Learning InDesign shortcuts is an excellent way to improve the efficiency of your workflow. Rather than provide a long list of all the InDesign shortcuts, I have picked out a useful selection that you can learn as a starting point.
Try to practice with a couple of these every week and you’ll be producing knockout InDesign documents in no time!
For further reading, I have written companion posts for Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and macOS.
General Tricks
| Action | Mac | Win |
|---|---|---|
| Temp select Hand Tool: | Spacebar | Spacebar |
| Zoom In/Out: | Command + +/- | Ctrl + +/- |
| Place: | Command + D | Ctrl + D |
| Go to previous/next page: | Fn + Command + Arrow Up / Arrow Down | Alt + Page Up/Down |
| Select all guides: | Option + Command + G | Alt + Ctrl + G |
| Paste in Place: | Command + Option + Shift + V | Shift + Ctrl + Alt + V |
| Cycle through open documents: | Command + Tab | Ctrl + Tab |
| Duplicate object | Hold Option + Drag | Hold Alt + Drag |
Tools
| Action | Mac | Win |
|---|---|---|
| Add Anchor Point | = | = |
| Delete Anchor Point | – | – |
| Convert Direction Point | Shift + C | Shift + C |
| Type | T | T |
| Type on a Path | Shift + T | Shift + T |
| Pencil | N | N |
| Line | \ | \ |
| Rectangle Frame | F | F |
| Rectangle | M | M |
| Ellipse | L | L |
| Rotate | R | R |
| Scale | S | S |
| Shear | O | O |
| Free Transform | E | E |
| Eyedropper | I | I |
| Measure | K | K |
| Gradient | G | G |
| Scissors | C | C |
| Hand | H | H |
| Temp. select Hand | Hold Spacebar | Hold Spacebar |
| Zoom | Z | Z |
| Toggle Fill & Stroke | X | X |
| Swap Fill & Stroke colours | Shift + X | Shift + X |
| Apply Colour | , | , |
| Apply Gradient | . | . |
| Apply No Colour | / | / |
| Toggle Preview Mode | W | W |
| Gradient Feather Tool | Shift + G | Shift+ G |
Selection / Movement
| Action | Mac | Win |
|---|---|---|
| Move selection | Arrow keys | Arrow keys |
| Duplicate | Option + Drag | Alt + Drag |
| Temp. use different selection tool | Hold Cmd | Hold Ctrl |
| Move by 1/10 unit | Cmd + Shift + Arrow | Ctrl + Shift + Arrow |
| Move by x10 unit | Shift + Arrow | Shift + Arrow |
Transforming
| Action | Mac | Win |
|---|---|---|
| Decrease scale by 1% | Command + , | Ctrl + , |
| Decrease scale by 5% | Command + Option + , | Ctrl + Alt + , |
| Increase scale by 1% | Command + . | Ctrl + . |
| Increase scale by 5% | Command + Option + . | Ctrl + Alt + . |
| Resize Frame & Content | Cmd + Drag | Ctrl + Drag |
| Resize Frame & Content Proportionally | Shift + Command + Drag | Shift + Ctrl + Drag |
| Constrain Proportion | Shift + Drag | Shift + Drag |
Working with Tables
| Action | Mac | Win |
|---|---|---|
| Move to next cell | Tab | Tab |
| Move to previous cell | Shift + Tab | Shift + Tab |
| Move to first cell in column | Option + Page Up | Alt + Page Up |
| Move to last cell in column | Option + Page Down | Alt + Page Down |
| Move to first cell in row | Option + Home | Alt + Home |
| Move to last cell in row | Option + End | Alt + End |
| Move up/down one cell | Up/Down Arrow | Up/Down Arrow |
| Move left/right one cell | Left/Right Arrow | Left/Right Arrow |
| Select cell above/below | Shift + Up/Down Arrow | Shift + Up/Down Arrow |
| Select cell left/right | Shift + Left/Right Arrow | Shift + Left/Right Arrow |
| Toggle between text/cell selection | Esc | Esc |
| Insert Rows | Command + 9 | Ctrl + 9 |
| Insert Columns | Command + Option + 9 | Ctrl + Alt + 9 |
Working with Type
| Action | Mac | Win |
|---|---|---|
| Bold | Shift + Cmd + B | Shift + Ctrl + B |
| Italic | Shift + Cmd + I | Shift + Ctrl + I |
| Normal | Shift + Cmd + Y | Shift + Ctrl + Y |
| Underline | Shift + Cmd + U | Shift + Ctrl + U |
| Strikethrough | Ctrl + Shift + Cmd + / | Shift + Ctrl + / |
| All Caps | Shift + Cmd + K | Shift + Ctrl + K |
| Superscript | Shift + Cmd + + | Shift + Ctrl + + |
| Subscript | Shift + Option + Cmd + + | Shift + Alt + Ctrl + + |
| Align Left, Right or Centre | Shift + Cmd + L, R, or C | Shift + Ctrl + L, R, or C |
| Justify all lines | Shift + Cmd + F | Shift + Ctrl + F |
| Justify all but last line | Shift + Cmd + J | Shift + Ctrl + J |
| Increase/Decrease point size | Shift + Cmd + >/< | Shift + Ctrl + >/< |
| Increase/Decrease point size x5 | Shift + Cmd + Option + >/< | Shift + Ctrl + Alt + >/< |
| Increase/Decrease leading | Option + Right/Left Arrow | Alt + Up/Down Arrow |
| Increase/Decrease leading x5 | Option + Cmd + Up/Down Arrow | Alt + Ctrl + Up/Down Arrow |
| Auto Leading | Shift + Option + Cmd + A | Shift + Alt + Ctrl + A |
| Increase/Decrease kerning and tracking | Option + Left/Right Arrow | Alt + Left/Right Arrow |
| Insert Em Dash | Option + Shift + – | Alt + Shift + – |
| Insert En Dash | Option + – | Alt + – |
| Insert Double Left Quotation Marks | Option + [ | Alt + [ |
| Insert Double Right Quotation Marks | Option + Shift + [ | Alt + Shift + [ |
| Insert Single Left Quotation Mark | Option + ] | Alt + ] |
| Insert Single Right Quotation Mark | Option + Shift + ] | Alt + Shift + ] |
| Create Outlines | Shift + Cmd + O | Shift + Ctrl + O |
Text Navigation and Selection
| Action | Mac | Win |
|---|---|---|
| Move to right/left by one character | Right/Left Arrow | Right/Left Arrow |
| Move up/down one line | Up/Down Arrow | Up/Down Arrow |
| Move to right/left by one word | Command + Right/Left Arrow | Ctrl + Right/Left Arrow |
| Move to start/end of line | Fn + Left/Right Arrow | Home/End |
| Move to previous/next paragraph | Cmd + Up/Down Arrow | Ctrl + Up/Down Arrow |
| Select one word | Double click | Double click |
| Select one character | Shift + Right/Left Arrow | Shift + Right/Left Arrow |
| Select one line above/below | Shift + Up/Down Arrow | Shift + Up/Down Arrow |
| Select start/end of line | Shift + Home/End | Shift + Home/End |
| Select paragraph | Triple click | Triple click |
| Select current line | Shift + Command + \ | Shift + Ctrl + \ |
