PowerPoint 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
Make selected text bold. Ctrl+B
Change the font size for selected text. Alt+H, F, S
Open the Zoom dialog box. Alt+W, Q
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
Undo the last action. Ctrl+Z
Save the presentation. Ctrl+S
Insert a picture from your device. Alt+N, P, D
Insert a shape. Alt+N, S, H
Select a theme. Alt+G, H
To do this Press
Select a slide layout. Alt+H, L
Go to the next slide. Page down
Go to the previous slide. Page up
Go to the Home tab. Alt+H
Go to the Insert tab. Alt+N
Start the slide show. F5
End the slide show. Esc
Close PowerPoint. Ctrl+Q

Use the Access keys for 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 term for Alt+Q, then type
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, forms, links, text, Alt+N
symbols, or media.
To do this Press
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 comments. Alt+R
Open the View tab and preview presentation layouts, show and hide gridlines and Alt+W
guides, set zoom magnification, manage windows, and view macros.
Open the Recording tab and manage screen recordings, audio, and video in your Alt+C
presentation.
Open the Help tab and browse the PowerPoint, contact support, and leave Alt+Y, 2
feedback.

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

Work in the ribbon with the keyboard

To do this Press
Select the active tab on the ribbon, and activate Alt or F10. To move to a different tab, use access keys
the access keys. or the arrow keys.
Move the focus to commands on the ribbon. Tab key or Shift+Tab
To do this Press
Move down, up, left, or right, respectively, Arrow keys
among the items on the ribbon.
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 the Down arrow key
next command.
Expand or collapse the ribbon. Ctrl+F1
Open a context menu. Shift+F10

Or, on a Windows keyboard, the Context key (between

the right Alt and right Ctrl keys)
Move to the submenu when a main menu is Left arrow key
open or selected.
Get help on the currently selected command or F1
control on the ribbon.

Move between panes

To do this Press
Cycle clockwise through panes in the Normal view. F6
To do this Press
Cycle counterclockwise through panes in the Normal view. Shift+F6
Switch between the Thumbnail pane and the Outline View pane. Ctrl+Shift+Tab

Work in the Outline view

To do this Press
Promote a paragraph. Alt+Shift+Left arrow key
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
Show level 1 headings. Alt+Shift+1
Expand text below a heading. Alt+Shift+Plus sign (+)
Collapse text below a heading. Alt+Shift+Minus sign (-)
Select and edit text and objects
To do this Press
Select one character to the right. Shift+Right arrow key
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 one line up (with the cursor at the beginning of Shift+Up arrow key
a line).
Select one line down (with the cursor at the beginning Shift+Down arrow key
of a line).
Select an object when the text inside the object is Esc
selected.
Select another object when one object is selected. Tab key or Shift+Tab until the object you 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

To do this Press
Send object to front. Ctrl+Shift+Right bracket (])

Office 2010 and Office 2007: Not available

Select text within an object (with an object selected). Enter
Select all objects on a slide. Ctrl+A
Play or pause media. Ctrl+Spacebar
Select all slides in the Slide Sorter view or the Ctrl+A
thumbnail pane.
Select all text in the Outline View. Ctrl+A

Tip: To select multiple objects with the keyboard, use the Selection Pane.

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 (with the cursor between the Ctrl+Delete
words).
Cut selected object or text. Ctrl+X
To do this Press
Copy selected object or text. Ctrl+C
Paste cut or copied object or text. Ctrl+V
Duplicate an object. Ctrl+D

Ctrl+Drag the mouse

Office 2010 and Office 2007: Not

available
Undo the last action. Ctrl+Z
Redo the last action. Ctrl+Y
Copy formatting only. Ctrl+Shift+C
Paste formatting only. Ctrl+Shift+V
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

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

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

Move around and work in 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 of the last row. Tab key

Format text
Before using these keyboard shortcuts, select the text you want to format.
Change or resize a font

To do this Press
Open the Font dialog box to change the font. Ctrl+T or Ctrl+Shift+F
Increase the font size. Ctrl+Shift+Right angle bracket (>)
Decrease the font size. Ctrl+Shift+Left angle bracket (<)

Apply character formatting

To do this Press
Open the Font dialog box to change the character formatting. Ctrl+T or Ctrl+Shift+F
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 and superscript. Ctrl+Spacebar
Insert a hyperlink. Ctrl+K
Copy text formatting
To do this Press
Copy the formatting of selected text. Ctrl+Shift+C
Paste copied formatting to the selected text. 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

Work with shapes, pictures, boxes, objects, and WordArt

To do this Press
Insert a text box. Alt+N, X
Insert an embedded document or spreadsheet as an Alt+N, J
object.
To do this Press
Insert WordArt. Alt+N, W
Move the focus to the first floating shape, such as an Ctrl+Alt+5
image or a text box.
Group selected shapes, pictures, or WordArt objects. Ctrl+G
Ungroup selected group. Ctrl+Shift+G
Copy the attributes of the selected shape. Ctrl+Shift+C
Paste the attributes to the selected object. Ctrl+Shift+V
Edit a linked or embedded object. Shift+F10 (to open the context menu), then
O, Enter, E

Insert comments
To do this Press
Insert a new comment. Alt+N, L or Shift+F10, M

Change order of slides or sections in a slide deck

To do this Press
Move the selected slide or section up in order. Ctrl+Up arrow key
To do this Press
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
Move the selected slide or section to the end. Ctrl+Shift+Down arrow key

Use the Selection pane

To do this Press
Open the Selection pane. 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
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 group. Left arrow key
Move the focus from a group to the first item in that group. Right arrow key
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
To do this Press
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
Rename a focused item. F2
Switch the keyboard focus within the Selection pane between tree Tab key or Shift+Tab
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

Access and use task panes

To do this Press
Move to a task pane from another pane or area in the program window. (You F6
might need to press F6 more than once.)
When a task pane option has focus, move to the next or previous option in Tab key or Shift+Tab
the task pane.
To do this Press
Display the full set of commands on a task pane menu. You can access, for Ctrl+Spacebar
example, the Close, Move, or Size buttons of a task pane.
Office 2010: Ctrl+Down
arrow key
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 has been Arrow keys
selected.
Open the Clipboard. Alt+H, F, O
Close a task pane. Ctrl+Spacebar, C

Other useful shortcut keys

To do this Press
Open the Print dialog box. Ctrl+P
Print all slides in your presentation as full page slides using your default printer settings Alt+P, P
(when the Print dialog box is open).
Show or hide the Notes pane in the Normal view. Alt+W, P,
N
Show or hide the grid. Shift+F9
To do this Press
Show or hide guides. Alt+F9

Use keyboard shortcuts to deliver PowerPoint presentations

Frequently used shortcuts
This table lists the most frequently used shortcuts in PowerPoint for Windows.

To do this Press
Start a presentation from the beginning. F5
Start a presentation from the current slide. Shift+F5
Start the presentation in Presenter View. Alt+F5

PowerPoint 2010 and 2007: Not

available
Perform the next animation or advance to the next slide. N

Enter

Page Down

Right arrow key

To do this Press

Down arrow key

Spacebar
Perform the previous animation or return to the previous slide. P

Page Up

Left arrow key

Up arrow key

Backspace
Hide the pointer and navigation buttons. Ctrl+H
Display a blank black slide, or return to the presentation from a B
blank black slide.
Period (.)
Display a blank white slide, or return to the presentation from a W
blank white slide.
Comma (,)
Stop or restart an automatic presentation. S
End the presentation. Esc

In PowerPoint 2010 and 2007,

Hyphen (-)
Control the slide show
The following keyboard shortcuts apply while you’re delivering your presentation in Slide Show (full-screen) mode, with
or without the Presenter View.

To do this Press
Go to a specific slide. Type the slide number, then press Enter
Go to the next slide, if the next slide is hidden. H
View the All Slides dialog. Ctrl+S

PowerPoint 2007: Not available

Return to the first slide. Home

In PowerPoint 2010 and newer, press and hold the

Right and Left mouse buttons for 2 seconds
Go to the last slide. End
View the computer task bar. Ctrl+T

PowerPoint 2007: Not available

Display the context menu. Shift+F10
Go to the next hotspot on the current slide. Tab

(Hotspots include hyperlinks, animation triggers,

audio objects, and video objects.)
Go to the last or previous hyperlink on the Shift+Tab
To do this Press
current slide.
Perform the "mouse click" behavior on the Enter while a hyperlink is selected
selected hyperlink.

(Follow the selected hyperlink.)

Control video and other media in the slide show in PowerPoint 2010 and
newer
These keyboard shortcuts work with video files imported from your computer or other device. They don't work with online
video files.

To do this Press
Stop media playback. Alt+Q
Play or pause media. Alt+P

In PowerPoint 2013 and newer,

Ctrl+Space
Go to the next bookmark. Alt+End
Go to the previous bookmark. Alt+Home
Increase the sound volume. Alt+Up
Decrease the sound volume. Alt+Down
To do this Press
Mute the sound. Alt+U
Seek forward three seconds. Alt+Shift+Page Down
Seek backward three seconds. Alt+Shift+Page Up
Seek forward 0.25 seconds, then pause. Alt+Shift+Right arrow key

PowerPoint 2010: Not available

Seek backward 0.25 seconds, then pause. Alt+Shift+Left arrow key

PowerPoint 2010: Not available

Show or hide the audio and subtitles menu. Alt+J

(For videos that have multiple audio tracks and/or subtitle tracks in PowerPoint 2010: Not available
supported formats.)
Use the pointer and annotations during a presentation
The following keyboard shortcuts allow you to control the pointer and use it to create annotations during your
presentation.

To do this Press
Start the laser pointer. Ctrl+L

PowerPoint 2010 and 2007: Not available

Change the pointer to a pen. Ctrl+P
Change the pointer to an arrow. Ctrl+A
Change the pointer to an eraser. Ctrl+E

PowerPoint 2007: Not available

Show or hide the arrow pointer. In PowerPoint 2010, Equal sign (=)

In PowerPoint 2010 and 2007, A

Show or hide ink markup. Ctrl+M

PowerPoint 2007: Not available

Erase on-screen annotations. E
Hide the pointer and navigation button after 15 seconds. Ctrl+U

PowerPoint 2013 and newer: Not available

Rehearse and record the presentation
You can use these keyboard shortcuts when you are rehearsing your presentation or recording the slide show.

To do this Press
Set new timings while rehearsing. T
Use original timings while rehearsing. O

PowerPoint 2013 and newer: Not available

Use mouse click to advance while rehearsing. M

PowerPoint 2013 and newer: Not available

Re-record slide narration and timing. R
Maneuver in Presenter View during a presentation in PowerPoint 2013 and
newer
The following keyboard shortcuts apply while you’re delivering your presentation using Presenter View. Presenter
View lets you look at your presentation with your speaker notes on one screen (your laptop, for example), while the
audience views the notes-free presentation on a different screen.

When you are connected to a second display, the Presenter View is shown automatically when you start the slide show.
To start a presentation in Presenter View even if you have only a single display, press Alt+F5.

To do this Press
Cycle between Presenter View regions. F6

(Header, tools below the slide, and the Notes pane)

Cycle through tools within a Presenter View region. Tab
Scroll down one line in the Notes pane. Ctrl+Down arrow
key
Scroll up one line in the Notes pane. Ctrl+Up arrow key
Scroll down one screenful in the Notes pane. Ctrl+Page Down
Scroll up one screenful in the Notes pane. Ctrl+Page Up
Read the next line in the Notes pane. Alt+A
Read the previous line in the Notes pane. Alt+Z
Read the elapsed time. Alt+W
To do this Press

(The timer starts running as soon as you start the Presenter View.)
Read the next step (for example, the next slide, next animation, or end of slide Alt+Q
show).
Close Presenter View. Esc