Working with Text

Windows and most applications support the following keyboard shortcuts for working with text.

Shortcuts for Deleting Text

You can use the following keyboard shortcuts for deleting text.

Delete one character to the left of the insertion point

[Backspace]

Delete one word to the left of the insertion point

[Ctrl] - [Backspace]

Delete one character to the right of the insertion point

[Delete]

Delete one word to the right of the insertion point

[Shift] - [Delete]

Shortcuts for Moving Around in Text

You can use the following keyboard shortcuts to move the insertion point around in text.

Move one character to the left

[ ]

Move one character to the right

[ ’ ]

Move up one line

[ ‘ ]

Move down one line

[ “ ]

Move one word to the left

[Ctrl] - [ ]

Move one word to the right

[Ctrl] - [ ’ ]

Move to the beginning of the line

[Home]

Move to the end of the line

[End]

Move up one paragraph

[Ctrl] - [ ‘ ]

Move down one paragraph

[Ctrl] - [ “ ]

Move to the beginning of the current item

[Ctrl] - [Home]

The exact effect of this shortcut depends on what the current item is. For example, pressing [Ctrl] - [Home] in a text box moves the insertion point to the beginning of the text box. Pressing [Ctrl] - [Home] in a Word document moves the insertion point to the beginning of the document.

Move to the end of the current item

[Ctrl] - [End]

The exact effect of this shortcut depends on what the current item is. For example, pressing [Ctrl] - [End] in a text box moves the insertion point to the end of the text box. Pressing [Ctrl] - [End] in a Word document moves the insertion point to the end of the document.

Shortcuts for Selecting Text and Objects

You can use the following keyboard shortcuts to select text and objects.

Select the next character to the right

[Shift] - [ ’ ]

Select the next character to the left

[Shift] - [ ]

Select to the end of the current word or next word

[Ctrl] - [Shift] - [ ’ ]

If the insertion point is in a word, pressing [Ctrl] - [Shift] - 2 selects to the end of that word. If the insertion point is between words, pressing this shortcut selects to the end of the next word.

Select to the beginning of the current word or previous word

[Ctrl] - [Shift] - [ ]

If the insertion point is in a word, pressing [Ctrl] - [Shift] - 1 selects to the start of that word. If the insertion point is between words, pressing this shortcut selects to the start of the previous word.

Select one line up

[Shift] - [ ‘ ]

Select one line down

[Shift] - [ “ ]

Move the focus to the next object

[Tab]

Move the focus to the previous object

[Shift] - [Tab]