powerpoint presentation keyboard shortcuts

Top PowerPoint Shortcuts for efficient work

Today everyone is familiar with Microsoft PowerPoint, some more than others. As you read this you might be thinking that you are on the top tier when it comes to fully exploiting PowerPoint capabilities.

We don’t doubt you are proficient, but you might be surprised by the wide array of keyboard combinations that you can use to work more efficiently. Much like Excel shortcuts keys, these shortcuts allow users to work uniquely with their keyboard and therefore achieve tasks faster.

Now, the idea is not that you memorize each keyboard combo : that seems a bit difficult ! Each user has individual needs and when it comes to creating your sales collateral maybe some shortcuts will seem more useful to you than others. Even if you end up picking up just one or two shortcuts, it will make a difference.

Moreover, if keyboard shortcuts are not your thing, this article still has a trick for you : create your own custom toolbar for PowerPoint, to keep the features you use the most just a click away.

Related articles How to create a video on PowerPoint in 4 steps? PowerPoint vs Google Slides: which one is the right fit for your company? How to convert your InDesign file into PowerPoint

PowerPoint Keyboard Shortcuts

General shortcuts.

Let’s get started with a few basic keyboard shortcuts that will help you opening, closing and navigating PowerPoint.

• Ctrl+Tab : Switch between different open presentations
• Ctrl+N : Create a new presentation
• Ctrl+O : Open an existing presentation
• Ctrl+Q : Save and close a presentation
• Ctrl+S : Save a presentation
• Ctrl+Y : Repeat last action
• Ctrl+W : Close a presentation
• Ctrl+Z : Undo an action
• Ctrl+F : Search in a presentation or use Find and Replace
• Ctrl+F1 : Show or hide the ribbon
• Ctrl+F2 : Print Preview View
• Alt+F2 : Open the Save As dialog box
• Alt+F : Open the File tab menu
• Alt+A : Go to the Animations tab
• Alt+G : Open the Design tab
• Alt+H : Go to the Home tab
• Alt+K : Go to the Transitions tab
• Alt+N : Open the Insert tab
• Alt+Q : Go to the “Tell me what you want to do” box
• Alt+R : Go to the Review tab
• Alt+S : Go to the Slide Show tab
• Alt+W : Go to View tab
• Alt+X : Go to the Add-ins tab
• Alt+Y : Go to the Help tab

Selection and navigation shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts can also be of great help when it comes to quickly navigating throughout your presentation. The following shortcuts will enable you to select multiple objects on your slides, or move the slides inside the presentation.

• Ctrl+A : Select all text in a textbox, all slides in a presentation or all objects on a slide
• Tab : Select and/or switch to the next object on a slide
• Shift+Tab : Select or move to the previous object on a slide
• Home : Go to the first slide, or from within a text box, go to the beginning of the line
• End : Go to the last slide, or from within a text box, go to the end of the line
• Page Down : Go to the next slide
• Page Up : Go the previous slide
• Ctrl+Down Arrow : Move a slide down in the presentation (click on a slide thumbnail first)
• Ctrl+Up Arrow : Move a slide up in the presentation
• Ctrl+Shift+Up Arrow : Move a slide to the beginning of the presentation (click on a slide thumbnail first)
• Ctrl+Shift+Down Arrow : Move a slide to the end of the presentation

Format and edition shortcuts

Editing and formatting your presentation has never been easier ! These shortcuts will make you a quick editing pro for PowerPoint.

• Ctrl+B : Add or remove bold to selected text
• Ctrl+C : Copy selected text, selected object(s), or selected slide(s)
• Ctrl+D : Duplicate the selected object or slide (for the latter, click on a slide thumbnail first)
• Ctrl+E : Center a paragraph
• Ctrl+I : Add or remove italics to selected text
• Ctrl+J : Justify a paragraph
• Ctrl+K : Insert a hyperlink
• Ctrl+L : Left align a paragraph
• Ctrl+M : Insert a new slide
• Ctrl+R : Right align a paragraph
• Ctrl+T : Open the Font dialog box when text or object is selected
• Ctrl+U : Add or remove underline to selected text
• Ctrl+V : Paste selected text, selected object(s), or selected slide(s)
• Ctrl+X : Cut selected text, selected object(s), or selected slide(s)
• Ctrl+Alt+V : Open the Paste Special dialog box
• Delete : Remove selected text, selected object(s), or selected slide(s)

InDesign vs PowerPoint for content creation How to integrate a PDF into a Word document? How to reduce your PowerPoint file size?

How to build a custom PowerPoint toolbar ?

The quick access toolbar.

The Quick Access toolbar enables users to customize what should be displayed on PowerPoint’s toolbar. In other words, it can include your frequently used commands and make them available to you with a single click.

The process to build your QAT (Quick Access Toolbar) is actually very simple, and it can definitely help you build your sales collateral quicker.

Right-click on the command you want to add to your QAT Select “ Add to Quick Access Toolbar” If your QAT is hidden, you can make it visible by right clicking in the upper side of the window (above the ribbon) and select “Show Quick Access Toolbar”

Our top PowerPoint commands for Sales Collateral creation

You might be wondering which commands you should add to your QAT. Here are our 4 personal favorites, that make content creation and working with your sales collateral easier :

• Align commands : These commands allow you to align to objects on the left, the right, the upper or the lower side.
• Send object to front/back : These commands are very useful when working in layers and allow you to make more or less visible objects that are stacked on top of each other.
• Group/Ungroup : The commands enable fast editing for multiple objects at the same time (for example when you want to stretch or shrink different shapes in the same proportion). Moreover grouping is also helpful when you wish to make one single object out of several layered shapes for example.
• Distribute horizontally/vertically : These commands allow you to distribute objects at an equal distance from each other to create a neater appearance.

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10 Keyboard Shortcuts to Use When Presenting PowerPoint Slideshows

In business meetings, you can use Microsoft PowerPoint slideshows to highlight important information and capture audiences’ attention. During a slideshow , clicking through various options with the mouse can throw off your timing. Plus, the audience can see you perform these actions.

A better approach is to use keyboard shortcuts . Besides being faster, you will look like a more experienced presenter. Here are 10 keyboard shortcuts that you can use when presenting slideshows using PowerPoint 2016, 2013, 2010, or 2007. You can also Google some other keyboard shortcuts!

Keyboard Shortcuts For PowerPoint

Pressing the F5 key begins the slideshow from the first slide.

2. Shift+F5

To begin the slideshow from the current slide , press Shift+F5. In other words, press the Shift and F5 keys at the same time.

3. Spacebar, N, or Right Arrow

When you are ready to advance to the next slide or perform the next animation, you can press any of the following: the Spacebar , the N key, or the right arrow key.

4. Backspace, P, or Left Arrow

If you need to backtrack , press the Backspace, P, or left arrow key to go back to the previous slide or animation.

Pressing Ctrl+P changes the mouse pointer from an arrow to a pen. You can then use the pen to add a note to a slide or call attention to an item.

6. W or Comma

During a presentation , you might want to pause the slideshow so that you can discuss a certain point. Pressing the W or comma key pauses it and displays a white screen. Pressing the W or comma key again resumes the slideshow. When the slideshow is paused, you can use the pen to write on the white screen. If you do not already have the pen activated, though, you will need to do so with the mouse (Pressing Ctrl+P to activate the pen does not work – it simply prompts the slideshow to resume.) Anything you write on the white screen will not be saved when you resume the slideshow .

7. B or Period

Pressing the B key or period key pauses the slideshow and displays a black screen, which you can write on. Press the B or period key again to resume the slideshow.

8. Ctrl+E or E

If you need to erase a mark you made with a pen on a slide, you can change the pointer to an eraser by pressing Ctrl+E. You can erase all the marks you made to a slide at once by pressing the E key. (The pointer will not change in the latter case.) You cannot use Ctrl+E or E to erase marks on a white or black screen created when pausing a slideshow.

Pressing Ctrl+A changes the pointer to the default arrow.

Another way to change the pointer to the default arrow is pressing the Esc key. If the pointer is already an arrow, pressing Esc exits the slideshow.

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• June 2, 2023

PowerPoint Keyboard shortcuts are combinations of keys that perform a specific action or command. If you use PowerPoint frequently, learning keyboard shortcuts can help you save time and work more efficiently.

In this article, we introduce the most popular PowerPoint shortcuts and how to use them.

Here's a list of some of the most popular keyboard shortcuts for PowerPoint:

PowerPoint Shortcuts to Create, Save and Open Presentations

• Ctrl+N: Create a new PowerPoint presentation
• Ctrl+M: Insert a new PowerPoint slide
• Ctrl+O: Open an existing PowerPoint presentation
• Ctrl+S: Save your PowerPoint presentation
• Fn+F12: Save your PowerPoint presentation as

PowerPoint Shortcuts to Copy, Paste, Undo, Redo

• Ctrl+Z: Undo your last action in PowerPoint
• Ctrl+Y: Redo your last action in PowerPoint
• Ctrl+C: Copy a selected object
• Ctrl+X: Cut a selected object
• Ctrl+V: Paste a copied or cut object
• Ctrl+D: Duplicate a selected object

PowerPoint Shortcuts to Find, Replace, Select, Group, Ungroup

• Ctrl+F: Find text in your PowerPoint presentation
• Ctrl+H: Replace text in your PowerPoint presentation
• Ctrl+A: Select all objects on a PowerPoint slide
• Ctrl+G: Group selected objects in PowerPoint
• Ctrl+Shift+G: Ungroup grouped objects in PowerPoint

PowerPoint Shortcuts to Format Text

• Ctrl+E: Align text to center
• Ctrl+L: Align text to left
• Ctrl+R: Align text to right
• Ctrl+B: Make text bold
• Ctrl+I: Make text italic
• Ctrl+U: Underline text
• Ctrl+T: Open the font dialog box
• Ctrl+Shift+>: Increase font size
• Ctrl+Shift+<: Decrease font size

PowerPoint Shortcuts to Manage Display

• Alt+F9: Show or hide gridlines and guides
• Alt+F10: Show or hide the selection pane
• Fn+F5: Start the PowerPoint slideshow from the beginning
• Shift+F5: Start the PowerPoint slideshow from the current slide
• Esc: End the PowerPoint slideshow

PowerPoint Shortcuts to navigate Animations

• N or Spacebar: Go to the next slide or animation
• P or Backspace: Go to the previous slide or animation

These are just some of the most popular keyboard shortcuts for PowerPoint. If you're seeking to be a PowerPoint power user you can find a more comprehensive and printable list of PowerPoint shortcuts cheat sheet on our website.

Microsoft only assigns shortcut keys to only ~200 of the 800+ PowerPoint commands. The standard PowerPoint shortcuts are not readily customizable, but you can customize PowerPoint Shortcuts using PPT Productivity. PPT Productivity add-in for PowerPoint lets you override shortcut keys to any PowerPoint command, which means you can specify your preferred shortcuts.

Wondering how to create PowerPoint keyboard shortcuts? In addition to letting you reassign standard PowerPoint shortcuts, PPT Productivity also allows you to create new PowerPoint shortcut keys. Learn how to add extra PowerPoint shortcuts .

And if you're a McKinsey Alum, PPT Productivity has an option for you to use your favorite McKinsey Keyboard Shortcuts .

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The best keyboard shortcuts in PowerPoint

Increase productivity on ppt and create presentations faster

Do you want to learn how to use shortcuts on PowerPoint to create faster and easier presentations? Check out the best useful keyboard shortcuts for Powerpoint here!

What are the best keyboard shortcuts for PowerPoint?

• Create a new presentation: Ctrl + N
• Duplicate the current presentation in a new tab: Ctrl+ Shift + N
• Open an existing presentation: Ctrl + O
• Save a presentation: Ctrl + S
• Save a presentation under another name: Ctrl+ Shift + S
• Change the case of a text (upper case, lower case): Select the text then Shift + F3 (repeat the F3 key to change the case)
• Print a presentation: Ctrl + P
• Switch to slideshow mode: F5
• To pause the slideshow: Space or Enter
• Go to a slide during the slide show:
• Copy style : Ctrl+ Shift + C
• Paste style: Ctrl+ Shift + V
• Paste the text in a box keeping the text only: Ctrl+ V, Ctrl, T
• Copy animation : Shift + Alt + C
• Paste animation: Shift + Alt + V
• Group (in English only) : Ctrl+ G
• Ungroup (in English only) : Ctrl+ Shift + G
• Align to the left: Ctrl + Shift + L
• Align to center: Ctrl + Shift + E
• Align to the right: Ctrl + Shift + R
• Increase the font size: Ctrl + Shift + >
• Diminuer la taille de la police : Ctrl + Maj + <
• Select all: Ctrl + A

Beyond the keyboard shortcuts, consider installing our PowerPoint toolbar to improve your productivity.

PowerPoint Keyboard Shortcuts: Use Ctrl, Alt and Shift to save time on formatting

With the right keyboard shortcut, it is possible to save time and improve efficiency when preparing or presenting a PowerPoint presentation.

• When you hold down the Shift key while moving an item, you force it to move on the horizontal or vertical axis, which is often expected when designing a presentation. Shift is also used to select multiple objects or images at the same time.
• When you hold down Ctrl while moving an item, you duplicate it.
• This means that Ctrl + Shift + your mouse allows you to quickly design slides by duplicating elements on the same axis.
• Finally, holding down the Alt key cancels the magnetism (the fact that it pushes you to release your element in an aligned way in the slide) and gives you the possibility to freely position any element, or to crop your image more precisely.

So, juggling these three shortcuts as you design your presentations will save you considerable time.

Why install PowerPoint in English for shortcuts?

The French version of PowerPoint unfortunately replaces a crucial design shortcut: the ability to group and ungroup (Ctrl + G) (Ctrl + Shift + G) which are replaced by the action of putting in bold.

This is probably the most important shortcut in PowerPoint, which is why we advise you to keep the English installation version. This shortcut has no alternative in French.

Move slides easily in the presentation

Rather than moving your slides around imprecisely with the mouse, use the keyboard:

• Ctrl + down arrow: move a slide down in your presentation (first click on the slide to move)
• Ctrl + up arrow: move a slide up in your presentation (first click on the slide to move)
• F5 - Launch a presentation from Slideshow mode (Ctrl + F5 to enter Presenter mode)
• Esc - Exit a presentation or return to the previous screen in Presenter mode

Editing text boxes

The following functions can be used to edit text boxes on slides:

• Ctrl + [arrow key] - Move the cursor to the previous or next line
• Ctrl + [Home key] - Move the cursor to the beginning of the paragraph
• Ctrl + [End Key] - Move the cursor to the end of the paragraph
• [ Increase/decrease text size

Use the mouse to select your texts

• Double click on a word : selects the whole word
• Triple click on a word: selects the whole paragraph

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Keyboard shortcuts for working with shapes, text boxes, and WordArt

Note:  The keyboard shortcuts that are described in this article refer to the U.S. keyboard layout. Keys on other layouts might not correspond exactly to the keys on a U.S. keyboard.

For keyboard shortcuts in which you press two or more keys simultaneously, the keys to press are separated by a plus sign (+). For keyboard shortcuts in which you press one key immediately followed by another key, the keys to press are separated by a comma (,).

For keyboard shortcuts for working with SmartArt graphics, see Keyboard shortcuts for SmartArt graphics .

Keyboard shortcuts for use in the Selection pane

Copy the attributes of a shape

Select the shape with the attributes that you want to copy.

If you select a shape with attached text, you copy the look and style of the text as well as the attributes of the shape.

Press CTRL+SHIFT+C to copy the shape attributes.

Press the TAB key or SHIFT+TAB to select the shape or object that you want to copy the attributes to.

Press CTRL+SHIFT+V.

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.

Press the DOWN ARROW to select <variable> Object , the ENTER or RIGHT ARROW key to show the secondary menu, and then select Edit .

Insert a SmartArt graphic

Press and release ALT, N, and then M to select SmartArt .

Press the arrow keys to select the type of SmartArt graphic that you want.

Press TAB, and then press the arrow keys to select the SmartArt graphic layout that you want to insert.

Press ENTER.

Insert a Text box

Press and release ALT, N to show the Insert tab.

Use the ARROW keys to move to Text Box , located in the Text group.

If you have turned on East Asian language support on the computer, use the arrow key to use arrow key to select either Horizontal Text Box or Vertical Text Box .

Press CTRL+ENTER.

Type the text 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.

Select a shape

Note:  If your cursor is within text, press ESC.

Press TAB to cycle forward (or SHIFT+TAB to cycle backward) through the shapes or objects until sizing handles appear on the object that you want to select.

To select multiple items, use the selection pane. To open the selection pane, press and release ALT, H, SL, and then P.

Edit points in shape

Note:  Click the shape, and then press ALT+J+D+E+E.

To add a point, click the shape outline while pressing CTRL.

To delete a point, click the point while pressing CTRL.

To have the point treated as a smooth point, press SHIFT while dragging either of the handles attached to the point. Once you stop dragging, the point will be changed to a smooth point. A smooth point joins two line segments of equal length.

To have the point treated as a straight point, press CTRL while dragging either of the handles attached to the point. Once you stop dragging the point will be changed to a straight point. A straight point joins two line segments of different lengths.

To have the point treated as a corner point, press ALT while dragging either of the handles attached to the point. Once you stop dragging the point will be changed to a corner point. A corner point joins two line segments with one segment going off in a different direction.

To cancel the change to the point and line segments, press ESC before releasing the mouse button.

Press SHIFT+TAB to select the object that you want.

Press the DOWN ARROW to select <variable> Object , and then to select Edit .

Press and release ALT, and then press N and then press x.

Press CTRL+ENTER to insert the text box.

To select multiple items, use the selection pane. To open the selection pane, press and release ALT, H, FD, and then P.

Press the DOWN ARROW to select < variable> Object , and then to select Edit .

Insert an object

Press ALT, N, and then J.

Do one of the following.

Press DOWN ARROW to select an object type, and then press ENTER to create an object.

Press CTRL+TAB to switch to the Create from File tab, and then type the file name of the object that you want to insert or browse to the file.

Press and release ALT, N, and then press X.

Press the arrow keys to select the Text box that you want, and then press ENTER.

When you are finished typing and want to switch back to editing text in your document, press SHIFT+F10, choose Exit Edit Text on the shortcut menu, and then press ESC.

Press and release ALT, N, and then W to select WordArt .

Press the arrow keys to select the WordArt style that you want, and then press ENTER.

Press TAB, and then press ENTER.

Press and release ALT, N, and X.

Press TAB to move to Text Box , located on the Insert tab in the Text group.

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