Carry out commands by using key combinations

Key combination keyboard shortcuts are fast, and you don't need to use the Ribbon to make things happen.
Most combination keyboard shortcuts use the CTRL key. For example, CTRL+C is copy, and CTRL+V is paste. These are good examples of shortcuts that do the same thing across most Microsoft Office programs.

There are a few exceptions to the CTRL rule. One of the most notable is ALT+S for sending an e-mail message in Outlook.

You can see the shortcuts when you're using a mouse: If a shortcut is available, it is displayed in a ScreenTip when you rest the mouse pointer over a command. You will find that the more frequently you use the shortcuts, the less you have to look them up, and you'll soon become very familiar with shortcuts that you use every day.

Even if you're usually a mouse user, once you know some shortcuts you'll discover the speed and efficiency of using keystrokes instead of the mouse. Rather than moving your hand off the keyboard continually to use the mouse, use a few keystrokes and you'll quickly finish the task.

Note: In Word, it is possible to assign a shortcut key to complete entire commands and macros, for example to change the font of text.