Writer Guide 26.2

Appendix A
Keyboard Shortcuts

Copyright

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.

Contributors

To this edition

Dione Maddern

To previous editions

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Publication date and software version

Published March 2026. Based on LibreOffice 26.2.
Other versions of LibreOffice may differ in appearance and functionality.

Using LibreOffice on macOS

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
menu selection

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

Introduction

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.

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.

Docking and undocking windows in workspace

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

Advanced editing

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

Shortcut keys for text selection

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

Shortcut keys for cursor movement

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

Shortcut keys for inserting text

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

Shortcut keys for breaks

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

Shortcut keys for deleting text

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

Formatting

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

Shortcut Keys for Paragraphs, List Paragraphs, Outline Levels and List Levels

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

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.

Shortcut Keys for Tables

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

Shortcut Keys for Sections

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

Shortcut Keys for Moving and Resizing Frames, Graphics, and Objects

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

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