50+ WordPress Keyboard Shortcuts You Should Know

Blogging is hard enough, amirite?

Anything you can do to make the work a little easier is worth knowing about. For bloggers and website owners that use WordPress, one way to make the writing process more efficient is using keyboard shortcuts. Anyone who manages to get some common keyboard shortcuts down can cut down on the time it takes to create a page or blog post within WordPress. 

But before keyboard shortcuts can be useful to you, you need to know what options you have. WordPress offers a wide array of shortcuts that can help to improve your productivity when using the platform. Here are a few of the main ones to keep handy, both for the Gutenberg editor and the classic editor. 

WordPress Gutenberg Editor Keyboard Shortcuts

The Gutenberg editor was designed to make using WordPress more intuitive on the whole. To that end, the editor includes a list of keyboard shortcuts to help you work smarter rather than harder. Here are some of the main ones to know about. 

1. See all the keyboard shortcuts: Shift + Alt + H (PC) or Control + Option + H (Mac)

Anytime you need a reminder of the available keyboard shortcuts while you’re working in WordPress, you’ll want to have this one top of mind. 

2. Add a new content block: Enter + /

The Gutenberg editor works using blocks. For each section or item you want to add to the page, you start by adding the right type of block. This keyboard shortcut makes it easier to pull up your options for a new block. 

3. Switch between the visual editor and the code editor: Control + Shift + Alt + M (PC) or Command + Shift + Option + M (Mac)

For anyone that does some of their work in the visual editor, but occasionally uses code as well, this is an easy way to move between the two. 

4. Open the list view: Control + Alt + O (PC) or Control + Option + O (Mac) 

List view shows you a list of the different sections (or blocks) on your page, to make it easier to move between them.

5. Move to the next part of the editor: Alt + Shift + N (PC) or Option + Control + N (Mac)

This one’s for when you want to easily move to the next section of the WordPress editor. 

6. Navigate to the previous part of the editor: Alt + Shift+ P (PC) or Option + Control + P (Mac)

And this is for when you want to jump back to the last section. 

7. Navigate to the nearest toolbar: Alt + F10 (PC) or fn + Option + F10 (Mac)

Each block has its own toolbar. If you want to bring up one for the toolbar you’re closest to, this shortcut will do the trick. 

8. Save your changes: Control + S (PC) or Command + S (Mac)

Don’t lose your work! Save regularly with this easy shortcut. 

9. Undo your last changes: Control + Z (PC) or Command + Z (Mac)

We’ve all been saved by the magic of the “undo” command at some point. Keep this shortcut on hand for when you need it. 

10. Select all: Control + A (PC) or Command + A (Mac)

Use this to highlight all your text at once. 

11. Copy a block: Control + Shift + D (PC) or Command + Shift + D (Mac)

This one will quickly duplicate a block you’ve already created. 

12. Remove a block: Alt + Shift + Z (PC) or Control + Option + Z (Mac)

And use this to get rid of a block completely. 

Gutenberg Formatting Keyboard Shortcuts for WordPress

As you’re typing, you’ll often want to make formatting changes to the text. These shortcuts can make it easier 

13. Make text bold: Control + B (PC) or Command + B (Mac)
14. Make text italic: Control + I (PC) or Command + I (Mac)
15. Underline text: Control + U (PC) or Command + U (Mac) 
16. Hyperlink text: Control + K (PC) or Command + K (Mac)

General Keyboard Shortcuts that Work in WordPress, Too

You may already be familiar with these keyboard shortcuts. But if not, you can not only start using them in WordPress, but also in other programs you commonly use. 

17. Copy: Control + C (PC) or Command + C (Mac)
18. Paste: Control + V (PC) or Command + V (Mac)
19. Cut: Control + X (PC) or Command + X (Mac)
20. Undo: Control + Z (PC) or Command + X (Mac)

WordPress Classic Editor Keyboard Shortcuts

Most current WordPress users have switched to the Gutenberg editor, but if you have a strong preference for the old version and are sticking with the classic editor, these keyboard shortcuts should work for you. 

Changing Your Heading

The shortcuts below will help you change your headings and subheadings.

21. Heading 1: Control + 1 (PC) or Command + 1 (Mac)
22. Heading 2: Control + 2 (PC) or Command + 2 (Mac)
23. Heading 3: Control + 3 (PC) or Command + 3 (Mac)
24. Heading 4: Control + 4 (PC) or Command + 4 (Mac)
25. Heading 5: Control + 5 (PC) or Command + 5 (Mac)
26. Heading 6: Control + 6 (PC) or Command + 6 (Mac)

Aligning Your Text

When you want to quickly adjust the alignment of your text, the following commands will help you do just that.

27. Align left: Alt + Shift + L (PC) or Command + Option + L (Mac)
28. Align right: Alt + Shift + R (PC) or Command + Option + R (Mac)
29. Align center: Alt + Shift + C (PC) or Command + Option + C (Mac)
30. Justify your text: Alt + Shift + J (PC) or Command + Option + J (Mac)

Changing Your Links

You can also embed and remove links via the keyboard. 

31. Insert a link: Alt + Shift + A (PC) or Command + Option + A (Mac)
32. Delete a link: Alt + Shift + S (PC) or Command + Option + S (Mac)

Media and Element Modification

WordPress has various other media features like blockquotes, images, page breaks and more, that you’ll be able to activate with the shortcuts below. 

33. Insert an image: Alt + Shift + M (PC) or Command + Option + M (Mac)
34. Insert blockquotes: Alt + Shift + Q (PC) or Command + Option + Q (Mac)
35. Insert the more tag: Alt + Shift + T (PC) or Command + Option + T (Mac) 
36. Insert a page break: Alt + Shift + P (PC) or Command + Option + P (Mac)
37. Spell check your text: Alt + Shift + N (PC) or Command + Option + N (Mac)

Work Distraction-Free

To minimize distractions and improve your focus as you write, you can enable the built-in distraction free writing mode.

38. Turn on/off the distraction free mode: Alt + Shift + W (PC) or Command + Option + W (Mac)

WordPress Comment Section Keyboard Shortcuts

WordPress has a variety of shortcuts you can use to manage your comment section. If you have a very active comments section then these shortcodes will help you manage and reply to your comments much easier.

To use these comment shortcuts, first you’ll have to enable them from within the WordPress dashboard. To do this, navigate to Users> Profile>Keyboard Shortcuts, then tick the box that allows for keyboard shortcuts. You must manually turn on this feature for any user who will be using keyboard shortcuts to manage comments.

Once you’re on the comment screen you can navigate up by pressing the K key and navigate down by pressing the J key.

WordPress Comment Moderation Shortcuts

The following shortcuts will help you better manage individual comments. All you have to do is press the associated key from within the comment screen:

39. Approve comment: A
40. Delete comment: D
41. Mark comment as spam: S
42. Restore a comment: Z
43. Unapprove a comment: U
44. Reply to comment: R
45. Turn on quick edit on a comment: Q

Bulk Comment Moderation Shortcuts

If you regularly have a lot of comments you need to reply to, manage, or delete, then the following shortcuts will be a huge time saver.

To select the comments you want to manage just use the J and K keys to find your comment. If you want to select every comment then use the Shift+X command. With your desired comments selected you can do the following:

46. Approve comments: Shift + A 
47. Delete comments: Shift + D
48. Mark as spam: Shift + S
49. Unapprove comments: Shift + U
50. Move comments to trash: Shift + T
51. Bring comments back from trash: Shift + Z

Save Time With These WordPress Keyboard Shortcuts

All of the shortcuts above might seem like a lot to master, but remember you don’t have to learn them all in one day. Just pick a few that you think will be the most valuable and integrate them into your existing workflow. Over time you can add more, and soon the ones you need the most often will come to you naturally.