computing Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and development of both hardware and software. Computing has scientific, ...

, a

keyboard shortcut computing, a keyboard shortcut also known as hotkey is a series of one or several keys to quickly invoke a software program or perform a preprogrammed action. This action may be part of the standard functionality of the operating system or ...

is a sequence or combination of keystrokes on a

computer keyboard A computer keyboard is a peripheral input device modeled after the typewriter keyboard which uses an arrangement of buttons or keys to act as mechanical levers or electronic switches. Replacing early punched cards and paper tape technolog ...

which invokes commands in

software Software is a set of computer programs and associated software documentation, documentation and data (computing), data. This is in contrast to Computer hardware, hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. ...

. Most keyboard shortcuts require the user to press a single key or a sequence of keys one after the other. Other keyboard shortcuts require pressing and holding several keys simultaneously (indicated in the tables below by the + sign). Keyboard shortcuts may depend on the keyboard layout.

Comparison of keyboard shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts are a common aspect of most modern operating systems and associated software applications. Their use is pervasive enough that some users consider them an important element of their routine interactions with a computer. Whether used as a matter of personal preference or for adaptive technology, the pervasiveness of common conventions means that a meaningful comparison of keyboard shortcuts can be made across various widely used operating systems.

General shortcuts

Many shortcuts (such as , , etc.) are just common conventions and are not handled by the operating system. Whether such commands are implemented (or not) depends on how an actual application program (such as an editor) is written. Not all applications follow (all of) these conventions, so if it doesn't work, it isn't compatible. Some of the combinations are not true for localized versions of operating systems. For example, in a non-English version of

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ser ...

, the Edit menu is not always bound to the shortcut. Some software (such as

KDE KDE is an international free software community that develops free and open-source software. As a central development hub, it provides tools and resources that allow collaborative work on this kind of software. Well-known products include the ...

) allow their shortcuts to be changed, and the below list contains the defaults.

Navigation

Power management

Screenshots

Text editing

Many of these commands may be combined with to select a region of text.

Text formatting

Browsers / Go menu

Web browsers

Tab management

Window management

User interface navigation (widgets and controls)

Command line shortcuts

Below is a list of common keyboard shortcuts that are used in a command line environment.

Accessibility

* In Windows, it is possible to disable these shortcuts using the Accessibility or Ease of Access control panel. * In GNOME, these shortcuts are possible, if Universal Access is enabled on the system.

Notes

References

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, w ...

** GNOME **
Useful Keyboard Shortcuts
**

**

**

**

**

**
library.gnome.org for the latest documentation of unstable
**

**
KDE Fundamentals: Common Keyboard Shortcuts
**
KDE Community Wiki: KDE Visual Design Group/HIG/Keyboard Shortcuts
*

Office Suite Productivity software (also called personal productivity software or office productivity software) is application software used for producing information (such as documents, presentations, worksheets, databases, charts, graphs, digital painting ...

s **

Apache OpenOffice Apache OpenOffice (AOO) is an open-source office productivity software suite. It is one of the successor projects of OpenOffice.org and the designated successor of IBM Lotus Symphony. It is a close cousin of LibreOffice, Collabora Online and ...

LibreOffice LibreOffice () is a free and open-source office productivity software suite, a project of The Document Foundation (TDF). It was forked in 2010 from OpenOffice.org, an open-sourced version of the earlier StarOffice. The LibreOffice suite co ...

**
OpenOffice.org and LibreOffice keyboard shortcuts
*

Web Browser A web browser is application software for accessing websites. When a user requests a web page from a particular website, the browser retrieves its files from a web server and then displays the page on the user's screen. Browsers are used o ...

s ** Chrome or Chromium
Google Chrome keyboard shortcuts
**

Firefox Mozilla Firefox, or simply Firefox, is a free and open-source web browser developed by the Mozilla Foundation and its subsidiary, the Mozilla Corporation. It uses the Gecko rendering engine to display web pages, which implements current ...

Firefox browser keyboard shortcuts
**

Opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

Opera browser keyboard shortcuts
User interface techniques