Microsoft Word Shortcuts for Note-Taking

Nov 07

Productivity, Student Tips By Chris Yeung

My laptop and word processor have saved me from the horrors of my awful handwriting. Below are some Microsoft Word 2002/2003 keyboard shortcuts and my particular use of formatting in my lecture notes.

Heading 1/2/3: Ctrl+Alt+1/2/3
To identify key concepts.

Bulleted List: Ctrl+Shift+L
Numbered List: Ctrl+Alt+L
Self-explanatory =)

Bold: Ctrl+B
For emphasizing key terms (followed by a definition in plain text).

Italics: Ctrl+I
For noting exceptions (beginning with “HOWEVER:”).

Underline: Ctrl+U
For key phrases.

Double Underline: Ctrl+Shift+D
For conclusions to questions presented by the professor.

Subscript: Ctrl+=
Superscript: Ctrl+Shift+=
Useful for math courses with exponents and bases. Also handy for making footnotes in essays.

For a complete list see Microsoft’s list of keyboard shortcuts for Word 2002 and 2003.

3 Comments so far »

Jwalant Natvarlal Soneji said

am December 2 2007 @ 1:31 am

Hi,
I like this shortcuts and almost half of them I was using with mouse clicks and would start using with keys now.
Thanks.
Chris Y. said

am December 2 2007 @ 2:18 am

I’m glad I could help.
Learn MS Word said

am September 5 2008 @ 6:17 pm

You wouldn’t think it would make that big of a difference using keyboard shortcuts rather than right clicking….but it does.

Thanks for posting these keyboard Microsoft Word shortcuts for note-taking.

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Gearfire was created in January of 2007 by Geoff R and Jordan S. Gearfire deals with personal productivity, organization, and Getting Things done from a student's perspective. Gearfire is written entirely by students, and is written towards students, but is usually applicable to a general audience. Our other writers are Daniel and Chris, whom have joined us over the past year.