Here are the best little-known keyboard shortcuts to boost your online productivity

Just about everyone wants to save time and become more productive. But how can you do this realistically?

Entrepreneurs who spend a lot of time online, like I do, are always looking for ways to improve their work flow and optimize their time.

One way this can be achieved is by learning how to navigate the web and work on documents and spreadsheets more efficiently. So what I want to talk to you about today are keyboard shortcuts.

For example, instead of highlighting an entire document from start to finish, just use the command “Ctrl + a” to achieve the same result much more efficiently.

Below, I go through a big list of keyboard shortcuts (for both PC and Mac) that you can use to make your digital operations way faster and easier (I also had an infographic created).

To make things even simpler, I have a Table of Contents at the top. Click the category you’d like to learn about and you’ll be taken there directly.

Here we go!

Table of Contents

PC and Mac
Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, and Firefox
Gmail
YouTube
Microsoft Word
Excel
Extra Mac shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts for PC and Mac 

Select all

PC: Ctrl + a

Mac: Command + a

Copy 

PC: Ctrl + c

Mac: Command + c

Paste

PC: Ctrl + v

Mac: Command + v

Cut

PC: Ctrl + x

Mac: Command + x

Bold text 

PC: Ctrl + b

Mac: Command + b

Underline text

PC: Ctrl + u

Mac: Command + u

Italicize text PC

PC: Ctrl + i

Mac: Command + i

Undo 

PC: Ctrl + z

Mac: Command + z

Redo

PC: Ctrl + y

Mac: Command + y

Find items in a document or open a find window

PC: Ctrl + f

Mac: Command + f

Print

PC: Ctrl + p

Mac: Command + p

Save 

PC: Ctrl + s

Mac: Command + s

Close the front window 

PC: Ctrl + w

Mac: Command + w

Minimize a window

PC: Alt + Spacebar + n

Mac: Option + Command + m

Shortcuts for Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, and Firefox

(Unless specifically stated, the commands are the same for each browser.)

Close current tab 

Chrome: Ctrl + w

IE: Ctrl + F4 key

Firefox: Ctrl + F4 key

Or…

Ctrl + w

Open a new window 

Ctrl + n

Open a new tab 

Ctrl + t

Move through currently open tabs to the right 

Ctrl + Tab

Move through currently open tabs to the left

Ctrl + Shift + Tab

Close active window 

Alt + F4 key

Reopen the last closed tab 

Ctrl + Shift + t

Reload current page

Ctrl + r

Go back a page 

Alt + Left arrow

Open browser history in a new tab 

Ctrl + h

Zoom in

Ctrl and +

Zoom out 

Ctrl and –

Reset the default size of your webpage after zooming

Ctrl + 0

(Zero, not the letter o)

Show the downloads window 

Ctrl + j

Quickly finish a website address 

[Basic website name] Ctrl + Enter

For example, if you wanted to visit http://www.rachelrofe.com, you can type rachelrofe Ctrl + Enter instead.

Open the clear data window

Ctrl + Shift + Delete

Move down a page at a time

Spacebar

Move up a page at a time 

Shift + Spacebar

Save current page as a bookmark 

Ctrl + d

View a webpage’s source code

Ctrl + u

Go forward a page 

Alt + Right arrow key

Go back a page

Alt + Left arrow key

Go to the top of a page 

Home key

Go to the bottom of a page 

End key

Highlight text on a webpage 

Click the point where you want the highlighting to start. Then, press Shift + Click on the end point.

Open a new window in incognito mode

Ctrl + Shift + n

Toggle between browser windows

Alt + Tab

Show the current webpage in full-screen mode

F11 key

(Press it again to exit this mode.)

Highlight the text in the address bar

Alt + d

Open your homepage

Alt + Home key

Open the find option and search for specific text on the current webpage

Ctrl + f

Move the cursor to the search box

Ctrl + e

Move cursor to the address box

Ctrl + l

(The letter l, not the number 1)

Open the bookmarks bar/window 

Ctrl + Shift + b

Troubleshoot an unresponsive script error by opening the browser console

Ctrl + Shift + j

And one more Chrome specific shortcut…

Open Chrome’s built-in task manager

Shift + Esc

(This is helpful when Chrome freezes.)

Shortcuts for Gmail

Compose new message

Shift + c

Reply

Shift + r

Reply all

Shift + a

Forward

Shift + f

Delete

#

Label as

l

(The letter l, not the number 1)

Mark as read

Shift + i

Mark as unread

Shift + u

Go to sent mail

g then t

Go to contacts

g then c

Put your cursor in the search box

/

Report spam

!

Shortcuts for YouTube

Pause a video 

k

(Press k again to resume playing the video.)

Jump to the beginning of a video 

0

(Zero key)

Jump to the end of a video or go to the next video on a playlist

End key

Make the video full screen 

f

Turn the volume up and down

Up arrow key (to turn the volume  up)

Down arrow key (to turn the volume down)

Mute the volume

m

Skip 10 seconds forward

l

(Lowercase l, not the number 1)

Skip 10 seconds back  

j

Speed up a video

>

Which is actually…

Shift + ,

(Comma key)

Slow down a video

<

Which is actually…

Shift + .

(Period key)

Shortcuts for Microsoft Word

Capitalize the first letter of each highlighted word

For example, to capitalize the R in Rachel here…

“My name is rachel”

…highlight rachel and hit Shift + F3 key to make it read…

“My name is Rachel”

Capitalize each letter of the highlighted text

In the same example, to capitalize every letter in rachel…

“My name is rachel”

…highlight rachel and hit Shift + F3 key twice to have it read…

“My name is RACHEL”

(NOTE: to return text to how it was originally ((My name is rachel)), hit Shift + F3 key three times.)

Open the thesaurus function 

Shift + F7 key

Launch spellcheck 

F7 key

Refresh

F9 key

Open save as 

F12 key

Save document

Shift + F12 key

Or…

Ctrl + s

Create a hyperlink 

Ctrl + k

Create a new document

Ctrl + n

Redo the last section 

Ctrl + y

Undo the last section 

Ctrl + z

Insert a page break 

Ctrl + Enter

Select print preview

Ctrl + F2 key

Open the font preferences window 

Ctrl + d

Change the font 

Ctrl + Shift + f

Center align 

Ctrl + e

Right align 

Ctrl + r

Left align 

Ctrl + j

Create a hanging indent

Ctrl + t

Open the find box

Ctrl + f

Indent a paragraph 

Ctrl + m

Close the currently open document 

Ctrl + w

Create a bullet point

Ctrl + Shift + l

(The letter l, not the number 1)

Single-space lines 

Ctrl + 1

1.5 line spacing 

Ctrl + 5

Double-space lines

Ctrl + 2

Change text to heading 1

Ctrl + Alt + 1

Change text to heading 2

Ctrl + Alt + 2

Change text to heading 3

Ctrl + Alt + 3

Increase the selected text by one font size

Ctrl + Shift + >

Decrease the selected text by one font size

Ctrl + Shift + <

Print a document

Ctrl + Shift + F12 key

Open the find, replace, and go to window 

F5 key

Insert the current Date

Shift + Alt + d

Insert the current time

Shift + Alt + t

Delete one word at a time

Ctrl + Backspace

Shortcuts for Microsoft Excel 

Fill down 

Ctrl + d

Fill right 

Ctrl + r

Save the current workbook 

Ctrl + s

Close the current workbook 

Ctrl +

Search current sheet

Ctrl + f

Go to a specific area

Ctrl + g

Find and replace

Ctrl + h

Insert a hyperlink 

Ctrl + k

Create a new workbook 

Ctrl + n

Open a workbook 

Ctrl + o

Print the current sheet 

Ctrl + p

Repeat the last entry 

Ctrl + y

Undo the last action 

Ctrl + z

Change the format of the highlighted section

Ctrl + 1

Bold all cells in the highlighted section 

Ctrl + 2

Italicize all cells in the highlighted section 

Ctrl + 3

Underline all cells in the highlighted section 

Ctrl + 4

Put a strikethrough all cells in the highlighted section 

Ctrl + 5

Show or hide objects

Ctrl + 6

Show or hide the toolbar

Ctrl + 7

Toggle the outline symbols 

Ctrl + 8

Hide rows

Ctrl + 9

Hide columns

Ctrl + 0

(Zero, not the letter o)

Enter the current time

Ctrl + Shift + :

(Colon key)

Enter the current date

Ctrl + ;

(Semi colon key)

Apply time formatting

Ctrl + Shift + @

Apply date formatting 

Ctrl + Shift + #

Apply comma formatting 

Ctrl + Shift + !

Apply currency formatting 

Ctrl + Shift + $

Apply percentage formatting

Ctrl + Shift + %

Insert a new row or column 

Ctrl + Shift + =

Add a border to the selected cells

Ctrl + Shift + &

Remove a border

Ctrl + Shift + _

Select the entire column 

Ctrl + Spacebar

Select the entire worksheet

Ctrl + Shift + Spacebar

Move to cell A1

Ctrl + Home key

Move to the last cell on the worksheet

Ctrl + End key

Move between two or more open Excel files

Ctrl + Tab

Open the font drop-down menu 

Ctrl + Shift + f

Select all of the cell with comments

Ctrl + Shift + o

(The letter o, not zero)

Extend the highlighted text up one cell 

Shift + Up arrow

Extend the highlighted text down one cell 

Shift + Down arrow

Extend the highlighted area left one character

Shift + Left arrow

Extend the highlighted area right one character

Shift + Right arrow

Undo 

Alt + Backspace

Move to the next line when typing text in a cell, allowing for multiple lines in one cell 

Alt + Enter

Open the help menu 

F1 key

Edit the selected cell 

F2 key

Repeat the last action 

F4 key

Go to a specific cell (e.g. A24) 

F5 key

Go to the next pane

F6 key

Spellcheck 

F7 key

Recalculate every workbook 

F9 key

Activate the menu bar 

F10 key

Save as 

F12 key

Edit a cell comment 

Shift + F2 key

Open the find the replace box 

Shift + F5 key

Perform the calculate function on the active sheet

Shift + F9 key

Close the current window 

Ctrl + F4 key

Restore window size

Ctrl + F5 key

Move to the next workbook 

Ctrl + F6 key

Go to the previous workbook 

Ctrl + Shift + F6 key

Resize the window 

Ctrl + F8 key

Minimize the current window

Ctrl + F9 key

Maximize the current window

Ctrl + F10 key

Open a file 

Ctrl + F12

Print the current worksheet

Ctrl + Shift + F12 key

Save as

Alt + F2 key

Exit Excel 

Alt + F4 key

Create a new worksheet

Alt + Shift + F1

Save the current worksheet

Alt + Shift + F2

More shortcuts for Mac

Minimize the front window to the dock 

Command + m

Open the selected item 

Command + o

(The letter o, not zero)

Force quit an app 

Option + Command + Escape

Show or hide the Spotlight search field

Command + Spacebar

Bring up the character viewer

Control + Command + Spacebar

Use the app in full-screen mode

Control + Command + f

Take a screenshot of the whole screen 

Shift + Command + 3

Create a new folder in the finder

Shift + Command + n 

(NOTE: You may need to hold the following general sleep, logout, and shutdown Mac commands down for longer than other shortcuts.)

Put the Mac to sleep

Option + Command + Power button

Put your displays to sleep 

Control + Shift + Power button

Quit all apps and force your Mac to restart while being prompted to save any unsaved documents

Control + Option + Command + Power button

Or…

Control + Command + Media Eject

Logout of your macOS user account while being asked to confirm 

Shift + Command + Q

Finder and system Mac shortcuts

Duplicate the selected files

Command + d

Eject a disk

Command + e

Open the home folder of the current user

Shift + Command + h

Open iCloud Drive

Shift + Command + i

Open the network window 

Shift + Command + k

Open the download folder

Shift + Command + l

(The letter l, not the number 1)

Create a new folder

Shift + Command + n

Open the documents folder

Shift + Command + o

(The letter o, not zero)

Open the AirDrop window

Shift + Command + r

Open the utilities folder

Shift + Command + u

Show or hide the Dock

Option + Command + d

Show view options

Command + j

Open the connect to server window

Command + k

Create a new smart folder

Option + Command + n

Open the selected item

Command + Down arrow key

Open the selected folder

(This only works in list view.)

Right arrow key

Close the selected folder

(This only works in list view.)

Left arrow key

Move an item into the trash.

Command + Delete

Empty the trash 

Shift + Command + Delete

Show the desktop

Command + Mission Control

Open sound preferences

Any volume key

Adjust the volume

Option + Shift + Volume up

Or…

Option + Shift + Volume down

Documents shortcuts for Mac

Bold the text

Command + b

Underline the text

Command + u

Italicize the text

Command + i

Add a weblink

Command + k

Show or hide the fonts window

Command + t

Show or hide the definition of the selected word

Control + Command + d

Show the spelling an grammar window

Shift + Command + :

(Colon key)

Find misspelled words

Command + ;

(Semi colon key)

Scroll up one page

Fn key + Up arrow

Scroll down one page

Fn key + Down arrow

Scroll to the beginning

Fn key + Left arrow

Scroll to the end

Fn key + Right arrow

Move the insertion point to the beginning

Command + Up arrow

Move the insertion point to the end

Command + Down arrow

Extend text selection one character to the left

Shift + Left arrow

Extend text selection one character to the right

Shift + Right arrow

Go to the beginning of the line or paragraph

Control + a

Go to the end of a line or paragraph

Control + e

Jump one character forward

Control + f

Jump one character backward

Control + b

Go up one line

Control + p

Go down one line

Control + n

Left align

Command + {

Right align

Command + }

Center align

Shift + Command + |

(Vertical bar, not the letter l or the number 1)

Move to the search field

Option + Command + f

Show or hide the toolbar

Option + Command + t

Paste and match style

Option + Shift + Command + V

Show the save as box or duplicate the current document

Shift + Command + s

Decrease the selected item’s size

Shift + Command + –

(Minus sign)

Increase the selected item’s size

Shift + Command + +

(Plus sign)

Below, you’ll find the infographic I mentioned earlier. 

What do you think of this big list of keyboard shortcuts? Do you think you’ll use them to save time and increase your web productivity? Leave a comment below and let me know your thoughts!