In our fast-paced digital age, time is a valuable resource. One of the most effective ways to manage it is by mastering keyboard shortcuts. Keyboard shortcuts are like secret codes that unlock efficiency and speed in navigating your computer. In this comprehensive article, we will delve into 97 essential keyboard shortcuts, why they are indispensable for productivity, and how they can potentially save you hours of work based on research.
Why Keyboard Shortcuts Are Vital for Productivity
Keyboard shortcuts are vital for enhancing your productivity for the following reasons:
- Speed: They allow you to execute tasks quickly, outpacing the mouse and touchpad.
- Efficiency: By reducing clicks and actions, they streamline various operations, minimizing wasted time and distractions.
- Focus: The use of shortcuts keeps you engaged in your work without diverting your attention to the mouse or touchpad.
- Reduced Strain: Reduced mouse usage can help prevent repetitive strain injuries like carpal tunnel syndrome.
- Consistency: Many keyboard shortcuts are uniform across different applications and platforms, making them easy to remember and use.
Top 97 Keyboard Shortcuts for Maximized Productivity
- Ctrl + C (Cmd + C on Mac): Copy – Saves 4 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + X (Cmd + X on Mac): Cut – Saves 4 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + V (Cmd + V on Mac): Paste – Saves 4 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + Z (Cmd + Z on Mac): Undo – Saves 4 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + S (Cmd + S on Mac): Save – Saves 3 seconds per use.
- Alt + Tab (Cmd + Tab on Mac): Switch between open applications – Saves 1 minute per hour.
- Ctrl + T (Cmd + T on Mac): Open a new tab in a web browser – Saves 30 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + W (Cmd + W on Mac): Close the current tab – Saves 20 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + F (Cmd + F on Mac): Find text in a document or webpage – Saves 30 seconds per use.
- Alt + F4 (Cmd + Q on Mac): Close the active window or application – Saves 30 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + P (Cmd + P on Mac): Print – Saves 2 minutes per hour.
- Ctrl + A (Cmd + A on Mac): Select all – Saves 3 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + Y (Cmd + Y on Mac): Redo – Saves 4 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + N (Cmd + N on Mac): Open a new document or window – Saves 1 minute per hour.
- Ctrl + Backspace (Cmd + Delete on Mac): Delete the entire word to the left of the cursor – Saves 15 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + Arrow keys (Cmd + Arrow keys on Mac): Navigate through text word by word – Saves 30 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + Shift + T (Cmd + Shift + T on Mac): Reopen the last closed tab in a web browser – Saves 2 minutes per hour.
- Ctrl + Shift + N (Cmd + Shift + N on Mac): Open a new incognito or private browsing window – Saves 1 minute per hour.
- Windows Key + D (Cmd + Mission Control on Mac): Show the desktop – Saves 30 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + L (Cmd + L on Mac): Highlight the address bar in a web browser – Saves 30 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + Shift + Esc (Cmd + Option + Esc on Mac): Open Task Manager (Windows) or Force Quit (Mac) – Saves 1 minute per hour.
- Ctrl + Shift + Esc (Cmd + Option + Shift + Esc on Mac): Open Task Manager (Mac) – Saves 1 minute per hour.
- Ctrl + Esc (Cmd + Space on Mac): Open the Start Menu (Windows) or Spotlight (Mac) – Saves 30 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + 1, 2, 3… (Cmd + 1, 2, 3… on Mac): Switch between tabs in web browsers – Saves 20 seconds per use.
- Windows Key + E (Cmd + Option + Space on Mac): Open File Explorer (Windows) or Finder (Mac) – Saves 30 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + Shift + S (Cmd + Shift + S on Mac): Save As – Saves 2 minutes per hour.
- Ctrl + D (Cmd + D on Mac): Bookmark a webpage – Saves 1 minute per hour.
- F5 (Cmd + R on Mac): Refresh a webpage – Saves 20 seconds per use.
- Alt + F (Cmd + F on Mac): Find within a document (Mac) – Saves 30 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + H (Cmd + H on Mac): Open history – Saves 20 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + J (Cmd + Option + L on Mac): Open downloads – Saves 20 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + K (Cmd + Option + F on Mac): Focus the address bar in web browsers – Saves 30 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + M (Cmd + , on Mac): Minimize a window (Windows) or Open Preferences (Mac) – Saves 30 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + U (Cmd + U on Mac): View page source – Saves 1 minute per hour.
- Ctrl + R (Cmd + L on Mac): Reload page (Windows) or Highlight the URL (Mac) – Saves 30 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + Shift + C (Cmd + Shift + C on Mac): Open the developer console (Web Developer Tools) – Saves 1 minute per hour.
- Ctrl + Shift + Delete (Cmd + Shift + Delete on Mac): Open the Clear Browsing Data menu – Saves 1 minute per hour.
- Ctrl + Shift + I (Cmd + Option + I on Mac): Open the developer tools (Inspect Element) – Saves 1 minute per hour.
- Ctrl + + (Cmd + + on Mac): Zoom in – Saves 15 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + – (Cmd + – on Mac): Zoom out – Saves 15 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + 0 (Cmd + 0 on Mac): Reset zoom to default – Saves 15 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + F5 (Cmd + Option + R on Mac): Hard refresh a webpage – Saves 1 minute per hour.
- Ctrl + Shift + P (Cmd + Shift + P on Mac): Open a new private or incognito window – Saves 1 minute per hour.
- Ctrl + Shift + W (Cmd + Shift + W on Mac): Close all open tabs in a web browser – Saves 2 minutes per hour.
- Ctrl + B (Cmd + B on Mac): Bold text – Saves 20 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + I (Cmd + I on Mac): Italicize text – Saves 20 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + U (Cmd + U on Mac): Underline text – Saves 20 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + Shift + L (Cmd + Shift + L on Mac): Create a bullet or numbered list – Saves 30 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + F2 (Cmd + F2 on Mac): Set a bookmark in Microsoft Word – Saves 30 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + F6 (Cmd + ~ on Mac): Cycle through open documents in Microsoft Word – Saves 20 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + P (Cmd + Option + P on Mac): Open the Print dialog in Microsoft Word – Saves 20 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + T (Cmd + T on Mac): Open a new tab in Microsoft Word – Saves 30 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + N (Cmd + N on Mac): Open a new document in Microsoft Word – Saves 1 minute per hour.
- Ctrl + S (Cmd + S on Mac): Save a document in Microsoft Word – Saves 1 minute per hour.
- Ctrl + S (Cmd + S on Mac): Save a document in Microsoft Excel – Saves 1 minute per hour.
- Ctrl + S (Cmd + S on Mac): Save a document in Microsoft PowerPoint – Saves 1 minute per hour.
- Ctrl + Shift + F12 (Cmd + Option + P on Mac): Print a document in Microsoft Office applications – Saves 2 minutes per hour.
- Ctrl + F2 (Cmd + F2 on Mac): Preview a document in Microsoft Office applications – Saves 30 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + A (Cmd + A on Mac): Select all text in Microsoft Office applications – Saves 3 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + S (Cmd + S on Mac): Save a document in Adobe Acrobat – Saves 1 minute per hour.
- Ctrl + S (Cmd + S on Mac): Save a document in Adobe Photoshop – Saves 1 minute per hour.
- Ctrl + N (Cmd + N on Mac): Create a new document in Adobe Photoshop – Saves 1 minute per hour.
- Ctrl + O (Cmd + O on Mac): Open a file in Adobe software – Saves 1 minute per hour.
- Ctrl + J (Cmd + J on Mac): Duplicate a layer in Adobe Photoshop – Saves 20 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + S (Cmd + S on Mac): Save a document in Adobe Illustrator – Saves 1 minute per hour.
- Ctrl + N (Cmd + N on Mac): Create a new document in Adobe Illustrator – Saves 1 minute per hour.
- Ctrl + C (Cmd + C on Mac): Copy an object or text in Adobe software – Saves 4 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + X (Cmd + X on Mac): Cut an object or text in Adobe software – Saves 4 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + V (Cmd + V on Mac): Paste an object or text in Adobe software – Saves 4 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + Z (Cmd + Z on Mac): Undo an action in Adobe software – Saves 4 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + A (Cmd + A on Mac): Select all in Adobe software – Saves 3 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + 0 (Cmd + 0 on Mac): Fit an image to the window in Adobe software – Saves 20 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + + (Cmd + + on Mac): Zoom in on an image in Adobe software – Saves 15 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + – (Cmd + – on Mac): Zoom out on an image in Adobe software – Saves 15 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + P (Cmd + P on Mac): Print a document in Adobe software – Saves 2 minutes per hour.
- Ctrl + W (Cmd + W on Mac): Close a window or tab in Adobe software – Saves 30 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + Shift + S (Cmd + Shift + S on Mac): Save a copy of a document in Adobe software – Saves 2 minutes per hour.
- Ctrl + S (Cmd + S on Mac): Save a document in AutoCAD – Saves 1 minute per hour.
- Ctrl + O (Cmd + O on Mac): Open a file in AutoCAD – Saves 1 minute per hour.
- Ctrl + Z (Cmd + Z on Mac): Undo an action in AutoCAD – Saves 4 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + S (Cmd + S on Mac): Save a document in SketchUp – Saves 1 minute per hour.
- Ctrl + N (Cmd + N on Mac): Create a new project in SketchUp – Saves 1 minute per hour.
- Ctrl + O (Cmd + O on Mac): Open a file in SketchUp – Saves 1 minute per hour.
- Ctrl + C (Cmd + C on Mac): Copy an object in SketchUp – Saves 4 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + X (Cmd + X on Mac): Cut an object in SketchUp – Saves 4 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + V (Cmd + V on Mac): Paste an object in SketchUp – Saves 4 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + Z (Cmd + Z on Mac): Undo an action in SketchUp – Saves 4 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + A (Cmd + A on Mac): Select all in SketchUp – Saves 3 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + Shift + Z (Cmd + Shift + Z on Mac): Redo an action in SketchUp – Saves 4 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + S (Cmd + S on Mac): Save a document in Blender – Saves 1 minute per hour.
- Ctrl + O (Cmd + O on Mac): Open a file in Blender – Saves 1 minute per hour.
- Ctrl + Z (Cmd + Z on Mac): Undo an action in Blender – Saves 4 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + Shift + Z (Cmd + Shift + Z on Mac): Redo an action in Blender – Saves 4 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + S (Cmd + S on Mac): Save a document in GIMP – Saves 1 minute per hour.
- Ctrl + O (Cmd + O on Mac): Open a file in GIMP – Saves 1 minute per hour.
- Ctrl + Z (Cmd + Z on Mac): Undo an action in GIMP – Saves 4 seconds per use.
- Ctrl + Shift + Z (Cmd + Shift + Z on Mac): Redo an action in GIMP – Saves