Keyboard shortcuts that save you time

Anyone who works at a computer repeats the same actions hundreds of times a day: copying text, switching between windows, opening a new page in the browser, saving a file. Reaching for a menu with the mouse takes a few seconds each time, and by the end of the day those seconds add up to a fair amount of time. Keyboard shortcuts are key combinations that carry out these actions instantly. In this article we look at how to learn them, the general and text-editing shortcuts that work everywhere, useful shortcuts for Windows, browsers, Telegram Desktop and macOS, and how to switch keyboard languages. At the end you will find common mistakes, a practice exercise and a cheat sheet in table form.

Shortcuts specific to Word and Excel (formatting, alignment, working with formulas) are covered in separate articles: Word basics and Excel and Google Sheets basics. We do not repeat them here.

Why shortcuts matter and how to learn them

Pressing Ctrl + S is quicker than finding File → Save in the menu. For a single action the difference is small, but you repeat it hundreds of times a day. When your hands stay on the keyboard, your train of thought is not interrupted either. Some tasks are also much easier with a shortcut, such as reopening a browser tab you closed by accident or capturing part of the screen. And a candidate who moves around a computer with ease during a test task stands out straight away.

How to press a shortcut

“Ctrl + C” means: press Ctrl first and, without letting go, press C, then release both keys. Three-key shortcuts work the same way. Win is the key with the Windows logo. Shortcuts work whatever keyboard layout is active: Ctrl + C copies even when the Russian layout is on.

Three to five a week

Trying to memorise a hundred shortcuts in one day is pointless: within a week they will be gone. Here is an approach that works:

1. Pick a small group. Three to five shortcuts a week. For the first week, take the ones you use most: copy, paste, undo, save.
2. Put up a sticky note. Write this week’s shortcuts on a small piece of paper and stick it to the edge of your monitor. When you forget, look at the note rather than the menu.
3. “Forget” the mouse on purpose. For the whole week, do these actions with the keyboard only, even if it is slower at first.
4. Test yourself at the end of the week. Without looking at the note, press each shortcut. Cross off the ones you have mastered and write in new ones.
5. Start with your own work. Notice which action you repeat most during the day and learn that shortcut first.

For example, Dilnoza works as an administrator at a training centre in Tashkent. Dozens of times a day she copies names from a list, pastes them into Telegram and switches in the browser between a spreadsheet and her email. Her first sticky note reads: Ctrl + C, Ctrl + V, Alt + Tab, Ctrl + Tab. In the second week: Ctrl + Shift + T, Win + V and Win + Shift + S.

General shortcuts that work everywhere

These shortcuts work the same way in almost every Windows program: text editors, browsers, messengers and the file manager.

• Ctrl + C: copy the selected text, image or file.
• Ctrl + X: cut, so the item is removed from its place and ready to be pasted elsewhere.
• Ctrl + V: paste what you copied or cut.
• Ctrl + Z: undo the last action. Press it several times to go back several steps.
• Ctrl + Y: redo an undone action. Some programs use Ctrl + Shift + Z instead.
• Ctrl + A: select all, whether that is the whole text or every file in a folder.
• Ctrl + S: save.
• Ctrl + F: find a word on the page or in the document.
• Ctrl + P: open the print dialogue.

Whatever you copy is held on the clipboard. Normally it keeps only the latest copy, and each new one replaces the previous one. You will find a way round this in the Windows section.

Ctrl + Z works in the file manager too: if you accidentally drag a file into the wrong folder or give it the wrong name, press Ctrl + Z straight away.

Working with text quickly

When you are writing a letter, an application or a message, placing the cursor with the mouse takes time. The following shortcuts work in Word, in browser form fields and in Telegram alike.

Moving the cursor

• Ctrl + left/right arrow: move the cursor word by word rather than letter by letter.
• Home / End: jump to the start or end of the line.
• Ctrl + Home / Ctrl + End: jump to the start or end of the whole text.

On laptops, Home and End often do not have keys of their own: they sit on the arrow keys and are pressed together with Fn.

Selecting with Shift

The rule is simple: add Shift and a movement becomes a selection.

• Shift + arrow: select one character or one line.
• Ctrl + Shift + left/right arrow: select word by word.
• Shift + Home / Shift + End: select from the cursor to the start or end of the line.

For example, Jasur is replying to a client and wants to rewrite his last sentence. He puts the cursor at the start of the sentence and presses Shift + End. The sentence is selected, and he simply starts typing the new text.

Deleting quickly

• Ctrl + Backspace: delete the whole word to the left of the cursor.
• Ctrl + Delete: delete the whole word to the right of the cursor.

Instead of deleting a mistyped word letter by letter, press Ctrl + Backspace once.

Windows system shortcuts

These shortcuts belong to Windows itself and work from any window.

Windows and programs

• Alt + Tab: switch between open windows. Hold Alt and press Tab repeatedly to choose the window you want.
• Win + D: minimise all windows and show the desktop. Press it again to bring the windows back.
• Win + E: open the file manager (File Explorer).
• Win + L: lock the computer. Use it whenever you step away from your desk, even for a minute.
• Win + left/right arrow: snap a window to the left or right half of the screen. Handy for comparing two documents side by side.
• Win + up/down arrow: maximise a window or make it smaller.
• Alt + F4: close the current window. If all windows are closed, this shortcut opens the shut-down dialogue.
• Ctrl + Shift + Esc: Task Manager. If a program freezes, you can close it from here.

Win + L is the simplest security step at work: on an unlocked computer, someone else can read your email or work chat. There is more on this in our article on online safety.

Screenshots and clipboard history

• Win + Shift + S: capture a selected part of the screen (a screenshot). The screen dims, you select the area you need and the image goes to the clipboard. Paste it into Telegram or an email with Ctrl + V. Click the notification that appears and you can crop the image, draw on it and save it.
• Win + V: clipboard history, a list of your last several copies from which you can pick the one you need. The first time you press it, Windows offers to turn it on; you can also enable it in Settings → System → Clipboard → Clipboard history.

Clipboard history is useful when you copy a name, a phone number and an address one after another and then paste them into a form one by one. But a copied password stays in the history too, so it is better not to turn it on on a shared computer.

Browser shortcuts

The following work the same way in Chrome, Edge and Firefox (unless stated otherwise).

Working with tabs

• Ctrl + T: open a new tab.
• Ctrl + W: close the current tab.
• Ctrl + Shift + T: reopen the last closed tab. Press it again and earlier closed tabs come back as well.
• Ctrl + Tab / Ctrl + Shift + Tab: go to the next or previous tab.
• Ctrl + click: open a link in a new tab without leaving the current page.

Address, search and zoom

• Ctrl + L: select the address bar so you can type a website address or a search query straight away.
• Ctrl + F: find a word on the page. It quickly takes you to the right place in a long job advert or contract.
• Ctrl + plus / Ctrl + minus: zoom the page in and out; Ctrl + 0: back to the original size.
• Ctrl + Shift + N: private window in Chrome and Edge; in Firefox it is Ctrl + Shift + P.

For example, Bekzod, a recent graduate in Samarkand, is comparing several job adverts. He opens each one in a separate tab with Ctrl + click, moves between them with Ctrl + Tab, searches for the requirements with Ctrl + F and closes the ones he does not need with Ctrl + W. If he closes the wrong one by mistake, Ctrl + Shift + T brings it back.

Useful shortcuts in Telegram Desktop

A large share of work messaging happens in Telegram. Below are shortcuts that have worked in its desktop version for a long time; details may change with updates.

• Shift + Enter: start a new line without sending the message. Enter sends the message immediately.
• Up arrow: when the message field is empty, edit the last message you sent.
• Esc: cancel a reply or an edit; press it again to close the open chat.
• Ctrl + F: search for messages in the open chat.
• Ctrl + B / Ctrl + I: make the selected text bold or italic.
• Ctrl + K: attach a link to the selected word.
• Ctrl + L: lock Telegram. It only works if a passcode is set in Settings → Privacy and Security → Local passcode.

macOS equivalents

On a Mac most shortcuts are the same, except that Cmd (Command) replaces Ctrl: Cmd + C, Cmd + V, Cmd + Z, Cmd + S, Cmd + F, and in the browser Cmd + T, Cmd + W, Cmd + L. These are the ones that differ:

• Redo: Cmd + Shift + Z.
• Switch between apps: Cmd + Tab.
• Quit an app completely: Cmd + Q (Cmd + W only closes the window or tab).
• Screenshot: Cmd + Shift + 3 for the whole screen, Cmd + Shift + 4 for a selected area.
• Lock the screen: Ctrl + Cmd + Q.
• Move word by word: Option + arrow; start and end of the line: Cmd + left/right arrow.
• Delete a word: Option + Delete.
• Keyboard language: Ctrl + Space or, on newer models, the globe key.

Languages, Caps Lock and common mistakes

Adding a keyboard language

You do not need a separate layout to type Uzbek in the Latin script: the English (US) layout has every letter you need. To type in Cyrillic (Russian or Uzbek Cyrillic), add the language:

1. Open Settings → Time & language → Language & region.
2. Click Add a language, find the language you need (for example, Russian) and install it.
3. If you need the letters specific to Uzbek Cyrillic, type “Uzbek” in the search box and choose the Cyrillic option. The exact name may vary slightly between Windows versions.
4. An indicator for the current language (for example, ENG or RUS) appears in the right-hand corner of the taskbar.

Switching languages

• Win + Space: switch between installed languages; a list appears on the screen.
• Alt + Shift: the default switching shortcut on many computers.

You can change the shortcut in Settings → Time & language → Typing → Advanced keyboard settings → Input language hot keys, for example to Ctrl + Shift.

Common mistakes

• Caps Lock left on. The most common reason a password is “wrong”: passwords are case-sensitive. Check the light on your keyboard. For a single capital letter, use Shift, not Caps Lock.
• The wrong language. If the layout has switched to Russian while you type a password, the keys produce different letters. Check the language indicator before typing. If gibberish such as “Ghbdtn” appears on screen, a Russian word has been typed in the English layout: delete it with Ctrl + Backspace, switch the language and type it again.
• The Fn key. On many laptops, F1 to F12 control brightness or volume by default. If F5 does nothing, try Fn + F5.
• Trying to learn everything at once. Three to five shortcuts a week is enough.

Practice exercise and cheat sheet

A 15-minute exercise

Try to do it without touching the mouse.

1. Open your browser, create three tabs with Ctrl + T and use Ctrl + L to open this article in the first one.
2. Search for the word “Telegram” with Ctrl + F. Zoom in with Ctrl + plus and reset with Ctrl + 0.
3. Close one tab with Ctrl + W and bring it back with Ctrl + Shift + T.
4. In any text editor, write three sentences about yourself. Move word by word with Ctrl + left arrow, select the last sentence with Shift + End, cut it with Ctrl + X, jump to the start with Ctrl + Home and paste it with Ctrl + V.
5. Delete one word with Ctrl + Backspace and bring it back with Ctrl + Z.
6. Take a screenshot of the text with Win + Shift + S and paste it into Saved Messages in Telegram with Ctrl + V.
7. Use Win + left arrow and Win + right arrow to place the browser and the editor side by side, and switch between them with Alt + Tab.
8. Switch the language with Win + Space and switch it back. Finally, lock the computer with Win + L.

Cheat sheet

Checklist

• I press the general shortcuts (C, X, V, Z, Y, A, S, F, P) without thinking.
• I press Win + L whenever I leave my desk.
• I take screenshots with Win + Shift + S.
• I check the language and Caps Lock before typing a password.
• This week’s sticky note is on my monitor.

Learn a few shortcuts a week for a month, and you will find yourself using them without even noticing.

If you would like to learn to use a computer systematically with a teacher, take a look at our association’s free computer literacy programme and other training programmes. When you are ready, submit an application and our specialists will get in touch.