In Word in Spanish, bold is Ctrl + N, italic Ctrl + K, underline Ctrl + S and save, Ctrl + G. Careful: Microsoft's official list in Spanish gives several shortcuts from Word in English (such as Ctrl + S to save), which do something else here. In long documents, the ones that save the most time are those for moving around and selecting.
Note for readers of this English version: every letter shortcut in this article is the one used by Word with its interface in Spanish, which is where we tested them. Word in English uses different letter shortcuts (in Word in English, for example, Ctrl + S saves). If your Word is in English, don't rely on the letter shortcuts below: check them in your own Word, as explained further down.
How to read them: Ctrl + Shift + key and function keys
A plus sign means pressing the keys at the same time, and a comma, pressing them one after the other. In Ctrl + Shift + E, for example, you hold down Ctrl and Shift (the key with the upward arrow, «Mayús» on a Spanish keyboard) and press E: it turns track changes on or off.
The function keys are the row from F1 to F12 at the top of the keyboard. On their own they do one thing and, with Shift, Ctrl or Alt in front, another: F12 opens Save As and Shift + F12 saves. And they have an advantage: the ones we include here do in Word in Spanish exactly what the list says.
If you press Alt, Word shows over the ribbon the letter that opens each tab (KeyTips). Trust the ones you see on screen, not the ones in the list.
Word for Mac has its own tab in the list, with Cmd in many shortcuts: Cmd + Down arrow moves down a paragraph and Cmd + Return inserts a page break. If a function key doesn't respond, Microsoft says to press Fn as well.
Why the official list doesn't match your Word in Spanish
Microsoft's list in Spanish mixes shortcuts from Word in Spanish with shortcuts from Word in English. You can see it without leaving the page: in the table of the most used ones, Ctrl + A is both for opening a document and for selecting everything, and Ctrl + U, for creating a new one and for underlining. Further down, Ctrl + I appears as italic and as align left.
We tested it in Word for Microsoft 365 with the interface in Spanish, on 22 October 2026. Bold (Ctrl + N), justify (Ctrl + J), open (Ctrl + A) and new document (Ctrl + U) match the list. However, Ctrl + S underlines instead of saving, Ctrl + I opens Go To instead of applying italic and Ctrl + E selects everything instead of centring, and Ctrl + Alt + F and Ctrl + Alt + M don't insert a footnote or a comment. A volunteer moderator on Microsoft's forum explained it back in 2022: the Spanish page is a translation of the English one, and those shortcuts are the ones from Word in English.
To see the shortcut for any other button in your Word, go to File, Options, Customize Ribbon (Archivo, Opciones, Personalizar cinta de opciones in Word in Spanish) and click Customize, at the very bottom. Choose the category and the command: the Current keys box shows the keys assigned to it. All the letter shortcuts in the tables below were tested in Word for Microsoft 365 in Spanish on 22 October 2026, including the ones Microsoft's list gets wrong.
Moving around and selecting in a long document
In a long document, Ctrl combined with the arrows, Home or End saves you the mouse wheel.
| To | Press |
|---|---|
| Go to the beginning or end of the document | Ctrl + Home / Ctrl + End |
| Jump to the previous or next paragraph | Ctrl + Up arrow / Ctrl + Down arrow |
| Jump from word to word | Ctrl + Left arrow / Ctrl + Right arrow |
| Go to the top of the next or previous page | Ctrl + Page Down / Ctrl + Page Up |
| Go back to where you made the last change | Shift + F5 |
| Cycle through the last four places where you changed something | Ctrl + Alt + Z |
| Go to a page, a bookmark, a footnote or a comment | Ctrl + I or F5 |
| Search the document (Navigation pane) | Ctrl + B |
| Open the Bookmark dialog box | Ctrl + Shift + F5 |
The one that pays off most is Shift + F5: according to Microsoft, pressed right after opening the document, it takes you to the last edit you made before closing it. And if you often go back to the same clause, add a bookmark to it and jump to it with Ctrl + I.
Selecting without the mouse
If you add Shift to the movements with the arrows, Home and End, you select instead of moving:
| To | Press |
|---|---|
| Select the whole document | Ctrl + E |
| Select to the beginning or end of the paragraph | Ctrl + Shift + Up / Down arrow |
| Select word by word | Ctrl + Shift + Left / Right arrow |
| Select to the beginning or end of the line | Shift + Home / Shift + End |
| Select to the beginning or end of the document | Ctrl + Shift + Home / Ctrl + Shift + End |
| Extend the selection one step | F8, several times |
| Reduce the selection | Shift + F8 |
| Select a vertical block of text | Ctrl + Shift + F8 and the arrows |
F8 extends the selection to the word, the sentence, the paragraph, the section and the document, and Esc stops it. To gather scattered clauses, Ctrl + F3 cuts each fragment to a store Word calls the Spike («Especial» in Word in Spanish), and Ctrl + Shift + F3 pastes them all together.
Formatting and structure of the brief
In a brief, the formatting shortcuts that pay off most are paste text only, repeat and copy formatting.
| To | Press |
|---|---|
| Bold, italic and underline | Ctrl + N, Ctrl + K and Ctrl + S |
| Align left, centre, align right and justify | Ctrl + Q, Ctrl + T, Ctrl + D and Ctrl + J |
| Apply the Normal style | Ctrl + Shift + A |
| Paste text only, without the original formatting | Ctrl + Shift + V |
| Repeat the last action (a format, a style) | F4 |
| Copy the formatting of one text and apply it to another | Ctrl + Alt + C and then Ctrl + Alt + V |
| Remove character formatting applied by hand | Ctrl + Spacebar |
| Single, 1.5 or double line spacing | Ctrl + 1, Ctrl + 5 or Ctrl + 2 |
| Switch between uppercase, lowercase and title case | Shift + F3 |
| Insert a page break | Ctrl + Enter |
| Line break without starting a new paragraph | Shift + Enter |
| Non-breaking space | Ctrl + Shift + Spacebar |
| Show or hide formatting marks | Ctrl + Shift + 8 (the 8 on the number row) |
Ctrl + Shift + V makes a difference when copying from a judgment in PDF or from a website: the text comes in without the fonts or colours of the original. F4 repeats the last thing you did: you format one heading and, for the next ones, you select and press F4. With the marks visible, the breaks and double spaces that throw a brief out of line show up, and the non-breaking space keeps «n.º» (the Spanish abbreviation for “number”) and its figure from ending up on different lines.
For heading styles, the list gives Ctrl + Alt + 1, 2 and 3, but in our test not all of them responded: it is better to assign them a shortcut of your own, as we explain below.
Reviewing, finding and saving without leaving the keyboard
For reviewing, the key shortcuts are Ctrl + Shift + E (track changes) and F7 (spelling and grammar).
| To | Press |
|---|---|
| Turn track changes on or off | Ctrl + Shift + E |
| Insert a comment | Ctrl + Alt + A |
| Insert a footnote | Ctrl + Alt + O |
| Find and replace | Ctrl + L |
| Check spelling and grammar (Editor pane) | F7 |
| Go to the next error | Alt + F7 |
| Look up synonyms | Shift + F7 |
| Update the selected fields (tables of contents, cross-references) | F9 |
| Save | Ctrl + G or Shift + F12 |
| Save As | F12 |
| Close the document | Ctrl + F4 |
Shift + F12 saves in the same way in Word in Spanish and in English, which is useful if you work on computers set to different languages. How to accept, reject or remove changes before sending, in track changes in Word, step by step. And if the brief has a length limit, such as the 50,000 characters of a Spanish cassation appeal (recurso de casación), how they are counted in counting characters in Word.
How to create your own shortcuts in Word
Word lets you assign your own shortcut to any command, macro, style, font or symbol from Customize Keyboard.
- Go to File, Options, Customize Ribbon and, at the very bottom, click Customize.
- In Save changes in, choose the template or document where you want to save the shortcut.
- In Categories, choose the group that contains the command or style, and in Commands, the specific item. Its keys, if it has any, appear in Current keys.
- Click in Press new shortcut key and press the combination. Microsoft recommends starting with Ctrl or a function key.
- Check underneath whether that combination is already assigned to something else; if it is, try another. Then click Assign.
Careful when reassigning: the combination loses its original function until you click Reset All in that same dialog box. For paragraphs you repeat (the closing formula, the «SUPLICO AL JUZGADO», the formal request to the court at the end of a Spanish brief), Alt + F3 saves the selected text as an AutoText entry, which you insert by typing its first letters and pressing Enter when Word suggests it. We cover it in how to use Quick Parts in Word.
Word itself generates the complete list of what is assigned in your Word: Alt + F8 opens the Macros dialog box; choose Word commands in Macros in, find ListCommands, click Run and keep the current keyboard settings. A new document appears with the commands and their keys, which you can save as PDF from File, Save As.
Where shortcuts fall short
Shortcuts save seconds per action, but in a long brief the time goes on writing.
A shortcut turns several clicks into one gesture, but drafting ten pages takes hours and no key combination helps there: people type at about 40 words a minute and speak at about 160, as we break down in how much time you save by dictating instead of typing. The dictation Word already includes, in how to dictate in Word.
Other limits:
- You don't need to learn them all: five or six you use every day make more difference than a hundred you don't remember.
- Some require keys that not all laptops have, such as Home, End, Page Up, Page Down or the numeric keypad.
- On a Mac, several clash with macOS shortcuts, and Microsoft says you may need to change the combination in the Mac's keyboard settings.
With ablalo, dictating is one more keyboard shortcut: you press it in Word or any other program, speak in Spanish and the text appears where the cursor is, already punctuated, without saying «coma» or «punto y aparte». Formatting can be dictated too: «nuevo párrafo» (new paragraph), or «primero punto guion» (first, full stop, hyphen), which writes «Primero.-». Your voice is transcribed on your own computer.
In short
The Word keyboard shortcuts that save the most time in long briefs and contracts are those for moving around and selecting (Ctrl + Home, Ctrl + Shift + arrows, F8), going back to the last change (Shift + F5), repeating (F4), pasting text only (Ctrl + Shift + V) and track changes (Ctrl + Shift + E). In Word in Spanish, italic, underline, save and replace are Ctrl + K, Ctrl + S, Ctrl + G and Ctrl + L, not the ones in the official list; the shortcut for any other button is in Customize Keyboard, under Current keys.
Sources: Microsoft, Keyboard shortcuts in Word (Windows and Mac; the Spanish version of the page discussed above, in Spanish), Customize keyboard shortcuts in Word, Application.ListCommands method and Save or convert to PDF; Microsoft Q&A forum, thread «Métodos abreviados de teclado» (keyboard shortcuts, 2022, in Spanish). Letter shortcuts tested by us in Word for Microsoft 365 with the interface in Spanish on 22 October 2026. Checked on 22 October 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Which Word keyboard shortcuts should everyone know?
Undo and redo (Ctrl + Z and Ctrl + Y), copy, cut and paste (Ctrl + C, Ctrl + X and Ctrl + V), paste text only (Ctrl + Shift + V) and repeat the last action (F4). In Word in Spanish, bold, italic and underline are Ctrl + N, Ctrl + K and Ctrl + S.
What does Ctrl + Shift + a key mean in Word?
That you hold down Ctrl and Shift (Mayús on a Spanish keyboard) at the same time and press the third key. For example, Ctrl + Shift + E turns track changes on or off and Ctrl + Shift + V pastes text only.
What are the function keys for in Word?
For frequent tasks without going through the ribbon: F4 repeats the last action, F5 opens Go To, F7 checks spelling, F8 extends the selection and F12 opens Save As. With Shift, Ctrl or Alt they do other things, such as Shift + F12, which saves.
Why doesn't Ctrl + S save in my Word?
Because in Word in Spanish Ctrl + S underlines and save is Ctrl + G (or Shift + F12, which works in both languages). Ctrl + S is the save shortcut in Word in English, and Microsoft's list in Spanish copies it as it is.
Is there a list of Word shortcuts in PDF?
Microsoft links a Word document and a reference PDF, but they are for Word 2016, and the Word one is in English with a US keyboard. To get your own list for Word in Spanish, generate it with ListCommands (Alt + F8) and save it as PDF.
Are the shortcuts the same in Word 2016 and Microsoft 365?
Microsoft publishes the same list for Word 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024 and Microsoft 365 on Windows, with a separate tab for Mac. What does change the letter shortcuts is the language of Word.