If you work on your computer all day, being able to use it efficiently can really help save you time and make you more productive. One way to do this is by learning and using some common shortcuts. By just learning a few very basic ones, you may be able to double your speed, especially if you are working with a lot of text, code, spreadsheets, etc.

Common PC Wide Shortcuts

A few shortcuts work across the board in different software packages, such as Word, Firefox, IE, Paint, etc. These are ones that are really worth learning and using since they are commonly used and since once you learn them, they work everywhere. I will try to list these in order of importance. However, this is just my opinion. If you are doing a ton of writing, my order below may be a little off for you personally.

• Ctrl + C – Let’s you copy selected text/files
• Ctrl + X – Cuts selected text/files
• Ctrl + V – Pastes copied or cut text/files
• Ctrl + Z – Undo Previous action
• Ctrl + Y – Redo the last performed action
• Ctrl + A – Let’s you select all the contents of a document, file, etc
• Ctrl + B – Let’s you bold highlighted text
• Ctrl + I – Changes highlighted words to Italic
• Ctrl + U – Underline highlighted words
• Ctrl + P – Print
• Ctrl + S – This is often used to Save a file, spreadsheet, or document
• Ctrl + O – This is often used to Open a file, spreadsheet, or document
• Ctrl + Home – Move the cursor to the top of the document
• Ctrl + End – Move the cursor to the end of the document

These are just a few of the common ones that I would recommend learning. You will be amazed how much faster you are able to get your work done if you are efficient at using your PC.

Software Specific Shortcuts

To go along with the above shortcuts, if you use a specific software often, it would be a great idea to learn and use the shortcuts for that specific software. For example, I do a lot of programming, so it makes sense for me to learn the shortcuts in MS Excel, MS Visual VB.net, and Editplus. By using the basic shortcuts above plus a few software specific ones, I am really able to be efficient when coding.