I’ve been writing about technology for 15 years, and most of that time I’ve written everything in Google Docs.
Lightweight and accessible from anywhere with an Internet connection, Google Docs has become my favorite word processor simply by being available when and where I need it. Whether you’re taking notes during a presentation or playing with poetry at a coffee shop, the blank page of a Google Doc will always be there for you.
If you also use Google Docs daily, there are some useful keyboard shortcuts that can save you time in the long run. I’m not talking about Ctrl+C either Ctrl + V either (although copy and paste are incredibly useful shortcuts, if you’re not already using them). I’m talking about advanced tricks that help you work faster and more efficiently without taking your hands off the keyboard.
After more than a decade of downloading drafts in Google Docs, I’ve come to really appreciate these lesser-known shortcuts, and they can help you get more done in less time once you master them. So grab a notepad and write them down, because these are the Google Docs keyboard shortcuts you need to know.
Ctrl + H: find and replace
Maybe I wouldn’t put this one first on the list, but for me, being able to quickly find all instances of a word in a document and replace them with another word can be a huge time saver.
Hit Ctrl+H displays the “Find and Replace” menu in Google Docs, which allows you to tell Google to replace all instances of a word with something else. You can also modify options such as case matching, whether or not to ignore diacritics, etc.
Ctrl + Shift + V: Paste without formatting
Copy and paste (Ctrl+C and Ctrl + V, respectively) are some of the first shortcuts you learn when you start using Google Docs. But once you get the hang of them, there’s actually another way to paste that I tend to use much more often because it’s useful when I’m writing in multiple programs.
When hitting Ctrl + Shift + V You can paste what you last copied into your document, but all formatting will be removed. I find this useful when working between Google Docs and other word processors because copying text from other programs (like Microsoft Word) and pasting it into a Google Doc can bring the formatting of that original document back to your Google Doc, which could make it look like fun or mess up the existing format.
But if you simply hold down the Shift key while doing the usual paste, you can automatically remove all that formatting. That means that any text you paste into your Google Doc will match what’s in your existing document much more clearly.
Ctrl + Shift + X: Invocation context menu (right click)
If you spend a lot of time working with documents, like me, you may also be at the point where you’re typing and editing without taking your hands off the keys much. Personally, when I start to feel like I’m really flying through something I’m writing or editing, I hate taking my hands off the keys, which is why I love it Ctrl + Shift + X keyboard shortcut in Google Docs.
Pressing these three keys together will instantly open the context menu, which is more commonly called context menu as it is the small menu that appears whenever you right-click something in Google Docs. This is the menu that lets you quickly do things like copy, paste, unformat, leave comments, and more, so it’s nice to be able to access it quickly without moving your hands to the mouse.
Ctrl + Y: repeat the last action
One of the nice things about keyboard shortcuts is that they are quick and easy ways to execute commands, so once you know one, it’s easy to repeat it quickly. But if you don’t know the shortcut for a certain action and want to repeat it over and over again, don’t worry: there’s a shortcut for that too.
If you press Ctrl + Y in Google Docs it will repeat the last action, so if you pasted a block of text into your document and pressed this shortcut three times, it would paste three additional copies of the same text into your document. Likewise, if you delete a paragraph of text and use this shortcut, Google Docs will delete an extra character each time you press it.
Ctrl + Shift + F: compact mode
I don’t know about you, but when working on a large document I like to have as few distractions as possible. That’s why I sometimes like to work in compact mode when editing large Google Docs, because it hides a bunch of buttons and menus at the top of the screen.
This is mainly to reduce wasted space when working in a limited window, but even if you have a nice big laptop screen to read from, I like this more compact and concentrated display mode when editing long documents. You can quickly enter and exit compact mode by pressing Ctrl + Shift + F when you use Google Docs.
Shift + Right/Left: Expand selection
If you’ve ever needed a way to quickly select an extra character or two without having to point at them with your mouse, Google Docs has you covered.
When you’re working on a document, you can quickly select text using just the keyboard by pressing Shift + left either Good, depending on which direction you want to highlight the text. I use it all the time to quickly move text (for example, move a sentence from the end of one paragraph to the beginning of another) without having to take my hands off the keyboard. It can be a real time saver.
Ctrl + /: Show list of keyboard shortcuts
Last but not least, you want to know the Google Docs shortcut to find other shortcuts you want in your own work.
You can invoke the list of common Google Docs keyboard shortcuts by pressing Ctrl + /. This brings up a small menu box in which you will find listings of the most common shortcuts used to navigate Google Docs, as well as a link to the full Google Docs support website. If there is a keyboard shortcut you need to find and it is not in this article, you should be able to find it using this method.
That’s all about it! If you like the utility that any of these shortcuts provide, I hope you’ll add them to your repertoire and practice with them until you’re absolutely flying with your Google Docs.
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