Shortcut Keys — Set 1

Correct Answer: B. Ctrl + N

• **Ctrl + N** = New Document — this shortcut instantly creates a fresh blank document in MS Word without closing or affecting any file already open, allowing you to work on multiple documents simultaneously. • **Key fact** — Ctrl + N is universal across the entire Microsoft Office suite: it opens a new blank workbook in Excel and a new blank presentation in PowerPoint, making it the standard 'New' command everywhere. • Mnemonic: **N** for **N**ew — the letter directly names the action, the easiest shortcut to recall. • 💡 Option A (Ctrl + O) is wrong because it opens the *Open* dialog to locate and load an existing saved file from disk; Option C (Ctrl + S) is wrong because it *saves* the current document to its existing location; Option D (Ctrl + M) is wrong because in MS Word it increases the left indent of the current paragraph by one tab stop.

Correct Answer: A. Ctrl + S

• **Ctrl + S** = Save — it immediately writes all unsaved changes in the current document back to the same file on disk, keeping the original file name and location without opening any dialog box. • **Key fact** — F12 is the Save *As* shortcut in MS Office: it opens a dialog letting you choose a new file name or folder, creating a separate copy rather than overwriting the existing file. • Exam tip: If the document has never been saved before, Ctrl + S behaves identically to Save As and prompts for a location — a nuance frequently tested in MCQs. • 💡 Option B (Ctrl + Shift + S) is wrong because it opens the *Apply Styles* pane in MS Word, used for applying named paragraph styles; Option C (Alt + S) is wrong because it has no standard Save function in MS Word and performs no recognized action; Option D (F12) is wrong because it triggers *Save As*, which saves a new copy rather than saving in place.

Correct Answer: C. Ctrl + C

• **Ctrl + C** = Copy — it places an exact duplicate of the selected text or object onto the clipboard while leaving the original content completely intact in the document, ready to be pasted anywhere. • **Key fact** — the clipboard retains the copied content until it is overwritten by a new Copy or Cut command, so you can paste the same item multiple times in different locations using Ctrl + V. • Mnemonic: **C** for **C**opy — the most direct letter-to-action mapping in all of computing shortcuts. • 💡 Option A (Ctrl + X) is wrong because it *cuts* the selected text — it removes the original from the document and places it on the clipboard, unlike Copy which preserves the original; Option B (Ctrl + V) is wrong because it *pastes* whatever is already stored on the clipboard; Option D (Ctrl + Z) is wrong because it *undoes* the most recent action, reversing edits rather than copying.

Correct Answer: B. Ctrl + V

• **Ctrl + V** = Paste — it inserts a copy of whatever is currently on the clipboard at the cursor's position, completing either a Copy-Paste (original stays) or a Cut-Paste (original was removed) workflow. • **Key fact** — copying to the clipboard does not clear it, so pressing Ctrl + V repeatedly after a single Ctrl + C will paste the same content as many times as needed without re-copying. • Mnemonic: Visualise **V** as a downward-pointing arrow showing content being dropped into the document at the cursor. • 💡 Option A (Ctrl + P) is wrong because it opens the *Print* dialog or Print backstage view, not Paste; Option C (Ctrl + B) is wrong because it toggles **Bold** formatting on the currently selected text; Option D (Ctrl + N) is wrong because it opens a new blank document — it has nothing to do with the clipboard.

Correct Answer: B. Ctrl + Z

• **Ctrl + Z** = Undo — it reverses the most recently performed action in the document, whether that was typing, deleting, formatting, moving, or pasting content, stepping back one level in the edit history. • **Key fact** — MS Word maintains an undo history of up to 100 steps by default; pressing Ctrl + Z repeatedly walks backward through that history, restoring the document to progressively earlier states. • Exam tip: Undo (Ctrl + Z) and Redo (Ctrl + Y) are exact opposites and are frequently offered as distractors for each other in exam questions — learn them as a pair. • 💡 Option A (Ctrl + Y) is wrong because it *redoes* a previously undone action, which is the exact opposite of Undo; Option C (Ctrl + U) is wrong because it toggles *Underline* formatting on the selected text; Option D (Ctrl + R) is wrong because it *right-aligns* the selected paragraph — a formatting command unrelated to undo.

Correct Answer: A. Ctrl + P

• **Ctrl + P** = Print — it opens the Print dialog (or the File > Print backstage panel in Office 2010 and later) where you select the printer, specify page range, set number of copies, and preview the document before printing. • **Key fact** — Ctrl + P is universal beyond MS Office: it opens the print function in web browsers, Notepad, PDF readers, and virtually all Windows applications, making it the system-wide Print shortcut. • Exam tip: Do not confuse Ctrl + P (Print) with F12 (Save As) — both are standalone shortcut keys tested in government exams as wrong-answer traps for each other. • 💡 Option B (Alt + P) is wrong because it activates the *Page Layout* tab on the ribbon in MS Word, not the Print function; Option C (Ctrl + Shift + P) is wrong because it opens the *Font Size* input box in Word's toolbar to change text size; Option D (F12) is wrong because it opens the *Save As* dialog to save a copy under a new name, not Print.

Correct Answer: B. Ctrl + A

• **Ctrl + A** = Select All — it instantly highlights every piece of content in the active document: all text, images, tables, shapes, and embedded objects, making it ready for bulk formatting, copying, or deletion. • **Key fact** — in MS Excel, Ctrl + A first selects the contiguous data region around the active cell; pressing it a second time expands the selection to the entire worksheet — slightly different behaviour than in Word. • Mnemonic: **A** for **A**ll — consistent and universal across Windows, web browsers, text editors, and all Office applications. • 💡 Option A (Ctrl + S) is wrong because it *saves* the document to disk and performs no selection; Option C (Ctrl + Shift + A) is wrong because in MS Word it toggles ALL CAPS formatting on the selected text, changing its case; Option D (Alt + A) is wrong because in Excel it activates the *Data* tab on the ribbon rather than selecting all content.

Correct Answer: C. F7

• **F7** = Spell Check — pressing F7 in MS Word launches the Spelling and Grammar dialog, which scans the document from the cursor's position, flags misspellings and grammatical errors, and offers suggested corrections one by one. • **Key fact** — Shift + F7 opens the Thesaurus in MS Word (older versions), allowing you to find synonyms and antonyms for the selected word — a related function key shortcut that appears on its own in exam papers. • Exam tip: Learn all major MS Word function keys together — F1 (Help), F2 (Move text), F4 (Repeat last action), F5 (Go To / Find & Replace), F7 (Spell Check), F12 (Save As) — these are high-frequency exam targets. • 💡 Option A (F2) is wrong because it puts MS Word into *move-text* mode (or edits the selected cell in Excel), having nothing to do with spelling; Option B (F5) is wrong because it opens the *Find & Replace / Go To* dialog for navigation and searching; Option D (F12) is wrong because it opens the *Save As* dialog to save the document under a new name.

Correct Answer: B. Ctrl + W

• **Ctrl + W** = Close Document/Window — it closes only the active document tab or file window while keeping the MS Word application itself running, so you can immediately open or create another document without restarting the program. • **Key fact** — if the document has unsaved changes, Ctrl + W automatically prompts you to save before closing, preventing accidental data loss; unlike Alt + F4, it does not quit the entire Word application. • Exam tip: Know the distinction — Ctrl + W closes the *current document*, while Alt + F4 closes the *entire MS Word application* including all open documents. • 💡 Option A (Ctrl + C) is wrong because it *copies* selected content to the clipboard and leaves the document open; Option C (Ctrl + Q) is wrong because in MS Word it removes paragraph-level formatting such as line spacing and indentation, it does not close anything; Option D (Alt + C) is wrong because it has no standard function in MS Word and performs no recognised action in most Office applications.

Correct Answer: C. Windows + PrtScn

• **Windows + PrtScn** = Auto-Save Screenshot — this combination captures the entire screen and instantly saves it as a numbered PNG file inside the Pictures > Screenshots folder; the screen briefly dims to confirm the capture was successful. • **Key fact** — the files are named sequentially ('Screenshot (1).png', 'Screenshot (2).png', etc.) and require no further steps, making this method superior to clipboard-only approaches where you must manually paste and save. • Exam tip: Windows + Shift + S (Snip & Sketch) lets you capture only a selected portion of the screen and copies it to the clipboard — distinguish it from Windows + PrtScn, which always captures the *full* screen and always *auto-saves* to a file. • 💡 Option A (PrtScn) is wrong because it copies the full screen image to the *clipboard only* — no file is automatically created or saved; Option B (Alt + PrtScn) is wrong because it captures only the *currently active window* to the clipboard without saving any file; Option D (Ctrl + PrtScn) is wrong because it has no standard screenshot or save function in Windows and performs no recognised action.