40+ Most Useful Time Saving WordPress Keyboard Shortcuts

Want to make WordPress workflow faster and simpler, learn 40+ keyboard shortcuts.

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The metric of how productive you are at work is directly proportional to the amount of time an individual takes per task.

While you might not feel it happening from the outset, navigating from your keyboard to your mouse and back again can significantly hamper your work productivity.

You might have seen spreadsheet power users navigating through columns, rows, and sheets without taking their hands of the keyboard. Fortunately, WordPress content writers can also do a similar thing with the help of some very powerful keyboard shortcuts for WordPress.

In this article, we will be talking about those shortcuts, showing you how they work, and how, with practice, you can boost your WordPress task productivity without having to lift your hands off the keyboard.

By the end of this article, you will have a fair understanding of a variety of WordPress shortcuts. To keep things modernized, we have also included keyboard shortcuts for the Gutenberg Editor as well.

So, without further ado, let’s begin with the first list of keyboard shortcuts.

WordPress Shortcuts for The Windows Platform

  • Ctrl + A – Selects all the text within a specific text field
  • Ctrl + C – Copies the selected into the clipboard
  • Ctrl + V – Pastes the selected text from the clipboard into a text field or a file
  • Ctrl + B – Makes selected text bold
  • Ctrl + I – Italicizes the selected text
  • Ctrl + U – Underlines selected text
  • Ctrl + K – Prompts a link box to open where you can link a selected text to a URL
  • Ctrl + X – Copies text to clipboard but removes it in the process
  • Ctrl + Z – Undo recent changes
  • Ctrl + S – Save changes
  • Ctrl + P – Opens up the printer to print text
  • Alt +Shift + X – Selected text becomes monospace
  • Alt +Shift + H – Displays the keyboard shortcuts on WordPress

WordPress Keyboard Shortcuts on Mac

While the WordPress shortcuts are generally the same on Mac, there are a few differences in the keys that are used to call those commands.

  • Command + C – Copies the selected into the clipboard
  • Command + V – Pastes the selected text from the clipboard into a text field or a file Command + B – Makes selected text bold
  • Command + I – Italicizes the selected text
  • Command + X – Copies text to clipboard but removes it in the process
  • Command + A – Selects all the text within a specific text field
  • Command + Z – Undo recent changes
  • Command + S – Save changes
  • Command + P – Opens up the printer to print text
  • Command + U – Underlines selected text
  • Command + K – Prompts a link box to open where you can link a selected text to a URL
  • Option + Control + X – Selected text becomes monospace 
  • Option + Control + H – Displays the keyboard shortcuts on WordPress

All of the shortcuts mentioned above are applicable when you’re working on the post/page editor on WordPress. While it will take some practice and time, adding these shortcuts to your muscle memory can make you workday more productive.

Gutenberg Keyboard Shortcuts for the WordPress Block Editor on Windows

Now that the classic editor is replaced by Gutenberg as the default post/page editor, we feel that its important to make you aware of the keyboard shortcuts available on Gutenberg.

Gutenberg, like the classic editor, comes with the same set of keyboard shortcuts with a few minor exceptions. Let’s look at some of them, shall we:

  • Enter – Add blocks to the editor
  • Ctrl + Shift + D – Duplicate the selected block(s)
  • Alt + Shift + Z – Delete selected block(s)
  • Ctrl + Alt + T – Creates new block(s) before selected blocks
  • Ctrl + Alt + Y – Opens new blocks to open after selected blocks.
  • / – Allows you to change the block type once you add a new paragraph
  • Esc – Clear your selection
  • Ctrl + Shift + Z – Brings you back to the previous undo
  • Ctrl + Shift + , – Shows/hides the settings menu
  • Alt + Shift + O – Opens up the block navigation menu
  • Alt + Shift + N – Helps you move to the next part of the block editor
  • Alt + Shift + P – Helps you move to the previous part of the block editor
  • Alt + F10 – Navigates you to the nearest toolbar
  • Ctrl + Shift + Alt + M – Enables you to switch between the block and code editor.

Gutenberg Keyboard Shortcut for Mac users:

  • Enter – Add blocks to the editor
  • / – Allows you to change the block type once you add a new paragraph
  • Command + Shift + D – Duplicate the selected block(s)
  • Control + Option + Z – Delete selected block(s)
  • Command + Option + T – Creates new block(s) before selected blocks
  • Command + Option + Y – Opens new blocks after selected blocks.
  • Esc – Clear your selection
  • Command + Shift + Z – Brings you back to the previous undo 
  • Command + Shift + , – Shows/hides the settings menu
  • Option + Control+ O – Opens up the block navigation menu
  • Option + Control+ N – Helps you move to the next part of the block editor
  • Option + Control+ P – Helps you move to the previous part of the block editor
  • fn + Option + F10 – Navigates you to the nearest toolbar
  • Command + Option + Shift + M – Enables you to switch between the block and code editor.

WordPress Formatting Shortcuts

To make your content writing and editing processes a lot simpler, WordPress has a few shortcuts introduced specifically for quicker formatting. They are not exactly keyboard shortcuts, but learning them would prove as a handy alternative when you’re writing or editing.

These are some of the shortcuts we will be discussing:

  • Ordered and unordered lists
  • Blockquotes
  • Horizontal lines

When you’re in the WordPress Editor, typing the following keys will perform several different functions. Here are some of them:

  • * – Starts an unordered list
  • “1.” – Starts an ordered list
  • Alt + Shift + 2 – H2 heading
  • Alt + Shift + 3 – H3 heading
  • You can use the Alt+Shift+4, 5 and 6 to accordingly use the H4, H5, and H6 headings
  • Shift + Alt + Q – Creates blockquotes of a selected paragraph

Conclusion:

These are tough to get used to, we know. With enough time and practice, however, these shortcuts promise speed and productivity in your workday. Gain productivity for your workday with these time saving tips and get more work done.

We hope this article proved informative to you!

Features Image: Business photo created by pressfoto – www.freepik.com

About Author: Ammar Naeem

Ammar Naeem is a WordPress whiz and works at Codup, specializing in WP development and security. Besides work, he is passionate about giving back to the community and helping others.

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