10+ lesser-known shortcuts for formatting Word text
by Razvan on May.08, 2009, under How to, Office
Your users probably have a few favorite keyboard shortcuts for formatting text — like Ctrl + B for applying boldface, Ctrl + I for applying italics, Ctrl + U for underlining, and maybe Ctrl + L to left-align text. But Word provides buttons for those tasks on the Formatting toolbar, so any efficiency gains are kind of a toss-up.
The real convenience lies in knowing some more obscure keyboard shortcuts — ones that have no default button equivalents and that can save users from having to scrounge around dialog boxes looking for the appropriate options. Here are some shortcuts that are especially good for users to have under their belt.
| Keystroke | Function |
| Ctrl + Shift + D | Double underline the selected text |
| Ctrl + ] | Increase the size of selected text by 1 point |
| Ctrl + [ | Decrease the size of selected text by 1 point |
| Ctrl + Shift + A | Make selected text all caps |
| Ctrl + = | Toggle subscripting for selected text |
| Ctrl + + | Toggle superscripting for selected text |
| Ctrl + Shift + Q | Apply Symbol font to selected text |
| Ctrl + Shift + N | Apply Normal style to current paragraph |
| Ctrl + Alt + 1 | Apply Heading 1 style to current paragraph |
| Ctrl + Alt + 2 | Apply Heading 2 style to current paragraph |
| Ctrl + Alt + 3 | Apply Heading 3 style to current paragraph |
| Ctrl + Shift + L | Apply List Bullet style |
| Ctrl + 0 (zero) | Apply or remove space above current paragraph |
