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 and/or CTRL keys, 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/or 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.
• 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 a new document in Microsoft Word.
• Ctrl + F2 displays the print preview window in Microsoft Word.

F3

• Often opens a search feature for many programs including Microsoft

Windows.
• 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 use to
get into 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.

F11
 • Full-screen mode in all modern Internet browsers.

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

Top 10 keyboard shortcuts everyone should

know
Using keyboard shortcuts can often cut the time it takes to do something on a
computer in half. 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 re-do 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.

F1

Open help for the program you're in.

Ctrl + P
 Print what's currently being viewed in programs such as Microsoft Word or
your Internet browser.

Ctrl + Left arrow / Right arrow

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 + Alt
and then press the left or right arrow key to move one word at a time in
that direction while highlighting each word.

Ctrl + Home / End

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

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

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

Microsoft Word shortcut keys

Below is a listing of all the major shortcut keys in Microsoft Word. See our main
shortcut page if you're looking for other shortcut keys used in other programs.

Shortcut Keys Description

Ctrl + A Select all contents of the page.
Ctrl + B Bold highlighted selection.
Ctrl + C Copy selected text.
Aligns the line or selected text to the center of the
Ctrl + E
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.
Aligns the line or selected text to the right of the
Ctrl + R
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 + 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
Ctrl + Shift + <
decreases font by +2pt.
Ctrl + [ Decrease selected font -1pts.
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 arrow> Moves to the end of the paragraph.
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.
Ctrl + F1 Open the Task Pane.
F1 Open Help.
Alt + Ctrl + F2 Open new document.
Ctrl + F2 Display the print preview.
Change the text in Microsoft Word from upper to lower
Shift + F3
case or a capital letter at the beginning of every word.
Shift + Insert Paste.
F4 Repeat the last action performed (Word 2000+)
Open the find, replace, and go to window in Microsoft
F5
Word.
Ctrl + Shift + F6 Opens to another open Microsoft Word document.
Spell and grammar check selected text and/or
F7
document.
Shift + F7 Runs a Thesaurus check on the word highlighted.
F12 Save as.
Shift + F12 Save.
Ctrl + Shift + F12 Prints the document.
Alt + Shift + D Insert the current date.
Alt + Shift + 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

Click, hold, and Selects text from where you click and hold to the point you
drag drag and let go.
Double-click If double-click a word, selects the complete word.
Double-clicking on the left, center, or right of a blank line
Double-click will make the alignment of the text left, center, or right
aligned.
Double-clicking anywhere after text on a line will set a tab
Double-click
stop.
Selects the line or paragraph of the text the mouse triple-
Triple-click
clicked.
Ctrl + Mouse
Zooms in and out of document
wheel

Microsoft Word shortcut keys

Below is a listing of all the major shortcut keys in Microsoft Word. See our main
shortcut page if you're looking for other shortcut keys used in other programs.

Shortcut Keys Description

Ctrl + A Select all contents of the page.
Ctrl + B Bold highlighted selection.
Ctrl + C Copy selected text.
Aligns the line or selected text to the center of the
Ctrl + E
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.
Aligns the line or selected text to the right of the
Ctrl + R
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 + F Change the font.
Increase selected font +1pts up to 12pt and then
Ctrl + Shift + >
increases font +2pts.
Ctrl + ] Increase selected font +1pts.
Decrease selected font -1pts if 12pt or lower, if above 12
Ctrl + Shift + <
decreases font by +2pt.
Ctrl + [ Decrease selected font -1pts.
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 arrow> Moves to the end of the paragraph.
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.
Ctrl + F1 Open the Task Pane.
F1 Open Help.
Alt + Ctrl + F2 Open new document.
Ctrl + F2 Display the print preview.
Change the text in Microsoft Word from upper to lower
Shift + F3
case or a capital letter at the beginning of every word.
Shift + Insert Paste.
F4 Repeat the last action performed (Word 2000+)
Open the find, replace, and go to window in Microsoft
F5
Word.
Ctrl + Shift + F6 Opens to another open Microsoft Word document.
Spell and grammar check selected text and/or
F7
document.
Shift + F7 Runs a Thesaurus check on the word highlighted.
F12 Save as.
Shift + F12 Save.
Ctrl + Shift + F12 Prints the document.
Alt + Shift + D Insert the current date.
Alt + Shift + 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

Click, hold, and Selects text from where you click and hold to the point you
drag drag and let go.
Double-click If double-click a word, selects the complete word.
Double-clicking on the left, center, or right of a blank line
Double-click will make the alignment of the text left, center, or right
aligned.
Double-clicking anywhere after text on a line will set a tab
Double-click
stop.
Selects the line or paragraph of the text the mouse triple-
Triple-click
clicked.
Ctrl + Mouse
Zooms in and out of document.
wheel

op of
Form