| Adjust Font Size | |
| Increase by Increment (set in Preferences) | Ctrl-Shift-> |
| Decrease by Increment | Ctrl-Shift-< |
| (add Alt to the above keystrokes to make them Increment x 5) | |
| Adjust Leading | |
| Increase by Increment (set in Preferences) | Alt-down arrow |
| Decrease by Increment | Alt-up arrow |
| (add Control to the above keystrokes to make them Increment x 5) | |
| Revert to Auto Leading | Ctrl-Alt-Shift-A |
| Adjust Kerning / Tracking & Word Spacing | |
| Increase by Increment (set in Preferences) | Alt-right arrow |
| Decrease by Increment | Alt-left arrow |
| (add Control to the above keystrokes to make them Increment x 5) | |
| Increase between words | Ctrl-Alt-Shift-\ |
| Decrease between words | Ctrl-Alt-Shift-Backspace |
| Clear all manual kerning, tracking, and word spacing | Ctrl-Alt-Q |
| Adjust Baseline Shift | |
| Move Up by Increment (set in Preferences) | Alt-Shift-up arrow |
| Move Down by Increment | Alt-Shift-down arrow |
| (add Control to the above keystrokes to make them Increment x 5) | |
| Scaling Pictures | |
| Make sure the picture content is selected (not the frame that it’s inside) | |
| Scale 5% Bigger | Ctrl-Alt-> |
| Scale 5% Smaller | Ctrl-Alt-< |
| Scale 1% Bigger | Ctrl-> |
| Scale 1% Smaller | Ctrl-< |
| Fitting Content & Pictures | |
| Fit Content Proportionally | Ctrl-Alt-Shift-E |
| Fill Frame Proportionally | Ctrl-Alt-Shift-C |
| Center Content | Ctrl-Shift-E |
| Fit Frame to Content | Ctrl-Alt-C |
| Nudging Objects | |
| Move by Increment (set in Preferences) | Any arrow key |
| Move by Increment x 10 | Shift-any arrow key |
| Move by Increment x 1/10 | Ctrl-Shift-any arrow key |
| Flowing Text | |
| Multi-Page Autoflow (creates additional pages) | Shift-click |
| Semi-autoflow (keeps text in cursor so you can continue flowing) | Alt-click |
| Fixed-Page Autoflow (does not create additional pages) | Shift-Alt-click |
| Styling Text & Working with Styles | |
| Bold | Ctrl-Shift-B |
| Italic | Ctrl-Shift-I |
| Normal | Ctrl-Shift-Y |
| All Caps | Ctrl-Shift-K |
| Edit Style Sheet without Applying it | Ctrl-Alt-Shift-Double click style |
| Redefine a Paragraph Style | Ctrl-Alt-Shift-R |
| Redefine a Character Style | Ctrl-Alt-Shift-C |
| Working with Paragraph Styles | |
| To remove local formatting (non Style changes) | Alt-click Style Name |
| To remove local formatting and Character Styles | Alt-Shift-click Style Name |
| Working with Styles | |
| Quick Apply a Style | Ctrl-Return (start typing the style name, hit Return to apply) |
| Redefine a Paragraph Style | Ctrl-Alt-Shift-R |
| Redefine a Character Style | Ctrl-Alt-Shift-C |
| Working with Master Pages | |
| Override a single master page item on a document page | Ctrl-Shift-click it |
| Override several master page items | Ctrl-Shift-drag a marquee over them |
| Override all master page items on pages selected in Pages panel | Ctrl-Alt-Shift-L |
| Insert Special Characters | |
| Indent to Here | Ctrl-\ |
| Right Indent Tab | Shift-Tab |
| Discretionary Hyphen | Ctrl-Shift-hyphen (-) |
| Nonbreaking Hyphen | Ctrl-Alt-hyphen (-) |
| Type in Single Straight Quote (Foot Mark) | Alt-' |
| Type in Double Straight Quote (Inch Mark) | Alt-Shift-' |
| Current Page Number (Auto Page Numbering) | Ctrl-Alt-Shift-N |
| Insert White Space | |
| Em space | Ctrl-Shift-M |
| En space | Ctrl-Shift-N |
| Nonbreaking space | Ctrl-Alt-X |
| Thin space | Ctrl-Alt-Shift-M |
| Insert Break Characters | |
| Column Break | Enter (on keypad) |
| Frame Break | Shift-Enter (on keypad) |
| Page Break | Ctrl-Enter (on keypad) |
| Forced Line Break (or “soft return”) | Shift-Enter |
| Moving Text Cursor | |
| Move cursor to beginning or end of line | Home or End |
| Move cursor one word to the left/right | Ctrl-Left/right arrow |
| Move cursor to Previous paragraph | Ctrl-Up Arrow |
| Move cursor to Next paragraph | Ctrl-Down Arrow |
| Selecting & Working with Text | |
| Leave Text Frame and switch to Selection tool | Esc |
| Select from cursor to beginning or end of line | Shift-Home or Shift-End |
| Select from cursor to end of story | Ctrl-Shift-End |
| Select from cursor to beginning of story | Ctrl-Shift-Home |
| Select whole word | Double-click |
| Select line | Ctrl-Shift-\ (or Triple-click) |
| Select one word to the left/right | Ctrl-Shift-Left/Right arrow |
| Navigating & Scrolling Through Documents | |
| Scroll using Hand tool | Alt-Spacebar-Drag |
| Go to the First Page | Ctrl-Shift-Page Up |
| Go to the Last Page | Ctrl-Shift-Page Down |
| Go to Page (then type in page number) | Ctrl-J |
| Switch between open Documents | Ctrl-tilde(~) |
| Zooming | |
| Get the Zoom in tool without selecting it | Hold Ctrl then Space |
| Get the Zoom out tool without selecting it | Hold Ctrl then Space and Alt |
| Zoom In or Out | Ctrl-plus(+) or Ctrl-minus(–) |
| Fit Page in Window | Ctrl-0 (zero) |
| Fit Spread in Window | Ctrl-Alt-0 (zero) |
| Access zoom percentage box (so you can enter a zoom level) | Ctrl-Alt-5 |
| Toggle between current and previous zoom levels | Ctrl-Alt-2 |
| Find / Change | |
| Insert selected text into Find What box | Ctrl-F1 |
| Insert selected text into Find What box and then Find Next instance | Shift-F1 |
| Find the next occurrence of Find What text | Shift-F2 or Ctrl-Alt-F |
| Insert selected text into Change To box | Ctrl-F2 |
| Replace selected text with Change To text | Ctrl-F3 |
| Replace selected text with Change To text and Find Next | Shift-F3 |
| Working with Panels | |
| Highlight the first option in the Control panel | Ctrl-6 |
| Toggle Control panel between Character & Paragraph options | Ctr-Alt-7 |
| Apply a value but keep it highlighted in panel | Shift-Enter |
| Show/Hide all Panels including Toolbox | Tab (while not in a text frame) |
| Show/Hide all Panels except the Toolbox | Shift-Tab (while not in a text frame) |
| Expand/Collapse Panel Stacks | Ctrl-Alt-Shift-Tab (while not in a text frame) |
| Create new (style, swatches, etc) & display options dialog | Alt-click New button |
| Working with Dialog Boxes | |
| Rotate down through section of options displayed on the left | Page Down |
| Rotate up through section of options displayed on the left | Page Up |
| Jump to section of options displayed on the left | Ctrl-1 for 1st, Ctrl-2 for 2nd, etc. |
| Choose Yes or No | Y or N |
| Miscellaneous Good stuff | |
| Select frame hidden behind another | Hold Ctrl and keep clicking frame stack |
| Increase/decrease a value in a field | Click in field, press up/down arrow |
| Tabs panel: Move Left Indent (triangle) without moving First Line Indent | Hold Shift while dragging the (bottom) triangle |
| Select all Guides | Ctrl-Alt-G |
| Select an Individual Table Cell | With Type tool, click in cell and hit Esc |
| Quick Apply | Press Ctrl-Enter. Then start typing a style name, menu item, text variable, etc. Then press Enter to apply. |
| Sort Menus Alphabetically | Hold Ctrl-Alt-Shift and click on Menu |
| Toggle Typographer’s Quotes preference | Ctrl-Alt-Shift-' |
InDesign CS4 Shortcuts: PC
Keyboard Shortcuts
Here are many keyboard shortcuts for InDesign CS4, including lesser known and hidden keystrokes!
