Delete the previous word keyboard shortcut in 8 apps
Delete the previous word has a documented keyboard shortcut in 8 apps here, among them ChromeOS, LibreOffice Impress, LibreOffice Writer, Microsoft PowerPoint. The most common keys are Ctrl + Backspace on Windows and Option + Backspace on a Mac.
Keys on this page were last checked against their sources on September 14, 2026.
| App | Windows | Mac | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChromeOS | Windows Ctrl + Backspace | Mac Not documented | Delete the previous word |
| LibreOffice Impress | Windows Ctrl + Backspace | Mac Option + Backspace | Delete back to the start of the word |
| LibreOffice Writer | Windows Ctrl + Backspace | Mac Not documented | Delete to the beginning of the word |
| Microsoft PowerPoint | Windows Ctrl + Backspace | Mac Not documented | Delete previous word |
| Microsoft Word | Windows Ctrl + Backspace | Mac Not documented | Delete previous word |
| Notepad++ | Windows Ctrl + Backspace | Mac Not documented | Delete the word to the left |
| SQL Server Management Studio | Windows Ctrl + Backspace | Mac Not documented | Delete the word to the left |
| Visual Studio | Windows Ctrl + Backspace | Mac Not documented | Delete to the start of the word |
What most apps settled on for Delete the previous word
On Windows, Ctrl + Backspace is the combination in 8 of the 8 apps here that document one. All 8 apps here that document a Windows key use Ctrl + Backspace, which makes this one of the safer habits to carry between apps.
Where the table is deliberately empty
7 apps here publish no Mac key for Delete the previous word, so those cells are left blank. A blank there is a gap in that maker documentation for Delete the previous word, not an oversight here, and it is never filled by converting the other system.
If the keys for Delete the previous word do nothing
The 8 apps listed here each decide this for themselves, so the first thing to check is that you are reading the row for the app you are actually in, and the column for your system. After that, check the app version, since delete the previous word is the kind of command makers move between releases. Report a correction
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