How many keyboard shortcuts does Illustrator have on macOS?

Illustrator has 248 keyboard shortcuts on macOS, organized into 23 sections: File Operations, Tools (single-key), Edit & Selection, Arrange, and more. This page lists all of them with searchable, organized shortcut tables.

What are the most important Illustrator shortcuts for designers?

Focus on tool selection shortcuts first (single-key shortcuts like V for Move, R for Rectangle, T for Text) since they’re used constantly. Then learn grouping, alignment, and layer ordering shortcuts. In Illustrator, combining keyboard tool selection with mouse positioning is the fastest way to work.

Can I download Illustrator shortcuts as a PDF?

Yes. Click the download button at the top of this page to generate a printable PDF cheat sheet with all 248 Illustrator shortcuts. The PDF includes organized sections, keycap-style key labels, and space for your own notes.

Where is the official Illustrator keyboard shortcuts documentation?

The official Illustrator keyboard shortcuts documentation is available on their website. Every shortcut on this page is sourced from and verified against the official documentation to ensure accuracy.

Do these Illustrator shortcuts work on all Mac keyboards?

Yes. These shortcuts work on all Mac keyboards, including MacBook built-in keyboards and external Apple keyboards. The modifier keys are Command (⌘), Option (⌥), Control (⌃), and Shift (⇧). On keyboards without a Function row, some F-key shortcuts may require holding the Fn key.

Illustrator Shortcuts

Design248 shortcuts · 23 sections

/

This page is a complete keyboard shortcut reference for Illustrator on macOS, covering all 248 shortcuts organized into 23 sections. Whether you’re new to Illustrator or looking to master advanced features, this cheat sheet has every key combination you need — from basic editing and navigation to app-specific power-user actions.

Keyboard shortcuts are the fastest way to work in Illustrator. Every time you use a shortcut instead of reaching for the mouse, you save a few seconds — and those seconds compound into hours over weeks and months. Start with the shortcuts you use most (copy, paste, undo, save), then gradually add app-specific ones as they become relevant to your workflow. Bookmark this page or download the PDF cheat sheet for quick reference.

Using keyboard shortcuts in Illustrator reduces context switching between keyboard and mouse, helping you maintain focus and work more efficiently. Research shows that shortcut-driven workflows can save up to 8 working days per year compared to menu-driven navigation. On macOS, most Illustrator shortcuts follow standard conventions — once you learn the modifier key patterns, new shortcuts become intuitive.

Tips for Learning Shortcuts

Practice one new Illustrator shortcut each day. Muscle memory builds faster when you focus on a single combination at a time rather than trying to learn them all at once.
Print or bookmark this page for quick reference while working in Illustrator. Having shortcuts visible nearby helps bridge the gap between looking them up and recalling them from memory.
Start with the shortcuts you use most. In Illustrator, common actions like copy, paste, undo, and save are worth learning first since they apply across nearly every workflow.

File Operations5

Action	Shortcut
New Document	`⌘N`
Open File	`⌘O`
Save	`⌘S`
Save As	`⇧⌘S`
Export As	`⇧⌘E`

Tools (single-key)14

Action	Shortcut
Selection Tool	`V`
Direct Selection	`A`
Pen Tool	`P`
Type Tool	`T`
Ellipse Tool	`L`
Rectangle Tool	`M`
Paintbrush	`B`
Pencil Tool	`N`
Free Transform tool	`E`
Rotate Tool	`R`
Scale Tool	`S`
Eyedropper	`I`
Zoom Tool	`Z`
Hand Tool	`H`

Edit & Selection5

Action	Shortcut
Select All	`⌘A`
Deselect All	`⇧⌘A`
Group	`⌘G`
Ungroup	`⇧⌘G`
Join Paths	`⌘J`

Arrange9

Action	Shortcut
Bring Forward	`⌘]`
Send Backward	`⌘[`
Bring To Front	`⇧⌘]`
Send To Back	`⇧⌘[`
Lock Selection	`⌘2`
Unlock All	`⌥⌘2`
Hide Selection	`⌘3`
Show All	`⌥⌘3`
Make Clipping Mask	`⌘7`

View7

Action	Shortcut
Zoom In	`⌘+`
Zoom Out	`⌘-`
Fit Artboard In Window	`⌘0`
Actual Size	`⌘1`
Toggle Outline Preview	`⌘Y`
Show Grid	`⌘'`
Show Guides	`⌘;`

Type3

Action	Shortcut
Increase Font Size	`⇧⌘>`
Decrease Font Size	`⇧⌘<`
Create Outlines	`⇧⌘O`

Popular shortcuts13

Action	Shortcut
Undo	`⌘Z`
Redo	`⇧⌘Z`
Cut	`⌘X`
Copy	`⌘C`
Paste	`⌘V`
Paste in front	`⌘F`
Paste at back	`⌘B`
Paste in place	`⇧⌘B`
Paste on all artboards	`⌥⇧⌘B`
Check spelling	`⌘I`
Open Color Settings	`⇧⌘K`
Keyboard Shortcuts	`⌥⇧⌘K`
Preferences	`⌘K`

Work with documents14

Action	Shortcut
New from template	`⇧⌘N`
New document (no dialog)	`⌥⌘N`
Place file	`⇧⌘P`
File Information	`⌥⇧⌘I`
Document Setup	`⌥⌘P`
Browse in Adobe Bridge	`⌥⌘O`
Close document	`⌘W`
Save a copy	`⌥⌘S`
Save as script files	`⌘F12`
Export for Screens	`⌥⌘E`
Save for Web	`⌥⇧⌘S`
Package document	`⌥⇧⌘P`
Print	`⌘P`
Quit	`⌘Q`

Select tools27

Action	Shortcut
Artboard tool	`⇧O`
Magic Wand tool	`Y`
Lasso tool	`Q`
Curvature tool	`⇧~`
Blob Brush tool	`⇧B`
Add Anchor Point tool	`+`
Delete Anchor Point tool	`-`
Anchor Point tool	`⇧C`
Touch Type tool	`⇧T`
Line Segment tool	`\\`
Shaper tool	`⇧N`
Reflect tool	`O`
Warp tool	`⇧R`
Width tool	`⇧W`
Shape Builder tool	`⇧M`
Perspective Grid tool	`⇧P`
Perspective Selection tool	`⇧V`
Symbol Sprayer tool	`⇧S`
Column Graph tool	`J`
Mesh tool	`U`
Gradient tool	`G`
Blend tool	`W`
Live Paint Bucket tool	`K`
Live Paint Selection tool	`⇧L`
Slice tool	`⇧K`
Eraser Tool	`⇧E`
Scissors tool	`C`

View artwork26

Action	Shortcut
Toggle screen modes	`F`
Switch to Hand tool	`Space`
Hide bounding box	`⌃⇧B`
Hide unselected artwork	`⌥⇧⌘3`
Show document template	`⌘H`
Show/hide artboards	`⇧⌘H`
Show/hide artboard rulers	`⌥⌘R`
Show transparency grid	`⇧⌘D`
View all artboards in window	`⌥⌘0`
Paste in place on active artboard	`⇧⌘V`
Exit Artboard tool mode	`Esc`
Next document	`⌘F6`
Previous document	`⇧⌘F6`
Next document group	`⌥⌘F6`
Previous document group	`⌥⇧⌘F6`
Toggle GPU/CPU preview	`⌘E`
Overprint Preview mode	`⌥⇧⌘Y`
Pixel Preview mode	`⌥⌘Y`
Zoom in	`⌘=`
Lock guides	`⌥⌘;`
Make guides	`⌘5`
Release guides	`⌃⌥5`
Show/hide smart guides	`⌘U`
Show/hide perspective grid	`⇧⌘I`
Snap to grid	`⇧⌘'`
Snap to point	`⌥⌘'`

Work with selections7

Action	Shortcut
Last-used selection tool	`⌘``
Cross hair pointer for Lasso	`Caps Lock`
Select artwork in active artboard	`⌥⌘A`
Reselect	`⌘6`
Select object above	`⌥⌘]`
Select object below	`⌥⌘[`
Lock all deselected artwork	`⌥⇧⌘2`

Draw10

Action	Shortcut
Increase Blob Brush size	`]`
Decrease Blob Brush size	`[`
Switch drawing modes	`⇧D`
Join Paths	`⌘J`
Average paths	`⌥⌘J`
Create corner or smooth join	`⌥⇧⌘J`
Create compound path	`⌘8`
Release compound path	`⌥⇧⌘8`
Edit pattern	`⇧⌘F8`
Repeat transform	`⌘D`

Edit shapes7

Action	Shortcut
Increase symbol intensity	`⇧}`
Decrease symbol intensity	`⇧{`
Blend objects	`⌥⌘B`
Finish adding to blend	`⌥⇧⌘B`
Warp envelope distort	`⌥⇧⌘W`
Mesh envelope distort	`⌥⌘M`
Object envelope distort	`⌥⌘C`

Work with objects14

Action	Shortcut
Apply last Pathfinder effect	`⌘4`
Move object	`⇧⌘M`
Transform Each	`⌥⇧⌘D`
Release clipping mask	`⌥⌘7`
Toggle fill and stroke	`X`
Default fill and stroke	`D`
Swap fill and stroke	`⇧X`
Gradient fill mode	`>`
Hide gradient annotator	`⌥⌘G`
Color fill mode	`<`
No fill/stroke mode	`/`
Add new fill	`⌘/`
Add new stroke	`⌥⌘/`
Make Live Paint	`⌥⌘X`

Create variable width points1

Action	Shortcut
Delete width point	`Delete`

Work with type53

Action	Shortcut
Move character right/left	`→`
Move up/down one line	`↑`
Move word right/left	`⌘→`
Move up/down one paragraph	`⌘↑`
Select word right/left	`⇧⌘→`
Select paragraph before/after	`⇧⌘↑`
Align left	`⇧⌘L`
Align right	`⇧⌘R`
Align center	`⇧⌘C`
Justify text left	`⇧⌘J`
Justify all lines	`⇧⌘F`
Insert soft return	`⇧↩`
Highlight kerning	`⌥⌘K`
Reset horizontal scale to 100%	`⇧⌘X`
Increase font size	`⇧⌘.`
Decrease font size	`⇧⌘,`
Increase font size by steps	`⌥⇧⌘.`
Decrease font size by steps	`⌥⇧⌘,`
Increase leading	`⌥Up`
Decrease leading	`⌥Down`
Reset tracking/kerning to 0	`⌥⌘Q`
Increase kerning/tracking	`⌥Right`
Decrease kerning/tracking	`⌥Left`
Increase kerning/tracking by 5x	`⌥⌘Right`
Decrease kerning/tracking by 5x	`⌥⌘Left`
Increase baseline shift	`⌥⇧Up`
Decrease baseline shift	`⌥⇧Down`
Character panel	`⌘T`
Paragraph panel	`⌥⌘T`
Tabs panel	`⇧⌘T`
OpenType panel	`⌥⇧⌘T`
Insert bullet	`⌥8`
Insert copyright symbol	`⌥G`
Insert ellipsis	`⌥;`
Insert paragraph symbol	`⌥7`
Insert section symbol	`⌥6`
Insert trademark symbol	`⌥2`
Insert registered trademark	`⌥R`
Superscript	`⇧⌘=`
Subscript	`⌃⌥⇧=`
Insert em dash	`⌥⇧-`
Insert en dash	`⌥-`
Insert discretionary hyphen	`⇧⌘-`
Toggle auto-hyphenation	`⌥⇧⌘H`
Insert double left quote	`⌥[`
Insert double right quote	`⌥⇧[`
Insert single left quote	`⌥]`
Insert single right quote	`⌥⇧]`
Insert em space	`⇧⌘M`
Insert en space	`⇧⌘N`
Insert thin space	`⌥⇧⌘M`
Show hidden characters	`⌥⌘I`
Create Outlines	`⇧⌘O`

Use panels5

Action	Shortcut
Switch units of measurement	`⌥⇧⌘U`
Show/hide all panels	`Tab`
Show/hide all panels except Tools	`⇧Tab`
Increase value by fraction	`⌘Up`
Increase value by 10x	`⇧Up`

Character and Paragraph panels2

Action	Shortcut
Increase value by large increment	`⇧↑`
Highlight font name field	`⌥⇧⌘F`

Color panel1

Action	Shortcut
Open Color Guide	`⇧F3`

Layers panel2

Action	Shortcut
Add a layer	`⌘L`
Add layer with dialog	`⌥⌘L`

Transform panel2

Action	Shortcut
Apply value and copy object	`⌥↩`
Apply value and scale proportionally	`⌘↩`

Transparency panel1

Action	Shortcut
Apply last effect with dialog	`⌥⇧⌘E`

Function keys20

Action	Shortcut
Help	`F1`
Cut	`F2`
Copy	`F3`
Paste	`F4`
Show/hide Brushes panel	`F5`
Show/hide Color panel	`F6`
Show/hide Layers panel	`F7`
Create new symbol	`F8`
Show/hide Info panel	`⌘F8`
Show/hide Gradient panel	`⌘F9`
Show/hide Stroke panel	`⌘F10`
Show/hide Attributes panel	`⌘F11`
Revert	`F12`
Show/hide Graphic Styles panel	`⇧F5`
Show/hide Appearance panel	`⇧F6`
Show/hide Align panel	`⇧F7`
Show/hide Transform panel	`⇧F8`
Show/hide Pathfinder panel	`⇧⌘F9`
Show/hide Transparency panel	`⇧⌘F10`
Show/hide Symbols panel	`⇧⌘F11`

Frequently Asked Questions

Access Illustrator shortcuts from your menu bar

KeyShortcut detects the active app and shows its shortcuts instantly. No memorization needed.