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It might not seem like it takes very long, but every time you need to move your hands away from your keyboard to use your mouse, there’s going to be a short period of wasted time. Over a full day of work, that time can add up! That’s where WordPress keyboard shortcuts can help. ? We use many of these on a daily basis to speed up our writing workflow.

WordPress keyboard shortcuts let you keep your hands on your keyboard without losing the ability to select text, add formatting, or even moderate your comments section!

To help you be as productive as possible while working on your WordPress site, we put together a big list of every single WordPress keyboard shortcut that we know.

By the end of this post, you’ll know a huge variety of WordPress keyboard shortcuts to help you more efficiently create content and manage comments.

And even though the Gutenberg Editor is still in beta, we still collected a few Gutenberg-specific shortcuts to get you ready for WordPress 5.0.

WordPress Keyboard Shortcuts for the WordPress Editor

These keyboard shortcuts can help save you time when you’re creating content in the WordPress Editor.

Many of the keyboard shortcuts that you use in everyday life can also come in handy when working with the WordPress Editor. Some of these might already be familiar to you – but if not, you’ll quickly grow to love them!

Beyond the general shortcuts, there are also some WordPress-specific shortcuts you can apply.

Windows Keyboard Shortcuts to Select Text

These Windows shortcuts can help you select text in the editor without needing to leave your keyboard:

• CTRL + A – select all text
• Shift + Left/Right – select one letter to the right/left
• CTRL + Shift + Right/Left – select one word to the right/left
• CTRL + Shift + Up/Down – select one line above/below
• Shift + Home – select all text until the beginning of the current line
• Shift + End – select all text until the end of the current line

Mac Keyboard Shortcuts to Select Text

These Mac shortcuts can help you select text in the editor without needing to leave your keyboard:

• Cmd + A – select all text
• Shift + Left/Right – select one letter to the right/left
• Cmd + Shift + Right/Left – select one word to the right/left
• Cmd + Shift + Up/Down – select one line above/below
• Shift + Home – select all text until the beginning of the current line
• Shift + End – select all text until the end of the current line

Windows Keyboard Shortcuts to Manipulate Selected Text

Once you’ve selected some text, you can use these Windows shortcuts to manipulate it or apply formatting:

• CTRL + C – Copy the selected text
• CTRL + X – Cut the selected text
• CTRL + V – Paste the selected text
• CTRL + Shift + V – Paste the selected text without any formatting
• CTRL + B – Bold
• CTRL + I – Italics
• CTRL + U – Underline
• CTRL + K – Insert a link
• ALT + Shift + L – Align left
• ALT + Shift + R – Align right
• ALT + Shift + J – Justify
• ALT + Shift + C – Align center
• ALT + Shift + D – Apply strikethrough
• ALT + Shift + A – Another way to insert a link
• ALT + Shift + O – Starts an ordered list
• ALT + Shift + U – Starts an unordered list
• ALT + Shift + S – Removes a link
• ALT + Shift + Q – Creates a quote
• ALT + Shift + 2/3/4/5/6 – Applies the appropriate heading tag (<h2>, <h3>, etc.)
• ALT + Shift + X – Adds a code tag

Mac Keyboard Shortcuts to Manipulate Selected Text

Once you’ve selected some text, you can use these Mac shortcuts to manipulate it or apply formatting:

• Cmd + C – Copy the selected text
• Cmd + X – Cut the selected text
• Cmd + V – Paste the selected text
• Cmd + Shift + V – Paste the selected text without any formatting
• Cmd + B – Bold
• Cmd + I – Italics
• Cmd + U – Underline
• Cmd + K – Insert a link
• Option + CTRL + L – Align left
• Option + CTRL + R – Align right
• Option + CTRL + J – Justify
• Option + CTRL + C – Align center
• Option + CTRL + D – Apply strikethrough
• Option + CTRL + A – Another way to insert a link
• Option + CTRL + O – Starts an ordered list
• Option + CTRL + U – Starts an unordered list
• Option + CTRL + S – Removes a link
• Option + CTRL + Q – Creates a quote
• Option + CTRL + 2/3/4/5/6 – Applies the appropriate heading tag (<h2>, <h3>, etc.)
• Option + CTRL + X – Adds a code tag

Other Windows WordPress Editor Keyboard Shortcuts

These Windows shortcuts might not select text or apply formatting, but they’re still plenty handy!

• CTRL + Z – Undo
• CTRL + Y – Redo
• ALT + Shift + M – Opens the Add Media screen
• ALT + Shift + W – Enables Distraction Free Writing mode
• ALT + Shift + T – Inserts a More tag
• ALT + Shift + P – Inserts a page break
• ALT + Shift + H – Opens the help screen
• ALT + Shift + Z – Expands the WordPress Editor formatting bar
• Shift + Enter – Move down in the editor one line without inserting a full line break.

Other Mac WordPress Editor Keyboard Shortcuts

These Windows shortcuts might not select text or apply formatting, but they’re still plenty handy!

• Cmd + Z – Undo
• Cmd + Y – Redo
• Option + CTRL + M – Opens the Add Media screen
• Option + CTRL + W – Enables Distraction Free Writing mode
• Option + CTRL + T – Inserts a More tag
• Option + CTRL + P – Inserts a page break
• Option + CTRL + H – Opens the help screen
• Option + CTRL + Z – Expands the WordPress Editor formatting bar
• Shift + Enter – Move down in the editor one line without inserting a full line break.

Keyboard Shortcuts in Action

Here’s an example of some of these keyboard shortcuts in action. We are using Windows. For reference, I’m:

• Typing some text
• Using CTRL + Shift + Left to select the last word
• Hitting CTRL + B to bold it
• Using ALT + Shift + R