Welcome to Basic Computing’s Learning Hub. What will you learn today?WelcomeWelcome to Basic Computing’s Learning Hub.What will you learn today?
WINDOWS SHORTCUT MASTERY · LESSON 17
Remove text a word at a time: Ctrl + Backspace / Delete
FREE LESSON
3 minutesWindows 11Beginner
Section 1 of 33 minutes
Learn at your own pace
UNDERSTAND THE IDEA
When this helps
What am I going to do?
Read the idea, learn the key combination and answer a question about when it would help.
What will I learn?
Know when and how to remove text a word at a time.
Sometimes a whole word needs to go, rather than one wrong letter. Removing text in word-sized chunks can make corrections quicker, provided you first check which side of the typing cursor contains the unwanted text.
LEARN THE SHORTCUT
The keys and what happens
Where it works Many text editors and text-entry boxes
Ctrl+BackspaceorDelete
Key names are shown separately, not as a keyboard layout. A + between key boxes means combine them. A box named Plus means the actual Plus key. Follow the steps below for alternatives.
1How to use it
Click once beside the unwanted word in editable text. Hold Ctrl, tap Backspace once and release both keys to remove text towards the left. Hold Ctrl, tap Delete once and release both keys to remove text towards the right. At a word boundary this usually removes the adjacent word; from inside a word it may remove only part of it.
2What to watch for
Check the result after each press because punctuation and spaces can change what disappears. To recover a mistaken removal in many editors, hold Ctrl, tap Z and release both keys. Use these combinations while editing text, not while selecting files in File Explorer.
You can learn this shortcut without pressing it here. The real keys act on your computer or the app you are using.
CHOOSE THE USEFUL ACTION
When would you use it?
The typing cursor is immediately after an unwanted word in a draft. You want to remove that word while keeping the next one. Which removal fits this small correction?
Remove the preceding word to the left of the cursor.
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