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Use keyboard shortcuts to create

PowerPoint presentations
Applies To

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Many users find that using an external keyboard with keyboard shortcuts for PowerPoint helps
them work more efficiently. For users with mobility or vision disabilities, keyboard shortcuts
can be easier than using the touchscreen and are an essential alternative to using a mouse.

For a separate list of shortcuts to use while delivering your presentation, go to Use keyboard
shortcuts to deliver PowerPoint presentations.

Notes:

The shortcuts in this topic refer to the US keyboard layout. Keys for other layouts
might not correspond exactly to the keys on a US keyboard.

A plus sign (+) in a shortcut means that you need to press multiple keys at the same
time.

A comma sign (,) in a shortcut means that you need to press multiple keys in order.

Windows macOS iOS Android Web

 Work with the task pane

Ribbon keyboard shortcuts

Open the ribbon tabs

Work in the ribbon with the keyboard

Other useful ribbon keyboard shortcuts

Custom keyboard shortcuts

Frequently used shortcuts

The following table itemizes the most frequently used shortcuts in PowerPoint.

To do this Press

Create new presentation. Ctrl+N

Add a new slide. Ctrl+M

Apply bold formatting to the selected text. Ctrl+B

Open the Font dialog box. Ctrl+T

Cut selected text, object, or slide. Ctrl+X

Copy selected text, object, or slide. Ctrl+C

Paste cut or copied text, object, or slide. Ctrl+V

Insert a hyperlink. Ctrl+K

To do this Press

Insert a new comment. Ctrl+Alt+M

Undo the last action. Ctrl+Z

Redo the last action. Ctrl+Y

Go to the next slide. Page down

Go to the previous slide. Page up

Start the slide show. F5

End the slide show. Esc

Print a presentation. Ctrl+P

Save the presentation. Ctrl+S

Close PowerPoint. Ctrl+Q

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Work with presentations and slides

To do this Press

Insert a new slide. Ctrl+M

Go to the next slide. Page down

Go to the previous slide. Page up

Zoom out. Ctrl+Minus sign (-)

Zoom in. Ctrl+Plus sign (+)

Zoom to fit. Ctrl+Alt+O

Make a copy of the selected slide. Ctrl+Shift+D

Open a presentation. Ctrl+O

Close a presentation. Ctrl+D

Save a presentation with a different name, location, or file format. Ctrl+Shift+S

Cancel a command, such as Save As. Esc

Open a recent file. Ctrl+O

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Work with objects and text

Copy objects and text

To do this Press

Cut selected object or text. Ctrl+X

Copy selected object or text. Ctrl+C

Paste cut or copied object or text. Ctrl+V

Duplicate selected objects. Ctrl+D or Ctrl+Drag the mouse

Office 2010 and Office 2007: Not

available

Copy the formatting of the selected object or Ctrl+Shift+C

text.

Paste copied formatting to the selected object or Ctrl+Shift+V

text.

Copy animation painter. Alt+Shift+C

Office 2010 and Office 2007: Not

available

Paste animation painter. Alt+Shift+V

Office 2010 and Office 2007: Not

available

Open the Paste Special dialog box. Ctrl+Alt+V

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Work in objects and text

To do this Press

Move the focus to the first floating shape, Ctrl+Alt+5

such as an image or a text box.

Select another object when one object is Tab key or Shift+Tab until the object you
selected. want is selected

Send object back one position. Ctrl+Left bracket ([)

Office 2010 and Office 2007: Not available

Send object forward one position. Ctrl+Right bracket (])

Office 2010 and Office 2007: Not available

Send object to back. Ctrl+Shift+Left bracket ([)

Office 2010 and Office 2007: Not available

Send object to front. Ctrl+Shift+Right bracket (])

Office 2010 and Office 2007: Not available

Select all objects on a slide. Ctrl+A

Group the selected objects. Ctrl+G

Ungroup the selected group. Ctrl+Shift+G

Regroup the selected objects. Ctrl+Shift+J

To do this Press

Rotate the selected object clockwise 15 Alt+Right arrow key

degrees.

Rotate the selected object Alt+Left arrow key

counterclockwise 15 degrees.

Play or pause media. Ctrl+Spacebar

Insert a hyperlink. Ctrl+K

Insert a new comment. Ctrl+Alt+M

Insert equation. Alt+Equal sign ( = )

Edit a linked or embedded object. Shift+F10 or the Windows Menu key (to open
the context menu), then O, Enter, E

Tip: To select multiple objects with the keyboard, use the Selection Pane. For more information
refer to Manage objects with the Selection Pane.

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Select text

To do this Press

Select one character to the right. Shift+Right arrow key

To do this Press

Select one character to the left. Shift+Left arrow key

Select to the end of a word. Ctrl+Shift+Right arrow

key

Select to the beginning of a word. Ctrl+Shift+Left arrow key

Select from the insertion point to the same point one line up. Shift+Up arrow key

Select from the insertion point to the same point one line Shift+Down arrow key
down.

Select from the insertion point to the end of the paragraph. Ctrl+Shift+Down
arrow key

Select from the insertion point to the beginning of the Ctrl+Shift+Up arrow key
paragraph.

Select text within an object (with an object selected). Enter

Select an object when the text inside the object is selected. Esc

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Rewrite text with Copilot

To do this Press

Invoke Copilot options for rewriting selected textbox Shift+F8

Delete text

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 (with the cursor between the words). Ctrl+Delete

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Move around in text

To do this Press

Move one character to the left. Left arrow key

Move one character to the right. Right arrow key

Move one line up. Up arrow key

To do this Press

Move one line down. Down arrow key

Move one word to the left. Ctrl+Left arrow key

Move one word to the right. Ctrl+Right arrow

key

Move to the end of a line. End

Move to the beginning of a line. Home

Move up one paragraph. Ctrl+Up arrow key

Move down one paragraph. Ctrl+Down arrow

key

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 Ctrl+Enter
placeholder on a slide, this action inserts a new slide with the same
slide layout as the original slide.

Promote a paragraph. Alt+Shift+Left

arrow key
To do this Press

Demote a paragraph. Alt+Shift+Right

arrow key

Move selected paragraphs up. Alt+Shift+Up arrow

key

Move selected paragraphs down. Alt+Shift+Down

arrow key

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Find and replace text

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

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Format text
Before using these keyboard shortcuts, select the text you want to format.
To do this Press

Open the Font dialog box. Ctrl+T or Ctrl+Shift+F

Increase the font size. Ctrl+Shift+Right angle

bracket (>)

Decrease the font size. Ctrl+Shift+Left angle bracket

(<)

Switch between sentence case, lowercase, or uppercase. Shift+F3

Apply bold formatting. Ctrl+B

Apply underline formatting. 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 Ctrl+Spacebar

and superscript.

Center a paragraph. Ctrl+E

Justify a paragraph. Ctrl+J

Left align a paragraph. Ctrl+L

To do this Press

Right align a paragraph. Ctrl+R

Create a bulleted list using different styles

1. Do one of the following:

To create a list that uses filled round bullets, press the Asterisk sign (*).

To create a list that uses hyphens, press the Minus sign (-).

To create a list that uses arrow bullets, press the Right angle bracket (>).

To create a list that uses diamonds, press Left angle bracket (<) + Right angle
bracket (>).

To create a list that uses arrows, press two minus signs (-) + Right angle
bracket (>).

To create a list that uses double arrows, press the Equal sign (=) + Right angle
bracket (>).

2. Press Spacebar.

3. Type the list item, and then press Enter.

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Work with tables

To do this Press

Move to the next cell. Tab key

Move to the preceding cell. Shift+Tab

Move to the next row. Down arrow

key

Move to the preceding row. Up arrow key

Insert a tab in a cell. Ctrl+Tab

Start a new paragraph. Enter

Add a new row at the bottom of the table with the cursor in the last cell Tab key
of the last row.

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Move a slide

To do this Press

Move the selected slide or section up in order. Ctrl+Up arrow key

Move the selected slide or section down in order. Ctrl+Down arrow key

Move the selected slide or section to the beginning. Ctrl+Shift+Up arrow key
To do this Press

Move the selected slide or section to the end. Ctrl+Shift+Down arrow key

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Work with views and panes

To do this Press

Switch to Presenter view. Alt+F5

Switch to Slide Show. F5

Toggle between Outline and Thumbnail views. Ctrl+Shift+Tab

Switch to full screen (hide menus). Ctrl+F1

Show or hide guides. Alt+F9

Show or hide the grid. Shift+F9

Cycle clockwise through panes in the Normal view. F6

Cycle counterclockwise through panes in the Normal view. Shift+F6

Switch between the Thumbnail pane and the Outline View pane. Ctrl+Shift+Tab
To do this Press

Show Outline View level 1 headings. Alt+Shift+1

Expand Outline View text below a heading. Alt+Shift+Plus sign (+)

Collapse Outline View text below a heading. Alt+Shift+Minus sign (-)

Select all text in the Outline View. Ctrl+A

Select all slides in the Slide Sorter view or the thumbnail pane. Ctrl+A

Show the help menu. F1

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Work with the Selection pane

To do this Press

Open the Selection pane. Alt+F10

Alt+H, S, L, P

Office 2007: Alt+J, D, A, P

Cycle the focus through the different panes. F6

Display the context menu. Shift+F10 or the Windows Menu

key
To do this Press

Move the focus to a single item or group. Up or Down arrow key

Move the focus from an item in a group to its parent Left arrow key
group.

Move the focus from a group to the first item in that Right arrow key
group.

Expand a focused group and all its child groups. Asterisk sign (*) (on numeric
keypad only)

Expand a focused group. Plus sign (+) (on numeric keypad

only) or Right arrow key

Collapse a focused group. Minus sign (-) (on numeric

keypad only) or Left arrow key

Move the focus to an item and select it. Shift+Up or Down arrow key

Select a focused item. Spacebar or Enter

Cancel selection of a focused item. Shift+Spacebar or Shift+Enter

Move a selected item forward. Ctrl+Shift+F

Move a selected item backward. Ctrl+Shift+B

Show or hide a focused item. Ctrl+Shift+S

To do this Press

Rename a focused item. F2

Switch the keyboard focus within the Selection pane Tab key or Shift+Tab
between tree view and the Show All and Hide All
buttons.

Collapse all groups (with the focus in the tree view of Alt+Shift+1
the Selection pane).

Expand all groups. Alt+Shift+9

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Work with the task pane

To do this Press

Move to a task pane from another pane or area in the program F6

window. (You might need to press F6 more than once.)

When a task pane option has focus, move to the next or previous Tab key or Shift+Tab
option in the task pane.

Display the full set of commands on a task pane menu. You can Ctrl+Spacebar
access, for example, the Close, Move, or Size buttons of a task
pane. Office 2010:
Ctrl+Down arrow key
To do this Press

Move to the next command on the task pane menu. Up and Down arrow
keys

Select the highlighted option on the task pane menu. Enter

Move or resize the task pane after the corresponding command Arrow keys
has been selected.

Close a task pane. Ctrl+Spacebar, C

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Ribbon keyboard shortcuts

The ribbon groups related options on tabs. For example, on the Home tab, the Paragraph
group includes the Bullets option. Press the Alt key to display the ribbon shortcuts, called Key
Tips, as letters in small images next to the tabs and options.

You can combine the Key Tips letters with the Alt key to make shortcuts called Access keys for
the ribbon options. For example, press Alt+H to open the Home tab, and Alt+Q to move to
the Tell me or Search field. Press Alt again to see KeyTips for the options on the selected tab.

In Office 2010, most of the old Alt key menu shortcuts still work, too. However, you need to
know the full shortcut. For example, press Alt, and then press one of the old menu keys E
(Edit), V (View), I (Insert), and so on. A notification pops up saying you're using an access key
from an earlier version of Microsoft 365. If you know the entire key sequence, go ahead and
use it. If you don't know the sequence, press Esc and use Key Tips instead.
Open the ribbon tabs
To go directly to a tab on the ribbon, press one of the following access keys. Additional tabs
might appear depending on your selection in the presentation.

To do this Press

Move to the Tell me or Search field on the ribbon and type a search Alt+Q, then type
term for assistance or Help content. the search term.

Open the File menu. Alt+F

Open the Home tab and format slides, fonts, paragraphs, or drawings. Alt+H

Open the Insert tab and insert slides, tables, images, illustrations, Alt+N
forms, links, text, symbols, or media.

Open the Draw tab and access the drawing tools. Alt+J, I

Open the Design tab and apply themes and customize slides. Alt+G

Open the Transitions tab and add transitions between slides. Alt+K

Open the Animations tab and add animations to slides. Alt+A

Open the Slide Show tab and set up and play the slide show. Alt+S

Open the Review tab and check spelling and accessibility and add Alt+R
comments.

Open the View tab and preview presentation layouts, show and hide Alt+W
gridlines and guides, set zoom magnification, manage windows, and
To do this Press

view macros.

Open the Recording tab and manage screen recordings, audio, and Alt+E
video in your presentation.

Open the Help tab and browse the PowerPoint, contact support, and Alt+Y, 2
leave feedback.

Note: Add-ins and other programs might add new tabs to the ribbon and might provide access
keys for those tabs.

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Work in the ribbon with the keyboard

To do this Press

Select the active tab on the ribbon, and Alt or F10. To move to a different tab, use
activate the access keys. access keys or the arrow keys.

Move the focus to commands on the Tab key or Shift+Tab

ribbon.

Move down, up, left, or right, respectively, Arrow keys

among the items on the ribbon.

Show the tooltip for the ribbon element Ctrl+Shift+F10

currently in focus.
To do this Press

Activate a selected button or control. Spacebar or Enter

Open the list for a selected command. Down arrow key

Open the menu for a selected button. Alt+Down arrow key

When a menu or submenu is open, move to Down arrow key

the next command.

Expand or collapse the ribbon. Ctrl+F1

Open a context menu. Shift+F10 or the Windows Menu key

Move to the submenu when a main menu is Left arrow key

open or selected.

Get help on the currently selected F1

command or control on the ribbon.

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Other useful ribbon keyboard shortcuts

To do this Press

Change the font size for selected text. Alt+H, F,

S
To do this Press

Open the Zoom dialog box. Alt+W, Q

Print all slides in your presentation as full page slides using your default printer Alt+P, P
settings (when the Print dialog box is open).

Select a theme. Alt+G, H

Select a slide layout. Alt+H, L

Show or hide the Notes pane in the Normal view. Alt+W, P,

N

Open the clipboard. Alt+H, F,

O

Insert a text box. Alt+N, X

Insert an embedded document or spreadsheet as an object. Alt+N, J

Insert WordArt. Alt+N, W

Insert a picture from your device. Alt+N, P,

D

Insert a shape. Alt+N, S,

H

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