Keyboard Lessons: How to Use Keyboard Shortcuts, Symbols and Hotkeys

Issac put on his formal attire and ran to get his car out of the garage, it was 9:30 and he hoped that there wouldn’t be any traffic on the road. He turned on the ignition and pressed the accelerator and off he was! The interview went nicely and they told him he could join work in 2 weeks…Issac had never been happier, he had got his dream job and salary, now the only thing lurking in his mind was how he could improve his keyboard skills and master all the shortcut symbols. He went home, called his mother up with the good news and then got himself a cup of coffee and some cookies and placed the laptop on the table, ready to begin his computer keyboard lessons!

Knowing the computer keyboard hotkeys does simplify your life. So now I think we should begin with the lessons.

Computer Keyboard Symbols and Shortcuts

Functions Related to Files

• Ctrl + S = To save a file
• Ctrl + N = To create a new document
• Ctrl + O = To open an existing file
• Ctrl + P = To print a file or folder
• Ctrl + W = To close an open file or folder

Functions Related to Paragraph Alignment

• Ctrl + J = To justify a paragraph
• Ctrl + L = To left align a paragraph
• Ctrl + R = To right align a paragraph
• Ctrl + E = To center align a paragraph

Functions Related to Line Spacing

• Ctrl + 1 = For single line spacing
• Ctrl + 2 = For double line spacing
• Ctrl + 5 = For 1 ½ line spacing

Functions Related to Font Styles (when text is selected)

• Ctrl + B = For bold
• Ctrl + I = For Italic
• Ctrl + U = To underline

Functions Related to Page Scrolling

• Ctrl + Home = To reach the top of the document
• Ctrl + End = To reach the bottom of the document
• Ctrl + Page Up = To reach the top of the page
• Ctrl + Page Down = To reach the bottom of the page

Functions Related to Editing

• Ctrl + A = To select all
• Ctrl + X = To cut
• Ctrl + C = To copy
• Ctrl + V = To paste
• Ctrl + F = To find
• Ctrl + H = To find and release
• Ctrl + Z = To undo
• Ctrl + Y = To redo

Functions Using The Alt Key

• Alt + 0176 = Degrees
• Alt + 0162 = For the symbol ¢
• Alt + 0188 = For the fraction ¼
• Alt + 0189 = For the fraction ½
• Alt + 0190 = For the fraction ¾
• Alt + 0163 = For the symbol £
• Alt + 0169 = For the symbol ©
• Alt + 0174 = For the symbol ®
• Alt + 0165 = For the symbol ¥
• Alt + 0177 = For the symbol ±
• Alt + 0247 = For the symbol ÷
• Alt + 0166 = For the symbol ¦
• Alt + 0149 = For the symbol •
• Alt + 0134 = For the symbol †
• Alt + 0227 = For the symbol ã
• Alt + 0151 = For the symbol —
• Alt + 0150 = For the symbol –

More PC Keyboard Shortcuts

• Windows Key + E = Opens window explorer
• Windows Key + F = Finds files and folders
• Windows Key + R = The Run command is brought up
• Window Key + Pause/Break = Will take you to the systems profile
• Windows Key + D = Helps you toggle between the desktop and the other thing you are working on
• F1 = For help
• F7 = To check the spelling
• Shift + F7 = To go to the thesaurus
• F12 = To save as….
• Alt + F4 = To exit the program
• Ctrl + Alt + Del = To break out of a lockup and open task manager

I hope that by now you are familiar with the computer keyboard keys on you personal computer. The knowledge listed here will also help you with your Mac computer. All you need to do is use the Command key instead of the Control key.