Shortcut Keys for LibreOffice Writer

You can use shortcut keys to quickly perform common tasks in LibreOffice. This section lists the default shortcut keys for LibreOffice Writer.

Note Icon

Some of the shortcut keys may be assigned to your desktop system. Keys that are assigned to the desktop system are not available to LibreOffice. Try to assign different keys either for LibreOffice, in Tools - Customize - Keyboard, or in your desktop system.


You can also use the general shortcut keys in LibreOffice.

Function Keys for LibreOffice Writer

Shortcut keys

Effect

F2

Formula Bar

+F2

Insert Fields

F3

Complete AutoText

+F3

Edit AutoText

Shift+F4

Select next frame

Ctrl+Shift+F4

Open Data Source View

F5

Navigator on/off

Shift+F5

Moves the cursor to the position that it had when the document was last saved before it was last closed.

+Shift+F5

Navigator on, go to page number

F7

Spelling

+F7

Thesaurus

F8

Extension mode

+F8

Field shadings on / off

Shift+F8

Additional selection mode

Ctrl+Shift+F8

Block selection mode

F9

Update fields

+F9

Show fields

Shift+F9

Calculate Table

+Shift+F9

Update Input Fields and Input Lists

+F10

Nonprinting Characters on/off

Styles window on/off

Shift+F11

Create Style

+F11

Sets focus to Apply Style box

+Shift+F11

Update Style

F12

Numbering on

+F12

Insert or edit Table

Shift+F12

Bullets on

+Shift+F12

Numbering / Bullets off


Shortcut Keys for LibreOffice Writer

Shortcut keys

Effect

+A

Select All

+J

Justify

+D

Double Underline

+E

Centered

+H

Find and Replace

+Shift+P

Superscript

+L

Align Left

+R

Align Right

+Shift+B

Subscript

Redo last action

+0 (zero)

Apply Text Body paragraph style

+1

Apply Heading 1 paragraph style

+2

Apply Heading 2 paragraph style

+3

Apply Heading 3 paragraph style

+4

Apply Heading 4 paragraph style

+5

Apply Heading 5 paragraph style

+ Plus Key(+)

Calculates the selected text and copies the result to the clipboard.

+Hyphen(-)

Soft hyphens; hyphenation set by you.

+Shift+minus sign (-)

Non-breaking hyphen (is not used for hyphenation)

+multiplication sign * (only on number pad)

Run macro field

+Shift+Space

Non-breaking spaces. Non-breaking spaces are not used for hyphenation and are not expanded if the text is justified.

Shift+Enter

Line break without paragraph change

+Enter

Manual page break

+Shift+Enter

Column break in multicolumnar texts

+Enter

Inserting a new paragraph without numbering inside a list. Does not work when the cursor is at the end of the list.

+Enter

Inserting a new paragraph directly before or after a section, or before a table.

Arrow Left

Move cursor to left

Shift+Arrow Left

Move cursor with selection to the left

+Arrow Left

Go to beginning of word

+Shift+Arrow Left

Selecting to the left word by word

Arrow Right

Move cursor to right

Shift+Arrow Right

Move cursor with selection to the right

+Arrow Right

Go to start of next word

+Shift+Arrow Right

Selecting to the right word by word

Arrow Up

Move cursor up one line

Shift+Arrow Up

Selecting lines in an upwards direction

Ctrl+Arrow Up

Move cursor to beginning of the previous paragraph

+Shift+Arrow Up

Select to beginning of paragraph. Next keystroke extends selection to beginning of previous paragraph

Arrow Down

Move cursor down one line

Shift+Arrow Down

Selecting lines in a downward direction

+Arrow Down

Move cursor to beginning of next paragraph.

+Shift+Arrow Down

Select to end of paragraph. Next keystroke extends selection to end of next paragraph

Go to beginning of line

+Shift

Go and select to the beginning of a line

Go to end of line

+Shift

Go and select to end of line

Go to start of document

+Shift

Go and select text to start of document

Go to end of document

+Shift

Go and select text to end of document

+PageUp

Switch cursor between text and header

+PageDown

Switch cursor between text and footer

Insert

Insert mode on/off

PageUp

Screen page up

Shift+PageUp

Move up screen page with selection

PageDown

Move down screen page

Shift+PageDown

Move down screen page with selection

Delete text to end of word

+Backspace

Delete text to beginning of word

In a list: delete an empty paragraph in front of the current paragraph

+Shift

Delete text to end of sentence

+Shift+Backspace

Delete text to beginning of sentence

+Tab

Next suggestion with Automatic Word Completion

+Shift+Tab

Use previous suggestion with Automatic Word Completion

+Shift+V

Paste the contents of the clipboard as unformatted text.

+ double-click or + Shift + F10

Use this combination to quickly dock or undock the Navigator, Styles window, or other windows


Shortcut Keys for Paragraphs and Heading Levels

Shortcut keys

Effect

+Up Arrow

Move the active paragraph or selected paragraphs up one paragraph.

+Down Arrow

Move the active paragraph or selected paragraphs down one paragraph.

Tab

The heading in format "Heading X" (X = 1-9) is moved down one level in the outline.

Shift+Tab

The heading in format "Heading X" (X = 2-10) is moved up one level in the outline.

+Tab

At the start of a heading: Inserts a tab stop. Depending on the Window Manager in use, +Tab may be used instead.

To change the heading level with the keyboard, first position the cursor in front of the heading.


Shortcut Keys for Tables in LibreOffice Writer

Shortcut Keys

Effect

+A

If the active cell is empty: selects the whole table. Otherwise: selects the contents of the active cell. Pressing again selects the entire table.

+Home

If the active cell is empty: goes to the beginning of the table. Otherwise: first press goes to beginning of the active cell, second press goes to beginning of the current table, third press goes to beginning of document.

+End

If the active cell is empty: goes to the end of the table. Otherwise: first press goes to the end of the active cell, second press goes to the end of the current table, third press goes to the end of the document.

+Tab

Inserts a tab stop (only in tables). Depending on the Window Manager in use, +Tab may be used instead.

+Arrow Keys

Increases/decreases the size of the column/row on the right/bottom cell edge

+Shift+Arrow Keys

Increase/decrease the size of the column/row on the left/top cell edge

+Arrow Keys

Like , but only the active cell is modified

+Shift+Arrow Keys

Like , but only the active cell is modified

+Shift+T

Removes cell protection from all selected tables. If no table is selected, then cell protection is removed from all of the tables in the document.

Shift++Del

If no whole cell is selected, the text from the cursor to the end of the current sentence is deleted. If the cursor is at the end of a cell, and no whole cell is selected, the contents of the next cell are deleted.

If no whole cell is selected and the cursor is at the end of the table, the paragraph following the table will be deleted, unless it is the last paragraph in the document.

If one or more cells are selected, the whole rows containing the selection will be deleted. If all rows are selected completely or partially, the entire table will be deleted.


Shortcut Keys for Moving and Resizing Frames, Graphics and Objects

Shortcut Keys

Effect

Esc

Cursor is inside a frame and no text is selected: Escape selects the frame.

Frame is selected: Escape clears the cursor from the frame.

F2 or Enter or any key that produces a character on screen

If a frame is selected: positions the cursor to the end of the text in the frame. If you press any key that produces a character on screen, and the document is in edit mode, the character is appended to the text.

+Arrow Keys

Move object.

+Arrow Keys

Resizes by moving lower right corner.

+Shift+Arrow Keys

Resizes by moving top left corner.

+Tab

Selects the anchor of an object (in Edit Points mode).


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