Like others, I do set an Import Preset so that images already come in with my preferred defaults, including sharpening and noise reduction, for different ISO speeds.
Some of these have been mentioned but some of my favorite quick shortcuts are:
Auto Settings — Ctrl-U (Windows) or Command-U (Mac)
Auto White Balance – Shift-Ctrl-U (Windows) or Shift-Command-U (Mac) — because white balance is not changed by Auto Settings
Paste Settings from Previous (image) — Alt-Ctrl-V (Windows) or Option-Command-V (Mac)
If they all look good, great. If any do not look good, just undo and then adjust manually.
How the copy paste works? Just hitting the control+c and then control+v? That easy?
There are two kinds of copy paste, and they do not use those shortcuts:
The one we’ve already brought up is Paste Settings from Previous (Alt-Ctrl-V). In one shortcut, all settings from the previous image are pasted onto the current image.
But sometimes you don’t want to copy all settings from am image, just some of them. That’s when you use Copy Settings, Shift-Ctrl-C (Windows) or Shift-Command-C (Mac). You will be asked which settings to copy. Then select any number of other images and Paste Settings, Shift-Ctrl-V (Windows) or Shift-Command-V (Mac).
Sync Settings (Shift-Ctrl-S) is similar to Copy Settings, but first you select multiple images; the settings you choose from the current image are applied to all other selected images.
If you want to refer to these in the future, simply look in the Develop module under the Settings menu. Many of the shortcuts discussed here are listed there, next to their commands.