Some Rules on Assigning Accelerators

In theory, you can define a keyboard accelerator for any virtual key or any character key in combination with the Shift key, the Ctrl key, or both. However, the CUA Advanced Interface Design Guide offers several recommendations that are intended to achieve some consistency among applications and to avoid interfering with Windows' use of the keyboard. For programs that have an Edit menu, the CUA Advanced Interface Design Guide highly recommends use of the following accelerators:

Key(s) Function

Alt+Backspace Undo
Del Clear
Ctrl+Ins Copy
Shift+Ins Paste
Shift+Del Cut

You should avoid using Tab, Enter, Esc, and the Spacebar in keyboard accelerators, because these are often used for system functions.

Although some older Windows programs use alphabetic keys in combination with the Ctrl key for keyboard accelerators, more recent Windows programs use function keys, sometimes in combination with the Shift key, the Ctrl key, or both. These function-key assignments are common in some applications:

Key(s) Function

F1 Help
F3 Save
F6 Next window
Shift+F6 Previous window
Ctrl+F6 Next section
Shift+Ctrl+F6 Previous section