Keyboard Shortcuts Bold Italic Underline

Bold, italic, and underline are the three most common text formatting actions in any document or email. Applying them with keyboard shortcuts is far faster than selecting text and clicking toolbar buttons. These are also among the easiest shortcuts to remember because the key letter matches the format name.

The Three Core Formatting Shortcuts

  WINDOWS / LINUX:
  Bold:       Ctrl + B
  Italic:     Ctrl + I
  Underline:  Ctrl + U

  MAC:
  Bold:       Cmd + B
  Italic:     Cmd + I
  Underline:  Cmd + U

Easy memory trick: B for Bold, I for Italic, U for Underline. These match the buttons you see in every word processor toolbar.

Two Ways to Apply Formatting

You can apply formatting either before you type (format first, then type) or after you type (select text, then format).

  METHOD 1 — Format as you type:
  Press Ctrl + B      → bold mode ON
  Type "Important"    → "Important" appears bold
  Press Ctrl + B      → bold mode OFF
  Continue typing normally

  METHOD 2 — Format after typing:
  Type "Important" first (no formatting)
  Select "Important"
  Press Ctrl + B      → selected word becomes bold

Toggle Behavior

These shortcuts are toggles. Pressing the shortcut once turns the format on; pressing it again turns it off. This applies whether you are in "format as you type" mode or applying to selected text.

  SELECTED TEXT — CURRENTLY BOLD:
  Ctrl + B → removes bold (makes text normal again)

  SELECTED TEXT — CURRENTLY NOT BOLD:
  Ctrl + B → applies bold

  SELECTED MIXED TEXT (some bold, some not):
  Ctrl + B → makes all selected text bold first
  Ctrl + B again → removes bold from all selected text

Combining Formats

You can apply multiple formats to the same text. Select the text and press each shortcut one after the other.

  Select "Critical Warning"
  Ctrl + B  → Bold:      "Critical Warning"
  Ctrl + I  → Italic:    "Critical Warning" (bold italic)
  Ctrl + U  → Underline: "Critical Warning" (bold italic underlined)

  Press all three again on the same selection to remove all formatting.

Additional Text Formatting Shortcuts

  MICROSOFT WORD:
  Strikethrough:        Alt + H, then 4 (ribbon shortcut)
  Superscript:          Ctrl + Shift + Plus (+)
  Subscript:            Ctrl + Plus (+) or Ctrl + =
  All caps toggle:      Ctrl + Shift + A
  Small caps:           Ctrl + Shift + K
  Clear all formatting: Ctrl + Space (removes bold, italic, etc.)

  GOOGLE DOCS:
  Strikethrough:        Alt + Shift + 5
  Superscript:          Ctrl + .
  Subscript:            Ctrl + ,
  Clear formatting:     Ctrl + \

Formatting Shortcut Behavior in Different Apps

  APPLICATION        Bold        Italic      Underline
  ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
  Microsoft Word     Ctrl+B      Ctrl+I      Ctrl+U
  Google Docs        Ctrl+B      Ctrl+I      Ctrl+U
  LibreOffice        Ctrl+B      Ctrl+I      Ctrl+U
  Outlook email      Ctrl+B      Ctrl+I      Ctrl+U
  Gmail (compose)    Ctrl+B      Ctrl+I      Ctrl+U
  Slack              Ctrl+B      Ctrl+I      Ctrl+U
  Notion             Ctrl+B      Ctrl+I      Ctrl+U
  HTML editors       Same shortcuts (applies HTML tags)

Bold, italic, and underline shortcuts are among the most universally consistent shortcuts across all applications. They work in almost every text editing environment — from desktop word processors to web-based apps to messaging tools.

Markdown Alternative

In Markdown-based tools (like Notion, GitHub, Obsidian, or many note-taking apps), you can also apply formatting by typing symbols around text:

  **text**    → Bold
  *text*      → Italic
  ~~text~~    → Strikethrough
  __text__    → Underline (in some apps)

  These render when you move the cursor away or press Space.
  The shortcut versions (Ctrl+B etc.) also work in most Markdown apps.

Removing All Formatting

Sometimes you paste text that carries unwanted bold, italic, colors, and font styles from another source. A single shortcut strips everything back to plain text:

  MICROSOFT WORD:    Select text → Ctrl + Space
  GOOGLE DOCS:       Select text → Ctrl + \
  MOST BROWSERS:     Select text → Ctrl + Shift + V (paste as plain text)

Why These Letters Were Chosen

  Ctrl + B  →  B for BOLD       (direct initial)
  Ctrl + I  →  I for ITALIC     (direct initial)
  Ctrl + U  →  U for UNDERLINE  (direct initial)

  These assignments date back to the earliest graphical word processors
  of the 1980s and have remained unchanged for over 40 years —
  which is why they work consistently across every modern application.

Quick Reference

  ACTION              WINDOWS           MAC
  ──────────────────────────────────────────
  Bold                Ctrl + B          Cmd + B
  Italic              Ctrl + I          Cmd + I
  Underline           Ctrl + U          Cmd + U
  Strikethrough       Alt+H, 4 (Word)   Cmd+Shift+X (Word Mac)
  Superscript         Ctrl+Shift++      Cmd+Shift++
  Subscript           Ctrl + =          Cmd + =
  Clear formatting    Ctrl + Space      Cmd + Space (Word)

Bold, italic, and underline are the formatting shortcuts to learn first if you have not already. They save time in every document you write and are consistent enough across applications that learning them once benefits you everywhere.