Writer Guide 26.2
This document is Copyright © 2026 by the LibreOffice Documentation Team. Contributors are listed below. This document may be distributed and/or modified under the terms of either the GNU General Public License (https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html), version 3 or later, or the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), version 4.0 or later. All trademarks within this guide belong to their legitimate owners.
To this edition
To previous editions
Feedback
Please direct any comments or suggestions about this document to the Documentation Team Forum at https://community.documentfoundation.org/c/documentation/loguides/ (registration is required) or send an email to: loguides@community.documentfoundation.org.
Note
Everything sent to a forum, including email addresses and any other personal information that is written in the message, is publicly archived and cannot be deleted. Emails sent to the forum are moderated.
Publication date and software version
Published March 2026. Based on LibreOffice 26.2.
Other versions of LibreOffice may differ in appearance and functionality.
Some keystrokes and menu items are different on macOS from those used in Windows and Linux. The table below gives some common substitutions used in this document. For a detailed list, see LibreOffice Help.
|
Windows or Linux |
macOS equivalent |
Effect |
|
Tools > Options |
LibreOffice > Preferences |
Access setup options |
|
Right-click |
Control + click or right-click depending on computer setup |
Open a context menu |
|
Ctrl (Control) |
⌘ (Command) |
Used with other keys |
|
Alt |
⌥ (Option) or Alt |
Used with other keys |
|
F11 |
⌘ + T |
Open Styles deck in Sidebar |
LibreOffice can be used without a pointing device, such as a mouse, touchpad, by using the keyboard shortcuts. Tasks as varied and complex as docking and un-docking toolbars and windows, or changing the size or position of objects can all be accomplished with using keyboard shortcuts.
This appendix lists shortcuts specific to Writer. For general information on keyboard shortcuts, including a list of shortcuts common to all LibreOffice modules, see Appendix A, Keyboard Shortcuts to the Getting Started Guide, or search LibreOffice Help.
Note
Some shortcut keys may already be assigned to your desktop system. Keys that are assigned to the desktop system are not available to use as shortcuts in LibreOffice. Try to assign different keys either for LibreOffice, in Tools - Customize - Keyboard, or in your desktop system.
|
Effect |
Shotcut key |
|
Use this combination to quickly dock or undock the Navigator, Styles window, or other windows |
Ctrl + double-click or Ctrl + Shift + F10 |
|
Effect |
Shortcut keys |
|
Find and Replace |
Ctrl + H |
|
Find |
Ctrl + F |
|
Undo last action |
Ctrl + Z |
|
Redo last action |
Ctrl + Y |
|
Calculates the selected text and copies the result to the clipboard. |
Ctrl + + (plus key) |
|
Run macro field |
Ctrl + * (only on number pad) |
|
Paste contents of the clipboard |
Crtl + V or Shift + Insert |
|
Paste the contents of the clipboard as unformatted text. |
Ctrl + Alt + Shift + V |
|
Cut contents to clipboard |
Ctrl + X or Shift + Del |
|
Effect |
Shortcut keys |
|
Select All |
Ctrl + A |
|
Move cursor with selection to the left |
Shift + Arrow Left |
|
Move cursor with selection to the right |
Shift + Arrow Right |
|
Selecting to the left word by word |
Ctrl + Shift + Arrow Left |
|
Selecting to the right word by word |
Ctrl + Shift + Arrow Right |
|
Select to beginning of paragraph. Next keystroke extends selection to beginning of previous paragraph. |
Ctrl + Shift + Arrow Up |
|
Select to end of paragraph. The next keystroke extends selection to end of next paragraph, |
Ctrl + Shift + Arrow Down |
|
Selecting lines in a downward direction |
Shift + Arrow Down |
|
Selecting lines in an upwards direction |
Shift + Arrow Up |
|
Go and select to the beginning of a line |
Shift + Home |
|
Go and select text to end of document |
Ctrl + Shift + End |
|
Go and select to end of line |
Shift + End |
|
Go and select text to start of document |
Ctrl + Shift + Home |
|
Move down screen page with selection |
Shift + PageDown |
|
Move up screen page with selection |
Shift + PageUp |
|
Effect |
Shortcut keys |
|
Move cursor to left |
Arrow Left |
|
Go to beginning of word |
Ctrl + Arrow Left |
|
Move cursor to right |
Arrow Right |
|
Go to start of next word |
Ctrl + Arrow Right |
|
Move cursor up one line |
Arrow Up |
|
Move cursor to beginning of paragraph. Next keystroke moves cursor to beginning of previous paragraph. |
Ctrl + Arrow Up |
|
Move cursor down one line |
Arrow Down |
|
Move cursor to beginning of next paragraph. |
Ctrl + Arrow Down |
|
Go to beginning of line |
Home |
|
Go to end of line |
End |
|
Go to start of document |
Ctrl + Home |
|
Go to end of document |
Ctrl + End |
|
Screen page up |
PageUp |
|
Move down screen page |
PageDown |
|
Effect |
Shortcut keys |
|
Insert mode on/off |
Insert |
|
Soft hyphens; hyphenation set by you. |
Ctrl + Hyphen(-) |
|
Non-breaking hyphen (is not used for hyphenation) |
Ctrl + Shift + minus sign (-) |
|
Non-breaking spaces. Non-breaking spaces are not used for hyphenation and are not expanded if the text is justified. |
Ctrl + Shift + Space |
|
Next suggestion with Automatic Word Completion |
Ctrl + Tab |
|
Use previous suggestion with Automatic Word Completion |
Ctrl + Shift + Tab |
|
Convert fields contents into plain text. |
Ctrl + Shift + F2 |
|
Effect |
Shortcut keys |
|
Line break without paragraph change |
Shift + Enter |
|
Manual page break |
Ctrl + Enter |
|
Column break in multicolumn texts |
Ctrl + Shift + Enter |
|
Switch cursor between text and header |
Ctrl + PageUp |
|
Switch cursor between text and footer |
Ctrl + PageDown |
|
Effect |
Shortcut keys |
|
Delete text to end of word |
Ctrl + Del |
|
Delete text to beginning of word |
|
|
In a list: delete an empty paragraph in front of the current paragraph |
Ctrl + Backspace |
|
Delete text to end of sentence |
Ctrl + Shift + Del |
|
Delete text to beginning of sentence |
Ctrl + Shift + Backspace |
|
Effect |
Shortcut keys |
|
Align Justify |
Ctrl + J |
|
Double Underline |
Ctrl + D |
|
Align Centered |
Ctrl + E |
|
Superscript |
Ctrl + Shift + P |
|
Align Left |
Ctrl + L |
|
Align Right |
Ctrl + R |
|
Subscript |
Ctrl + Shift + B |
|
Apply Body Text paragraph style |
Ctrl + 0 (zero) |
|
Apply Heading 1 paragraph style |
Ctrl + 1 |
|
Apply Heading 2 paragraph style |
Ctrl + 2 |
|
Apply Heading 3 paragraph style |
Ctrl + 3 |
|
Apply Heading 4 paragraph style |
Ctrl + 4 |
|
Apply Heading 5 paragraph style |
Ctrl + 5 |
|
Effect |
Shortcut keys |
|
Paragraph in list. Inserts a new paragraph within a list without a bullet or number, while preserving the list’s paragraph formatting. To resume numbering or bulleting, press Enter after adding content to the new paragraph. This shortcut does not work if the cursor is at the beginning of a list paragraph. |
Alt + Enter |
|
Move up. Move the active paragraph or selected paragraphs up one paragraph. |
Ctrl + Alt + Up Arrow |
|
Move down. Move the active paragraph or selected paragraphs down one paragraph. |
Ctrl + Alt + Down Arrow |
|
Move level down. With the cursor positioned in front of a paragraph with paragraph style “Heading X” (X = 1–9), the outline level is moved down one level. For list paragraphs, the list level is moved down one level. |
Tab |
|
Move level up. With the cursor positioned in front of a paragraph with paragraph style “Heading X” (X = 2–10), the outline level is moved up one level. For list paragraphs, the list level is moved up one level. |
Shift + Tab |
|
Increase alignment. With the cursor placed anywhere in a heading or list paragraph: Increases the alignment for all headings. For list paragraphs, increases the alignment for all paragraphs in the same list. |
Ctrl + Tab |
|
Decrease alignment. With the cursor placed anywhere in a heading or list paragraph: Decreases the alignment for all headings. For list paragraphs, decreases the alignment for all paragraphs in the same list. |
Ctrl + Shift + Tab |
Note
To insert a tab at the beginning of a heading or list paragraph, use the Numbering followed by option in the Position tab in the Heading Numbering or Bullets and Numbering dialog. Alternatively, a tab can be copied and then pasted at the beginning.
|
Effect |
Shortcut keys |
|
Insert paragraph. Inserts a new paragraph directly before or after table. The cursor must be placed at the first character of the first cell or the last character of the last cell. |
Alt + Enter |
|
Selects all. If the active cell is empty: selects the whole table. Otherwise: selects the contents of the active cell. Pressing again selects the entire table. |
Ctrl + A |
|
Go to beginning. If the active cell is empty: goes to the beginning of the table. Otherwise: first press goes to beginning of the active cell, second press goes to beginning of the current table, third press goes to beginning of document. |
Ctrl + Home |
|
Go to end. If the active cell is empty: goes to the end of the table. Otherwise: first press goes to the end of the active cell, second press goes to the end of the current table, third press goes to the end of the document. |
Ctrl + End |
|
Insert a tab stop (only in tables). Depending on the Window Manager in use, Alt + Tab may be used instead. |
Ctrl + Tab |
|
Size of column/row at the end. Increases/decreases the size of the column/row on the right/bottom cell edge. |
Alt + Arrow Keys |
|
Size of column/row at the beginning. Increase/decrease the size of the column/row on the left/top cell edge, |
Alt + Shift + Arrow Keys |
|
Like Alt, but only the active cell is modified |
Alt + Ctrl + Arrow Keys |
|
Like Alt, but only the active cell is modified |
Ctrl + Alt + Shift + Arrow Keys |
|
Cell protection Removes cell protection from all selected tables. If no table is selected, then cell protection is removed from all tables in the document. Delete contents If no whole cell is selected, the text from the cursor to the end of the current sentence is deleted. If the cursor is at the end of a cell, and no entire cell is selected, the contents of the next cell are deleted. If no entire cell is selected and the cursor is at the end of the table, the paragraph following the table will be deleted, unless it is the last paragraph in the document. |
Ctrl + Shift + T |
|
If one or more cells are selected, the whole rows containing the selection will be deleted. If all rows are selected completely or partially, the entire table will be deleted. |
Shift + Ctrl + Del |
|
Effect |
Shortcut keys |
|
Insert paragraph Inserts a new paragraph directly before or after the section. The cursor must be placed at the first character of the section or the last character of the section. |
Alt + Enter |
|
Effect |
Shortcut Keys |
|
Cursor is inside a frame and no text is selected: Escape selects the frame. Frame is selected: Escape clears the cursor from the frame. |
Esc |
|
If a frame is selected: positions the cursor to the end of the text in the frame. If you press any key that produces a character on screen, and the document is in edit mode, the character is appended to the text. |
F2 or Enter or any key that produces a character on screen |
|
Move object. |
Alt + Arrow Keys |
|
Resizes by moving lower right corner. |
Alt + Ctrl + Arrow Keys |
|
Resizes by moving top left corner. |
Alt + Ctrl + Shift + Arrow Keys |
|
Selects the anchor of an object (in Edit Points mode). |
Ctrl + Tab |