Most of us have at least a couple of keyboard shortcuts memorised for stuff we do a lot. Control / Command + P to print and Control / Command + C and V to copy and paste are probably up there for most people. In this article, we'll outline a few others we find useful.
A quick note before we start. We'll use "Ctrl" and "Alt" below, but you can substitute these for "Command" and "Option" on Macs in almost all cases.
General Use
Ctrl + X and Ctrl + Z: Cut and Undo
Cut selected text or files with Ctrl + X, and undo the last action with Ctrl + Z
Ctrl + A: Select All
Quickly select all text or files in a document or folder
Ctrl + F: Find
Open the search or find dialog to locate specific text or items.
Alt + Tab: Switch Between Applications
Cycle through open applications/windows.
Ctrl + N: New
Open a new document, window, or tab, depending on the context.
Ctrl + Shift + Esc: Open Task Manager (Windows) or Force Quit (Mac)
Open the task manager to view and manage running processes.
Ctrl + Shift + N: Create New Folder
Create a new folder in file explorer.
Web Browsing
Ctrl + Tab: Switch Between Tabs
Navigate between tabs in browsers and some applications.
Ctrl + W: Close Window or Tab
Close the current window or tab.
Ctrl + T: Open New Tab
Open a new tab in web browsers.
Ctrl + Shift + P: Private Browsing (Some Browsers)
Open a private browsing window to browse without saving history.
Ctrl + Shift + N: Open New Incognito Window (Some Browsers)
Open a new incognito/private browsing window.
Ctrl (Command) + Shift + Delete: Clear Browsing Data (Some Browsers)
Open the clear browsing data dialog to remove cookies, history, and cached data.
Ctrl + Shift + T: Reopen Closed Tab
Restore the most recently closed tab in a web browser.
Ctrl + F5 or Ctrl + R: Refresh
Refresh the current page or document.
Ctrl + Plus (+) and Ctrl + Minus (-): Zoom In and Out
Zoom in or out on a webpage or document.
Ctrl + 0: Reset Zoom
Reset the zoom level to default
Document navigation
Ctrl + Arrow Keys: Navigate Within Documents
Move the cursor to the beginning or end of a line or jump between words and paragraphs.
Ctrl + Shift + Arrow Keys: Select Text
Select text in the direction of the arrow keys.
Ctrl + Backspace: Delete Previous Word
Delete the word before the cursor.
Ctrl + Delete: Delete Next Word
Delete the word after the cursor.
Ctrl + S: Save
Save the current document or file.
Ctrl + Shift + S: Save As
Save the current document with a new name or in a different location.