The fastest way to do production work in most programs is to use the keyboard, and not move your hands away to click, click, click. WordPerfect users have a long history of that; most layout and editing functions are possible entirely from the keyboard, and speed users all use shortcuts to get more work done.

There was a time when WordPerfect included a plastic function key template with the product. And the manual was in a gray canvas binder, too. Those days are long gone, but a reference chart is available below. I’ve included all the normal shortcuts; there is one category I’ve left out: For any Windows program, tap the ‘Alt’ key to activate the menus, and then type the letter that is underlined in the menu you’d like to pull down, and then type the letter matching the menu item you need. (Or press Esc to cancel out of the menus.)

If you memorize all these shortcuts, you’ll be a speed demon in WordPerfect, but at the very least, memorize the shortcuts for Copy, Cut, and Paste; these are big time-savers in nearly all Windows programs.

Keyboard Shortcuts for WordPerfect