What Can Function Keys Do in Microsoft Word 2019, 2016, 2013 Etc?

Function keys (F1 to F12) have their own usage on Windows computers. For instance, to adjust the screen brightness, to adjust the volume or to turn on and off the Wi-Fi connection, we normally use function keys. Meanwhile, function keys have something interesting usage when it comes to Microsoft Word. So, in this guide, you’ll learn what can function keys do in Microsoft Word?

Function Keys (F Keys)

The function keys or F keys are arranged along the top of the keyboard and F1 through F12 are numbered. Such keys serve as shortcuts, executing other tasks, such as file saving, data printing, or page refresh.

Below is an overview of a computer keyboard with the function keys (F1 through F12) highlighted in red.

Function keys (F1-F12)

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Microsoft Word 

Microsoft Word is available for Microsoft Windows, Apple macOS, Android, and Apple iOS as well as WINE on the Linux operating system.

Word also called Winword, MS Word, or Word, Microsoft Word It’s a Microsoft published word processor. It is one of Microsoft Office’s productivity applications. It was first released in 1983, originally developed by Charles Simonyi and Richard Brodie.

In the meantime, Microsoft Word allows you to create files, articles, letters, and summaries of professional quality. Microsoft Word has features including spell check, grammar check, text and font formatting, HTML support, image support, advanced page layout, and more, unlike a plain text editor.

What can Function Keys or F Keys Do in Microsoft Word?

Here’s what F or function keys do in Microsoft Word:

F1

1. F1: Get help. How this works depends on what you’re looking at in the Word window. Press F1 in the regular document window, for example, to open Word’s Help pane. Sometimes, though, pressing F1 takes you to Microsoft’s support site and shows you more targeted articles about the feature you’re looking at. This is the case most of the time when you press F1 while a dialog box is open.
2. Shift + F1: Open Word’s “Reveal Formatting” pane, where you can see the character and paragraph formatting of whatever text you have selected.
3. Alt + F1: Jump to the next field if you’ve got fields in your document.
4. Alt + Shift + F1: Jumps to the previous field in your document.

F2

1. F2: Move text or objects. Select the text or object you want to move and then hit F2. Place your insertion point where you’d like to move the item and then hit Enter.
2. Shift + F2: Copy selected text.
3. Ctrl + F2: Open the Print window, where you can preview and print your document.
4. Alt + Shift + F2: Save your document. If you haven’t saved your document previously, it opens the Save As window.
5. Alt + Ctrl + F2: Pop up the Open window so you can open a document.

F3

1. F3: Expand an AutoText entry. Type at least the first four letters in the name of your AutoText entry and then press F3 to expand it to the full text.
2. Alt + F3: Create an AutoText entry from the selected text.
3. Shift + F3: Change the case of the selected text. Pressing this combo repeatedly cycles through the following case styles: Initial Letter Case, ALL CAPS CASE, and lower case.
4. Ctrl + F3: Cut selected text to the Spike. You can cut as much text as you want this way and it all accumulates on the Spike.
5. Ctrl + Shift + F3: Insert the contents of the Spike. Performing this action also clears any text in the Spike.

F4

1. F4: Repeat your last action.
2. Shift + F4: Repeat the last “Find” action. This one’s handy because you can use it to browse search results without having the Find and Replace window or Navigation pane open.
3. Ctrl + F4: Close the current document. You’ll be asked to save the document if you’ve made any changes.
4. Alt + F4: Quit Microsoft Word. This closes all open documents (giving you the chance to save changes first) and exits Word.

F5

1. F5: Open “Go-To” tab on the Find and Replace window. You can use this to quickly jump to a page, section, bookmark, and so on.
2. Shift + F5: Jump the previous edit you made in your document. Press it again go one more edit back. Word remembers your last two edits. This works even after saving and closing a document, letting you return to where you left off when you open the document again.
3. Ctrl + Shift + F5: Open the Bookmark window so you can edit bookmarks. If your insertion point is in an existing bookmark, pressing this combo opens the Bookmark window and selects that bookmark.

F6

1. F6: Go to the next pane or frame in your Word window. You can use this to navigate the window without using your mouse.
2. Shift + F6: Go to the previous pane or frame.
3. Ctrl + F6: Go to the next open document window.
4. Ctrl + Shift + F6: Go to the previous open document window.

F7

1. F7: Open the Editor pane and start a spelling and grammar check.
2. Shift + F7: Open the thesaurus. If you have a word selected when you press this combo, Word opens the thesaurus and looks up the selected word.
3. Alt + F7: Find the next spelling or grammar error in your document.
4. Alt + Shift + F7: Open the Translation pane.

F8

1. F8: Enter Word’s selection mode and expand a selection. While in this mode, you can use the arrow keys to extend your selection. You can also press F8 up to five times to extend the selection outward. The first press enters selection mode, the second press selects the word next to the insertion point, the third select the whole sentence, the fourth all the characters in the paragraph, and the fifth the whole document.
2. Shift + F8: Reduce selection. This works the same way as expanding a selection, but backward.
3. Ctrl + Shift + F8: Selects a column. Once the column is selected, you can use the left and right arrow keys to extend the selection to other columns.

F9

1. F9: Update a field. This is the same as right-clicking a field and choosing the “Update Field” command.
2. Shift + F9: Reveal a field’s code.
3. Ctrl + F9: Insert new Empty Field {} braces.
4. Ctrl + Shift + F9: Unlink a field.
5. Alt + F9: Toggle the display of a field’s code.

F10

1. F10: Show key tips. Pressing this combo reveals single letter shortcuts you can use to access Word’s menu commands.
2. Shift + F10: Display a context menu. This works just like right-clicking.
3. Ctrl + F10: Maximize document window.
4. Alt + Shift + F10: Display a menu or window for an available selection.

F11

1. F11: Jump to the next field in your document.
2. Shift + F11: Jump to the previous field in your document.
3. Ctrl + F11: Lock a field so it cannot be edited.
4. Ctrl + Shift + F11: Unlock a field.
5. Alt + Shift + F11: Start the Microsoft Script Editor.

F12

1. F12: Open the Save As window.
2. Shift + F12: Save your document.
3. Ctrl + F12: Open the open window.
4. Ctrl + Shift + F12: Open the Print window.

Wrapping Up

This is how F keys or function keys can do in Microsoft Word. Function keys can perform certain things depending on the app or program you’re using.