Microsoft PowerPoint Keyboard Shortcuts
| Action | Shortcut Key | |
|---|---|---|
| Switch between outline and slide view | Ctrl + Shift + Tab | |
| Insert a new slide | Ctrl + M | |
| Duplicate the current side | Ctrl + D | |
| Increase font size | Ctrl + Shift + > | |
| Decrease font size | Ctrl + Shift + < | |
| Display the font dialog box | Ctrl + T | |
| Change case | Shift + F3 | |
| Promote a paragraph in an outline | Alt + Shift + Left arrow | |
| Demote a paragraph in an outline | Alt + Shift + Right arrow | |
| Move selected outline paragraphs up | Alt + Shift + Up arrow | |
| Move selected outline paragraphs down | Alt + Shift + Down arrow | |
| Display outline heading level 1 | Alt + Shift + 1 | |
| Expand outline text below a heading | Alt + Shift + + | |
| Collapse outline text below a heading | Alt + Shift + – | |
| Collapse or show all text or headings | Alt + Shift +A | |
| Show or hide the grid | Shift + F9 | |
| Show or hide the guides | Alt + F9 | |
| Run a presentation | F5 | |
| Activate the pen tool during a show | Ctrl + P | |
| Erase pen tool drawings during a show | E | |
| Turn off the pen tool | Esc | |
| Change the pen to a pointer | Ctrl + A | |
| Hide the pointer or pen | Ctrl + H | |
| Move to the next hyperlink | Tab | |
| Make the screen go black during a show | B | |
| Make the screen go white during a show | W | |
| Stop or restart an automatic show | S | |
| Return to the first slide | 1 + Enter | |
| Group Items (with items selected) | Ctrl + G | |
| Ungroup | Ctrl + Shift + G | |
| During presentation, Go to slide number | Slide number + Enter | |
| Move clockwise among panes in Normal view | F6 | |
| Move counterclockwise among panes in Normal view | Shift + F6 | |
| Copy formatting of selected shape | Ctrl + Shift + C | |
| Paste formatting only to another shape | Ctrl + Shift + V | |
| Insert hyperlink | Ctrl + K | |
| Help | F1 | |
| View the complete slide show | F5 | |
| View the slide show from the current slide forward | Shift + F5 | |
| Spellcheck | F7 | |
| Opens Save As dialog box | F12 | |
| Stop the show. Press S again to restart the show | S | |
| End the slide show | Esc |
| To do this | Press |
| Open the Help window. | F1 |
| Close the Help window. | ALT+F4 |
| Switch between the Help window and the active program. | ALT+TAB |
| Go back to PowerPoint Help and How-to table of contents. | ALT+HOME |
| Select the next item in the Help window. | TAB |
| Select the previous item in the Help window. | SHIFT+TAB |
| Perform the action for the selected item. | ENTER |
| In the Browse PowerPoint Help section of the Help window, select the next or previous item, respectively. | TAB, SHIFT+TAB |
| In the Browse PowerPoint Help section of the Help window, expand or collapse the selected item, respectively. | ENTER |
| Select the next hidden text or hyperlink, including Show All or Hide All at the top of a topic. | TAB |
| Select the previous hidden text or hyperlink. | SHIFT+TAB |
| Perform the action for the selected Show All, Hide All, hidden text, or hyperlink. | ENTER |
| Move back to the previous Help topic (Back button). | ALT+LEFT ARROW or BACKSPACE |
| Move forward to the next Help topic (Forward button). | ALT+RIGHT ARROW |
| Scroll small amounts up or down, respectively, within the currently displayed Help topic. | UP ARROW, DOWN ARROW |
| Scroll larger amounts up or down, respectively, within the currently displayed Help topic. | PAGE UP, PAGE DOWN |
| Display a menu of commands for the Help window. This requires that the Help window have the active focus (click in the Help window). | SHIFT+F10 |
| Stop the last action (Stop button). | ESC |
| Refresh the window (Refresh button). | F5 |
| Print the current Help topic. NOTE: If the cursor is not in the current Help topic, press F6 and then press CTRL+P. | CTRL+P |
| Change the connection state. You may need to press F6 more than once. | F6 (until the focus is in the Type words to search for box), TAB, DOWN ARROW |
| Type text in the Type words to search for box. You may need to press F6 more than once. | F6 |
| Switch among areas in the Help window; for example, switch between the toolbar, Type words to search for box, and Search list. | F6 |
| In a Table of Contents in tree view, select the next or previous item, respectively. | UP ARROW, DOWN ARROW |
| In a Table of Contents in tree view, expand or collapse the selected item, respectively. | LEFT ARROW, RIGHT ARROW |
Microsoft Office basics
Display and use windows
| To do this | Press |
| Switch to the next window. | ALT+TAB, TAB |
| Switch to the previous window. | ALT+SHIFT+TAB, TAB |
| Close the active window. | CTRL+W or CTRL+F4 |
| Broadcast the open presentation to a remote audience using the PowerPoint web application. | CTRL+F5 |
| Move to the next task pane from another pane in the program window (clockwise direction). You may need to press F6 more than once. NOTE: If pressing F6 does not display the task pane that you want, press ALT to put the focus on the Ribbon, and then press CTRL+TAB to move to the task pane. | F6 |
| Move to a pane from another pane in the program window (counterclockwise direction). | SHIFT+F6 |
| When more than one PowerPoint window is open, switch to the next PowerPoint window. | CTRL+F6 |
| Switch to the previous PowerPoint window. | CTRL+SHIFT+F6 |
| Copy a picture of the screen to the Clipboard. | PRINT SCREEN |
| Copy a picture of the selected window to the Clipboard. | ALT+PRINT SCREEN |
Change or resize the font
NOTE: The cursor needs to be inside a text box to use these shortcuts.
| To do this | Press |
| Change the font. | CTRL+SHIFT+F |
| Change the font size. | CTRL+SHIFT+P |
| Increase the font size of the selected text. | CTRL+SHIFT+> |
| Decrease the font size of the selected text. | CTRL+SHIFT+< |
Move around in text or cells
| To do this | Press |
| Move one character to the left. | LEFT ARROW |
| Move one character to the right. | RIGHT ARROW |
| Move one line up. | UP ARROW |
| Move one line down. | DOWN ARROW |
| Move one word to the left. | CTRL+LEFT ARROW |
| Move one word to the right. | CTRL+RIGHT ARROW |
| Move to the end of a line. | END |
| Move to the beginning of a line. | HOME |
| Move up one paragraph. | CTRL+UP ARROW |
| Move down one paragraph. | CTRL+DOWN ARROW |
| Move to the end of a text box. | CTRL+END |
| Move to the beginning of a text box. | CTRL+HOME |
| In Microsoft Office PowerPoint, move to the next title or body text placeholder. If it is the last placeholder on a slide, this will insert a new slide with the same slide layout as the original slide. | CTRL+ENTER |
| Repeat the last Find action. | SHIFT+F4 |
Find and replace
| To do this | Press |
| Open the Find dialog box. | CTRL+F |
| Open the Replace dialog box. | CTRL+H |
| Repeat the last Find action. | SHIFT+F4 |
Move around in and work in tables
| To do this | Press |
| Move to the next cell. | TAB |
| Move to the preceding cell. | SHIFT+TAB |
| Move to the next row. | DOWN ARROW |
| Move to the preceding row. | UP ARROW |
| Insert a tab in a cell. | CTRL+TAB |
| Start a new paragraph. | ENTER |
| Add a new row at the bottom of the table. | TAB at the end of the last row |
Access and use task panes
| To do this | Press |
| Move to a task pane from another pane in the program window. (You may need to press F6 more than once.) | F6 |
| When a task pane is active, select the next or previous option in the task pane, respectively. | TAB, SHIFT+TAB |
| Display the full set of commands on the task pane menu. | CTRL+DOWN ARROW |
| Move among choices on a selected submenu; move among certain options in a group of options in a dialog box. | DOWN ARROW or UP ARROW |
| Open the selected menu, or perform the action assigned to the selected button. | SPACEBAR or ENTER |
| Open a shortcut menu; open a drop-down menu for the selected gallery item. | SHIFT+F10 |
| When a menu or submenu is visible, select the first or last command, respectively, on the menu or submenu. | HOME, END |
| Scroll up or down in the selected gallery list, respectively. | PAGE UP, PAGE DOWN |
| Move to the top or bottom of the selected gallery list, respectively. | HOME, END |
| Close a task pane. | CTRL+SPACEBAR, C |
| Open the Clipboard. | ALT+H, F, O |
Resize a task pane
- In the task pane, press CTRL+SPACEBAR to display a menu of additional commands.
- Use the DOWN ARROW key to select the Size command, and then press ENTER.
- Use the arrow keys to resize the task pane. Use CTRL+ the arrow keys to resize one pixel at a time.
When you finish resizing, press ESC.
Use dialog boxes
| To do this | Press |
| Move to the next option or option group. | TAB |
| Move to the previous option or option group. | SHIFT+TAB |
| Switch to the next tab in a dialog box. (A tab must already be selected in an open dialog box) | DOWN ARROW |
| Switch to the previous tab in a dialog box. (A tab must already be selected in an open dialog box) | UP ARROW |
| Open a selected drop-down list. | DOWN ARROW, ALT+DOWN ARROW |
| Open the list if it is closed and move to an option in the list. | First letter of an option in a drop-down list |
| Move between options in an open drop-down list, or between options in a group of options. | UP ARROW, DOWN ARROW |
| Perform the action assigned to the selected button; select or clear the selected check box. | SPACEBAR |
| Select an option; select or clear a check box. | The letter underlined in an option |
| Perform the action assigned to a default button in a dialog box. | ENTER |
| Close a selected drop-down list; cancel a command and close a dialog box. | ESC |
Use edit boxes within dialog boxes
An edit box is a blank box in which you type or paste an entry, such as your user name or the path of a folder.
| To do this | Press |
| Move to the beginning of the entry. | HOME |
| Move to the end of the entry. | END |
| Move one character to the left or right, respectively. | LEFT ARROW, RIGHT ARROW |
| Move one word to the left. | CTRL+LEFT ARROW |
| Move one word to the right. | CTRL+RIGHT ARROW |
| Select or cancel selection one character to the left. | SHIFT+LEFT ARROW |
| Select or cancel selection one character to the right. | SHIFT+RIGHT ARROW |
| Select or cancel selection one word to the left. | CTRL+SHIFT+LEFT ARROW |
| Select or cancel selection one word to the right. | CTRL+SHIFT+RIGHT ARROW |
| Select from the cursor to the beginning of the entry. | SHIFT+HOME |
| Select from the cursor to the end of the entry. | SHIFT+END |
Use the Open and Save As dialog boxes
| To do this | Press |
| Open the Open dialog box | ALT+F then O |
| Open the Save As dialog box | ALT+F then A |
| Move between options in an open drop-down list, or between options in a group of options | Arrow keys |
| Display a shortcut menu for a selected item, such as a folder or file. | SHIFT+F10 |
| Move between options or areas in the dialog box. | TAB |
| Open the filepath drop-down menu | F4 or ALT+I |
| Refresh the file list. | F5 |
Navigating the Ribbon
Access any command with a few keystrokes
- Press ALT.The KeyTips are displayed over each feature that is available in the current view.
- Press the letter shown in the KeyTip over the feature that you want to use.
- Depending on which letter you press, you may be shown additional KeyTips. For example, if the Home tab is active and you press N, the Insert tab is displayed, along with the KeyTips for the groups on that tab.
- Continue pressing letters until you press the letter of the command or control that you want to use. In some cases, you must first press the letter of the group that contains the command. For example, if the Home tab is active, press ALT+H, F, S will take you to the Size list box in the Font group.To cancel the action that you are taking and hide the KeyTips, press ALT.
Change the keyboard focus without using the mouse
Another way to use the keyboard to work with the Ribbon is to move the focus among the tabs and commands until you find the feature that you want to use. The following table lists some ways to move the keyboard focus without using the mouse.
| To do this | Press |
| Select the active tab of the Ribbon and activate the access keys. | ALT or F10. Press either of these keys again to move back to the document and cancel the access keys. |
| Move left or right to another tab of the Ribbon, respectively. | F10 to select the active tab, and then LEFT ARROW, RIGHT ARROW |
| Hide or show the Ribbon. | CTRL+F1 |
| Display the shortcut menu for the selected command. | SHIFT+F10 |
Move the focus to select each of the following areas of the window:
| F6 |
| Move the focus to each command on the Ribbon, forward or backward respectively. | TAB, SHIFT+TAB |
| Move down, up, left, or right among the items on the Ribbon, respectively. | DOWN ARROW, UP ARROW, LEFT ARROW, RIGHT ARROW |
| Activate the selected command or control on the Ribbon. | SPACE BAR or ENTER |
| Open the selected menu or gallery on the Ribbon. | SPACE BAR or ENTER |
| Activate a command or control on the Ribbon so you can modify a value. | ENTER |
| Finish modifying a value in a control on the Ribbon, and move the focus back to the document. | ENTER |
| Get help on the selected command or control on the Ribbon. (If no Help topic is associated with the selected command, a general Help topic about the program is shown instead.) | F1 |
Common tasks in Microsoft Office PowerPoint
Move between panes
| To do this | Press |
| Move clockwise among panes in Normal view. | F6 |
| Move counterclockwise among panes in Normal view. | SHIFT+F6 |
| Switch between Slides and Outline tabs in the Outline and Slides pane in Normal view. | CTRL+SHIFT+TAB |
Work in an outline
| To do this | Press |
| Promote a paragraph. | ALT+SHIFT+LEFT ARROW |
| Demote a paragraph. | ALT+SHIFT+RIGHT ARROW |
| Move selected paragraphs up. | ALT+SHIFT+UP ARROW |
| Move selected paragraphs down. | ALT+SHIFT+DOWN ARROW |
| Show heading level 1. | ALT+SHIFT+1 |
| Expand text below a heading. | ALT+SHIFT+PLUS SIGN |
| Collapse text below a heading. | ALT+SHIFT+MINUS SIGN |
Work with shapes, pictures, boxes, objects, and WordArt
Insert a shape
- Press and release ALT, then N, then S, then H to select Shapes.
- Use the arrow keys to move through the categories of shapes, and select the shape that you want.
- Press CTRL+ENTER to insert the shape that you selected.
Insert a text box
- Press and release ALT, then N, and then X.
- Press CTRL+ENTER to insert the text box.
Insert an object
- Press and release ALT, then N, then J to select Object.
- Use the arrow keys to move through the objects.
- Press CTRL+ENTER to insert the object that you want.
Insert WordArt
- Press and release ALT, then N, then W to select WordArt.
- Use the arrow keys to select the WordArt style that you want, and then press ENTER.
- Type the text that you want.
Select a shape
If your cursor is within text, press ESC.
- To select a single shape, press the TAB key to cycle forward (or SHIFT+TAB to cycle backward) through the objects until sizing handles appear on the object that you want to select.
- To select multiple items, use the selection pane.
Group or ungroup shapes, pictures, and WordArt objects
- To group shapes, pictures, or WordArt objects, select the items that you want to group, and then press CTRL+G.
- To ungroup a group, selectthe group, and then press CTRL+SHIFT+G.
Show or hide a grid or guides
| To do this | Press |
| Show or hide the grid. | SHIFT+F9 |
| Show or hide guides. | ALT+F9 |
Copy the attributes of a shape
- Select the shape with the attributes that you want to copy.If you select a shape with text, you copy the look and style of the text in addition to the attributes of the shape.
- Press CTRL+SHIFT+C to copy the object attributes.
- Press the TAB key or SHIFT+TAB to select the object that you want to copy the attributes to.
- Press CTRL+SHIFT+V.
| To do this | Press |
| Select one character to the right. | SHIFT+RIGHT ARROW |
| Select one character to the left. | SHIFT+LEFT ARROW |
| Select to the end of a word. | CTRL+SHIFT+RIGHT ARROW |
| Select to the beginning of a word. | CTRL+SHIFT+LEFT ARROW |
| Select one line up (with the cursor at the beginning of a line). | SHIFT+UP ARROW |
| Select one line down (with the cursor at the beginning of a line). | SHIFT+DOWN ARROW |
| Select an object (when the text inside the object is selected). | ESC |
| Select another object (when one object is selected). | TAB or SHIFT+TAB until the object you want is selected |
| Select text within an object (with an object selected). | ENTER |
| Select all objects. | CTRL+A (on the Slides tab) |
| Select all slides. | CTRL+A (in Slide Sorter view) |
| Select all text. | CTRL+A (on the Outline tab) |
Delete and copy text and objects
| To do this | Press |
| Delete one character to the left. | BACKSPACE |
| Delete one word to the left. | CTRL+BACKSPACE |
| Delete one character to the right. | DELETE |
| Delete one word to the right. NOTE: The cursor must be between words to do this. | CTRL+DELETE |
| Cut selected object or text. | CTRL+X |
| Copy selected object or text. | CTRL+C |
| Paste cut or copied object or text. | CTRL+V |
| Undo the last action. | CTRL+Z |
| Redo the last action. | CTRL+Y |
| Copy formatting only. | CTRL+SHIFT+C |
| Paste formatting only. | CTRL+SHIFT+V |
| Open Paste Special dialog box. | CTRL+ALT+V |
Move around in text
| To do this | Press |
| Move one character to the left. | LEFT ARROW |
| Move one character to the right. | RIGHT ARROW |
| Move one line up. | UP ARROW |
| Move one line down. | DOWN ARROW |
| Move one word to the left. | CTRL+LEFT ARROW |
| Move one word to the right. | CTRL+RIGHT ARROW |
| Move to the end of a line. | END |
| Move to the beginning of a line. | HOME |
| Move up one paragraph. | CTRL+UP ARROW |
| Move down one paragraph. | CTRL+DOWN ARROW |
| Move to the end of a text box. | CTRL+END |
| Move to the beginning of a text box. | CTRL+HOME |
| Move to the next title or body text placeholder. If it is the last placeholder on a slide, this will insert a new slide with the same slide layout as the original slide. | CTRL+ENTER |
| Move to repeat the last Find action. | SHIFT+F4 |
Move around in and work on tables
| To do this | Press |
| Move to the next cell. | TAB |
| Move to the preceding cell. | SHIFT+TAB |
| Move to the next row. | DOWN ARROW |
| Move to the preceding row. | UP ARROW |
| Insert a tab in a cell. | CTRL+TAB |
| Start a new paragraph. | ENTER |
| Add a new row at the bottom of the table. | TAB at the end of the last row |
Edit a linked or embedded object
- Press TAB OR SHIFT+TAB to select the object that you want.
- Press SHIFT+F10 for the shortcut menu.
- Use the DOWN ARROW until Worksheet Object is selected, press RIGHT ARROW to select Edit, and press ENTER.
NOTE: The name of the command in the shortcut menu depends on the type of embedded or linked object. For example, an embedded Microsoft Office Excel worksheet has the command Worksheet Object, whereas an embedded Microsoft Office Visio Drawing has the command Visio Object.
Format and align characters and paragraphs
Change or resize the font
NOTE: You must first select the text that you wish to change to use these keyboard shortcuts.
| To do this | Press |
| Open the Font dialog box to change the font. | CTRL+SHIFT+F |
| Increase the font size. | CTRL+SHIFT+> |
| Decrease the font size. | CTRL+SHIFT+< |
Apply character formats
| To do this | Press |
| Open the Font dialog box to change the formatting of characters. | CTRL+T |
| Change the case of letters between sentence, lowercase, or uppercase. | SHIFT+F3 |
| Apply bold formatting. | CTRL+B |
| Apply an underline. | CTRL+U |
| Apply italic formatting. | CTRL+I |
| Apply subscript formatting (automatic spacing). | CTRL+EQUAL SIGN |
| Apply superscript formatting (automatic spacing). | CTRL+SHIFT+PLUS SIGN |
| Remove manual character formatting, such as subscript and superscript. | CTRL+SPACEBAR |
| Insert a hyperlink. | CTRL+K |
Copy text formats
| To do this | Press |
| Copy formats. | CTRL+SHIFT+C |
| Paste formats. | CTRL+SHIFT+V |
Align paragraphs
| To do this | Press |
| Center a paragraph. | CTRL+E |
| Justify a paragraph. | CTRL+J |
| Left align a paragraph. | CTRL+L |
| Right align a paragraph. | CTRL+R |
Run a presentation
You can use the following keyboard shortcuts while you are running your presentation in Slide Show view.
Slide show shortcuts
| To do this | Press |
| Start a presentation from the beginning. | F5 |
| Perform the next animation or advance to the next slide. | N, ENTER, PAGE DOWN, RIGHT ARROW, DOWN ARROW, or SPACEBAR |
| Perform the previous animation or return to the previous slide. | P, PAGE UP, LEFT ARROW, UP ARROW, or BACKSPACE |
| Go to slide number. | number+ENTER |
| Display a blank black slide, or return to the presentation from a blank black slide. | B or PERIOD |
| Display a blank white slide, or return to the presentation from a blank white slide. | W or COMMA |
| Stop or restart an automatic presentation. | S |
| End a presentation. | ESC or HYPHEN |
| Erase on-screen annotations. | E |
| Go to the next slide, if the next slide is hidden. | H |
| Set new timings while rehearsing. | T |
| Use original timings while rehearsing. | O |
| Use mouse-click to advance while rehearsing. | M |
| Re-record slide narration and timing | R |
| Return to the first slide. | Press and hold Right and Left Mouse buttons for 2 seconds |
| Show or hide the arrow pointer | A or = |
| Change the pointer to a pen. | CTRL+P |
| Change the pointer to an arrow. | CTRL+A |
| Change the pointer to an eraser | CTRL+E |
| Show or hide ink markup | CTRL+M |
| Hide the pointer and navigation button immediately. | CTRL+H |
| Hide the pointer and navigation button in 15 seconds. | CTRL+U |
| View the All Slides dialog box | CTRL+S |
| View the computer task bar | CTRL+T |
| Display the shortcut menu. | SHIFT+F10 |
| Go to the first or next hyperlink on a slide. | TAB |
| Go to the last or previous hyperlink on a slide. | SHIFT+TAB |
| Perform the “mouse click” behavior of the selected hyperlink. | ENTER while a hyperlink is selected |