Windows Text-Editing Shortcuts

 

The general rules are

  1. Positioning is done via the mouse or the  Arrow Keys plus Home and End

  2. CTRL changes character operations into word operations

  3. SHIFT is held down during cursor repositioning to select.

You can also get reminders of some of these shortcuts via an application's pull down menus. Any available shortcuts are usually given to the right hand side of the pull down.

 


Actions
Undo last action CTRL+Z
Redo last action CTRL+Y
Close Window ALT-F4


Cursor Positioning
Start of Line Home
Start of Document CTRL + Home
End of Line End
End of Document CTRL + End
Next Character Right Arrow
Previous Character Left Arrow
Next Word CTRL + Right Arrow
Previous Word CTRL + Left Arrow
Next Line Down Arrow
Previous Line UP Arrow
Next Window TAB


Selection
Select whole document * CTRL+A
Select Whole Line Click mouse to the left of the start of line (cursor changes to pointer)
Select to Start of line Shift + Home
Select to Start of Line Shift + End
Select Word Shift + CTRL + Left or Right arrow
Select Character Shift + Left or Right Arrow
Select text Position cursor, hold down shift key, reposition cursor using any of the mouse or keyboard shortcuts. (Equivalent to holding down the left mouse button whilst repositioning)


Delete, Cut and Paste
Copy selection CTRL+C
Cut selection CTRL+X
Paste CTRL+V
Delete left character Backspace
Delete right character Delete
Delete selection Backspace or Delete
Delete to start of word (Left) * CTRL + Backspace
Delete to start of word (Right) * CTRL + Delete

* Known only to work in some applications