WPS Office Keyboard Shortcuts
WPS Office deliberately mimics Microsoft Office's ribbon interface and shortcut conventions more closely than LibreOffice does, aiming to feel almost indistinguishable from Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for anyone switching over, which is a core part of its pitch as a free (with optional paid tier) Office alternative particularly popular in markets outside the US. Because its shortcut set is built to match Microsoft Office's bindings as closely as possible rather than developing independent conventions the way LibreOffice's more historically distinct codebase sometimes does, most everyday formatting, navigation, and file shortcuts transfer with essentially zero relearning for an experienced Office user. Where WPS does have its own distinct identity is in some bundled extras beyond a pure Office clone — a built-in PDF tools module and cloud storage integration get their own dedicated shortcuts and menu presence, reflecting WPS's positioning as a slightly broader all-in-one document tool rather than a pure like-for-like Office replacement. Because WPS Office is developed by a China-based company (Kingsoft) with a large international user base, Kingsoft has historically poured real engineering effort into its mobile apps and WPS Cloud sync layer, which is why plenty of users pick it specifically for editing the same documents seamlessly across desktop and phone without a paid subscription requirement. Presentation-specific shortcuts in WPS Office's Presentation module track PowerPoint's slide-management bindings so faithfully that a user moving between the two apps for ordinary slide work barely notices the switch. Table insertion, freeze panes, and slide transitions round out the everyday formatting and layout actions across WPS Office's three core applications, each deliberately mirroring its Microsoft Office counterpart's menu location and behavior closely enough that a document built partly in WPS and partly in genuine Office tools generally survives the round trip with minimal visual disruption.
Formatting
| Action | Windows | Mac | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bold selected text | Ctrl+B | Cmd+B | Bolds selected text, matching Microsoft Word's identical binding exactly, consistent with WPS Office's design goal of minimizing relearning friction for Office switchers. |
| Italicize selected text | Ctrl+I | Cmd+I | Applies italic styling to the selection through WPS Writer's own formatting engine, which stores the result in a way that round-trips cleanly when the file is later reopened in actual Microsoft Word. |
| Clear direct formatting | Ctrl+Spacebar | Cmd+Spacebar | Clears character formatting from the selection, matching Word's exact binding, a point of difference from LibreOffice Writer's Ctrl+M for the same underlying action. |
| Insert a comment | Ctrl+Alt+M | Cmd+Option+M | Adds a comment anchored to the current selection, matching Word's own comment-insertion shortcut for consistency with Office conventions. |
| Run spell check | F7 | — | Launches the spell-check tool across the document, matching Word's classic F7 binding rather than introducing a different key for the same long-standing action. |
| Insert table (WPS Writer) | Insert menu > Table (no default single key) | — | Inserts a table at the cursor position within a WPS Writer document, matching Word's table-insertion dialog structure closely, including specifying row and column count before insertion. |
Navigation
| Action | Windows | Mac | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Find and replace | Ctrl+H | Cmd+H | Brings up a dialog for locating and swapping text across the document, positioned in the exact same place in the Home ribbon as Word's own version so the muscle memory of reaching for it transfers directly. |
| Go to specific page/location | Ctrl+G | Cmd+G | Opens the Go To dialog for jumping to a specific page, section, or bookmark, matching Word's convention exactly. |
| AutoSum (in WPS Spreadsheets) | Alt+= | Alt+= | Inserts a SUM formula for the adjacent cell range in WPS Spreadsheets, matching Excel's Windows AutoSum shortcut exactly. |
| Insert new slide (WPS Presentation) | Ctrl+M | Cmd+M | Inserts a new slide after the current one in WPS Presentation, matching PowerPoint's identical binding for the same action. |
| Freeze panes (WPS Spreadsheets) | View menu > Freeze Panes (no default single key) | — | Pins the selected rows or columns so they stay put while the rest of a large spreadsheet scrolls past them, mirroring Excel's Freeze Panes feature down to roughly the same menu location. |
File Pdf Tools
| Action | Windows | Mac | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Convert document to PDF | File menu > Export to PDF (no dedicated key) | — | Exports the current document directly to PDF using WPS's built-in PDF tools module, part of WPS's broader all-in-one document-tool positioning beyond a pure Office file-format clone. |
| Save to WPS Cloud | File menu > Save to Cloud (no dedicated key) | — | Saves the current document to WPS's own cloud storage service, an integrated feature distinct from Microsoft's OneDrive-based cloud saving in Office. |
| Apply slide transition (WPS Presentation) | Transitions tab > select effect (no default single key) | — | Applies a transition animation between the current slide and the next, matching PowerPoint's Transitions ribbon tab in both layout and available effect names. |
Frequently Asked Questions
How closely does WPS Office actually match Microsoft Office's shortcuts?
Very closely for core formatting, navigation, and editing actions — WPS Office was built specifically to feel familiar to Office users, matching bindings like Ctrl+Spacebar for clear formatting exactly where LibreOffice's independently developed codebase sometimes diverges slightly, making WPS arguably the closer shortcut-for-shortcut match to Microsoft Office among the major free alternatives.
Is WPS Office completely free, or does it have a paywall like Microsoft 365?
WPS Office offers a free tier with core word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation functionality, alongside a paid Premium tier that removes ads and unlocks additional features like more advanced PDF tools and larger cloud storage — the free tier alone is usable for most everyday document work without payment.
Does WPS Office support the same .docx, .xlsx, and .pptx file formats as Microsoft Office?
Yes — strong Microsoft Office file format compatibility is a core selling point, and WPS reads and writes .docx, .xlsx, and .pptx natively, generally with good fidelity for everyday documents, though as with any alternative office suite, highly complex documents using advanced Office-specific features can occasionally show minor differences after conversion.
Does WPS Office have strong mobile app support, similar to its desktop compatibility with Office?
Yes, WPS Office's mobile apps and WPS Cloud sync have received notable ongoing investment, making it a common choice for users wanting consistent document editing across desktop and mobile devices without necessarily paying for a subscription tier the way some competitors require for full mobile functionality.
Are WPS Presentation's shortcuts different from PowerPoint's?
No, slide creation and navigation shortcuts in WPS Presentation mirror PowerPoint's bindings closely enough that switching between the two applications for basic slide work involves essentially no relearning, consistent with WPS Office's overall design goal of minimizing friction for Office users.
Is spell check available across all three WPS Office applications?
Yes, spell checking is available in WPS Writer, Spreadsheets, and Presentation, generally triggered with the same F7 shortcut matching Word's long-standing convention rather than each application introducing its own distinct binding for the same basic proofing function.
Can WPS Office open files stored in cloud services other than its own WPS Cloud?
Yes, WPS Office supports connecting to and opening files from other common cloud storage providers in addition to its own WPS Cloud service, giving flexibility for users who already store documents elsewhere rather than requiring migration to WPS-specific storage.
Does WPS Office require an account to use the desktop applications?
Basic desktop editing functionality is usable without signing in, though an account is required to access WPS Cloud storage, sync settings across devices, and some collaborative features layered on top of the core Writer, Spreadsheets, and Presentation applications.
Does WPS Presentation support the same transition effects as PowerPoint by name?
WPS Presentation's Transitions tab closely mirrors PowerPoint's own set of named transition effects and their ribbon placement, consistent with WPS Office's overall strategy of minimizing relearning friction, though the exact visual rendering of a given transition can differ subtly in timing or easing between the two applications even when the effect shares the same name.