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Adobe InDesign Keyboard Shortcuts for Mac

Keyboard shortcuts for Adobe InDesign on Mac. Switch tools, format characters and paragraphs, apply styles, work with tables, and move around documents.
Key label style

Selection and navigation tools

Selection tool
V
or
Esc
Direct Selection tool
A
Toggle Selection and Direct Selection
Cmd+Ctrl+Tab
Page tool
Shift+P
Gap tool
U
Hand tool
H
Temporarily select the Hand tool (no insertion point)
Space
Temporarily select the Hand tool (with text insertion point)
Opt+Drag
or
Opt+Space
Zoom tool
Z
Temporarily select Zoom In tool
Cmd+Space
Temporarily select Zoom Out tool
Cmd+Opt+Space
or
Opt
with the Zoom In tool
Zoom to 50%, 200%, or 400%
Cmd+5
or
Cmd+2
or
Cmd+4

Drawing and text tools

Pen tool
P
Add Anchor Point tool
=
or
Num Equal
Delete Anchor Point tool
-
or
Num -
Convert Direction Point tool
Shift+C
Type tool
T
Type on a Path tool
Shift+T
Pencil tool
N
Line tool
\

Shape and frame tools

Rectangle Frame tool
F
Rectangle tool
M
Ellipse tool
L
Frame Grid tool (horizontal)
Y
Frame Grid tool (vertical)
Q

Transform tools

Rotate tool
R
Scale tool
S
Shear tool
O
Free Transform tool
E

Other tools

Eyedropper tool
I
Measure tool
K
Gradient Swatch tool
G
Gradient Feather tool
Shift+G
Scissors tool
C
Toggle Fill and Stroke
X
Swap Fill and Stroke
Shift+X
Toggle Formatting affects container / text
J
Apply Color
,
Apply Gradient
.
Apply None
/
Switch between Normal and Preview mode
W

Selecting and moving objects

Temporarily select the Selection tool or Direct Selection tool
Cmd
with any tool except the selection tools
Temporarily select the Group Selection tool
Opt
or
Cmd+Opt
with the Direct Selection or Pen / Add / Delete Anchor Point tool
Select the container of selected content
Esc
or
Double-click
Select the content of the selected container
Shift+Esc
or
Double-click
Add to or subtract from the selection
Shift+Click
with Selection / Direct Selection / Group Selection tool
Duplicate selection
Opt+Drag
with Selection / Direct Selection / Group Selection tool
Duplicate and offset selection
Opt+UpDownLeftRight
Duplicate and offset by 10×
Opt+Shift+UpDownLeftRight
Move selection
UpDownLeftRight
Move selection by 1/10th
Cmd+Shift+UpDownLeftRight
Move selection by 10×
Shift+UpDownLeftRight
Select the parent page item from the document page
Cmd+Shift+Click
with Selection / Direct Selection tool
Select the next object behind or in front
Cmd+Click
or
Cmd+Opt+Click
with Selection tool
Select all guides
Cmd+Opt+G

Transforming objects

Duplicate and transform selection
Opt+Drag
with Transformation tool
Display the Transformation tool dialog box
Double-clickScale / Rotate / Shear tool
with an object selected
Resize frame and content
Cmd+Drag
with Selection tool
Resize the frame and content proportionately
Cmd+Shift+Drag
with Selection tool
Constrain proportion
Shift+Drag
with Ellipse / Polygon / Rectangle tool
Switch between High Quality Display and Fast Display
Cmd+Opt+Shift+Z

Character formatting

Bold (fonts with bold face only)
Cmd+Shift+B
Italic (fonts with italic face only)
Cmd+Shift+I
Normal
Cmd+Shift+Y
Underline
Cmd+Shift+U
Strikethrough
Cmd+Ctrl+Shift+/
All caps on/off
Cmd+Shift+K
Small caps on/off
Cmd+Shift+H
Superscript
Cmd+Shift+=
Subscript
Cmd+Opt+Shift+=
Reset horizontal/vertical scale to 100%
Cmd+Shift+X
or
Cmd+Opt+Shift+X

Type size and leading

Increase/decrease point size
Cmd+Shift+.
or
Cmd+Shift+,
Increase/decrease point size by 5×
Cmd+Opt+Shift+.
or
Cmd+Opt+Shift+,
Increase/decrease leading (horizontal text)
Opt+UpDown
Increase/decrease leading (vertical text)
Opt+LeftRight
Increase/decrease leading by 5× (horizontal text)
Cmd+Opt+UpDown
Increase/decrease leading by 5× (vertical text)
Cmd+Opt+LeftRight
Auto leading
Cmd+Opt+Shift+A

Kerning and tracking

Increase/decrease kerning and tracking (horizontal text)
Opt+LeftRight
Increase/decrease kerning and tracking (vertical text)
Opt+UpDown
Increase/decrease kerning and tracking by 5× (horizontal text)
Cmd+Opt+LeftRight
Increase/decrease kerning and tracking by 5× (vertical text)
Cmd+Opt+UpDown
Clear all manual kerning and reset tracking to 0
Cmd+Opt+Q

Paragraph formatting

Align left, right, or center
Cmd+Shift+L
or
Cmd+Shift+R
or
Cmd+Shift+C
Justify all lines
Cmd+Shift+F
or
Cmd+Shift+J
Align to grid on/off
Cmd+Opt+Shift+G
Auto-hyphenate on/off
Cmd+Opt+Shift+H

Baseline shift

Increase/decrease baseline shift (horizontal text)
Opt+Shift+UpDown
Increase/decrease baseline shift (vertical text)
Opt+Shift+LeftRight
Increase/decrease baseline shift by 5× (horizontal text)
Cmd+Opt+Shift+UpDown
Increase/decrease baseline shift by 5× (vertical text)
Cmd+Opt+Shift+LeftRight

Navigating and selecting text

Move right/left one character
LeftRight
Move up/down one line
UpDown
Move right/left one word
Cmd+LeftRight
Move to the start/end of the line
HomeEnd
Move to previous/next paragraph
Cmd+UpDown
Move to the start/end of the story
Cmd+HomeEnd
Select one word
Double-clickword
Select one character right/left
Shift+LeftRight
Select one line above/below
Shift+UpDown
Select to start/end of line
Shift+HomeEnd
Select one paragraphQuadruple-clicking the paragraph selects it too.
Triple-clickparagraph
Select one paragraph before/after
Cmd+Shift+UpDown
Select current line
Cmd+Shift+\
Select the start/end of the story
Cmd+Shift+HomeEnd
Select all in the story
Cmd+A

Tables

Insert or delete rows/columns while dragging
Dragthe border,Opt
Resize rows/columns without changing table size
Shift+Draginterior border
Resize rows/columns proportionally
Shift+Dragthe right or bottom border
Move to next/previous cell
Tab
or
Shift+Tab
Move to the first/last cell in the column
Opt+Pg UpPg Dn
Move to the first/last cell in the row
Opt+HomeEnd
Move up/down one cell
UpDown
Select cell above/below
Shift+UpDown
Select the cell to the right/left
Shift+LeftRight
Start row on the next column
Num Return
Start row on next frame
Shift+Num Return

Viewing documents

Temporarily select the Hand tool
Space
or
Opt+Drag
Fit spread in the window
Double-clickthe Hand tool
Switch between the current and previous zoom levels
Cmd+Opt+2
Redraw screen
Shift+F5
Open a new default document
Cmd+Opt+N
Switch to the next/previous document window
Cmd+F6
or
Cmd+`
or
Cmd+Shift+`
Scroll up/down one screen
Pg UpPg Dn
Go back/forward to the last viewed page
Cmd+Pg UpPg Dn
Go to previous/next spread
Opt+Pg UpPg Dn
Activate the Go To command
Cmd+J
Fit selection in the window
Cmd+Opt+=
Cycle through units of measurement
Cmd+Opt+Shift+U

Panels

Delete without confirmation
Opt+ClickDelete icon
Create an item and set options
Opt+ClickNew icon
Apply value and keep focus on the option
Shift+Return
Activate the last option in the last panel
Cmd+Opt+`
Select a range in the panel
Shift+Click
Select non-adjacent items in the panel
Cmd+Click
Show/hide all panels with no insertion point
Tab
Show/hide all panels except the Tools and Control panels
Shift+Tab
Open/close all stashed panels
Cmd+Opt+Tab

Specific panels

Activate the Control panel
Cmd+6
Toggle Character / Paragraph mode ( Control panel)
Cmd+Opt+7
Character panel
Cmd+T
Paragraph panel
Cmd+Opt+T
Paragraph Styles panel
Cmd+F11
Character Styles panel
Cmd+Shift+F11
Tabs panel
Cmd+Shift+T
Layers panel
F7
Pages panel
Cmd+F12
Color panel
F6
Swatches panel
F5
Stroke panel
Cmd+F10
Drop Shadow panel
Cmd+Opt+M

Styles

Make the character style definition match the text
Cmd+Opt+Shift+C
with text selected
Make paragraph style definition match text
Cmd+Opt+Shift+R
with text selected
Change options without applying style
Cmd+Opt+Shift+Double-clickstyle
Remove style and local formatting
Opt+Clickparagraph style
Clear overrides from paragraph style
Opt+Shift+Clickparagraph style

Finding and changing text

Insert selected text into the Find What box
Cmd+F1
Insert selected text into Find What and find next
Shift+F1
Find the next occurrence of Find What text
Shift+F2
or
Cmd+Opt+F
Insert selected text into the Change To box
Cmd+F2
Replace selection with Change To text
Cmd+F3

XML

Expand/Collapse element
LeftRight
Expand/Collapse element and child elements
Opt+LeftRight
Extend XML selection up/down
Shift+UpDown
Move XML selection up/down
UpDown
Scroll the structure pane up/down one screen
Pg UpPg Dn
Select first/last XML node
HomeEnd
Extend selection to first/last XML node
Shift+HomeEnd
Go to previous/next validation error
Cmd+LeftRight
Auto-tag text frames and tables
Cmd+Opt+Shift+F7

Indexing

Create index entry without dialog box (alphanumeric only)
Cmd+Opt+Shift+[
Open the index entry dialog box
Cmd+7
Create proper name index entry (last name, first name)
Cmd+Opt+Shift+]

Color and swatches

Move color sliders in tandem
Shift+Dragslider
Select a color for non-active fill or stroke
Opt+Clickcolor bar
Switch between color modes
Shift+Clickcolor bar
Create a new swatch based on the current swatch
Opt+ClickNew Swatch icon
Create a spot color swatch based on the current swatch
Cmd+Opt+ClickNew Swatch icon

Separations Preview

Turn on Overprint preview
Cmd+Opt+Shift+Y
Show all plates
Cmd+Opt+Shift+`
Show Cyan plate
Cmd+Opt+Shift+1
Show Magenta plate
Cmd+Opt+Shift+2
Show Yellow plate
Cmd+Opt+Shift+3
Show Black plate
Cmd+Opt+Shift+4
Show 1st–3rd Spot plates
Cmd+Opt+Shift+5
or
Cmd+Opt+Shift+6
or
Cmd+Opt+Shift+7

Platform-specific variations

Open Preferences dialog box
Cmd+K
Open Paragraph Styles panel
Cmd+F11
Open Character Styles panel
Cmd+Shift+F11
Open Swatches panel
F5
Open Pages panel
Cmd+F12
Minimize active application window
Cmd+M
Hide application
Cmd+H

Intro

InDesign on Mac uses Command (⌘) as its primary modifier. The shortcut that anchors the InDesign workflow is Cmd+D, Place, for importing images, graphics, and text files into the layout.

Mac-specific shortcut notes

Place. Cmd+D opens the Place dialog. This is how virtually all content enters an InDesign layout, images from Lightroom or Bridge, graphics from Illustrator, text from Word. It's the most-used InDesign shortcut in any production context.

Page navigation. Page Up and Page Down navigate between spreads. Jumping to the first and last pages, and moving between linked text frames as text flows through a document, have keyboard shortcuts covered in the table.

Paragraph and character styles. Applying named paragraph styles by keyboard keeps the formatting workflow consistent without switching to the Styles panel. InDesign's styles panel is docked but typing a shortcut applies the style to the current paragraph or selection directly.

Find/Change. Cmd+F opens InDesign's Find/Change dialog, a more powerful version of find-and-replace that can search for formatting attributes, GREP patterns, and object properties in addition to plain text.

Story Editor. Opening the Story Editor (a plain-text view for editing content without layout distraction) has a keyboard shortcut, useful for writing-heavy layouts.

Frame fitting. Fitting an image to its frame, or fitting the frame to the image, each have shortcuts that save repeated trips to the Object menu.

Panel management. Tab hides and shows all panels, giving full canvas view when needed.

Printable PDF

The InDesign macOS shortcut list is available as a printable PDF. The Place dialog shortcut, page navigation, and paragraph style shortcuts are the highest-value sections for production workflows.

FAQ

Need more than shortcuts?
Visit the Adobe InDesign app page for an overview and helpful links.

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