Windows Keyboard Shortcuts


Ctrl+Backspace: Delete to previous word

Posted in Navigation by estephen on July 30th, 2007

If you’re typing (in Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, and many other text entry programs) and you use the wrong word, a quick way to delete the entire word is Ctrl+Backspace.

You need to practice this one a few times to get used to it. It’s also an easy one to forget to use, but it’s worth making the effort to get the Ctrl+Backspace habit: If you type a long word and want to erase it instantly, it’s much faster to hit Ctrl+Backspace then the Backspace key by itself several times.

As an example, if you type, “I must remember to buy a new hippopotamus_” and your cursor is right after the word hippopotamus, the entire word hippopotamus is erased and your cursor is now positioned at the end of the sentence: “I must remember to buy a new_”. Then you can type “toaster” or whatever word you actually want to type.

If you’re in the middle of a word, it only deletes the portion that’s to the left of your cursor. So if you typed “Here comes the sun_king” and move your cursor (as indicated) between the “sun” and “king” portions, then press Ctrl+Backspace, what you’re left with is “Here comes the king.”

3 Responses to 'Ctrl+Backspace: Delete to previous word'

Subscribe to comments with RSS or TrackBack to 'Ctrl+Backspace: Delete to previous word'.

  1. Federico said,

    on August 1st, 2007 at 4:44 am

    nice.
    and CTRL+Del obviously deletes from the cursor to the end of the word, right of the cursor.

    They work in this editor too :)


  2. on August 1st, 2007 at 5:10 am

    Awesome tips thank you very much for sharing…they are very helpful…


  3. on February 5th, 2012 at 12:04 pm

    Aw, this was a genuinely nice post. In notion I would like to put in writing like this in addition ?§C taking time and actual effort to make a pretty beneficial article?- but what can I say?- I procrastinate alot and by no means seem to obtain something completed.

Leave a Reply