50+ Basic Keyboard Shortcut Keys and Their Functions

The more our daily work and lives depend on digital gadgets, the higher there is need for basic keyboard shortcut keys. We need laptops and computers for studies, jobs, or entertainment in our daily lives. The use of keyboard shortcut keys makes increased use of computers simpler. The shortcuts greatly ease our work and make it fast. They also reduce the need for a mouse and navigate menus repeatedly. Keyboard shortcut keys are a combined set of 2 or more keys that give commands to a computer to perform an action.

Let us go through the basic keyboard key combinations that will ease your computer usage and help you perform tasks in a better and quicker way.

Initially, we will go through the combination of two keys. Check out how all alphabets along with the ‘Control’ key can ease basic computational operations pretty well!

The table below covers a basic combination of all single literals in alphabetical order along with the Ctrl key.

Ctrl and Single Alphabets

Key Combination	Function
Ctrl+A	Selects everything
Ctrl+B	Bolds the text or removes bold
Ctrl+C	Copies the selected test or image to the clipboard
Ctrl+D	Add the current webpage to the bookmarks or favorites list
Ctrl+E	Aligns a line or the selected text to the center of a screen
Ctrl+F	Helps find a specified text
Ctrl+G	Shows the go-to dialog box, and helps navigate to a specific page
Ctrl+H	Opens find or replace dialogue
Ctrl+I	Changes a text to italic style
Ctrl+J	View recently downloaded files
Ctrl+K	Helps insert a hyperlink
Ctrl+L	Aligns a text or line to the left side of the screen
Ctrl+M	Helps intend a paragraph
Ctrl+N	Opens a new or blank document
Ctrl+O	Opens a file in a software
Ctrl+P	Opens the print window
Ctrl+Q	Helps remove paragraph formatting in MS Word
Ctrl+R	Refreshes a specific page
Ctrl+S	Saves a particular file or document
Ctrl+T	Opens a new or blank tab
Ctrl+U	Helps underline a text
Ctrl+V	Pastes an image, text, or any other copied or cut item
Ctrl+W	Closes the currently opened document
Ctrl+X	Cuts a specific file, or text to paste somewhere
Ctrl+Y	Reverses the undo command
Ctrl+Z	Undo the command of the keyboard to get back previous changes

Let us go through some commands made from a combination of two keyboard keys along with the Ctrl key.

Ctrl with Two Keys Combination

Key Combination	Function
Ctrl+Shift+Esc	Opens Windows task manager
Ctrl+Alt+Delete	Force an unresponsive or frozen program to quit. This keyboard shortcut opens the Task Manager. You can then select the unresponsive application and close it.

Ctrl with character Keys Combination

Key Combination	Function
Ctrl+`	Used in Microsoft Excel to change between cell values or formulas
Ctrl+’	Copy formula from a cell above in Microsoft Excel
Ctrl+=	Decrease the font size of the text in text editors like Microsoft Word
Ctrl+[	Decrease font size of selected text
Ctrl+]	Increase the font size of selected text
Ctrl++	Zooms in or increases font on a page
Ctrl+-	Zooms out or decreases the font of a page
Ctrl+,	Decreases the font size of the highlighted text in Microsoft Word
Ctrl+.	Increase the font size of the highlighted text in Microsoft Word
Ctrl+;	Inserts current date to Microsoft Excel spreadsheet
Ctrl+/	Locks or unlock a layer in Adobe Photoshop
Ctrl+\	selects cells in Excel or other sheets with a static value

Ctrl with Operational Keys Combination

Key Combination	Function
Ctrl+Del	Deletes the word to the right side of a cursor, works in many programs like Microsoft Office
Ctrl+Enter	Autocompletes a URL in the address bar
Ctrl+End	Moves cursor to document end
Ctrl+Esc	Opens Windows start menu
Ctrl+Space	Selects an entire column in an Excel sheet
Ctrl+Tab	Moves between adjacent tabs in a browser or other software that has tab support

Ctrl with Arrow Keys Combination

Key Combination	Function
Ctrl+arrow_up	Moves to a top or first entry of a data set, like the first cell in an Excel sheet
Ctrl+arrow_down	Moves to a bottom-most entry of a data set, like the last cell in an Excel sheet
Ctrl+arrow_left	Moves a word toward the left
Ctrl+arrow_right	Moves a word toward the right

Ctrl with F Numerals Keys Combination

Key Combination	Function
Ctrl+F1	Opens the Help screen for programs
Ctrl+F2	Helps rename a specific file or folder
Ctrl+F3	Opens search for an active application
Ctrl+F4	Closes an active window
Ctrl+F5	Hard refreshes a browser
Ctrl+F6	Moves cursor to address / URL bar in a browser
Ctrl+F7	Spell checks or grammar checks a document of Microsoft Apps like Word file
Ctrl+F8	Helps access boot menu while turning on your PC
Ctrl+F9	To refresh a Microsoft Word document / send or receive emails
Ctrl+F10	Opens a menu bar of an active application. It works like a right click
Ctrl+F11	To enter and exit full screen mode for browsers
Ctrl+F12	Opens the ‘Save As’ dialogue in a Word document

Ctrl with Numeral Keys Combinations

Key Combination	Function
Ctrl+0	Restores default zoom level
Ctrl+1	Moves to the first tab of a browser or other software that has tabs
Ctrl+2	Moves to the second tab of a browser or other software that has tabs
Ctrl+3	Moves to the third tab of a browser or other software that has tabs
Ctrl+4	Moves to the fourth tab of a browser or other software that has tabs
Ctrl+5	Moves to the fifth tab of a browser or other software that has tabs
Ctrl+6	Moves to the sixth tab of a browser or other software that has tabs
Ctrl+7	Moves to the seventh tab of a browser or other software that has tabs
Ctrl+8	Moves to the eighth tab of a browser or other software that has tabs
Ctrl+9	Moves to the last tab of a browser or other software that has tabs