Shortcuts for Microsoft Word Ctrl+A Select all contents of the page Ctrl+B Bold highlighted selection Ctrl+X Cutselected text Ctrl+C Copy selected text Ctrl+V Paste selected text. Ctrl+F Open find box Ctrl+H Open replace box Ctrl+G orF5 Go to Ctrl+I Italicize highlighted section Ctrl+J Justify paragraph Ctrl+K Insert hyperlink. Select the text or graphic that you want to highlight. To stop highlighting, select the arrow next to Text Highlight Color and select Stop Highlighting, or press Esc. The mouse pointer becomes a when you point to your document. Remove highlighting from part or all of a document.

Using Keyboard Shortcuts in MS Word

You can avoid reaching for the mouse if you are familiar with keyboard shortcuts.

If you forget one of these, use the mouse and go to the menu bar.

In each pull down menu you will see keyboard commands given in the right side of the window.

Commonly used keyboard combinations

To use one of these combinations Hold the Ctrl or Alt key down and strike the letter key

Ctrl+N	Open a new word document quickly.	Ctrl+X	Cut- Removes the selection from the active document and places it on the clipboard.
Ctrl+O	Opens a previously saved document.	Ctrl+C	Copies the selection to the clipboard
Ctrl+W	Closes the active window, but does not Exit Word.	Ctrl+V	Paste - Inserts the contents of the clipboard at the insertion point (cursor) or whatever is selected.
Ctrl+S	Saves the active document with its current file name, location and format.	Ctrl+A	Selects all text and graphics in the active window.
Ctrl+P	Prints the active file, also gives the opportunity to change print options	Ctrl+F	Find - Searches for specified text in the active document
Alt+F4	Exit - Closes Microsoft Word.	Ctrl+B	Bold - Formats selected text; make text bold, or remove bold formatting
Ctrl+Z	Undo the last action. This selection can be repeated several times.	Ctrl+I	Italic - Formats selected text; make text italic or remove italic
Ctrl+Y	Redo - After an action has been undone, it can be reinstated in the document.	Ctrl+U	Underline - Formats selected text; make text underlined or remove underline

Microsoft Word Shortcut For Highlighting Words

Less commonly used keyboard combinations

Increase selected text in increments like the drop down font menu (Thanks Daniel)	Apply superscript formatting
Decrease selected text in increments like the drop down font menu	Apply subscript formatting
Increase selected text one point	Copy formats
Decrease selected text one point	Paste formats
Change case of the letters	Single space lines
Underline words but not spaces	Set 1.5 line spacing
Double underline text	Double space lines
Center a paragraph	Delete one word to the left
Justify a paragraph	Delete one word to the right
Left align a paragraph	Right align a paragraph
Indent a paragraph from the left	Insert a line break
Create a hanging indent	Reduce a hanging indent
If text is already selected and you want to extend the selection area
Extend selection one character to the left	Extend selection one character to the right
Extend selection to the end of a word	Extend selection to the beginning of a word
If you want to move the cursor
One character to the right	One character to the left
One word to the right	One word to the left
To the end of a document	To the beginning of a document
This list is by no means complete. To find other keyboard combinations check the Word help index.

Assignment

Leave your browser window open. Open Microsoft Word, if it is not already open.

1. Open a new Word document and type a line of text. If you wish to do so you could copy this line and paste it into the document.
2. Do not reach for your mouse
3. Move your cursor back into the middle of the line you just typed
4. Highlight more than one word (Hint: Extend to left or right to highlight more than the cursor width.)
5. Cut the highlighted text from the document
6. Open a new Word document
7. Paste the text you cut from the first document into the new document
8. Save the document

Each of the steps in the list above should have been accomplished without the use of your mouse. If you reached for the rodent, review the two tables above, go back to step 1 and try again. Good luck.

Exhaustive list of shortcuts in the form of a word document.
Exhaustive list of shortcuts in the form of an excel document.
A Windows Keyboard is available showing general PC/Windows keyboard shortcuts

Go to Entering and Editing Text in Microsoft Word
Go back to Using Microsoft Word to Produce Classroom Documents

Frank noted that it seems the Highlight tool is only accessible by using the mouse. He prefers to not use the mouse, preferring the keyboard instead. He wondered if there was a way to highlight selected words using just the keyboard.

Microsoft Word Shortcut For Highlighting Cells

Before answering, there is something that needs to be clarified: There is some ambiguity when it comes to the word 'highlight.' For instance, if I say I am going to highlight a word, some people think that means I am going to double-click the word. This isn't highlighting; it is selecting. In Word parlance, the two words have very specific meanings. You select text before you are going to do something with it, such as applying an editing or formatting command. Highlighting, on the other hand, is a formatting task accomplished by using the Highlight tool. (The Highlight tool is available on the Formatting toolbar. It is analogous to a highlighter you use to mark text on a printed page.) In short, you first select text, and then you highlight the selected text by using the Highlight tool.

The ambiguity around the word 'highlight' was evident when WordTips subscribers were asked how they can highlight text using the keyboard only, and not the mouse. Many were quick to respond with ways that told how to use the keyboard to select text, such as holding down the Shift key while using the arrow keys or using any number of other selection methods. While this is helpful, it is only part of the solution. The other part deals with how you can actually highlight whatever text has been selected, using just the keyboard.

Word provides no built-in shortcut that will apply a highlight to text, but you can easily create your own shortcut by following these steps:

Microsoft Word Shortcut For Highlighting

1. Choose Customize from the Tools menu. Word displays the Customize dialog box.
2. Click on the Keyboard button. Word displays the Customize Keyboard dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Customize Keyboard dialog box.

3. Using the Categories list, choose All Commands.
4. Using the Commands list, choose Highlight.
5. Position the insertion point in the Press New Shortcut Key text box.
6. Press the shortcut key you want to use for highlighting. For instance, you might want to press Alt+H.
7. Click Assign. This assigns the shortcut key to the Highlight command.
8. Click on OK to dismiss the Customize Keyboard dialog box.
9. Click on OK to dismiss the Customize dialog box.

Microsoft Word Shortcut For Highlighting Rows

You can now use the shortcut key you specified in step 6 to highlight any text you've selected.