15 Helpful Keyboard Shortcuts that Save You Time While Writing

Keyboard shortcuts are easy to learn and can be a huge time saver. Most people lose an average of 2 seconds per minute of work by switching back and forth from their mouse to their keyboard. By learning just a few shortcuts, you could save several hours over the course of a year.

Let’s assume you work 8 hours a day, roughly 220 days a year. By the following calculation, you could waste up to 64 hours each year by not using any keyboard shortcuts. 

Scientific and medical writers can benefit from learning keyboard shortcuts for common and Greek symbols. And they can benefit even more from using more common shortcuts, such as copying text, opening a new window, or saving a document.

Below is a list of common keyboard shortcuts guaranteed to make your process of writing easier and more efficient. 

Mac

Command + X: Cut selected text

Command + C: Copy selected text

Command + V: Paste copied text

Command + Z: Undo last change

Command + Y: Redo last change

Command + S: Save file

Command + F: Find

Command + B: Bold selected text

Command + I: Italicize selected text

Command + U: Underline selected text

Command + A: Select all text

Option + —>: Move cursor to next word

Option + <—: Move cursor to previous word

Shift + Option + —>: Select next word

Shift + Option + <—: Select previous word

Windows

Ctrl + X: Cut selected text

Ctrl + C: Copy selected text

Ctrl + V: Paste copied text

Ctrl + Z: Undo last change

Ctrl + Y: Redo last change

Ctrl + S: Save file

Ctrl + F: Find

Command + B: Bold selected text

Ctrl + I: Italicize selected text

Ctrl + U: Underline selected text

Ctrl + A: Select all text

Ctrl + —>: Move cursor to next word

Ctrl + <—: Move cursor to previous word

Shift + Ctrl + —>: Select next word

Shift + Ctrl + <—: Select previous word