Every shortcut below works on Word for Windows. On a Mac, swap Ctrl for Cmd in almost every case — the few exceptions are noted.
General| Shortcut | What it does |
|---|
| Ctrl + N | New document |
| Ctrl + O | Open |
| Ctrl + S | Save |
| F12 | Save As |
| Ctrl + P | Print |
| Ctrl + W | Close document |
| Ctrl + Z | Undo |
| F4 | Repeat the last action |
Editing & formatting| Shortcut | What it does |
|---|
| Ctrl + B / I / U | Bold / Italic / Underline |
| Ctrl + Shift + C | Copy formatting (Format Painter) |
| Ctrl + Shift + V | Apply copied formatting (Format Painter) |
| Ctrl + Space | Clear manual character formatting |
| Ctrl + Alt + V | Paste Special — choose “Unformatted Text” to strip formatting |
| Ctrl + L / E / R / J | Align left / center / right / justify |
Navigation| Shortcut | What it does |
|---|
| Ctrl + Home / End | Jump to the start / end of the document |
| Ctrl + F | Open Find and the Navigation Pane |
| Ctrl + G | Go To a specific page |
| Ctrl + ← / → | Jump one word at a time |
Working with text| Shortcut | What it does |
|---|
| Ctrl + Shift + > | Increase font size |
| Ctrl + Shift + < | Decrease font size |
| Ctrl + K | Insert a hyperlink |
| Ctrl + Enter | Insert a page break |
| Ctrl + Backspace | Delete the previous word |
Review| Shortcut | What it does |
|---|
| Ctrl + Shift + E | Toggle Track Changes on or off |
| Ctrl + Alt + M | Insert a new comment |
A note on paste-without-formatting: many apps use Ctrl+Shift+V for this, but Word has historically been the exception — that combination is Format Painter here instead. Microsoft has been rolling out a true plain-text paste shortcut in newer versions, but Ctrl+Alt+V → Unformatted Text remains the version that works everywhere.