Top 10 Keyboard Shortcuts Every Transcriber Should Know

Using keyboard shortcuts reduces the time taken to transcribe an audio transcription.  It generally assists speed typing and hence, improve the productivity of a transcriber or transcriptionist. 

In the world of transcriptions, turnaround time (TAT) is the most important criterion of a transcriber's efficiency, apart from accuracy or quality.

Turnaround time simply means the time taken, from the time a dictation is received by the transcription company from a client, to return the completed final transcript of a dictation.

An excellent transcriber should maintain a TAT of 1:5.  That is, a dictation of 1 minute audio should be typed up in 5 minutes.  Hence, using keyboard shortcuts is one simple yet effective way to save time and get transcriptions done faster.

Below are my top 10 keyboard shortcuts recommended for every transcriber or proofreader to memorize and use, daily, to improve productivity.


Ctrl + C or Ctrl + Insert

Copy the highlighted text or selected item.

Ctrl + V or Shift + Insert

Paste the text or object that's in the clipboard.

Ctrl + Z and Ctrl + Y

Undo any change. For example, if you cut text, pressing this will undo it. This can also often be pressed multiple times to undo multiple changes. Pressing Ctrl + Y would re-do the undo.

Ctrl + F

Open the Find in any program. This includes your Internet browser to find text on the current page.

Alt + Tab or Alt + Esc

Quickly switch between open programs.

F1

Open help for the program you're in.

Ctrl + P

Print what's currently being viewed in programs such as Microsoft Word or your Internet browser.

Ctrl + Left arrow / Right arrow

Move the cursor one word at a time instead of one character at a time. This is one little trick I use everyday to proofread transcripts as fast as possible.  If you wanted to highlight one word at a time you can hold down Ctrl + Alt and then press the left or right arrow key to move one word at a time in that direction while highlighting each word.

Ctrl + Home / End

Move the cursor to the beginning or end of a document.

Page Up / Space bar and Page Down

Pressing either the page up or page down key will move that page one page at a time in that direction. When browsing the Internet pressing the space bar will also move the page down one page at a time.

What's your favorite keyboard shortcut?
Do you use keyboard shortcuts to improve your productivity?  What more you would add to the list of keyboard shortcuts?

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