Although it is true that Office, Microsoft's office suite, is the most popular when creating, editing and viewing text documents, spreadsheets, presentations and other types of files, the truth is that there are those who prefer to use free software, and in this sense one of the most prominent packages is LibreOffice.
And, within the suite, LibreOffice Writer would be the replacement for Microsoft Word, popular among users when creating text documents. However, if you want to go faster, as with other programs, you can use a series of keyboard shortcuts, which will allow you to streamline processes from your Windows computer.
These are all the keyboard shortcuts that you can use with LibreOffice Writer and its functions
As we mentioned, in this case the same thing happens with LibreOffice Writer as with many other programs, and there are many possible keyboard shortcuts depending on what you want to achieve. So that you can find what you are looking for in an easier way, we have classified them in some categories: on the one hand there are the essential and generic ones, and then we will show you the ones oriented to the function keys (Fx), as well as the specific ones for certain moments.
Related article:
So you can download and install the latest version of LibreOffice for Windows for free
Generic keyboard shortcuts
| Keyboard shortcut | Function |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + E | Select all |
| Ctrl + J | Justified |
| Ctrl + D | Double underline |
| Ctrl + E | Centered |
| Ctrl + H | Search and Replace |
| Ctrl + Shift + P | Superscript |
| Ctrl + L | Align to the left |
| Ctrl + R | To align to the right |
| Ctrl + Shift + B | Subscript |
| Ctrl + Y | Restore last action |
| Ctrl + 0 (zero) | Apply the Body text paragraph style |
| Ctrl + 1 | Apply the Heading 1 paragraph style |
| Ctrl + 2 | Apply the Heading 2 paragraph style |
| Ctrl + 3 | Apply the Heading 3 paragraph style |
| Ctrl + 4 | Apply the Heading 4 paragraph style |
| Ctrl + 5 | Apply the Heading 5 paragraph style |
| Ctrl + plus key (+) | Calculates the selected text and copies the result to the clipboard. |
| Ctrl + hyphen (-) | Discretionary scripts; user-defined word splitting. |
| Ctrl + Shift + hyphen (-) | Indivisible hyphen (not used for hyphenation) |
| Ctrl + multiplication sign | Run macro field |
| Ctrl + Shift + Space | Indivisible spaces. Those spaces are not used in hyphenation and are not expanded if the text is justified. |
| Shift + Enter | Line break without paragraph change |
| Ctrl + Enter | Manual page break |
| Ctrl + Shift + Enter | Column break in multi-column texts |
| Alt + Enter | Inserts a new, unnumbered paragraph into a list. It doesn't work when the cursor is at the end of the list. |
| Alt + Enter | Insert a new paragraph directly before or after a section, or before a table. |
| Left arrow | Move cursor left |
| Shift + Left Arrow | Move the cursor to the left by selecting the text |
| Ctrl + Left Arrow | Go to the beginning of the word |
| Ctrl + Shift + Left Arrow | Select word by word to the left |
| Right arrow | Move cursor right |
| Shift + Right Arrow | Move the cursor to the right by selecting the text |
| Ctrl + Right Arrow | Go to the beginning of the next word |
| Ctrl + Shift + Right Arrow | Select word by word to the right |
| Up arrow | Move the cursor one line up |
| Shift + Up Arrow | Select rows up |
| Ctrl + Up Arrow | Move cursor to the beginning of the previous paragraph |
| Ctrl + Shift + Up Arrow | Select to the beginning of the paragraph. The next keystroke extends the selection to the beginning of the previous paragraph. |
| Down arrow | Move the cursor down one line |
| Shift + Down Arrow | Select rows down |
| Ctrl + Down Arrow | Move cursor to the beginning of the next paragraph. |
| Ctrl + Shift + Down Arrow | Select until the end of the paragraph. The next keystroke extends the selection to the end of the next paragraph |
| Home | Go to the beginning of the line |
| Home + Shift | Go and select to the beginning of a line |
| End | Go to the end of the line |
| End + Shift | Go and select to the end of the line |
| Ctrl + Home | Go to the beginning of the document |
| Ctrl + Home + Shift | Go to the beginning of the document with selection |
| Ctrl + End | Go to the end of the document |
| Ctrl + End + Shift | Go to the end of the document with selection |
| Ctrl + Page Up | Move the cursor between the text and the heading |
| Ctrl + Page Down | Move the cursor between the text and the footer |
| in the | Activate or deactivate insert mode |
| Pág. | Screen page up |
| Shift + Page Up | Screen page up with selection |
| Page Av. | Screen page down |
| Shift + Page Down | Screen page down with selection |
| Ctrl + Del | Delete the text to the end of the word |
| Ctrl + Backspace | Delete the text up to the beginning of the word In a list: delete an empty paragraph in front of the current paragraph |
| Ctrl + Del + Shift | Delete the text until the end of the sentence |
| Ctrl + Shift + Backspace | Delete the text up to the beginning of the sentence |
| Ctrl + Tab | When completing a word automatically: Next proposal |
| Ctrl + Shift + Tab | When completing a word automatically: Previous proposal |
| Ctrl + Alt + Shift + V | Pastes the contents of the clipboard as plain text. |
| Ctrl + Shift + F10 | With this combination you can quickly dock and undock multiple windows, including Browser and Styles. |
Keyboard shortcuts based on function keys (Fx)
| Keyboard shortcut | Function |
|---|---|
| F2 | Formula bar |
| Ctrl + F2 | Insert fields |
| F3 | Autofill text |
| Ctrl + F3 | Edit automatic text |
| Shift + F4 | Select next frame |
| Ctrl + Shift + F4 | Open data source view |
| F5 | Enable / disable Browser |
| Shift + F5 | Moves the cursor to the position it was in when the document was last saved before closing. |
| Ctrl + Shift + F5 | Browser activated, go to page number |
| F7 | Spell check |
| Ctrl + F7 | Synonyms |
| F8 | Extension mode |
| Ctrl + F8 | Enable or disable field markings |
| Shift + F8 | Additional selection mode |
| Ctrl + Shift + F8 | Block selection mode |
| F9 | Update fields |
| Ctrl + F9 | Show fields |
| Shift + F9 | Calculate table |
| Ctrl + Shift + F9 | Update input fields and lists |
| Ctrl + F10 | Enable / disable non-printable characters |
| F11 | Show or hide the Styles window |
| Shift + F11 | Create style |
| Ctrl + F11 | Gives focus to the Apply Style box |
| Ctrl + Shift + F11 | Update style |
| F12 | Activate numbering |
| Ctrl + F12 | Insert or edit tables |
| Shift + F12 | Activate bullet |
| Ctrl + Shift + F12 | Disable numbering / bullets |
Related article:
Can I install LibreOffice and Microsoft Office on the same computer?
Keyboard shortcuts only for specific moments
Finally, there are some keyboard shortcuts that only apply in certain circumstances. Specifically, there are some that can only be used when editing text, paragraphs and titles, others aimed at editing tables, and finally others for images and frames.
Keyboard shortcuts for headings and paragraphs
| Keyboard shortcut | Function |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + Alt + Up Arrow | Moves the active paragraph or selected paragraphs up one paragraph. |
| Ctrl + Alt + Down Arrow | Move, from the current or selected paragraph, one paragraph down. |
| Tab | The title in "Title X" format (X = 1-9) is moved down one level in the structure. |
| Shift + Tab | The title in "Title X" format (X = 2-10) is moved up one level in the structure. |
| Ctrl + Tab | At the beginning of a title: inserts a tab. Depending on the window manager used, you can use Alt + Tab instead. To change the levels of titles using the keyboard, you must place the cursor in front of the title before pressing the keys. |
Unique keyboard shortcuts for tables
| Keyboard shortcut | Function |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + E | If the current cell is empty: Select the entire table. Otherwise: Select the content of the current cell; if you activate this command again, it selects the whole table. |
| Ctrl + Home | If the current cell is empty: Jump to the beginning of the table. Otherwise: It jumps with the first press to the beginning of the current cell, with the second, to the beginning of the current table and with the third, to the beginning of the document. |
| Ctrl + End | If the current cell is empty: Jump to the end of the table. Otherwise: Jump with the first press to the end of the current cell, with the second, to the end of the current table and with the third, to the end of the document. |
| Ctrl + Tab | Insert a tab (only in tables) Depending on the Window Manager used, it is possible to use Alt + Tab instead. |
| Alt + Navigation arrows | Increase / decrease column / row at right / bottom cell border |
| Alt + Shift + Navigation dates | Increase / decrease column / row at left / top cell border |
| Alt + Ctrl + Navigation arrows | Equivalent to Alt, but only the active cell is modified |
| Ctrl + Alt + Shift + Navigation arrows | Equivalent to Alt, but only the active cell is modified |
| Ctrl + Shift + Tab | Removes cell protection from all selected tables. If the cursor is anywhere in the document, that is, when no table is selected, it removes cell protection in all tables. |
| Shift + Ctrl + Del | If no cells are fully selected, the text between the cursor and the end of the current sentence is deleted. If the cursor is at the end of a cell and no cell is fully selected, the contents of the next cell are deleted. If an entire cell is not 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 entire rows included in the selection will be removed. If all or all rows are selected, the entire table will be dropped. |
Related article:
The best free alternatives to Microsoft Office
Keyboard shortcuts for frames, images, objects and multimedia
| Keyboard shortcut | Function |
|---|---|
| I | The cursor is inside a frame and no text is selected: Escape selects the frame. The frame is selected: Escape removes the cursor from the frame. |
| F2, Enter, or any key that generates a character on the screen | If a frame is selected: positions the cursor at the end of the text in the frame. If you press any key that produces a character on the screen and the document is in edit mode, that character is added to the text. |
| Alt + Navigation arrows | Move the object. |
| Alt + Ctrl + Navigation arrows | Resize by scrolling the right / bottom border. |
| Alt + Ctrl + Navigation arrows | Resize by moving the left / top edge. |
| Ctrl + Tab | Select an object's anchor (in Edit Points mode). |
Source: LibreOffice