Best Keyboard shortcuts for PowerPoint

Using keyboard shortcuts is a major step towards becoming a PowerPoint power user. Below is the list of most keyboard shortcuts. Take a moment to learn them once, it will give you extra productivity that will be really worth it in the long run.

Rule to read shortcuts:

• Keys are separated by a "+" sign if they need to be pressed simultaneously

• Keys are separated by a "-" sign if they need to be press successively

File management

CTRL+N : Create new presentation

CTRL+O : Open new presentation

CTRL+S : Save

F12 : Save as

CTRL+W : Close presentation

ALT+F4 : Close application

CTRL+NextPage / PreviousPage : Move to the next / previous slide

CTRL+M : Insert new slide

Copy and paste

CTRL+C : Copy

CTRL+V : Paste

CTRL+X : Cut

CTRL+D : Duplicate

Cancel and repeat

CTRL+Z : Cancel

CTRL+Y : Cancel cancellation

F4 : Repeat last action

Formatting shortcuts

CTRL+B : Bold

CTRL+U : Underline

CTRL+I : Italic

CTRL+SHIFT+" + " : Superscript

CTRL+SHIFT+C : Copy selection format

CTRL+SHIFT+V : Paste copied format

SHIFT+F3 : Change letter case

CTRL+^ : Increase font size

CTRL+] : Decrease font size

Selection shortcuts

CTRL+A : Select all

CTRL+Left/Right Arrows : Move one word to the left/right

CTRL+Up/Down Arrows : Move one paragraph up or down

SHIFT+Left/Right Arrows : Extend selection by one character to the left/right

SHIFT+Up/Down Arrows : Extend selection by one line up/down

CTRL+SHIFT+Left/Right Arrows : Extend selection by one word to the left/right

CTRL+SHIFT+Up/Down Arrows : Extend selection by one paragraph up/down

ALT+SHIFT+Up/Down Arrows : Move items up or down in a bulleted or numbered list

ALT+SHIFT+Right/Left Arrows : Move text to the sub/up levels defined in the placeholder

F8 Activate : Selection Mode

Text shortcuts

CTRL+F : Find

CTRL+H : Replace

Backspace : Delete one character to the left

CTRL+Backspace : Delete one word to the left

SHIFT+F10 : Contextual menu (=right click)

F7 : Run a Spelling and Grammar Check

Shape shorcuts in ppt

SHIFT+Arrows : Resize selected shapes (big change)

SHIFT+CTRL+Arrows : Resize selected shapes (small change)

Alt+Right Arrow : Rotate clockwise (big change)

Alt+Left Arrow : Rotate counterclockwise (big change)

Alt+CTRL+Right Arrow : Rotate clockwise (small change)

Alt+CTRL+Left Arrow : Rotate counterclockwise (small change)

CTRL+G : Group shapes

CTRL+SHIFT+G : Ungroup shapes

Slide show shortcuts in ppt

F5 : Launch slide show

SHIFT+F5 : Launch slide show from current slide

B : In slide show mode, this will turn the screen black

G : In slide show mode, show all slides as miniatures

Windows shortcuts

Windows+D : Go to desktop

Windows+E : Open Computer

Windows+V : Open Clipboard history

Windows+L : Lock computer

Windows+H : Launch speech-to-text

Windows+SHIFT+S : Launch screen snipping tool

Windows+V : Open clipboard

Windows+Arrow : Move a window to corresponding corner of the screen

Windows+. : Insert emoji and animated Gifs

Alt+Left Arrow : Move to previous folder

Alt+Up Arrow : Move to parent folder

CTRL+T : Open new tab

CTRL+W : Close current tab

CLTR+SHIFT+T : Re-open the last closed tab

Alt+F4 : Close current program

CTRL + P : Print

Create custom keyboard shortcuts for Powerpoint

If you are missing the ability to create custom shortcuts for buttons like Align Left or Distribute Horizontally in PowerPoint, you may want to check how to to set up a custom keyboard shortcut, using the Power-user add-in.

Power-user includes many advanced features for PowerPoint, Excel and Word, including a "Command Center" where you can set up your own shortcut keys.

Want to learn more shortcuts? Check also our list of the best keyboard shortcuts for Excel and for Word.