Do you want to work faster with Microsoft Word? Then you should do without the mouse - whenever it is possible. Here are some useful keyboard shortcuts for you. Even if you are already familiar with them, it won't hurt refreshing your memory!

For the purposes of this article, we assume that you are familiar with the most common key combinations: CTRL + C to copy, CTRL + V to paste, etc.We will focus on some additional Word-specific shortcuts that will save you plenty of time in your daily work. We have selected ten of them that should work regardless of the Word version and the default language you have installed. Some of them, however, may not be available: we reccomend testing these shortcuts before working with them.

1) SHIFT+F5
It takes you back to the three previous positions occupied by the cursor - one by one. When you type the shortcut for the fourth time, you go back to the starting position.

2) F8+arrow keys
It selects a text to the desired point. To exit this mode you must press Esc. It corresponds to clicking and dragging with the mouse.

3) CTRL+SHIFT+F8
It selects a rectangular portion of the text. This is useful when you have to delete characters in a specific area of the text. This operation would take longer using the search-replace function. For example, you can use this shortcut to delete the >>> characters that are automatically inserted at the beginning of the line in certain e-mail programs.

4) SHIFT+F3
It converts the selected text from lowercase to uppercase, going from lowercase, to initial caps, to all caps. For example, you can use this shortcut to apply a consistent format to glossary terms.

5) CTRL+Spacebar
It deletes the font format restoring the default font. It if very helpful if you happen to mess up with the fonts!

6) CTRL+F2
It opens a print preview of the active document. It is very useful while reviewing a document.

7) F4
It repeats the last command executed. It is extremely useful for repetitive tasks that cannot be automatically executed with a macro. For example, you can use it to apply the style of a text section to other sections.There are endless uses for this shortcut. Just make sure you remember the last command you executed. Deliting a character is a command, so pressing F4 will repeat it (deleting another character).

8) SHIFT+F4
It repeats the last search or the last Go To function.

9) CTRL+SHIFT+C / CTRL+SHIFT+V
It copies and pastes the format of a selected text. It is the same as using the yellow brush icon in the tool bar.

10) CTRL+F6 / CTRL+SHIFT+F6
It navigates through all open Word documents.

As always, some of these shortcuts may seem a little difficult to get used to. However, we guarantee that after learning how to use them, you will not be able to do without them. For further information please visit "Microsoft MVP - The Word MVP Site".

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