The following general, navigation, selection, and formatting shortcuts apply in word-processing documents and text frames. Some actions have two or more shortcuts.

General word-processing keyboard commands

	Action or command		Keyboard shortcut
	Apply Ruler		Shift--V
	Bold		-B
	Copy Ruler		Shift--C
	Delete the next character		Del (not available on all keyboards)
	Delete the previous character		Delete
	Insert Column Break		Enter
	Insert Blank Footnote		Shift--F
	Insert Page Break		Shift-Enter
	Insert Section Break		Option-Enter
	Italic		-I
	Other (font size)		Shift--O
	Plain Text		-T
	Return to the main text area from the footnote area		Enter (numeric keypad)
	Show/Hide formatting (invisible) characters		-; (semicolon)
	Underline		-U

Word-processing navigation keyboard commands

	To move		Keyboard shortcut
	One character left		Left Arrow
	One character right		Right Arrow
	One line up		Up Arrow
	One line down		Down Arrow
	One word left		Option-Left Arrow
	One word right		Option-Right Arrow
	To the beginning of a document		Home, -Up Arrow
	To the end of a document		End, -Down Arrow
	To the beginning of a line		-Left Arrow
	To the end of a line		-Right Arrow
	To the beginning of a paragraph		Option-Up Arrow
	To the end of a paragraph		Option-Down Arrow

Word-processing selection keyboard commands

	Action or command		Keyboard shortcut
	Select one or more characters		Click in front of the first character and drag across the characters you want to select
	Select a word		Double-click the word
	Select a paragraph		Click four times in the paragraph
	Select a line of text		Click three times in the line
	Select All		-A
	Select blocks of text		Click the start of a text block, and then Shift-click the end of another text block
	Select from the insertion point to the beginning of the paragraph		Shift-Option-Up Arrow
	Select from the insertion point to the end of the paragraph		Shift-Option-Down Arrow
	Extend the selection		Shift-Up Arrow, Down Arrow, Right Arrow, Left Arrow

Typing formatting characters and special text

	For this character		Press
	Space		Space bar
	Non-breaking space		Option-Space bar
	Tab		Tab
	Paragraph return		Return
	Line break (soft return)		Shift-Return
	Column break		Enter
	Page break		Shift-Enter
	Section break		Option-Enter

Related topic

Using the Button Bar, contextual menus, and keyboard shortcuts