Shortcut Keys

Keyboard shortcuts for Microsoft Word on Mac

Microsoft Word is a popular word processing software developed by Microsoft. There is a version of Word for PC, Mac and web, and even for mobile platforms, Android and iOS. In the following, we list the useful, productivity increasing shortcuts for Microsoft Word on Mac.

Frequently used shortcuts

This table lists frequently used shortcuts in Word for Mac.
To do this Press
Undo the previous action. COMMAND+Z or F1
Redo the previous action, if possible. COMMAND+Y
Cut the selected content to the Clipboard. COMMAND+X or F2
Copy the selected content to the Clipboard. COMMAND+C or F3
Paste the contents of the Clipboard. COMMAND+V or F4
Display the shortcut menu for the selected item. * Shift+F10
Display the Go To dialog box. COMMAND+Option+G or F5
Display the Spelling and Grammar dialog box. COMMAND+Option+L or F7
Enable extended selection mode. F8
Switch to the next window. COMMAND+Grave accent ( ` )
Switch to the previous window. COMMAND+Shift+Grave accent (`)
Display the Save As dialog box. COMMAND+Shift+S
Find text (move focus to the Search in Document box). COMMAND+F
Display the Find and Replace pane. Control+H
Display the Print dialog box. COMMAND+P
Close the current document. COMMAND+F4
Expand or minimize the ribbon. COMMAND+Option+R
Find the next spelling or grammatical error. The Check spelling as you type feature must be enabled. Option+F7
Open the Dictionary. In Word 2011, Option+Shift+F7

Navigate the document

To do this Press
Move the cursor one word to the left. Option+Left arrow key
Move the cursor one word to the right. Option+Right arrow key
Move the cursor up by one paragraph. COMMAND+Up arrow key
Move the cursor down by one paragraph. COMMAND+Down arrow key
Move the cursor to the beginning of the current line. COMMAND+Left arrow Home
Move the cursor to the end of the current line. COMMAND+Right arrow key End
Move the cursor to the top of the previous page. COMMAND+Page up On a MacBook, press COMMAND+Fn+Up arrow key
Move the cursor to the top of the next page. COMMAND+Page down On a MacBook, press COMMAND+Fn+Down arrow key
Move the cursor to the beginning of the document. COMMAND+Home On a MacBook, press COMMAND+Fn+Left arrow key
Move the cursor to the end of the document. COMMAND+End On a MacBook, press COMMAND+Fn+Right arrow key
Move the cursor to the previous insertion point. Shift+F5
Move the cursor by scrolling the document view up by one screen. Page up
Move the cursor by scrolling the document view down by one screen. Page down

Select text and graphics

Tip: If you know the key combination to move the cursor, you can generally select the text by using the same key combination while holding down Shift. For example, COMMAND+Right arrow moves the cursor to the next word, and COMMAND+Shift+Right arrow selects the text from the cursor to the beginning of the next word.

To do this Press
Select multiple items that are not next to each other. Select the first item that you want, hold down COMMAND, and then mouse click the additional items.
Select text. Shift+Arrow keys
Select the word to the left. Shift+Option+Left arrow key
Select the word to the right. Shift+Option+Right arrow key
Select from the current position to the beginning of the current line. COMMAND+Shift+Left arrow key Shift+Home
Select from the current position to the end of the current line. COMMAND+Shift+Right arrow key Shift+End
Select from the current position to the beginning of the current paragraph. COMMAND+Shift+Up arrow key
Select from the current position to the end of the current paragraph. COMMAND+Shift+Down arrow key
Select from the current position to the top of the screen. Shift+Page up
Select from the current position to the bottom of the screen. Shift+Page down
Select from the current position to the beginning of the document. COMMAND+Shift+Home
Select from the current position to the end of the document. COMMAND+Shift+End
Select from the current position to the bottom of the window. COMMAND+Shift+Option+Page down
Select all document content. COMMAND+A

Extend a selection

To do this Press
Start extending the selection. * F8 In the extend selection mode, clicking a location in the document extends the current selection to that location.
Select the nearest character to the left. F8, Left arrow key
Select the nearest character to the right. F8, Right arrow key
Expand the selection. F8 repeatedly to expand the selection to the entire word, sentence, paragraph, section, and document.
Reduce the selection. * Shift+F8
Select a vertical block of text. COMMAND+Shift+F8, then press the arrow keys
Stop extending the selection. Esc

Edit text and graphics

To do this Press
Cut the selected content to the Clipboard. COMMAND+X F2
Copy the selected content to the Clipboard. COMMAND+C F3
Paste the contents of the Clipboard. COMMAND+V F4
Display the Paste Special dialog box. COMMAND+Control+V
Cut the selected content to the Spike. COMMAND+F3
Paste the contents of the Spike. COMMAND+Shift+F3
Copy the selected formatting. COMMAND+Shift+C
Paste the copied formatting. COMMAND+Shift+V
Create an AutoText entry. Option+F3

Align and format paragraphs

To do this Press
Center the paragraph. COMMAND+E
Justify the paragraph. COMMAND+J
Align the paragraph to the left. COMMAND+L
Align the paragraph to the right. COMMAND+R
Indent the paragraph. Control+Shift+M
Remove a paragraph indent. COMMAND+Shift+M
Create a hanging indent. COMMAND+T
Remove a hanging indent. COMMAND+Shift+T
Apply single-spacing to the paragraph. COMMAND+1
Apply double-spacing to the paragraph. COMMAND+2
Apply 1.5-line spacing to the paragraph. COMMAND+5
Enable AutoFormat. COMMAND+Option+K
Apply the Normal style. COMMAND+Shift+N
Apply the Heading 1 style. COMMAND+Option+1
Apply the Heading 2 style. COMMAND+Option+2
Apply the Heading 3 style. COMMAND+Option+3
Apply the List style. COMMAND+Shift+L, when the cursor is at the beginning of a line
Insert a nonbreaking space. Option+Spacebar

Format characters

To do this Press
Increase the font size. COMMAND+Shift+Right angle bracket (>)
Decrease the font size. COMMAND+Shift+Left angle bracket (<)
Increase the font size by 1 point. COMMAND+Right bracket (])
Decrease the font size by 1 point. COMMAND+Left bracket ([)
Display the Font dialog box. COMMAND+D
Switch the text between upper case, lower case, and title case. Shift+F3
Change the text to all upper case. COMMAND+Shift+A
Apply bold formatting. COMMAND+B
Apply underline formatting. COMMAND+U
Apply underline formatting to the words, but not the spaces. COMMAND+Shift+W
Apply double-underline formatting. COMMAND+Shift+D
Apply italics formatting. COMMAND+I
Apply small caps formatting. COMMAND+Shift+K
Apply strike-through formatting. COMMAND+Shift+X

Insert special characters

To do this Press
Insert an empty field. COMMAND+F9
Insert a line break. Shift+Return
Insert a page break. COMMAND+Return
Insert a column break. COMMAND+Shift+Return
Insert a nonbreaking hyphen. COMMAND+Shift+Hyphen (-)
Insert a registered trademark symbol (®). Option+R
Insert a trademark symbol (™). Option+2

Work with tables

Move around in a table

To do this Press
Move to the next cell and select its content. Tab key
Move to the previous cell and select its content. Shift+Tab
Move to the next row. Down arrow key
Move to the previous row. Up arrow key
Move to the first cell in the row. Control+Home
Move to the last cell in the row. Control+End
Move to the first cell in the column. Control+Page up
Move to the last cell in the column. Control+Page down
Add a new row to the bottom of the table. Tab key, at the end of the last row
Insert a row. COMMAND+Control+I

Select table content

To do this Press
Select the content in the next cell. Tab key
Select the content in the previous cell. Shift+Tab
Extend a selection to adjacent cells. Shift+Arrow keys
Select a row. Select the first or last cell in the row, and then press Shift+Alt+End or Home.

Resize table columns with the ruler

To do this Press
Retain the column sizes to the right and change the table width. Drag the column boundary in the ruler
Move a single column line and retain the table width. Shift+Drag the column boundary in the ruler
Equally resize all columns to the right and retain the table width. COMMAND+Shift+Drag the column boundary in the ruler
Proportionally resize all columns to the right and retain the table width. COMMAND+Drag the column boundary in the ruler

Resize table columns directly in a table

Tip: To finely adjust the column width and display the column’s measurements in the ruler when you resize the column, turn off the snap-to functionality by pressing Option with the shortcut keys.

To do this Press
Move a single column line and retain the table width. Drag the column boundary
Retain column sizes to the right and change the table width. Shift+Drag the column boundary
Equally resize all columns to the right and retain the table width. COMMAND+Shift+Drag the column boundary
Proportionally resize all columns to the right and retain the table width. COMMAND+Drag the column boundary

Insert paragraphs and tab characters in a table

To do this Press
Insert a new paragraph in a cell. Return
Insert a Tab character in a cell. Option+Tab

Drawing

To do this Press
Toggle drawing mode. COMMAND+Control+Z

Work with fields

To do this Press
Insert a DATE field. Control+Shift+D
Insert a LISTNUM field. COMMAND+Option+Shift+L
Insert a PAGE field. Control+Shift+P
Insert a TIME field. Control+Shift+T
Insert an empty field. COMMAND+F9
Update the selected fields. * F9
Switch between a field code and its result. * Shift+F9
Switch between all field codes and their results. Option+F9
Run GOTOBUTTON or MACROBUTTON from a field displaying field results. Option+Shift+F9
Lock a field. COMMAND+F11
Unlock a field. COMMAND+Shift+F11

Outline a document

These shortcuts only apply when the document is in the Outline view.
To do this Press
Promote a paragraph. Control+Shift+Left arrow key
Demote a paragraph. Control+Shift+Right arrow key
Demote the paragraph to body text. COMMAND+Shift+N
Move the selected paragraphs up. * Control+Shift+Up arrow key
Move the selected paragraphs down. * Control+Shift+Down arrow key
Expand the text under a heading. Control+Shift+Plus sign (+)
Collapse text under a heading. * Control+Shift+Minus sign (-)
Expand all body text and headings, or collapse all body text. Control+Shift+A
Switch between showing the first line of body text and showing all body text. Control+Shift+L
Show all headings with the specified heading level. Control+Shift+Heading level number

Review a document

To do this Press
Insert a comment. COMMAND+Option+A
Turn change tracking on or off. COMMAND+Shift+E
Move to the beginning of a comment. Home
Move to the end of a comment. End (The End key is not available on all keyboards.)
Move to the beginning of the list of comments. COMMAND+Home, in the Reviewing Pane.
Move to the end of the list of comments. COMMAND+End, in the Reviewing Pane.

Use footnotes and endnotes

To do this Press
Insert a footnote. COMMAND+Option+F
Insert an endnote. COMMAND+Option+E

Work with right-to-left languages

Word supports right-to-left functionality for languages that work in a right-to-left or a combined right-to-left, left-to-right environment for writing, editing, and displaying text. In this context, right-to-left languages refers to any writing system that is written from right to left and includes languages that require contextual shaping, such as Arabic, and languages that do not. Before you can use these keyboard shortcuts, you need to ensure keyboard shortcuts are enabled for the language you are using:
  1. Go to Apple > System Preferences > Keyboard.
  2. On the Input Sources tab, select the language for which you want to enable shortcuts.
  3. On the right side of the tab, select the check box for Enable keyboard shortcuts.
To do this Press
Switch the writing direction to right-to-left. Control+COMMAND+ Left arrow key
Switch the writing direction to left-to-right.

Control+COMMAND+ Right arrow key

Use function key shortcuts

Word for Mac uses the function keys for common commands, including Copy and Paste. For quick access to these shortcuts, you can change your Apple system preferences so you don’t have to press the Fn key every time you use a function key shortcut.

Note: Changing system function key preferences affects how the function keys work on your Mac, not just in Word. After changing this setting, you can still perform the special features printed on a function key. Just press the Fn key. For example, to use the F12 key to change your volume, press Fn+F12.

If a function key doesn’t work as you expect it to, press the Fn key in addition to the function key. If you don’t want to press the Fn key each time, you can change your Apple system preferences. For instructions, go to Change function key preferences.

The following table provides the function key shortcuts for Word for Mac.
Key Description
F1
  • F1 alone: undoes the previous action.
F2
  • F2 alone: cuts the selected content to the Clipboard.
  • Shift+F2: copies the selected text or graphic. Use the arrow keys to place the cursor where you want to copy the text or graphic, and then press Return to copy, or press Esc to cancel.
F3
  • F3 alone: copies the selected content to the Clipboard.
  • Shift+F3: switches the selected text between upper case, lower case, and title case.
  • COMMAND+F3: cuts the selected content to the Spike. You can cut multiple texts and graphics to the Spike, and paste them as a group to another location.
  • COMMAND+Shift+F3: pastes the contents of the Spike.
  • Option+F3: creates an AutoText entry.
F4
  • F4 alone: pastes the content from the Clipboard.
  • Shift+F4: repeats the last Find or Go To action.
  • COMMAND Shift+F4: repeats the last Find or Go To action.
F5
  • F5 alone: displays the Go To dialog box.
  • Shift+F5: moves the cursor to the last change.
  • COMMAND+Shift+F5: displays the Bookmark dialog.
F6
  • F6 alone: switch between the document, task pane, status bar, and ribbon. In a document that has been split, F6 includes the split panes when switching between panes and the task pane.
  • Shift+F6: switches between the document, ribbon, status bar, and task pane.
  • COMMAND+F6: switches to the next document window when more than one document is open.
  • COMMAND+Shift+F6: switches to the previous document window when more than one document is open.
F7
  • F7 alone: displays the Spelling and Grammar dialog box.
  • Shift+F7: displays the Thesaurus task pane.
  • COMMAND+Shift+F7: updates the linked information in a Word source document.
  • Option+F7: finds the next spelling or grammatical error.
  • Option+Shift+F7: opens the Dictionary.
F8
  • F8 alone *: extends the selection. For example, if a word is selected, the selection size is extended to one sentence.
  • Shift+F8 *: reduces the selection. For example, if a paragraph is selected, the selection size is reduced to one sentence.
  • COMMAND+Shift+F8: turns extend selection mode on and off. In the extend selection mode, the arrow keys extend the selection.
  • Option+F8: displays the Macro dialog box to create, run, edit, or delete a macro.
F9
  • F9 alone *: updates the selected fields.
  • Shift+F9 *: switches between a field code and its result.
  • COMMAND+F9: inserts an empty field.
  • COMMAND+Shift+F9: unlinks the current field.
  • Option+F9: switches between all field codes and their results.
  • Option+Shift+F9: runs GOTOBUTTON or MACROBUTTON from a field displaying field results.
F10
  • Shift+F10 *: displays the shortcut menu for the selected item.
F11
  • F11 alone *: moves to the next field.
  • Shift+F11 *: moves to the previous field.
  • COMMAND+F11: locks the current field.
  • COMMAND+Shift+F11: unlocks the current field.
  • Option+F11: opens the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications editor, in which you can create a macro using Visual Basic for Applications (VBA).

Change function key preferences

  1. In the Apple menu, select System Preferences.
  2. Select Keyboard.
  3. On the Keyboard tab, select the check box for Use all F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys.

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