InDesign Keyboard Shortcuts

Cheat sheet guide

InDesign shortcuts worth learning first

This page collects 85 searchable InDesign keyboard shortcuts across 4 categories. Start with the shortcuts for General, Edit And Type, View And Layout, Objects, then print the cheat sheet once the important ones are worth keeping nearby.

New DocumentCtrlN
UndoCtrlZ
Zoom InCtrl=
GroupCtrlG
Open DocumentCtrlO
Close DocumentCtrlW

General

37 shortcuts

New Document

CtrlN

Ctrl+N · Cmd+N

Open Document

CtrlO

Ctrl+O · Cmd+O

Close Document

CtrlW

Ctrl+W · Cmd+W

Save

CtrlS

Ctrl+S · Cmd+S

Save As

CtrlShiftS

Ctrl+Shift+S · Cmd+Shift+S

Place

CtrlD

Ctrl+D · Cmd+D

Export

CtrlE

Ctrl+E · Cmd+E

CtrlP

Ctrl+P · Cmd+P

Select Selection tool

V

Select Direct Selection tool

A

Toggle Selection and Direct Selection tools

CtrlTab

Ctrl+Tab · Cmd+Ctrl+Tab

Select Page tool

ShiftP

Shift+P

Select Gap tool

U

Select Pen tool

P

Select Convert Direction Point tool

ShiftC

Shift+C

Select Type tool

T

Select Type on a Path tool

ShiftT

Shift+T

Select Pencil tool

N

Select Rectangle Frame tool

F

Select Rectangle tool

M

Select Ellipse tool

L

Select Rotate tool

R

Select Scale tool

S

Select Shear tool

O

Select Free Transform tool

E

Select Eyedropper tool

I

Select Measure tool

K

Select Gradient Swatch tool

G

Select Scissors tool

C

Select Hand tool

H

Temporary Hand tool with text cursor active

AltSpace

Alt+Space · Opt+Space

Select Zoom tool

Z

Toggle fill and stroke target

X

Swap fill and stroke colors

ShiftX

Shift+X

Toggle container and text formatting target

J

Select Gradient Feather tool

ShiftG

Shift+G

Temporarily select Zoom Out

CtrlAltSpace

Ctrl+Alt+Space · Cmd+Opt+Space

Edit And Type

17 shortcuts

Undo

CtrlZ

Ctrl+Z · Cmd+Z

Redo

CtrlShiftZ

Ctrl+Shift+Z · Cmd+Shift+Z

Cut

CtrlX

Ctrl+X · Cmd+X

Copy

CtrlC

Ctrl+C · Cmd+C

Paste

CtrlV

Ctrl+V · Cmd+V

Paste In Place

CtrlAltShiftV

Ctrl+Alt+Shift+V · Cmd+Opt+Shift+V

Find Change

CtrlF

Ctrl+F · Cmd+F

Check Spelling

CtrlI

Ctrl+I · Cmd+I

Apply bold when font supports it

CtrlShiftB

Ctrl+Shift+B · Cmd+Shift+B

Apply italic when font supports it

CtrlShiftI

Ctrl+Shift+I · Cmd+Shift+I

Apply normal text style

CtrlShiftY

Ctrl+Shift+Y · Cmd+Shift+Y

Underline text

CtrlShiftU

Ctrl+Shift+U · Cmd+Shift+U

Apply automatic leading

CtrlAltShiftA

Ctrl+Alt+Shift+A · Cmd+Opt+Shift+A

Toggle alignment to baseline grid

CtrlAltShiftG

Ctrl+Alt+Shift+G · Cmd+Opt+Shift+G

Toggle automatic hyphenation

CtrlAltShiftH

Ctrl+Alt+Shift+H · Cmd+Opt+Shift+H

Clear manual kerning and reset tracking

CtrlAltQ

Ctrl+Alt+Q · Cmd+Opt+Q

Select all text in story

CtrlA

Ctrl+A · Cmd+A

View And Layout

20 shortcuts

Zoom In

Ctrl=

Ctrl+= · Cmd+=

Zoom Out

Ctrl-

Ctrl+- · Cmd+-

Fit Page In Window

Ctrl0

Ctrl+0 · Cmd+0

Fit Spread In Window

CtrlAlt0

Ctrl+Alt+0 · Cmd+Opt+0

Actual Size

Ctrl1

Ctrl+1 · Cmd+1

Show Hide Guides

Ctrl;

Ctrl+; · Cmd+;

Show Hide Baseline Grid

CtrlAlt'

Ctrl+Alt+' · Cmd+Opt+'

Preview Mode

W

Switch current and previous zoom levels

CtrlAlt2

Ctrl+Alt+2 · Cmd+Opt+2

Cycle measurement units

CtrlAltShiftU

Ctrl+Alt+Shift+U · Cmd+Opt+Shift+U

Activate Control panel

Ctrl6

Ctrl+6 · Cmd+6

Toggle Character and Paragraph mode in Control panel

CtrlAlt7

Ctrl+Alt+7 · Cmd+Opt+7

Open Character panel

CtrlT

Ctrl+T · Cmd+T

Open Paragraph panel

CtrlAltT

Ctrl+Alt+T · Cmd+Opt+T

Open Tabs panel

CtrlShiftT

Ctrl+Shift+T · Cmd+Shift+T

Enable Overprint Preview

CtrlAltShiftY

Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Y · Cmd+Opt+Shift+Y

Show cyan separation plate

CtrlAltShift1

Ctrl+Alt+Shift+1 · Cmd+Opt+Shift+1

Show magenta separation plate

CtrlAltShift2

Ctrl+Alt+Shift+2 · Cmd+Opt+Shift+2

Show yellow separation plate

CtrlAltShift3

Ctrl+Alt+Shift+3 · Cmd+Opt+Shift+3

Show black separation plate

CtrlAltShift4

Ctrl+Alt+Shift+4 · Cmd+Opt+Shift+4

Objects

11 shortcuts

Group

CtrlG

Ctrl+G · Cmd+G

Ungroup

CtrlShiftG

Ctrl+Shift+G · Cmd+Shift+G

Lock

CtrlL

Ctrl+L · Cmd+L

Unlock All On Spread

CtrlAltL

Ctrl+Alt+L · Cmd+Opt+L

Bring To Front

CtrlShift]

Ctrl+Shift+] · Cmd+Shift+]

Send To Back

CtrlShift[

Ctrl+Shift+[ · Cmd+Shift+[

Bring Forward

Ctrl]

Ctrl+] · Cmd+]

Send Backward

Ctrl[

Ctrl+[ · Cmd+[

Select content of selected container

ShiftEsc

Shift+Esc

Toggle high-quality and fast display

CtrlAltShiftZ

Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Z · Cmd+Opt+Shift+Z

Select all guides

CtrlAltG

Ctrl+Alt+G · Cmd+Opt+G

Documentation check for this addition

53 additional actions were checked against the official documentation on 2026-11-02. Existing actions were retained. These are documentary checks, not tests in installed applications. A dash means this batch does not provide a verified binding for that system. Context such as PDF viewer, text field or address bar is part of the action.

InDesign