Nobody likes to do things the hard way which is why they created keyboard shortcuts! We’re going to take a look at shortcuts that you’re able to use in Google Docs to shorten the time it takes to use everyday actions.
By no means is this a complete list of all the keyboard shortcuts available in Google Docs. We’ve tried to keep the list more generally useful shortcuts. There are plenty more for you to explore if you can’t find what you’re looking for in this guide.
To open a list of keyboard shortcuts in Google Docs, press Ctrl+/ (Windows and Chrome OS) or Cmd+/ (macOS) or view the complete list on the Google Docs help page.
General Program Actions
These are your everyday keyboard shortcuts that make it easier to do everything from copy text to undo a mistake.
- Ctrl+C (Windows/Chrome OS) and Cmd+C (macOS): Copy selected text or graphics to the Clipboard
- Ctrl+X (Windows/Chrome OS) and Cmd+X (macOS): Cut selected text or graphics to the Clipboard
- Ctrl+V (Windows/Chrome OS) and Cmd+V (macOS): Paste the contents of the Clipboard to your document
- Ctrl+Shift+V (Windows/Chrome OS) and Cmd+Shift+V (macOS): Paste the contents of the Clipboard without formatting
- Ctrl+Z (Windows/Chrome OS) and Cmd+Z (macOS): Undo an action
- Ctrl+Y (Windows/Chrome OS) and Cmd+Y (macOS): Redo an action
- Ctrl+K (Windows/Chrome OS) and Cmd+K (macOS): Insert or edit an external link
- Ctrl+S (Windows/Chrome OS) and Cmd+S (macOS): Save (every change is already saved in Drive, here for those few paranoid people)
- Ctrl+P (Windows/Chrome OS) and Cmd+P (macOS): Print your document
- Ctrl+O (Windows/Chrome OS) and Cmd+O (macOS): Open a file from your Drive or Computer
- Ctrl+F (Windows/Chrome OS) and Cmd+F (macOS): Find specific text in your document
- Ctrl+H (Windows/Chrome OS) and Cmd+H (macOS): Find and replace text in your document
- Ctrl+Shift+F (Windows/Chrome OS) and Cmd+Shift+F (macOS): Compact mode (hide the menus)
RELATED: The Beginner’s Guide to Google Docs
Character Formatting
Google Docs has heaps of shortcuts that allow you to apply character formatting (paragraph formatting is covered in the next section). When you need to italicize, bold, or underline some text, these are the types of shortcuts you’ll use.
- Ctrl+B (Windows/Chrome OS) and Cmd+B (macOS): Apply bold formatting
- Ctrl+I (Windows/Chrome OS) and Cmd+I (macOS): Apply italic formatting
- Ctrl+U (Windows/Chrome OS) and Cmd+U (macOS): Apply underline formatting
- Alt+Shift+5 (Windows/Chrome OS) and Cmd+Shift+X (macOS): Apply strikethrough formatting
- Ctrl+Alt+C (Windows/Chrome OS) and Cmd+Option+C (macOS): Copy the selected text’s formatting
- Ctrl+Alt+V (Windows/Chrome OS) and Cmd++Option+V (macOS): Paste text formatting
- Ctrl+/ (Windows/Chrome OS) and Cmd+/ (macOS): Clear text formatting
- Ctrl+Shift+> or < (Windows/Chrome OS) and Cmd+Shift+> or <(macOS): Increase or decrease font size one point at a time
Paragraph Formatting
Just like character formatting, these are some shortcuts that let you format whole paragraphs with bulleted lists, heading styles, or align paragraphs left, right, or center.
- Ctrl+] or [ (Windows/Chrome OS) and Cmd+] or [ (macOS): Increase or decrease paragraph indentation
- Ctrl+Alt+0 (Windows/Chrome OS) and Cmd+Option+0 (macOS): Apply normal text style
- Ctrl+Alt+1-6 (Windows/Chrome OS) and Cmd+Option 1-6 (macOS): Apply heading style [1-6]
- Ctrl+Shift+L (Windows/Chrome OS) and Cmd+Shift+L (macOS): Left align a paragraph
- Ctrl+Shift+E (Windows/Chrome OS) and Cmd+Shift+E (macOS): Center align a paragraph
- Ctrl+Shift+R (Windows/Chrome OS) and Cmd+Shift+R (macOS): Right align a paragraph
- Ctrl+Shift+7 (Windows/Chrome OS) and Cmd+Shift+7 (macOS): Insert a numbered list
- Ctrl+Shift+8 (Windows/Chrome OS) and Cmd+Shift+8 (macOS): Insert a bulleted list
Comments and Footnotes
Need to insert a comment or footnote quickly into a document? Well, there are some pretty handy shortcuts to expedite the process.
- Ctrl+Alt+M (Windows/Chrome OS) and Cmd+Option+M (macOS): Insert a comment
- Ctrl+Alt+Shift+A (Windows/Chrome OS) and Cmd+Option+Shift+A (macOS): Open a discussion thread
- Ctrl+Alt+F (Windows/Chrome OS) and Cmd+Option+F (macOS): Insert a footnote
