The Adobe Illustrator Keyboard Shortcuts Cheat Sheet

Adobe Illustrator is an incredibly powerful app, but it can be difficult to navigate. With so many menus and toolbars, it’s hard to find your way around. Fortunately, it offers a huge number of keyboard shortcuts to help speed up your workflow.

In this cheat sheet we’ve compiled some of the best Illustrator shortcuts, for both Windows and Mac. They’ll help you quickly find the most important tools and panels, work more efficiently with complex documents, and access some hidden features that will get you designing faster than ever.

FREE DOWNLOAD: This cheat sheet is available as a downloadable PDF from our distribution partner, TradePub. You will have to complete a short form to access it for the first time only. Download The Adobe Illustrator Keyboard Shortcuts Cheat Sheet.

Adobe Illustrator Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut (Win)	Shortcut (Mac)	Action
Basic Shortcuts
Ctrl + N	Cmd + N	Create new document
Alt + Ctrl + N	Option + Cmd + N	Skip New Document dialog box
Shift + Ctrl + N	Shift + Cmd + N	Create document from a template
Ctrl + S	Cmd + S	Save document
Alt + Ctrl + E	Option + Cmd + E	Export document for screens
Alt + Shift + Ctrl + P	Option + Shift + Cmd + P	Package document
Ctrl + P	Cmd + P	Print
Ctrl + Z	Cmd + Z	Undo
Shift + Ctrl + Z	Shift + Cmd + Z	Redo
Ctrl + X	Cmd + X	Cut
Ctrl + C	Cmd + C	Copy
Ctrl + V	Cmd + V	Paste
Shift + Ctrl + B	Shift + Cmd + B	Paste in place
Ctrl + F	Cmd + F	Paste in front of selected item
Ctrl + B	Cmd + B	Paste behind selected item
Shift + Ctrl + P	Shift + Cmd + P	Place an existing file into document
Ctrl + L	Cmd + L	Add new layer
Alt + Ctrl + L	Option + Cmd + L	Add new layer with the New Layer dialog box
Alt + Click layer name	Option + Click layer name	Select all objects on a layer
Alt + Click Eye icon	Option + Click Eye icon	Show or hide all other layers
Alt + Click Lock icon	Option + Click Lock icon	Lock or unlock all other layers
View Shortcuts
F	F	Switch between screen modes (Normal, Full Screen, etc.)
Esc	Esc	Exit Full Screen mode
Shift + Ctrl + H	Shift + Cmd + H	Show or hide artboards
Ctrl + R	Cmd + R	Show or hide rulers
Ctrl + U	Cmd + U	Show or hide smart guides
Ctrl + '	Cmd + '	Show or hide grid
Shift + Ctrl + '	Shift + Cmd + '	Turn Snap to Grid on or off
Alt + Ctrl + '	Option + Cmd + '	Turn Snap to Point on or off
Ctrl + =	Cmd + =	Zoom in
Ctrl + -	Cmd + -	Zoom out
Ctrl + 0	Cmd + 0	Fit to window
Ctrl + 1	Cmd + 1	View actual size
Tool Shortcuts
Double click	Double click	View settings for selected tool
H	H	Hand tool
Spacebar	Spacebar	Use Hand tool when not entering text
Ctrl + Spacebar	Cmd + Spacebar	Use Hand tool while entering text
V	V	Selection tool
A	A	Direct Selection tool
Y	Y	Magic Wand tool
Q	Q	Lasso tool
P	P	Pen tool
+	+	Add anchor point
-	-	Delete anchor point
Shift + C	Shift + C	Anchor Point tool
Shift + ~	Shift + ~	Curvature tool
T	T	Type tool
Shift + T	Shift + T	Touch Type tool
\	\	Line Segment tool
M	M	Rectangle tool
L	L	Ellipse tool
B	B	Paintbrush tool
Shift + B	Shift + B	Blob Brush tool
N	N	Pencil tool
Shift + N	Shift + N	Shaper tool
Shift + E	Shift + E	Eraser tool
C	C	Scissors tool
R	R	Rotate tool
O	O	Reflect tool
S	S	Scale tool
Shift + W	Shift + W	Width tool
Shift + R	Shift + R	Warp tool
E	E	Free Transform tool
Shift + M	Shift + M	Shape Builder tool
K	K	Live Paint Bucket
Shift + L	Shift + L	Live Paint Bucket Selection tool
Shift + P	Shift + P	Perspective Grid tool
Shift + V	Shift + V	Perspective Selection tool
U	U	Mesh tool
G	G	Gradient tool
I	I	Eyedropper tool
W	W	Blend tool
Shift + S	Shift + S	Symbol Sprayer tool
J	J	Column Graph tool
Shift + O	Shift + O	Artboard tool
Esc	Esc	Exit Artboard tool mode
Shift + K	Shift + K	Slice tool
Z	Z	Zoom tool
Ctrl + 1	Cmd + 1	Magnify 100 percent
X	X	Fill
Shift X	Shift X	Swap fill and stroke styles
Selection Shortcuts
Shift + Click	Shift + Click	Select multiple objects
Ctrl + A	Cmd + A	Select all
Shift + Ctrl + A	Shift + Cmd + A	Deselect all
Ctrl + 6	Cmd + 6	Reselect
Ctrl + G	Cmd + G	Group objects
Alt + Ctrl + ]	Option + Cmd + ]	Select object above current selection
Alt + Ctrl + [	Option + Cmd + [	Select object below current selection
Ctrl + Double click	Cmd + Double click	Select object behind
Arrow keys	Arrow keys	Move selection
Shift + Arrow keys	Shift + Arrow keys	Move selection 10 points
Alt + drag	Option + drag	Duplicate selection
Shift + Ctrl + B	Shift + Cmd + B	Hide bounding box for selected item
Alt + Shift + Ctrl + 3	Option + Shift + Cmd + 3	Hide unselected items
Shift + Ctrl + O	Shift + Cmd + O	Create outlines from type
Editing Tools Shortcuts
Shift + Drag handlebars	Shift + Drag handlebars	Expand or shrink object proportionally
Spacebar + Drag	Spacebar + Drag	Move and position shape while drawing it
]	]	Increase size of brush, text, etc.
[	[	Decrease size of brush, text, etc.
Alt	Option	Draw shape starting from its center
Shift (when drawing or rotating)	Shift (when drawing or rotating)	Snap line or object to vertical, horizontal, or diagonal position
Ctrl + 7	Cmd + 7	Create clipping mask
Alt + Ctrl + 7	Option + Cmd + 7	Remove clipping mask
X	X	Switch between stroke and fill
D	D	Revert stroke and fill to default settings
/	/	Set no stroke or fill
Ctrl + /	Cmd + /	Add new fill
Alt + Ctrl + /	Option + Cmd + /	Add new stroke
Shift + Eyedropper tool	Shift + Eyedropper tool	Sample color from an image
Ctrl + I	Cmd + I	Check spelling
Panels Shortcuts
Tab	Tab	Show or hide all panels
Shift + F7	Shift + F7	Align panel
Shift + F6	Shift + F6	Appearance panel
Ctrl + F11	Cmd + F11	Attributes panel
F5	F5	Brushes panel
F6	F6	Color panel
Shift + F3	Shift + F3	Color Guide panel
Ctrl + F9	Cmd + F9	Gradient panel
Shift + F5	Shift + F5	Graphic Styles panel
Ctrl + F8	Cmd + F8	Info panel
F7	F7	Layers panel
Shift + Ctrl + F9	Shift + Cmd + F9	Pathfinder panel
Ctrl + F10	Cmd + F10	Stroke panel
Shift + Ctrl + F11	Shift + Cmd + F11	Symbols panel
Shift + F8	Shift + F8	Transform panel
Shift + Ctrl + F10	Shift + Cmd + F10	Transparency panel

Useful Illustrator Tips and Templates

Learning the shortcuts above will help to make graphic design with Adobe Illustrator a whole lot easier. But that’s only the beginning. Check out our guide to the best free Illustrator templates, as well as these essential Illustrator tips to help you design faster.

Image Credit: NordWood Themes on Unsplash

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