Keyboard shortcuts that save hours every week

Illustration of the shortcuts
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In the modern workplace, speed is often prioritized over efficiency. We spend hours navigating menus, dragging scrollbars, and clicking through folders - repetitive motions that not only drain our time but also lead to physical fatigue.

By mastering a few strategic keyboard combinations, you can shave seconds off every task. Over a week, those seconds transform into hours of regained productivity

The essential shortcuts

These work across almost every application, from Microsoft Word to specialized professional software. If you aren't using these yet, start here.

  • Ctrl + C / V / X: Copy, Paste, and Cut. The foundation of digital work.
  • Ctrl + Z / Y: Undo and Redo. Use for quick corrections.
  • Ctrl + F: The search tool. Never manually scan a document for a keyword again.
  • Ctrl + A: Select All. Perfect for moving entire blocks of content.
  • Ctrl + S: Save. A reflex every professional should develop to prevent data loss.

Navigate the web like a pro

If you spend your day in a browser (Chrome, Edge, or Safari), these four shortcuts will fundamentally change how you navigate the internet.

  • Open a new tab: Ctrl + T for Windows and Cmd + T for macOS
  • Reopen last closed tab: Ctrl + Shift + T for Windows and Cmd + Shift + T for macOS
  • Close current tab: Ctrl + W for Windows and Cmd + W for macOS
  • Focus on address bar: Ctrl + L for Windows and Cmd + L for macOS
  • Recover that tab you accidentally closed: Ctrl + Shift + T. It remembers the last 10 tabs you've exited.

System mastery: Windows and macOS

Moving between apps and managing your desktop is where most mouse lag occurs. Use these to snap windows and switch contexts instantly.

For Windows users

  • Win + D: Show desktop. Instantly hides everything when you need to find a file.
  • Win + V: Clipboard history. This is a game-changer; it shows a list of everything you've copied recently, not just the last item.
  • Win + Left/Right arrow: Snap windows to the side of the screen for perfect multitasking.
  • Ctrl + Shift + Esc: Open Task Manager directly to kill frozen apps.

For Mac users

  • Cmd + Space: Spotlight search. The fastest way to launch any app or find any file.
  • Cmd + Tab: Switch between active applications.
  • Cmd + Shift + 4: Take a targeted screenshot of a specific area.
  • Cmd + Option + Esc: Force quit unresponsive applications.

Text manipulation for content creators

If your job involves writing or coding, these shortcuts prevent you from having to reach for the mouse to move the cursor.

  • Ctrl + Backspace: Delete an entire word at a time rather than just one letter.
  • Ctrl + Left/Right arrow: Jump the cursor over whole words to navigate sentences faster.
  • Shift + Home/End: Highlight an entire line from the cursor to the beginning or end.
  • Ctrl + Shift + V: Paste without formatting. This ensures the text you paste matches the style of your current document.

The "two-week" rule

You don't need to learn 100 shortcuts today. To make this stick, choose three shortcuts from this list that address your most repetitive tasks. Force yourself to use them for two weeks. Once they become muscle memory, add three more. Within a couple of months, you'll be navigating your computer at a speed that makes the mouse feel like a relic of the past.