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All the best microsoft powerpoint keyboard shortcuts.
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General program shortcuts, selecting and navigating text, objects, and slides, formatting and editing, helpful slideshow shortcuts.
Even if you’re familiar with Microsoft PowerPoint, you might be surprised by the number and variety of keyboard shortcuts you can use to speed up your work and generally make things more convenient.
Now, does anyone expect you to memorize all these keyboard combos? Of course not! Everyone’s needs are different, so some will be more useful to you than others. And even if you pick up a few new tricks, it’s worth it. We’ve also tried to keep the list clean and simple, so go ahead and print it that helps!
Also, even though our list of shortcuts here is pretty long, it’s by no means a complete list of every keyboard combo available in PowerPoint. We’ve tried to keep it to the more generally useful shortcuts. And, you’ll be happy to know that almost all of these shortcuts have been around for a long time, so they should be helpful no matter what version of PowerPoint you’re using.
Note: We present keyboard combos using the following convention. A plus means you should press those keys together. A comma means you should press keys in sequence. So, for example, "Ctrl+N" means to hold down the Ctrl key while pressing the N key and then release both keys. On the other hand, "Alt+N,P" means you should hold the Alt key down, press the N key, release the N key, press the P key, and then release all keys.
First, let's review some general keyboard shortcuts for opening, closing, and switching between presentations, as well as navigating the Ribbon.
- Ctrl+N: Create a new presentation
- Ctrl+O: Open an existing presentation
- Ctrl+S: Save a presentation
- F12 or Alt+F2: Open the Save As dialog box
- Ctrl+W or Ctrl+F4: Close a presentation
- Ctrl+Q: Save and close a presentation
- Ctrl+Z: Undo an action
- Ctrl+Y: Redo an action
- Ctrl+F2: Print Preview View
- F1: Open the Help pane
- Alt+Q: Go to the “Tell me what you want to do” box
- F7: Check spelling
- Alt or F10: Turn key tips on or off
- Ctrl+F1: Show or hide the ribbon
- Ctrl+F: Search in a presentation or use Find and Replace
- Alt+F: Open the File tab menu
- Alt+H: Go to the Home tab
- Alt+N: Open the Insert tab
- Alt+G: Open the Design tab
- Alt+K: Go to the Transitions tab
- Alt+A: Go to the Animations tab
- Alt+S: Go to the Slide Show tab
- Alt+R: Go to the Review tab
- Alt+W: Go to View tab
- Alt+X: Go to the Add-ins tab
- Alt+Y: Go to the Help tab
- Ctrl+Tab: Switch between open presentations
You can use keyboard shortcuts to navigate throughout your presentation easily. Try these shortcuts for quick and easy ways to select text within text boxes, objects on your slides, or slides in your presentation.
- Ctrl+A: Select all text in a text box, all objects on a slide, or all slides in a presentation (for the latter, click on a slide thumbnail first)
- Tab: Select or move 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
- PgDn: Go to the next slide
- PgUp: Go the previous slide
- Ctrl+Up/Down Arrow: Move a slide up or down in your presentation (click on a slide thumbnail first)
- Ctrl+Shift+Up/Down Arrow: Move a slide to the beginning or end of your presentation (click on a slide thumbnail first)
The following keyboard shortcuts will save you time so you can edit and format in a snap!
- Ctrl+X: Cut selected text, selected object(s), or selected slide(s)
- Ctrl+C or Ctrl+Insert: Copy selected text, selected object(s), or selected slide(s)
- Ctrl+V or Shift+Insert: Paste 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)
- Ctrl+B: Add or remove bold to selected text
- Ctrl+I: Add or remove italics to selected text
- Ctrl+U: Add or remove underline to selected text
- Ctrl+E: Center a paragraph
- Ctrl+J: Justify a paragraph
- Ctrl+L: Left align a paragraph
- Ctrl+R: Right align a paragraph
- Ctrl+T: Open the Font dialog box when text or object is selected
- Alt+W,Q: Open the Zoom dialog box to change the zoom for the slide
- Alt+N,P: Insert a picture
- Alt+H,S,H: Insert a shape
- Alt+H,L: Select a slide layout
- Ctrl+K: Insert a hyperlink
- Ctrl+M: Insert a new slide
- Ctrl+D: Duplicate the selected object or slide (for the latter, click on a slide thumbnail first)
When you're ready to start a presentation, the following keyboard combos should come in handy.
- F5: Start the presentation from the beginning
- Shift+F5: Start the presentation from the current slide (this one is great when you want to test out how the slide your currently working on will look in your presentation)
- Ctrl+P: Annotate with the Pen tool during a slideshow
- N or Page Down: Advance to the next slide during a slideshow
- P or Page Up: Return to the previous slide during a slide show
- B: Change the screen to black during a slideshow; press B again to return to the slideshow
- Esc: End the slideshow
The more you use keyboard shortcuts, the easier they are to remember. And no one expects you to memorize all of them. Hopefully, you've found a few new ones you can use to make your life in Excel a little better.
Need more help with keyboard shortcuts? You can access Help anytime by pressing F1. This opens a Help pane and allows you to search for help on any topic. Search for "keyboard shortcuts" to learn more.
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50 + PowerPoint Keyboard Shortcuts
- Fiona Walsh
- September 30, 2024
In this post, we focus on PowerPoint keyboard shortcuts. Here are over 50 useful shortcuts for PowerPoint;
Getting Started
Create a new presentation – Ctrl + N
Open an existing presentation – Ctrl + O
Save As – Ctrl + Shift + S
Print your presentation – Ctrl + P
Cancel a command, e.g. Print – Esc
Editing Slides
Insert a new slide – Ctrl + M
Undo and Redo – Ctrl + Z undoes your last action, and Ctrl + Y will redo your last action
Copy a slide, text, or other object – Ctrl + C
Paste a slide, text, or other object – Ctrl + V
Open the Clipboard to see previously copied items – Windows + V
Delete a selected slide, text, or other object – Delete
Move a slide up one slide – Ctrl + Up Arrow
Move a slide down one slide – Ctrl + Down Arrow
Move a slide to the start of the presentation – Ctrl + Shift + Up Arrow
Move a slide to the end of the presentation – Ctrl + Shift + Down Arrow
Repeat the last action – F4 or Function + F4, depending on your keyboard
Zoom out – Ctrl and turn the mouse wheel towards you
Zoom in – Ctrl and turn the mouse wheel away from you
Make a copy of the selected slide – Ctrl + Shift + D
Duplicate selected objects – Ctrl + D or Ctrl + Drag and release your mouse
Copy the formatting of the selected object or text – Ctrl + Shift + C
Paste copied formatting to the selected object or text – Ctrl + Shift + V
Copy animation painter – Alt + Shift + C
Paste animation painter – Alt + Shift + V
Select another object when one object is already selected – Tab
Send object to back – Ctrl + Shift + [
Send object to front – Ctrl + Shift + ]
Select all objects on a slide – Ctrl + A
Group selected objects – Ctrl + G
Ungroup selected group – Ctrl + Shift + G
Regroup selected objects – Ctrl + Shift + J
Rotate selected objects clockwise by 15 degrees – Alt + Left Arrow
Rotate selected objects anticlockwise by 15 degrees – Alt + Right Arrow
Play or pause media – Ctrl + Spacebar
Insert a hyperlink – Ctrl + K
Insert a new comment – Ctrl + Alt + M
Insert an equation – Alt + =
Presenting with PowerPoint
To start a presentation from the first slide – F5
To start a presentation from the current slide – Shift + F5
Go to the next slide or start the next animation – N, or Enter, or Spacebar, Page Down, Right Arrow, or Down Arrow
Go back to the previous slide or animation – P, or Page Up, or Left Arrow, or Up Arrow
Go to the first slide – Home
Go to the last slide – End
Go to a specific slide – enter the slide number followed by Enter, e.g. 10 + Enter to go to slide number 10
Switch between the presentation and a black or white screen (to bring focus back to the presenter) – B, or W
Start the laser pointer – Ctrl + L
Annotate the presentation with a pen – Ctrl + P
Erase annotations – E
Hide the pointer and navigation controls (laser pointer or pen) – Ctrl + H
End a presentation – Escape
For custom keyboard shortcuts, press and release the Alt key and you will see Access Keys, a series of letters and numbers on the Ribbon. Access Keys are an accessibility tool, and while they are essential for some, they are useful for all! Press the corresponding key on your keyboard and you will be taken to the Tab you have chosen and shown a new series of letters for the Tab. For example, if you want to open the Animation Pane, press the Alt key, then A, and, finally C.
Image of Access Keys on The PowerPoint Ribbon
Thank you for reading this post. I’d love to hear about your favourite keyboard shortcuts, and if you need assistance with PowerPoint training for your team, please get in touch!
#PowerPoint #Branding #BusinessBranding #PowerPointTraining #PresentationTraining #PassionateAboutPowerPoint #PowerPointKeyboardShortcuts #PowerPointTipsAndTricks
- Tags: Branding , Business Branding , powerpoint , PowerPoint Keyboard shortcuts , PowerPoint Tips and tricks , PowerPoint training
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