Illustrator shortcuts
- 246 shortcuts
- 23 sections
- Design
- Verified against official docs
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Illustrator has two selection tools: Selection Tool selects whole objects and groups, and Direct Selection selects individual anchor points and path segments. Most edits start with picking the right one. Toggle Outline Preview shows only the paths, which makes hidden or stacked objects easy to find.
Start with these
Tips for Illustrator
- Lock Selection ⌘2 and Hide Selection ⌘3 move finished objects out of the way. Unlock All ⌥⌘2 and Show All ⌥⌘3 bring them back.
- Make Clipping Mask ⌘7 uses the top object to crop everything selected below it.
- Join Paths ⌘J connects two open end points.
Jump to section
- File Operations
- Tools (single-key)
- Edit & Selection
- Arrange
- View
- Type
- Popular shortcuts
- Work with documents
- Select tools
- View artwork
- Work with selections
- Draw
- Edit shapes
- Work with objects
- Create variable width points
- Work with type
- Use panels
- Character and Paragraph panels
- Color panel
- Layers panel
- Transform panel
- Transparency panel
- Function keys
File Operations5
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| New Document | |
| Open File | |
| Save | |
| Save As | |
| Export As |
Tools (single-key)14
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Selection Tool | |
| Direct Selection | |
| Pen Tool | |
| Type Tool | |
| Ellipse Tool | |
| Rectangle Tool | |
| Paintbrush | |
| Pencil Tool | |
| Free Transform tool | |
| Rotate Tool | |
| Scale Tool | |
| Eyedropper | |
| Zoom Tool | |
| Hand Tool |
Edit & Selection5
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Select All | |
| Deselect All | |
| Group | |
| Ungroup | |
| Join Paths |
Arrange9
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Bring Forward | |
| Send Backward | |
| Bring To Front | |
| Send To Back | |
| Lock Selection | |
| Unlock All | |
| Hide Selection | |
| Show All | |
| Make Clipping Mask |
View7
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Zoom In | |
| Zoom Out | |
| Fit Artboard In Window | |
| Actual Size | |
| Toggle Outline Preview | |
| Show Grid | |
| Show Guides |
Type3
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Increase Font Size | |
| Decrease Font Size | |
| Create Outlines |
Popular shortcuts13
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Undo | |
| Redo | |
| Cut | |
| Copy | |
| Paste | |
| Paste in front | |
| Paste at back | |
| Paste in place | |
| Paste on all artboards | |
| Check spelling | |
| Open Color Settings | |
| Keyboard Shortcuts | |
| Preferences |
Work with documents14
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| New from template | |
| New document (no dialog) | |
| Place file | |
| File Information | |
| Document Setup | |
| Browse in Adobe Bridge | |
| Close document | |
| Save a copy | |
| Save as script files | |
| Export for Screens | |
| Save for Web | |
| Package document | |
| Quit |
Select tools27
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Artboard tool | |
| Magic Wand tool | |
| Lasso tool | |
| Curvature tool | |
| Blob Brush tool | |
| Add Anchor Point tool | |
| Delete Anchor Point tool | |
| Anchor Point tool | |
| Touch Type tool | |
| Line Segment tool | |
| Shaper tool | |
| Reflect tool | |
| Warp tool | |
| Width tool | |
| Shape Builder tool | |
| Perspective Grid tool | |
| Perspective Selection tool | |
| Symbol Sprayer tool | |
| Column Graph tool | |
| Mesh tool | |
| Gradient tool | |
| Blend tool | |
| Live Paint Bucket tool | |
| Live Paint Selection tool | |
| Slice tool | |
| Eraser Tool | |
| Scissors tool |
View artwork26
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Toggle screen modes | |
| Switch to Hand tool | |
| Hide bounding box | |
| Hide unselected artwork | |
| Show document template | |
| Show/hide artboards | |
| Show/hide artboard rulers | |
| Show transparency grid | |
| View all artboards in window | |
| Paste in place on active artboard | |
| Exit Artboard tool mode | |
| Next document | |
| Previous document | |
| Next document group | |
| Previous document group | |
| Toggle GPU/CPU preview | |
| Overprint Preview mode | |
| Pixel Preview mode | |
| Zoom in | |
| Lock guides | |
| Make guides | |
| Release guides | |
| Show/hide smart guides | |
| Show/hide perspective grid | |
| Snap to grid | |
| Snap to point |
Work with selections7
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Last-used selection tool | |
| Cross hair pointer for Lasso | |
| Select artwork in active artboard | |
| Reselect | |
| Select object above | |
| Select object below | |
| Lock all deselected artwork |
Draw9
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Increase Blob Brush size | |
| Decrease Blob Brush size | |
| Switch drawing modes | |
| Average paths | |
| Create corner or smooth join | |
| Create compound path | |
| Release compound path | |
| Edit pattern | |
| Repeat transform |
Edit shapes7
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Increase symbol intensity | |
| Decrease symbol intensity | |
| Blend objects | |
| Finish adding to blend | |
| Warp envelope distort | |
| Mesh envelope distort | |
| Object envelope distort |
Work with objects14
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Apply last Pathfinder effect | |
| Move object | |
| Transform Each | |
| Release clipping mask | |
| Toggle fill and stroke | |
| Default fill and stroke | |
| Swap fill and stroke | |
| Gradient fill mode | |
| Hide gradient annotator | |
| Color fill mode | |
| No fill/stroke mode | |
| Add new fill | |
| Add new stroke | |
| Make Live Paint |
Create variable width points1
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Delete width point |
Work with type52
| 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 | |
| Align right | |
| Align center | |
| Justify text left | |
| Justify all lines | |
| Insert soft return | |
| Highlight kerning | |
| Reset horizontal scale to 100% | |
| Increase font size | |
| Decrease font size | |
| Increase font size by steps | |
| Decrease font size by steps | |
| Increase leading | |
| Decrease leading | |
| Reset tracking/kerning to 0 | |
| Increase kerning/tracking | |
| Decrease kerning/tracking | |
| Increase kerning/tracking by 5x | |
| Decrease kerning/tracking by 5x | |
| Increase baseline shift | |
| Decrease baseline shift | |
| Character panel | |
| Paragraph panel | |
| Tabs panel | |
| OpenType panel | |
| Insert bullet | |
| Insert copyright symbol | |
| Insert ellipsis | |
| Insert paragraph symbol | |
| Insert section symbol | |
| Insert trademark symbol | |
| Insert registered trademark | |
| Superscript | |
| Subscript | |
| Insert em dash | |
| Insert en dash | |
| Insert discretionary hyphen | |
| Toggle auto-hyphenation | |
| Insert double left quote | |
| Insert double right quote | |
| Insert single left quote | |
| Insert single right quote | |
| Insert em space | |
| Insert en space | |
| Insert thin space | |
| Show hidden characters |
Use panels5
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Switch units of measurement | |
| Show/hide all panels | |
| Show/hide all panels except Tools | |
| Increase value by fraction | |
| Increase value by 10x |
Character and Paragraph panels2
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Increase value by large increment | |
| Highlight font name field |
Color panel1
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Open Color Guide |
Layers panel2
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Add a layer | |
| Add layer with dialog |
Transform panel2
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Apply value and copy object | |
| Apply value and scale proportionally |
Transparency panel1
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Apply last effect with dialog |
Function keys20
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Help | |
| Cut | |
| Copy | |
| Paste | |
| Show/hide Brushes panel | |
| Show/hide Color panel | |
| Show/hide Layers panel | |
| Create new symbol | |
| Show/hide Info panel | |
| Show/hide Gradient panel | |
| Show/hide Stroke panel | |
| Show/hide Attributes panel | |
| Revert | |
| Show/hide Graphic Styles panel | |
| Show/hide Appearance panel | |
| Show/hide Align panel | |
| Show/hide Transform panel | |
| Show/hide Pathfinder panel | |
| Show/hide Transparency panel | |
| Show/hide Symbols panel |
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More Design shortcuts
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many keyboard shortcuts does Illustrator have on macOS?
Illustrator has 246 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.
Which Illustrator shortcuts should I learn first?
Start with Selection Tool (V), Direct Selection (A), Pen Tool (P), Group (⌘G), Toggle Outline Preview (⌘Y), Make Clipping Mask (⌘7). The sections on this page list the rest.
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 246 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.
Maintained by Vladik Didyk
Access Illustrator shortcuts from your menu bar
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