Adobe InDesign Keyboard Shortcuts for Windows

Use this Adobe InDesign Windows shortcuts cheatsheet as a quick printable reference for layout, text, and document hotkeys.
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Key label style

Selection and navigation tools

Selection tool
V
or
Esc
Direct Selection tool
A
Toggle Selection and Direct Selection
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)
Alt+Drag
or
Alt+Space
Zoom tool
Z
Temporarily select Zoom In tool
Ctrl+Space
Temporarily select Zoom Out tool
Ctrl+Alt+Space
or
Alt+Zoom In tool
Zoom to 50%, 200%, or 400%
Ctrl+524

Drawing and text tools

Pen tool
P
Add Anchor Point tool
=
or
Num Equal
Delete Anchor Point tool
-
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
Ctrl+Any tool (except selection tools)
Temporarily select the Group Selection tool
Alt+Direct Selection tool
or
Ctrl+Alt+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+Selection / Direct Selection / Group Selection tool+Click (click center point to deselect)
Duplicate selection
Alt+Selection / Direct Selection / Group Selection tool+Drag
Duplicate and offset selection
Alt+UpDownLeftRight
Duplicate and offset by 10×
Alt+Shift+UpDownLeftRight
Move selection
UpDownLeftRight
Move selection by 1/10th
Ctrl+Shift+UpDownLeftRight
Move selection by 10×
Shift+UpDownLeftRight
Select the parent page item from the document page
Ctrl+Shift+Selection / Direct Selection tool+Click
Select the next object behind or in front
Ctrl+Selection tool+Click
or
Ctrl+Alt+Selection tool+Click
Select all guides
Ctrl+Alt+G

Transforming objects

Duplicate and transform selection
Alt+Transformation tool+Drag
Display the Transformation tool dialog box
Select object+Double-click+Scale toolRotate toolShear tool
Resize frame and content
Ctrl+Selection tool+Drag
Resize the frame and content proportionately
Ctrl+Shift+Selection tool+Drag
Constrain proportion
Shift+Ellipse / Polygon / Rectangle tool+Drag
Switch between High Quality Display and Fast Display
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Z

Character formatting

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

Type size and leading

Increase/decrease point size
Ctrl+Shift+.
or
Ctrl+Shift+,
Increase/decrease point size by 5×
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+.
or
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+,
Increase/decrease leading (horizontal text)
Alt+UpDown
Increase/decrease leading (vertical text)
Alt+RightLeft
Increase/decrease leading by 5× (horizontal text)
Ctrl+Alt+UpDown
Increase/decrease leading by 5× (vertical text)
Ctrl+Alt+RightLeft
Auto leading
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+A

Kerning and tracking

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

Paragraph formatting

Align left, right, or center
Ctrl+Shift+LRC
Justify all lines
Ctrl+Shift+F
or
Ctrl+Shift+J
Align to grid on/off
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+G
Auto-hyphenate on/off
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+H

Baseline shift

Increase/decrease baseline shift (horizontal text)
Alt+Shift+UpDown
Increase/decrease baseline shift (vertical text)
Alt+Shift+RightLeft
Increase/decrease baseline shift by 5× (horizontal text)
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+UpDown
Increase/decrease baseline shift by 5× (vertical text)
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+RightLeft
Move to the start/end of the story
Ctrl+HomeEnd
Select the start/end of the story
Ctrl+Shift+HomeEnd
Select all in the story
Ctrl+A

Tables

Insert or delete rows/columns while dragging
Drag border,Alt
Resize rows/columns without changing table size
Shift+Drag interior border
Resize rows/columns proportionally
Shift+Drag right
or
Shift+Bottom border
Move to next/previous cell
Tab
or
Shift+Tab
Move to the first/last cell in the column
Alt+Pg UpPg Dn
Move to the first/last cell in the row
Alt+HomeEnd
Move up/down one cell
UpDown
Select cell above/below
Shift+UpDown
Select the cell to the right/left
Shift+RightLeft
Start row on the next column
Num Enter
Start row on next frame
Shift+Num Enter

Viewing documents

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

Panels

Delete without confirmation
Alt+Click Delete icon
Create an item and set options
Alt+Click New icon
Apply value and keep focus on the option
Shift+Enter
Activate the last option in the last panel
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+`
Select a range in the panel
Shift+Click
Select non-adjacent items in the panel
Ctrl+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
Ctrl+Alt+Tab

Specific panels

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

Styles

Make the character style definition match the text
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Select text+C
Make paragraph style definition match text
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Select text+R
Change options without applying style
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Double-click style
Remove style and local formatting
Alt+Click paragraph style
Clear overrides from paragraph style
Alt+Shift+Click paragraph style

Finding and changing text

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

XML

Expand/Collapse element
RightLeft
Expand/Collapse element and child elements
Alt+RightLeft
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
Ctrl+LeftRight
Auto-tag text frames and tables
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+F7

Indexing

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

Color and swatches

Move color sliders in tandem
Shift+Drag slider
Select a color for non-active fill or stroke
Alt+Click color bar
Switch between color modes
Shift+Click color bar
Create a new swatch based on the current swatch
Alt+Click New Swatch icon
Create a spot color swatch based on the current swatch
Ctrl+Alt+Click New Swatch icon

Separations Preview

Turn on Overprint preview
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Y
Show all plates
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+`
Show Cyan plate
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+1
Show Magenta plate
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+2
Show Yellow plate
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+3
Show Black plate
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+4
Show 1st–3rd Spot plates
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+567

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

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