The most used keyboard shortcuts for WordPress sites (Keyboard Shortcuts)

Speed is an extremely topical issue, no matter what it is about. To save time, be more productive in managing your WordPress site, you can use Keyboard Shortcuts instead of (slower) mouse clicks to perform an action.

Many beginners who are just starting out with WordPress use the mouse to access a particular option. With Keyboard Shortcuts in WordPress, you format and edit your content significantly faster, notably speeding up the workflow.

The most commonly used Keyboard Shortcuts for speed and efficiency in WordPress

These keyboard shortcuts work with both the Block editor and the old Classic editor.

WordPress Keyboard Shortcut for Windows:

• Ctrl + c -> Copy
• Ctrl + v -> Paste
• Ctrl + b -> Bold
• Ctrl + i -> Italic
• Ctrl + x -> Cut
• Ctrl + a -> Select All
• Ctrl + z -> Undo
• Ctrl + s -> Save your changes
• Ctrl + p -> Print
• Ctrl + u -> Underline the selected text
• Ctrl + k -> Convert the selected text into a link
• Alt + Shift + x -> Display the selected text in a monospaced font
• Alt + Shift + h -> Show keyboard shortcuts (Display this help)

WordPress Keyboard Shortcut for Mac:

• Command + c -> Copy
• Command + v -> Paste
• Command + b -> Bold
• Command + i -> Italic
• Command + x -> Cut
• Command + a -> Select All
• Command + z -> Undo
• Command + s -> Save your changes
• Command + p -> Print
• Command + u -> Underline the selected text
• Command + k -> Convert the selected text into a link
• Option + Control + x -> Display the selected text in a monospaced font
• Option + Control + h -> Show keyboard shortcuts (Display this help)

Alt + Shift + h (Option + Control + h for Mac) is the most direct way to display all available keyboard shortcuts in WordPress.

Special Keyboard Shortcut for Gutenberg Editor

The latest WordPress editor supports all standard keyboard shortcuts.

Gutenberg Keyboard Shortcut for Windows users:

• Enter -> Add a new block
• Ctrl + Shift + d -> Duplicate the selected block(s)
• Alt + Shift + z -> Remove the selected block(s)
• Ctrl + Alt + t -> Insert a new block before the selected block(s)
• Ctrl + Alt + y -> Insert a new block after the selected block(s)
• / = Change the block type after adding a new paragraph
• Esc = Clear selection
• Ctrl + Shift + z -> Redo your last undo
• Ctrl + Shift + , -> Show or hide the settings bar
• Alt + Shift + o -> Open the block navigation menu
• Alt + Shift + n -> Navigate to the next part of the editor
• Alt + Shift + p -> Navigate to the previous part of the editor
• Alt + F10 -> Navigate to the nearest toolbar
• Ctrl + Shift + Alt + m -> Switch between Visual Editor and Code Editor

Gutenberg Keyboard Shortcut for Mac users:

• Enter = Add a new block
• / = Change the block type after adding a new paragraph
• Command + Shift + d = Duplicate the selected block(s)
• Control + Option + z = Remove the selected block(s)
• Command + Option + t = Insert a new block before the selected block(s)
• Command + Option + y = Insert a new block after the selected block(s)
• Esc = Clear selection
• Command + Shift + z = Redo your last undo
• Command + Shift + , = Show or hide the settings bar
• Option + Control + o = Open the block navigation menu
• Option + Control + n = Navigate to the next part of the editor
• Option + Control + p = Navigate to the previous part of the editor
• fn + Option + F10 = Navigate to the nearest toolbar
• Command + Option + Shift + m = Switch between Visual and Code Editor

WordPress keyboard shortcuts for comments screen

If you get a lot of comments, you can quickly moderate them using keyboard shortcuts to manage comments. However, these shortcuts are not enabled by default.

To activate these keyboard shortcuts, you need to go to “Your Profile” and check the “Keyboard Shortcuts” box.

Then you need to click the Save Profile button and return to the comments screen in the administrative area. 

WordPress Keyboard Shortcuts to Perform Actions on Comments:

• J = Next comment (moves the current selection down)
• K = Previous comment (moves the current selection up)
• A = Approve comment
• U = Unapprove comment
• D = Delete comment
• R = Reply comment
• Q = Quick edit a comment
• Z = Restore Comment from Trash or Undo if you Delete a comment

To select multiple comments, press X to check the selected comment and press the J or K keys to move to the next or previous comment. Once you’ve selected a few comments, you can use these keyboard shortcuts to perform group actions:

• Shift + A = Approve checked comments
• Shift + D = Delete checked comments
• Shift + U = Unapprove selected comments
• Shift + T = Move selected comments to trash
• Shift + Z = Restore selected comments from trash

At first, it may take some time to get used to these WordPress keyboard shortcuts, but in the long run, they will definitely help you save time and speed up the process.

Learn more in Keyboard Shortcuts Documentation.