Lesson 35: Keyboard Shortcuts

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Keyboard Shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts can dramatically speed up your work. These shortcuts are different for Windows and macOS computers. In this lesson, we'll show you how to use keyboard shortcuts in Google Docs and where you can find new ones. For more information, visit our lessons in Tech Savvy Tips and Tricks.

Watch the video below to discover the list of keyboard shortcuts in Google Docs.


How to use keyboard shortcuts

Select a portion of text, and cut it by pressing Ctrl+X, or Command+X if you’re on a Mac.

selecting portion of text

Paste the text into a new spot by pressing Ctrl+V or Command+V.

pasting text into new area

So that’s how you use shortcuts, but how can you discover new ones?

How to discover keyboard shortcuts

  • One method is to look for them when using Google Docs. In the Edit menu, most of the commands have a keyboard shortcut that can be used instead.
    clicking on edit menu to show shortcuts
  • Another way to discover shortcuts is to open the full list by going to Help > Keyboard shortcuts. You can also use the shortcut shown in the Help menu, which is Ctrl+/ if you’re on Windows, and Command+/ on a Mac.
    clicking on keyboard shortcuts in help menu

A new window will appear. This list of keyboard shortcuts is divided into different categories.

keyboard shortcuts menu list

Feel free to search for specific shortcuts by name. In this example, we'll search for the Word count tool.

searching word count keyboard shortcut

It looks like the shortcut on a Windows computer for the Word count tool is Ctrl+Shift+C or Command+Shift+C if you're on a Mac.

word count keyboard shortcut

Press Ctrl+Shift+C or Command+Shift+C if using a Mac. The Word count dialog box will appear.

word count dialogue box

Let's open the Keyboard shortcuts Window, using the shortcut Ctrl+/.

list of keyboard shortcuts

While this window shows most of the shortcuts, it doesn’t actually show all of them. To see the full list, click View all in help center in the bottom-left corner.

clicking view all in help center button

The webpage that opens shows every Google Docs shortcut across all of the different platforms.

keyboard shortcuts full list

There are shortcuts for all sorts of different tasks. There are even a few shortcuts that can be done with a mouse!

keyboard shortcuts with mouse

With so many shortcuts available, it’s not really possible to memorize all of them. Instead, if you find yourself repeating an action over and over again, look to see if there’s a shortcut that can help you out.

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