The 20 basic PC keyboard shortcuts everyone should know

Anyone using a computer daily will do several repetitive actions, sometimes tens or hundreds of times a day. Rather than finding the menu, clicking on the correct drop-down box and selecting the action you require, you can save 5 or 6 seconds each time by knowing the keyboard shortcut.

Looking for Mac shortcuts? Try here.

Why bother with keyboard shortcuts?

While 5 or 6 seconds may not seem like much, done hundreds of times a day can add up to significant time savings.

But there are other benefits too. For example, knowing the “Save” shortcut can mean easily saving your work more regularly meaning you never lose a whole file again.

20 useful keyboard shortcuts:

Here are twenty useful keyboard shortcuts for a PC:

1. Ctrl + C: Copy the selected text or object
2. Ctrl + X: Cut the selected text or object
3. Ctrl + V: Paste the copied or cut text or object
4. Ctrl + Z: Undo the previous action
5. Ctrl + Y: Redo the previous action
6. Ctrl + A: Select all items in the current window
7. Ctrl + S: Save the current document or file
8. Ctrl + O: Open a new document or file
9. Ctrl + P: Print the current document or file
10. Ctrl + F: Find a specific word or phrase in the current document or webpage
11. Ctrl + B: Bold the selected text
12. Ctrl + I: Italicize the selected text
13. Ctrl + U: Underline the selected text
14. Ctrl + Shift + Esc: Open the Task Manager
15. Alt + Tab: Switch between open programs
16. Alt + F4: Close the current window or program
17. Win + D: Show or hide the desktop
18. Win + L: Lock the computer
19. Win + R: Open the Run dialogue box
20. Win + E: Open File Explorer

Using keyboard shortcuts can help you save time and be more efficient when working on a PC. It’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with the most common shortcuts and try to incorporate them into your daily workflow.