The NASPP Blog

A couple weeks ago, I shared my top tips for using Excel. I thought I’d follow up with my favorite shortcut tips for Word. These will help you save not only time, but also your wrists by minimizing the use of the mouse. These tips are for Microsoft Word 2007, which is merely a reflection of my own experience (not an endorsement).

Add hotkeys to your Quick Access Toolbar

The Quick Access Toolbar is below the tabbed ribbon at the top of your Word document. You can stick with the basics like print, save, and save-as, or really personalize it with buttons that you use most often. Even if the command you use the most is something that already exists on the ribbon, you can add it to your Quick Access Toolbar and eliminate the need to go find the command. You can find new commands to add to your toolbar by either activating the drop-down menu or by right-clicking on the command within the ribbon and selecting “Add to Quick Access Toolbar.”

Toolbar tip: One thing that frustrated me when I first started using Word is that the “Save As” command icon is not listed under “Popular Commands” in the add menu. You can expand the selectable icons to include all available commands, which is where I found the “Save As” icon.

Alternate (Alt)

To find all the keyboard shortcuts used in combination with Alt, including those that you’ve added to your own toolbar, just hit the Alt key once. All the Alt commands will show up for you. The commands you’ve added to your toolbar will be in numerical order from left to right, starting with Alt-1 assigned to your first icon. You can use this as a quick reference to help you remember the keyboard shortcuts without searching through the help menu. Don’t worry–if you are one of those mad shortcutters who memorized your favorite commands in Word 2003, you can still use the old commands. The only difference is that Word asks you if you are sure you want to continue using the old keyboard shortcuts.

Alt+ tip: Alt+numbers from your number pad (not the numbers above the letters) will insert symbols. Ever want to get the section symbol (§) used in regulations? Alt+0167 will get that for you. (Thanks to Elizabeth Dodge!)

Control (Ctrl)

To see any command that requires a combination with the Control key, hold your curser over the command icon in the ribbon or your toolbar. If there is a Control key shortcut for that command, it will show up in the pop-up window.

Cntl+ tip(s): Ok – I couldn’t pick just one. These are my top five of the lesser known formatting shortcuts using the Cntl key.

1. You all know Cntl+C is “copy” and Cntl+V is “paste”…well Cntl+Shift+C copies just the formatting, while Cntl+Shift+V pastes it (determines what section of your text you want to format).
2. Cntl+Enter inserts a page break into your document.
3. Cntl+Z undos an action, while Cntl+Y redoes an action.
4. Cntl+1 over a highlighted area changes the area to single line spacing (on that note, Cntl+2 creates double line spacing and Cntl+5 creates 1.5 line spacing). Want to add or remove one line spacing before your paragraph? Cntl+0 does that.
5. Cntl+M creates a first-line indent for your paragraph. Removing that same indent can be done with Cntl+Shift+M.

Want more help with Word? Our Document Library hosts a handy Shortcut List and Mail Merge Guide from Stock & Option Solutions.

-Rachel