Adobe InDesign Keyboard Shortcuts

Adobe InDesign keyboard shortcut reference covering 107 bindings for Windows & Mac. Commonly searched bindings include Selection tool, Direct Selection tool, and Toggle Selection and Direct Selection. 107 of 107 shortcuts are verified against official Adobe InDesign documentation, each with a linked source when available. Search by action name, filter by category, look up what a key combination does, print a cheat sheet, or practice with flashcards.

Official Adobe InDesign documentation

Character formatting

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

Drawing and text tools

ActionDescriptionWindowsMacVerifiedSource
Pen tool Pen tool P P Yes Source
Add Anchor Point tool Add Anchor Point tool = = Yes Source
Delete Anchor Point tool Delete Anchor Point tool Minus Minus Yes Source
Convert Direction Point tool Convert Direction Point tool Shift+C Shift+C Yes Source
Type tool Type tool T T Yes Source
Type on a Path tool Type on a Path tool Shift+T Shift+T Yes Source
Pencil tool Pencil tool N N Yes Source
Line tool Line tool \ \ Yes Source

Finding and changing text

ActionDescriptionWindowsMacVerifiedSource
Insert selected text into the Find What box Insert selected text into the Find What box Ctrl+F1 Cmd+F1 Yes Source
Insert selected text into Find What and find next Insert selected text into Find What and find next Shift+F1 Shift+F1 Yes Source
Find the next occurrence of Find What text Find the next occurrence of Find What text Shift+F2 Shift+F2 Yes Source
Insert selected text into the Change To box Insert selected text into the Change To box Ctrl+F2 Cmd+F2 Yes Source
Replace selection with Change To text Replace selection with Change To text Ctrl+F3 Cmd+F3 Yes Source

Indexing

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

Kerning and tracking

ActionDescriptionWindowsMacVerifiedSource
Clear all manual kerning and reset tracking to 0 Clear all manual kerning and reset tracking to 0 Alt+Ctrl+Q Option+Cmd+Q Yes Source

Navigating and selecting text

ActionDescriptionWindowsMacVerifiedSource
Select current line Select current line Shift+Ctrl+\ Shift+Cmd+\ Yes Source
Select all in the story Select all in the story Ctrl+A Cmd+A Yes Source

Other tools

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

Panels

ActionDescriptionWindowsMacVerifiedSource
Apply value and keep focus on the option Apply value and keep focus on the option Shift+Enter Shift+Enter Yes Source
Activate the last option in the last panel Activate the last option in the last panel Ctrl+Alt+~ Cmd+Option+~ Yes Source
Show/hide all panels with no insertion point Show/hide all panels with no insertion point Tab Tab Yes Source
Show/hide all panels except the Tools and Control panels Show/hide all panels except the Tools and Control panels Shift+Tab Shift+Tab Yes Source
Open/close all stashed panels Open/close all stashed panels Ctrl+Alt+Tab Cmd+Option+Tab Yes Source

Paragraph formatting

ActionDescriptionWindowsMacVerifiedSource
Align to grid on/off Align to grid on/off Shift+Alt+Ctrl+G Shift+Option+Cmd+G Yes Source
Auto-hyphenate on/off Auto-hyphenate on/off Shift+Alt+Ctrl+H Shift+Option+Cmd+H Yes Source

Platform-specific variations

ActionDescriptionWindowsMacVerifiedSource
Open Preferences dialog box Open Preferences dialog box Cmd+K Yes Source
Command + F11 Command + F11 Cmd+Shift+F11 Yes Source
Open Swatches panel Open Swatches panel F5 Yes Source
Command + F12 Command + F12 Cmd+M Yes Source
Hide application Hide application Cmd+H Yes Source

Selecting and moving objects

ActionDescriptionWindowsMacVerifiedSource
Select the container of selected content Select the container of selected content Esc Esc Yes Source
Select the content of the selected container Select the content of the selected container Shift+Esc Shift+Esc Yes Source
Select all guides Select all guides Alt+Ctrl+G Option+Cmd+G Yes Source

Selection and navigation tools

ActionDescriptionWindowsMacVerifiedSource
Selection tool Selection tool V V Yes Source
Direct Selection tool Direct Selection tool A A Yes Source
Toggle Selection and Direct Selection Toggle Selection and Direct Selection Ctrl+Tab Cmd+Ctrl+Tab Yes Source
Page tool Page tool Shift+P Shift+P Yes Source
Gap tool Gap tool U U Yes Source
Hand tool Hand tool H H Yes Source
Temporarily select the Hand tool (no insertion point) Temporarily select the Hand tool (no insertion point) Space Space Yes Source
Temporarily select the Hand tool (with text insertion point) Temporarily select the Hand tool (with text insertion point) Alt+Space Option+Space Yes Source
Zoom tool Zoom tool Z Z Yes Source
Temporarily select Zoom In tool Temporarily select Zoom In tool Ctrl+Space Cmd+Space Yes Source
Temporarily select Zoom Out tool Temporarily select Zoom Out tool Alt+Ctrl+Space Option+Cmd+Space Yes Source

Separations Preview

ActionDescriptionWindowsMacVerifiedSource
Turn on Overprint preview Turn on Overprint preview Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Y Cmd+Option+Shift+Y Yes Source
Show all plates Show all plates Ctrl+Alt+Shift+~ Cmd+Option+Shift+~ Yes Source
Show Cyan plate Show Cyan plate Ctrl+Alt+Shift+1 Cmd+Option+Shift+1 Yes Source
Show Magenta plate Show Magenta plate Ctrl+Alt+Shift+2 Cmd+Option+Shift+2 Yes Source
Show Yellow plate Show Yellow plate Ctrl+Alt+Shift+3 Cmd+Option+Shift+3 Yes Source
Show Black plate Show Black plate Ctrl+Alt+Shift+4 Cmd+Option+Shift+4 Yes Source

Shape and frame tools

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

Specific panels

ActionDescriptionWindowsMacVerifiedSource
Panel Panel Ctrl+6 Yes Source
Command + 6 Command + 6 Ctrl+Option+7 Yes Source
Command + Option + 7 Command + Option + 7 Ctrl+T Yes Source
Command + T Command + T Ctrl+Option+T Yes Source
Command + Option + T Command + Option + T F11 Yes Source
Command + F11 Command + F11 Shift+F11 Yes Source
Command + Shift + F11 Command + Shift + F11 Shift+Ctrl+T Yes Source
Shift + Command + T Shift + Command + T F7 Yes Source
F7 F7 F12 Yes Source
Command + F12 Command + F12 F6 Yes Source
F6 F6 F5 Yes Source
F5 F5 F10 Yes Source
Command + F10 Command + F10 Option+Ctrl+M Yes Source

Tables

ActionDescriptionWindowsMacVerifiedSource
Start row on the next column Start row on the next column Enter Enter Yes Source
Start row on next frame Start row on next frame Shift+Enter Shift+Enter Yes Source

Transform tools

ActionDescriptionWindowsMacVerifiedSource
Rotate tool Rotate tool R R Yes Source
Scale tool Scale tool S S Yes Source
Shear tool Shear tool O O Yes Source
Free Transform tool Free Transform tool E E Yes Source

Transforming objects

ActionDescriptionWindowsMacVerifiedSource
Switch between High Quality Display and Fast Display Switch between High Quality Display and Fast Display Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Z Cmd+Option+Shift+Z Yes Source

Type size and leading

ActionDescriptionWindowsMacVerifiedSource
Increase/decrease point size Increase/decrease point size Shift+Ctrl+> Shift+Cmd+> Yes Source
Increase/decrease point size by 5× Increase/decrease point size by 5× Shift+Ctrl+Alt+> Shift+Cmd+Option+> Yes Source
Auto leading Auto leading Shift+Alt+Ctrl+A Shift+Option+Cmd+A Yes Source

Viewing documents

ActionDescriptionWindowsMacVerifiedSource
Switch between the current and previous zoom levels Switch between the current and previous zoom levels Alt+Ctrl+2 Option+Cmd+2 Yes Source
Redraw screen Redraw screen Shift+F5 Shift+F5 Yes Source
Open a new default document Open a new default document Ctrl+Alt+N Cmd+Option+N Yes Source
Switch to the next/previous document window Switch to the next/previous document window Ctrl+~ Cmd+F6 Yes Source
Activate the Go To command Activate the Go To command Ctrl+J Cmd+J Yes Source
Fit selection in the window Fit selection in the window Ctrl+Alt+= Cmd+Option+= Yes Source
Cycle through units of measurement Cycle through units of measurement Shift+Alt+Ctrl+U Shift+Option+Cmd+U Yes Source

XML

ActionDescriptionWindowsMacVerifiedSource
Auto-tag text frames and tables Auto-tag text frames and tables Ctrl+Alt+Shift+F7 Cmd+Option+Shift+F7 Yes Source

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