Complete LibreOffice Writer keyboard shortcuts reference — 80 shortcuts across 10 categories. Quick reference cheat sheet for Windows & Linux.
LibreOffice Writer keeps most of the Word conventions for basic editing and then diverges in ways that catch converts: heading styles are on Ctrl + number, the function keys carry a lot of weight, and several Ctrl + letter bindings mean something different. The table follows the LibreOffice help for Windows and Linux; on macOS Cmd replaces Ctrl and the F-keys sometimes need Fn.
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| F2 | Formula Bar |
| Ctrl + F2 | Insert Fields |
| F3 | Complete AutoText |
| Ctrl + F3 | Edit AutoText |
| Shift + F4 | Select next frame |
| Ctrl + Shift + F4 | Open Data Source View |
| F5 | Navigator on/off |
| Shift + F5 | Moves the cursor to the position |
| Ctrl + Shift + F5 | Navigator on, go to page number |
| F7 | Spelling |
| Ctrl + F7 | Thesaurus |
| F8 | Extension mode |
| Ctrl + F8 | Field shadings on / off |
| 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 Input Lists |
| Ctrl + F10 | Nonprinting Characters on/off |
| F11 | Styles window on/off |
| Shift + F11 | Create Style |
| Ctrl + F11 | Sets focus to Apply Style box |
| Ctrl + Shift + F11 | Update Style |
| F12 | Toggle Ordered List |
| Ctrl + F12 | Insert or edit Table |
| Shift + F12 | Toggle Unordered List |
| Ctrl + Shift + F12 | Ordered / Unordered List off |
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + H | Find and Replace |
| Ctrl + Y | Redo last action |
| Ctrl + Alt + Shift + V | Paste the contents of the clipboard as unformatted text |
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + A | Select All |
| Shift + Left | Move cursor with selection to the left |
| Shift + Right | Move cursor with selection to the right |
| Ctrl + Shift + Left | Selecting to the left word by word |
| Ctrl + Shift + Right | Selecting to the right word by word |
| Ctrl + Shift + Up | Select to Beginning of Paragraph |
| Ctrl + Shift + Down | Select to End of Paragraph |
| Shift + Down | Selecting lines in a downward direction |
| Shift + Up | Selecting lines in an upwards direction |
| Shift + Page Down | Move down screen page with selection |
| Shift + Page Up | Move up screen page with selection |
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Left | Move cursor to left |
| Ctrl + Left | Go to beginning of word |
| Right | Move cursor to right |
| Ctrl + Right | Go to start of next word |
| Up | Move cursor up one line |
| Ctrl + Up | Move to Beginning of Paragraph |
| Down | Move cursor down one line |
| Ctrl + Down | Move cursor to beginning of next paragraph |
| Page Up | Screen page up |
| Page Down | Move down screen page |
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Insert | Insert mode on/off |
| Ctrl + Shift + Space | Insert Non-Breaking Space |
| Ctrl + Tab | Next suggestion with Automatic Word Completion |
| Ctrl + Shift + Tab | Use previous suggestion with Automatic Word Completion |
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Shift + Enter | Line break without paragraph change |
| Ctrl + Enter | Manual page break |
| Ctrl + Shift + Enter | Column break in multicolumnar texts |
| Ctrl + Page Up | Switch cursor between text and header |
| Ctrl + Page Down | Switch cursor between text and footer |
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + Backspace | Delete to Beginning of Word |
| Ctrl + Shift + Delete | Delete text to end of sentence |
| Ctrl + Shift + Backspace | Delete text to beginning of sentence |
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + J | Align Justify |
| Ctrl + D | Double Underline |
| Ctrl + E | Align Centered |
| Ctrl + Shift + P | Superscript |
| Ctrl + L | Align Left |
| Ctrl + R | Align Right |
| Ctrl + Shift + B | Subscript |
| Ctrl + 1 | Apply Heading 1 paragraph style |
| Ctrl + 2 | Apply Heading 2 paragraph style |
| Ctrl + 3 | Apply Heading 3 paragraph style |
| Ctrl + 4 | Apply Heading 4 paragraph style |
| Ctrl + 5 | Apply Heading 5 paragraph style |
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + Home | Go to Beginning of Cell or Table |
| Ctrl + End | Go to End of Cell or Table |
| Ctrl + Shift + T | Remove Cell Protection |
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Escape | Select or Exit Frame |
Writer is built around paragraph styles, and Ctrl + 1 through Ctrl + 5 apply Heading 1 to 5 directly — the same keys Word uses for line spacing, which is the first surprise. F11 opens the Styles deck, Ctrl + F11 jumps to the Apply Style box in the toolbar so a style name can be typed, Shift + F11 creates a style from the current paragraph and Ctrl + Shift + F11 updates a style to match the selection. F5 opens the Navigator, which lists headings, tables and images for jumping around a long document.
Ctrl + D is double underline, not font dialog. Ctrl + E, Ctrl + L, Ctrl + R and Ctrl + J align centre, left, right and justified. Ctrl + Alt + Shift + V pastes as unformatted text, the four-key chord to learn if you paste from web pages. Ctrl + Enter inserts a page break and Ctrl + Shift + Enter a column break; Shift + Enter is a line break within the paragraph. Ctrl + F10 shows formatting marks and Ctrl + Shift + Space inserts a non-breaking space.
Ctrl + F2 opens the Fields dialog, F9 updates fields and Ctrl + F9 toggles between field names and values. Ctrl + F12 inserts a table, and inside one, Shift + F9 recalculates formulas. F8 switches to extension mode, where the arrow keys extend the selection without holding Shift, and Ctrl + Shift + F8 is block (column) selection. F7 runs the spelling check and Ctrl + F7 the thesaurus. To edit the header or footer without the mouse, Ctrl + Page Up jumps into the header and Ctrl + Page Down into the footer.
Ctrl + 1 to Ctrl + 5 apply Heading 1 to 5. Ctrl + 0 applies the Body Text style.
Ctrl + Alt + Shift + V pastes unformatted text. Ctrl + Shift + V opens the Paste Special dialog with more choices.
In Writer, Ctrl + D applies double underline. Use Format › Character from the menu, or assign a key in Tools › Customize.
Ctrl + Shift + F8 enters block selection mode; then drag or use Shift + arrows.
Open your assistant with this page preloaded as the source — great for follow-up questions like "which of these work in other apps?"