Basic Windows Short Cut Keys - Cut, Copy and Paste

By Kirk Emenicker

Over the last 15 years I have found many instances where knowing how to use keyboard shortcuts has saved me a great headache. From simply selecting the OK button when I could not see it, to getting to my files faster, I use windows keyboard shortcuts everyday. It is my hope today that I can share some of the more commonly used shortcuts as well as some that even other IT professionals do not know. Let's get started!

First though, lets discuss what I mean by a keyboard shortcut and how they help get repetitive tasks done much faster. A keyboard shortcut put simply is a way to control Windows using only the keyboard. Typically they use two or more keys, though some newer keyboards have "Quick Keys" that automate even those actions down to a single key. For this How-To I will assume you have a standard 104 keyboard. A 104 keyboard has the standard letters/numbers/Function keys/keypad but also has 3 keys designed specifically for windows use. Those keys have symbols on them, two have small flags and the other has a Menu with a mouse cursor. But we will talk about those later

For now, let us concentrate on THE most used shortcuts for windows.

o Cut
o Copy
o Paste
o Select All

These are in my opinion the most often used commands most people use. Without knowing the shortcuts you must use the Edit or Right Click Menu's. Now lets make these tasks zip along.

For all three shortcuts we will be using the CTRL key, I use the one in the lower left hand corner of the keyboard. Go ahead and open a text editor so we can try these out. (You can use notepad or WordPad, Click Start, Go to Programs, then go to Accessories) Once you have an editor open go ahead and type a sentence in. Anything will do, even gibberish. Next, we will explore the "Select All" shortcut.

Now that you have typed out a sentence, Hold down the CTRL key and press the letter A, then release both. At this point, you should notice that all the text you have typed is selected. This is the function of select all, it selects any and all items on the window. With all the text highlighted, lets try out the CUT command. Again, hold down the CTRL key and this time press the letter X. All the highlighted text should disappear; worry not though it is saved. To get it back press and hold the CTRL key again and this time press the letter V. The text will be PASTED back into the window.

So, to recap the last paragraph:

o CTRL - A = Select ALL
o CTRL - X = Cut
o CTRL - V = Paste

You may be wondering about the Copy command from above. The shortcut is CTRL - C, the difference between cut and copy are quite easy. Cut removes the selection, while Copy leaves the original alone and creates a Copy. So if you need to repeat the same thing over and over, you would use Copy. However, if you only wish to move the selection to another location you should use CUT.

These commands of course are not limited to text editors like Notepad or WordPad. These same commands can be used to manipulate text in most windows, as well as files. Yes, you can Cut/Copy/Paste your photos and files using the same keyboard shortcuts! Starting to see how much these commands can help?

A note about using the Cut command with files, due to the way the Cut command interacts with files (photos, documents) it is generally considered safer to instead use the copy command. Doing so will mean you are duplicating your documents, once they have copied over just go back and delete the originals. It is a flaw in the way the Cut command works. If the computer is busy Cutting and pasting a file to a new location and loses power, both files will end up being corrupted. However if you are only copying the file, the new version may be corrupted by a power loss while the original remains unchanged. So if you are moving files from one folder to another it is better to copy them and then delete the originals after the copy finishes.

You can read my most recent ramblings on my blog at http://ncnytes.blogspot.com

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