcut? | |
Ans. To open a new tab in a web browser using a keyboard shortcut, you can press Ctrl+T. This shortcut works in most popular web browsers like Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Edge.
| 3. How can I quickly minimize all open windows using a keyboard shortcut? | |
Ans. To quickly minimize all open windows using a keyboard shortcut, you can press the Windows key + D. This shortcut will show the desktop by minimizing all open windows.
| 4. How can I switch between open applications using keyboard shortcut keys? | |
Ans. To switch between open applications using keyboard shortcut keys, you can press Alt+Tab. This will bring up a menu showing all open applications, and you can cycle through them by continuing to press the Tab key while holding down the Alt key.
| 5. How can I take a screenshot of my entire screen using a keyboard shortcut? | |
Ans. To take a screenshot of your entire screen using a keyboard shortcut, you can press the PrtScn (Print Screen) key. This will capture the image of your screen, which you can then paste into an image editing application or document using Ctrl+V.
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