Typing and keyboard shortcuts.

Fast, accurate typing and a few shortcuts can save you an hour every day at work, and they make you look confident in front of a manager. Today you'll learn proper typing technique and the shortcuts professionals use.

Touch typing basics

• Rest your fingers on the home row: left hand on A S D F, right hand on J K L ;. Feel the small bumps on F and J.
• Each finger is responsible for keys above and below its home key.
• Look at the screen, not the keyboard.
• Accuracy first, speed later.

Good targets: 30–40 words per minute (WPM) is comfortable for most office jobs; data entry roles may ask for more.

Free practice: typing.com, keybr.com, monkeytype.com. 15 minutes a day for a month makes a big difference.

The most useful shortcuts

Everywhere (Windows)

Ctrl + C / X / V     Copy / Cut / Paste
Ctrl + Z / Y         Undo / Redo
Ctrl + A             Select all
Ctrl + S             Save
Ctrl + F             Find
Alt + Tab            Switch between windows
Windows + D          Show desktop
Windows + L          Lock your computer (do this when you leave your desk!)
Windows + Shift + S  Screenshot of part of the screen
Windows + V          Clipboard history (turn it on)

Browser

Ctrl + T             New tab
Ctrl + W             Close tab
Ctrl + Shift + T     Reopen the tab you closed by mistake
Ctrl + L             Go to the address bar
Ctrl + Tab           Next tab

Excel / Sheets

Ctrl + Arrow key     Jump to the end of data
Ctrl + Shift + Arrow Select to the end of data
Ctrl + ;             Insert today's date
F2                   Edit the current cell
Ctrl + Shift + L     Turn filters on/off (Excel)

Lock your screen

Windows + L every time you leave your laptop, even for 2 minutes. In offices, unlocked screens are a real security risk, and some teams even prank colleagues who forget!