Skip to content
Hotkys
All apps
Adobe Illustrator icon

Adobe Illustrator Keyboard Shortcuts

Draw vector illustrations, icons, and graphics.

View source

201 shortcuts / 16 sections

Work with documents

17
Create a document
Command N
Create a document from a template
Shift Command N
Create document without dialog
Option Command N
Open a document
Command O
Place a file in the document
Shift Command P
Open the File Information dialog box
Shift Option Command I
Open the Document Setup dialog box
Option Command P
Browse in Adobe Bridge
Option Command O
Close the document window
Command W
Save changes made to the document
Command S
Open the Save As dialog box
Shift Command S
Save a copy of the document
Option Command S
Open the Export for screens dialog box
Option Command E
Open the Save For Web dialog box
Shift Option Command S
Package the document
Shift Option Command P
Print
Command P
Exit the application
Command Q

Select tools

38
Artboard tool
Shift O
Selection tool
V
Direct Selection tool
A
Magic Wand tool
Y
Lasso tool
Q
Pen tool
P
Blob Brush tool
Shift B
Delete Anchor Point tool
PLUS
Switch to Anchor Point tool
Shift C
Type tool
T
Touch Type tool
Shift T
Rectangle tool
M
Ellipse tool
L
Paintbrush tool
B
Pencil tool
N
Shaper tool
Shift N
Rotate tool
R
Reflect tool
O
Scale tool
S
Warp tool
Shift R
Width Tool
Shift W
Free Transform tool
E
Shape Builder Tool
Shift M
Perspective Grid Tool
Shift P
Perspective Selection Tool
Shift V
Symbol Sprayer tool
Shift S
Column Graph tool
J
Mesh tool
U
Gradient tool
G
Eyedropper tool
I
Blend tool
W
Live Paint Bucket tool
K
Live Paint Selection tool
Shift L
Slice tool
Shift K
Eraser tool
Shift E
Scissors tool
C
Hand tool
H
Zoom tool
Z

View artwork

25
Toggle screen modes
F
Switch to Hand tool (when not in text-edit mode)
Space
Switch to Zoom tool in magnify mode
Command Space
Switch to Zoom tool in reduce mode
Option Command Space
Move zoom marquee
Space
Hide bounding box
Control Shift B
Hide unselected artwork
Shift Option Command 3
Show document template
Command H
Show/Hide artboards
Shift Command H
Show/Hide artboard rulers
Option Command R
Show transparency grid
Shift Command D
View all artboards in window
Option Command 0
Paste in place on the active artboard
Shift Command V
Exit Artboard tool mode
Escape
Toggle outline/GPU preview
Command Y
Toggle between GPU and CPU Preview of the document
Command E
View the document in Overprint Preview mode
Shift Option Command Y
View the document in Pixel Preview mode
Option Command Y
Exit Full Screen mode
Escape
Hide guides
Command ;
Lock guides
Option Command ;
Make guides
Command 5
Release guides
Control Option 5
Show/ hide smart guides
Command U
Show/ hide perspective grid
Shift Command I

Work with selections

15
Switch selection tools
OPT
Change pointer to cross hair for Lasso tool
Caps Lock
Select artwork in active artboard
Option Command A
Select all
Command A
Deselect
Shift Command A
Reselect
Command 6
Group the selected artwork
Command G
Ungroup the selected artwork
Shift Command G
Lock a selection
Command 2
Unlock a selection
Option Command 2
Hide a selection
Command 3
Show all selections
Option Command 3
Move selection in user-defined increments
Right Arrow
Move selection in 10x user-defined increments
Shift Right Arrow
Lock all deselected artwork
Shift Option Command 2

Draw

9
Constrain Blob Brush path
SHIFT
Switch through drawing modes
Shift D
Create a compound path
Command 8
Release a compound path
Shift Option Command 8
Perspective Grid Tool
Shift P
Perspective Selection Tool
Shift V
Perspective Grid
Shift Command I
Repeat transforming objects in perspective
Command D
Switching between drawing modes
Shift D

Edit shapes

10
Switch Pen tool to Convert Anchor Point tool
OPT
Switch between anchor point tools
OPT
Switch Scissors tool to Add Anchor Point tool
OPT
Switch Pencil tool to Smooth tool
OPT
Select the Shape Builder tool
Shift M
Blend objects
Option Command B
Finish adding objects to the blend
Shift Option Command B
Distort objects using a warp-shaped envelope
Shift Option Command W
Distort with mesh envelope
Option Command M
Distort with object envelope
Option Command C

Work with objects

12
Reapply a transformation to an object
Command D
Apply last pathfinder
Command 4
Move an object
Shift Command M
Open the Transform Each dialog box
Shift Option Command D
Make a clipping mask
Command 7
Release a clipping mask
Option Command 7
Toggle between fill and stroke
X
Set fill and stroke to default
D
Swap fill and stroke
Shift X
Select gradient fill mode
Shift .
Hide gradient annotator (the Gradient tool)
Option Command G
Make Live Paint (when using the Paint Bucket tool)
Option Command X

Create variable width points

2
Delete selected width point
Backspace
Deselect a width point
Escape

Work with type

39
Move one character right or left
Right Arrow
Move up or down one line
Up Arrow
Move one word right or left
Command Right Arrow
Move up or down one paragraph
Command Up Arrow
Select one word right or left
Shift Command Right Arrow
Select one paragraph before or after
Shift Command Up Arrow
Align paragraph left, right, or center
Shift Command L
Justify text left
Shift Command J
Justify all lines
Shift Command F
Insert soft return
Shift Enter
Highlight kerning
Option Command K
Reset horizontal scale to 100%
Shift Command X
Increase or decrease font size
Shift Command .
Increase or decrease font size by steps
Shift Option Command .
Increase or decrease leading
Option Up Arrow
Select tracking value
Option Command K
Reset tracking/kerning to 0
Option Command Q
Increase or decrease kerning and tracking
Option Right Arrow
Adjust kerning/tracking 5x
Option Command Right Arrow
Increase or decrease baseline ⇧
Shift Option Up Arrow
Switch between type tools
SHIFT
Switch between area/path type tools
OPT
Create outlines
Shift Command O
Open the Character panel
Command T
Open the Paragraph panel
Option Command T
Open the Tabs panel
Shift Command T
Open the OpenType panel
Shift Option Command T
Insert bullets
Option 8
Insert copyright symbol
Option G
Insert ellipsis
Option ;
Insert paragraph symbol
Option 7
Insert section symbol
Option 6
Insert trademark symbol
Option 2
Insert registered trademark symbol
Option R
Toggle auto-hyphenation
Shift Option Command H
Insert em space
Shift Command M
Insert en space
Shift Command N
Insert thin space
Shift Option Command M
Show hidden characters
Option Command I

Use panels

6
Switch units of measurement
Shift Option Command U
Apply value and keep text box active
Shift Enter
Show/Hide all panels
Tab
Show/Hide all panels excl. Tools & Control panels
Shift Tab
Adjust values in logical fractions of the measu...
Command Up Arrow
Increase/ decrease measurement unit by 10x
Shift Up Arrow

Character and Paragraph panels

6
Open the Character panel
Command T
Open the Paragraph panel
Option Command T
Adjust value (small)
Up Arrow
Increase/decreases value (large)
Shift Up Arrow
Increase/decrease the selected value by a fraction
Command Up Arrow
Highlight font name field
Shift Option Command F

Gradient panel

2
Show/Hide gradient arrow
Option Command G
View gradient annotator
G

Layers panel

2
Add a layer
Command L
Add a layer while opening the New Layer dialog box
Option Command L

Transform panel

3
Apply a value and keep focus in edit field
Shift Enter
Apply a value and copy object
Option Enter
Apply & scale proportionately
Command Enter

Transparency panel

2
Apply last effect to the selected object
Shift Command E
Apply last effect w/ dialog
Shift Option Command E