What are the F1 through F12 keys?

Question

What are the F1 through F12 keys?

Answer

Commonly known as "function keys", F1 through F12 may have a variety of different uses or no
use at all. Depending on the installed operating system and the software program currently open
will change how each of these keys operate. A program is capable of not only using each of the
function keys, but also combining the function keys with the ALT or CTRL key, for example,
Microsoft Windows users can press ALT + F4 to close the program currently active.

Below is a short-listing of some of the common functions of the functions keys on computers
running Microsoft Windows. As mentioned above not all programs support function keys and
may perform different tasks then those mentioned below. If you are looking for more specific
shortcut keys and function key examples we suggest seeing our shortcut key page.

F1

 Almost always used as the help key, almost every program will open the help screen when this
key is pressed.
 Enter CMOS Setup.
 Windows Key + F1 would open the Microsoft Windows help and support center.
 Open the Task Pane.

F2

 In Windows commonly used to rename a highlighted icon or file.

 Alt + Ctrl + F2 opens document window in Microsoft Word.
 Ctrl + F2 displays the print preview window in Microsoft Word.
 Enter CMOS Setup.

F3

 Often opens a search feature for many programs including Microsoft Windows.
 In MS-DOS or Windows command line F3 will repeat the last command.
  Shift + F3 will change the text in Microsoft Word from upper to lower case or a capital letter at
the beginning of every word.

F4

 Open find window.

 Repeat the last action performed (Word 2000+)
 Alt + F4 will close the program currently active in Microsoft Windows.
 Ctrl + F4 will close the open window within the current active window in Microsoft Windows.

F5

 In all modern Internet browsers pressing F5 will refresh or reload the page or document
window.
 Open the find, replace, and go to window in Microsoft Word.
 Starts a slideshow in PowerPoint.

F6

 Move the cursor to the Address bar in Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox.
 Ctrl + Shift + F6 opens to another open Microsoft Word document.

F7

 Commonly used to spell check and grammar check a document in Microsoft programs such as
Microsoft Word, Outlook, etc.
 Shift + F7 runs a Thesaurus check on the word highlighted.
 Turns on Caret browsing in Mozilla Firefox.

F8

 Function key used to enter the Windows startup menu, commonly used to access Windows Safe
Mode.

F9

 Opens the Measurements toolbar in Quark 5.0.

F10

 In Microsoft Windows activates the menu bar of an open application.

 Shift + F10 is the same as right-clicking on a highlighted icon, file, or Internet link.
 Access the hidden recovery partition on HP and Sony computers.
 Enter CMOS Setup.

F11
  Full-screen mode in all modern Internet browsers.
 Ctrl + F11 as computer is starting to access the hidden recovery partition on many Dell
computers.
 Access the hidden recovery partition on eMachines, Gateway, and Lenovo computers.

F12

 Open the Save as window in Microsoft Word.

 Shift + F12 save the Microsoft Word document.
 Ctrl + Shift + F12 prints a document in Microsoft Word.
 Preview a page in Microsoft Expression Web
 Open Firebug.

Tip: Earlier IBM computers also had F13 - F24 on the keyboards. However, because these
keyboards are no longer used they are not listed on this page.

Computer keyboard shortcut keys

Shortcut keys ABCs

Shortcut keys help provide an easier and usually quicker method of navigating and using
computer software programs. Shortcut keys are commonly accessed by using the Alt (on IBM
compatible computers), command key (on Apple computers), Ctrl, or Shift in conjunction with a
single letter. The de facto standard for listing a shortcut is listing the modifier key, a plus symbol,
and the single character. In other words, "ALT+S" is telling you to press the Alt key and while
continuing to hold the Alt key, press the S key to perform the shortcut.

In addition to the shortcuts listed on this page, users can find the
shortcut keys to their most popular program by looking for underlined letters in their menus. For
example, in the picture to the right you'll can notice that the "F" in File has been underlined. This
means you can press the Alt key and F to access the File menu. Note: Some programs require the
user press and hold ALT to see the underlined characters. Finally, as can also be seen some of
the common features such as Open (Ctrl+O) and Save (Ctrl+S) have shortcut keys assigned to
them.

As you begin to memorize shortcut keys, you'll notice that many applications share the same
shortcut keys. We have the most commonly shared shortcut keys in the below basic PC shortcut
keys section.
Tip: Users outside the United States or users using a foreign copy of a Microsoft Windows or
Microsoft application may not be able to get all the below shortcut keys to perform the function
listed below.

Basic PC shortcut keys

The below basic shortcut keys are a listing of shortcut keys that will work with almost all IBM
compatible computers and software programs. It is highly recommended that all users keep a
good reference of the below shortcut keys or try to memorize the below keys. Doing so will
dramatically increase your productivity.

Shortcut Keys Description

Alt + F File menu options in current program.
Alt + E Edit options in current program
F1 Universal Help in almost every Windows program.
Ctrl + A Select all text.
Ctrl + X Cut selected item.
Shift + Del Cut selected item.
Ctrl + C Copy selected item.
Ctrl + Ins Copy selected item
Ctrl + V Paste
Shift + Ins Paste
Home Goes to beginning of current line.
Ctrl + Home Goes to beginning of document.
End Goes to end of current line.
Ctrl + End Goes to end of document.
Shift + Home Highlights from current position to beginning of line.
Shift + End Highlights from current position to end of line.
Ctrl + Left arrow Moves one word to the left at a time.
Ctrl + Right arrow Moves one word to the right at a time.

Top 10 keyboard shortcuts everyone should

know
Using keyboard shortcuts can greatly increase your productivity, reduce repetitive strain, and
help keep you focused. For example, highlighting text with the keyboard and pressing Ctrl + C is
much faster than taking your hand from the keyboard, highlighting the text using the mouse,
clicking copy from the file menu, and then putting your hand back in place on the keyboard.
Below are our top 10 keyboard shortcuts we recommend everyone memorize and use.

Ctrl + C or Ctrl + Insert

Copy the highlighted text or selected item.

Ctrl + V or Shift + Insert

Paste the text or object that's in the clipboard.

Ctrl + Z and Ctrl + Y

Undo any change. For example, if you cut text, pressing this will undo it. This can also often be
pressed multiple times to undo multiple changes. Pressing Ctrl + Y would redo the undo.

Ctrl + F

Open the Find in any program. This includes your Internet browser to find text on the current
page.

Alt + Tab or Alt + Esc

Quickly switch between open programs moving forward.

Tip: Press Ctrl + Tab to switch between tabs in a program.

Tip: Adding the Shift key to Alt + Tab or Ctrl + Tab will move backwards. For example, if you
are pressing Alt + Tab and pass the program you want to switch to, press Alt + Shift + Tab to
move backwards to that program.

Tip: Windows Vista and 7 users can also press the Windows Key + Tab to switch through open
programs in a full screenshot of the Window.

Ctrl + Back space and Ctrl + Left or Right arrow

Pressing Ctrl + Backspace will delete a full word at a time instead of a single character.

Holding down the Ctrl key while pressing the left or right arrow will move the cursor one word
at a time instead of one character at a time. If you wanted to highlight one word at a time you can
hold down Ctrl + Shift and then press the left or right arrow key to move one word at a time in
that direction while highlighting each word.
Ctrl + S

While working on a document or other file in almost every program pressing Ctrl + S will save
that file. This shortcut key should be used frequently anytime you're working on anything
important.

Ctrl + Home or Ctrl + End

Move the cursor to the beginning or end of a document.

Ctrl + P

Print the page being viewed. For example, the document in Microsoft Word or the web page in
your Internet browser.

Page Up, Space bar, and Page Down

Pressing either the page up or page down key will move that page one page at a time in that
direction. When browsing the Internet pressing the space bar will also move the page down one
page at a time. If you press Shift and the Space bar the page will go up a page at a time.

Microsoft Excel shortcut keys

Below is a listing of all the major shortcut keys in Microsoft Excel. See the computer shortcut
page if you are looking for other shortcut keys used in other programs.

Shortcut Keys Description

F2 Edit the selected cell.

F5 Go to a specific cell. For example, C6.

F7 Spell check selected text or document.

F11 Create chart.

Ctrl + Shift + ; Enter the current time.

Ctrl + ; Enter the current date.

Alt + Shift + F1 Insert New Worksheet.

Shift + F3 Open the Excel formula window.

Shift + F5 Bring up search box.

Ctrl + A Select all contents of the worksheet.

Ctrl + B Bold highlighted selection.

Ctrl + I Italic highlighted selection.

Ctrl + K Insert link.

Ctrl + U Underline highlighted selection.

Ctrl + 5 Strikethrough highlighted selection.

Ctrl + P Bring up the print dialog box to begin printing.

Ctrl + Z Undo last action.

Ctrl + F9 Minimize current window.

Ctrl + F10 Maximize currently selected window.

Ctrl + F6 Switch between open workbooks or windows.

Ctrl + Page up Move between Excel work sheets in the same Excel document.

Ctrl + Page down Move between Excel work sheets in the same Excel document.

Ctrl + Tab Move between Two or more open Excel files.

Alt + = Create a formula to sum all of the above cells

Ctrl + ' Insert the value of the above cell into cell currently selected.

Ctrl + Shift + ! Format number in comma format.

Ctrl + Shift + $ Format number in currency format.

Ctrl + Shift + # Format number in date format.

Ctrl + Shift + % Format number in percentage format.

Ctrl + Shift + ^ Format number in scientific format.

Ctrl + Shift + @ Format number in time format.

Ctrl + Arrow key Move to next section of text.

Ctrl + Space Select entire column.

Shift + Space Select entire row.

Microsoft Word shortcut keys
Below is a listing of all the major shortcut keys in Microsoft Word. See the computer shortcut page if you
are looking for other shortcut keys used in other programs.

Shortcut Keys Description

Ctrl + 0 Adds or removes 6pts of spacing before a paragraph.
Ctrl + A Select all contents of the page.
Ctrl + B Bold highlighted selection.
Ctrl + C Copy selected text.
Ctrl + E Aligns the line or selected text to the center of the screen.
Ctrl + F Open find box.
Ctrl + I Italic highlighted selection.
Ctrl + J Aligns the selected text or line to justify the screen.
Ctrl + K Insert link.
Ctrl + L Aligns the line or selected text to the left of the screen.
Ctrl + M Indent the paragraph.
Ctrl + P Open the print window.
Ctrl + R Aligns the line or selected text to the right of the screen.
Ctrl + T Create a hanging indent.
Ctrl + U Underline highlighted selection.
Ctrl + V Paste.
Ctrl + X Cut selected text.
Ctrl + Y Redo the last action performed.
Ctrl + Z Undo last action.
Ctrl + Shift + L Quickly create a bullet point.
Ctrl + Shift + F Change the font.
Ctrl + Shift + > Increase selected font +1pts up to 12pt and then increases font +2pts.
Ctrl + ] Increase selected font +1pts.
Decrease selected font -1pts if 12pt or lower, if above 12 decreases font
Ctrl + Shift + <
by +2pt.
Ctrl + [ Decrease selected font -1pts.
Ctrl + / + c Insert a cent sign (¢).
Insert a character with an accent (grave) mark, where <char> is the
character you want. For example, if you wanted an accented è you would
Ctrl + ' + <char>
use Ctrl + ' + e as your shortcut key. To reverse the accent mark use the
opposite accent mark, often on the tilde key.
Ctrl + Shift + * View or hide non printing characters.
Ctrl + <left arrow> Moves one word to the left.
Ctrl + <right arrow> Moves one word to the right.
Ctrl + <up arrow> Moves to the beginning of the line or paragraph.
Ctrl + <down
Moves to the end of the paragraph.
arrow>
Ctrl + Del Deletes word to right of cursor.
Ctrl + Backspace Deletes word to left of cursor.
Ctrl + End Moves the cursor to the end of the document.
Ctrl + Home Moves the cursor to the beginning of the document.
Ctrl + Spacebar Reset highlighted text to the default font.
Ctrl + 1 Single-space lines.
Ctrl + 2 Double-space lines.
Ctrl + 5 1.5-line spacing.
Ctrl + Alt + 1 Changes text to heading 1.
Ctrl + Alt + 2 Changes text to heading 2.
Ctrl + Alt + 3 Changes text to heading 3.
Alt + Ctrl + F2 Open new document.
Ctrl + F1 Open the Task Pane.
Ctrl + F2 Display the print preview.
Ctrl + Shift + > Increases the highlighted text size by one.
Ctrl + Shift + < Decreases the highlighted text size by one.
Ctrl + Shift + F6 Opens to another open Microsoft Word document.
Ctrl + Shift + F12 Prints the document.
F1 Open Help.
F4 Repeat the last action performed (Word 2000+)
F5 Open the find, replace, and go to window in Microsoft Word.
F7 Spellcheck and grammar check selected text or document.
F12 Save as.
Change the text in Microsoft Word from uppercase to lowercase or a
Shift + F3
capital letter at the beginning of every word.
Shift + F7 Runs a Thesaurus check on the word highlighted.
Shift + F12 Save.
Shift + Enter Create a soft break instead of a new paragraph.
Shift + Insert Paste.
Shift + Alt + D Insert the current date.
Shift + Alt + T Insert the current time.

In addition to the above shortcut keys users can also use their mouse as a method of quickly do
something commonly performed. Below some are examples of mouse shortcuts.

Mouse shortcuts Description

Selects text from where you click and hold to the point you drag and let
Click, hold, and drag
go.
Double-click If double-click a word, selects the complete word.
Double-clicking on the left, center, or right of a blank line will make the
Double-click
alignment of the text left, center, or right aligned.
Double-click Double-clicking anywhere after text on a line will set a tab stop.
Triple-click Selects the line or paragraph of the text the mouse triple-clicked.
Ctrl + Mouse wheel Zooms in and out of document.
Microsoft FrontPage shortcut keys
Below is a listing of all the major shortcut keys in Microsoft FrontPage. See the computer
shortcut page if you are looking for other shortcut keys used in other programs.

Shortcut Keys Description

Ctrl + C Copy selected text.

Ctrl + X Cut selected text.

Ctrl + P Paste selected text.

Ctrl + K Create a hyperlink.

Ctrl + B Bold highlighted selection.

Ctrl + I Italic highlighted selection.

Ctrl + U Underline highlighted selection.

Ctrl + L Left align the text.

Ctrl + R Right align the text.

Ctrl + E Center the text.

Ctrl + / Turn on or off the display of HTML tags.

Ctrl + S Save document.

Ctrl + Tab Switch between open web pages.

Ctrl + Ins Enter Line break.

Ctrl + Enter Move cursor above or below a table.

Ctrl + Shift + B Preview in web browser window.

Ctrl + Shift + < Decrease font size.

Ctrl + Shift + > Increase font size.

Ctrl + Del Deletes word to right of cursor.

Ctrl + Backspace Deletes word to left of cursor.

Alt + mouse double-click View the properties of a selected item. For example, doing this on a
table cell would display the properties for that cell.

How do I create a Windows shortcut key?

Question

How do I create a Windows shortcut key?

Answer

Create a shortcut

1. Open the folder or directory that contains the program you wish to create a shortcut for.
2. Right-click on the program and click Create Shortcut.
3. This will create a shortcut named "Shortcut to <your program>" in the directory you are in. If
you wish to rename this shortcut, right-click the file and click rename.
4. Once the above steps have been completed, you can copy or cut this shortcut and paste it
anywhere to execute this program.

Assign shortcut key to that Windows shortcut

Once the shortcut has been created to assign a shortcut key to that Windows shortcut follow the
below steps.

1. Right-click the shortcut and click Properties.

2. Click the Shortcut tab.
3. Click in the Shortcut key box and press a letter. For example, if you press "p" the shortcut key
will automatically be made Ctrl + Alt + P. Which means if saved when pressing Ctrl and Alt and
"P" all at the same time will run that shortcut.