Adobe Illustrator is an incredibly powerful app, but it can be difficult to navigate. With so many menus and toolbars, it's hard to find your way around. Fortunately, it offers a huge number of keyboard shortcuts to help speed up your workflow.

In this cheat sheet we've compiled some of the best Illustrator shortcuts, for both Windows and Mac. They'll help you quickly find the most important tools and panels, work more efficiently with complex documents, and access some hidden features that will get you designing faster than ever.

FREE DOWNLOAD: This cheat sheet is available as a downloadable PDF from our distribution partner, TradePub. You will have to complete a short form to access it for the first time only. Download The Adobe Illustrator Keyboard Shortcuts Cheat Sheet.

Adobe Illustrator Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut (Win)

Shortcut (Mac)

Action

Basic Shortcuts

Ctrl + N

Cmd + N

Create new document

Alt + Ctrl + N

Option + Cmd + N

Skip New Document dialog box

Shift + Ctrl + N

Shift + Cmd + N

Create document from a template

Ctrl + S

Cmd + S

Save document

Alt + Ctrl + E

Option + Cmd + E

Export document for screens

Alt + Shift + Ctrl + P

Option + Shift + Cmd + P

Package document

Ctrl + P

Cmd + P

Print

Ctrl + Z

Cmd + Z

Undo

Shift + Ctrl + Z

Shift + Cmd + Z

Redo

Ctrl + X

Cmd + X

Cut

Ctrl + C

Cmd + C

Copy

Ctrl + V

Cmd + V

Paste

Shift + Ctrl + B

Shift + Cmd + B

Paste in place

Ctrl + F

Cmd + F

Paste in front of selected item

Ctrl + B

Cmd + B

Paste behind selected item

Shift + Ctrl + P

Shift + Cmd + P

Place an existing file into document

Ctrl + L

Cmd + L

Add new layer

Alt + Ctrl + L

Option + Cmd + L

Add new layer with the New Layer dialog box

Alt + Click layer name

Option + Click layer name

Select all objects on a layer

Alt + Click Eye icon

Option + Click Eye icon

Show or hide all other layers

Alt + Click Lock icon

Option + Click Lock icon

Lock or unlock all other layers

View Shortcuts

F

F

Switch between screen modes
(Normal, Full Screen, etc.)

Esc

Esc

Exit Full Screen mode

Shift + Ctrl + H

Shift + Cmd + H

Show or hide artboards

Ctrl + R

Cmd + R

Show or hide rulers

Ctrl + U

Cmd + U

Show or hide smart guides

Ctrl + '

Cmd + '

Show or hide grid

Shift + Ctrl + '

Shift + Cmd + '

Turn Snap to Grid on or off

Alt + Ctrl + '

Option + Cmd + '

Turn Snap to Point on or off

Ctrl + =

Cmd + =

Zoom in

Ctrl + -

Cmd + -

Zoom out

Ctrl + 0

Cmd + 0

Fit to window

Ctrl + 1

Cmd + 1

View actual size

Tool Shortcuts

Double click

Double click

View settings for selected tool

H

H

Hand tool

Spacebar

Spacebar

Use Hand tool when not entering text

Ctrl + Spacebar

Cmd + Spacebar

Use Hand tool while entering text

V

V

Selection tool

A

A

Direct Selection tool

Y

Y

Magic Wand tool

Q

Q

Lasso tool

P

P

Pen tool

+

+

Add anchor point

-

-

Delete anchor point

Shift + C

Shift + C

Anchor Point tool

Shift + ~

Shift + ~

Curvature tool

T

T

Type tool

Shift + T

Shift + T

Touch Type tool

\

\

Line Segment tool

M

M

Rectangle tool

L

L

Ellipse tool

B

B

Paintbrush tool

Shift + B

Shift + B

Blob Brush tool

N

N

Pencil tool

Shift + N

Shift + N

Shaper tool

Shift + E

Shift + E

Eraser tool

C

C

Scissors tool

R

R

Rotate tool

O

O

Reflect tool

S

S

Scale tool

Shift + W

Shift + W

Width tool

Shift + R

Shift + R

Warp tool

E

E

Free Transform tool

Shift + M

Shift + M

Shape Builder tool

K

K

Live Paint Bucket

Shift + L

Shift + L

Live Paint Bucket Selection tool

Shift + P

Shift + P

Perspective Grid tool

Shift + V

Shift + V

Perspective Selection tool

U

U

Mesh tool

G

G

Gradient tool

I

I

Eyedropper tool

W

W

Blend tool

Shift + S

Shift + S

Symbol Sprayer tool

J

J

Column Graph tool

Shift + O

Shift + O

Artboard tool

Esc

Esc

Exit Artboard tool mode

Shift + K

Shift + K

Slice tool

Z

Z

Zoom tool

Ctrl + 1

Cmd + 1

Magnify 100 percent

X

X

Fill

Shift X

Shift X

Swap fill and stroke styles

Selection Shortcuts

Shift + Click

Shift + Click

Select multiple objects

Ctrl + A

Cmd + A

Select all

Shift + Ctrl + A

Shift + Cmd + A

Deselect all

Ctrl + 6

Cmd + 6

Reselect

Ctrl + G

Cmd + G

Group objects

Alt + Ctrl + ]

Option + Cmd + ]

Select object above current selection

Alt + Ctrl + [

Option + Cmd + [

Select object below current selection

Ctrl + Double click

Cmd + Double click

Select object behind

Arrow keys

Arrow keys

Move selection

Shift + Arrow keys

Shift + Arrow keys

Move selection 10 points

Alt + drag

Option + drag

Duplicate selection

Shift + Ctrl + B

Shift + Cmd + B

Hide bounding box for selected item

Alt + Shift + Ctrl + 3

Option + Shift + Cmd + 3

Hide unselected items

Shift + Ctrl + O

Shift + Cmd + O

Create outlines from type

Editing Tools Shortcuts

Shift + Drag handlebars

Shift + Drag handlebars

Expand or shrink object proportionally

Spacebar + Drag

Spacebar + Drag

Move and position shape while drawing it

]

]

Increase size of brush, text, etc.

[

[

Decrease size of brush, text, etc.

Alt

Option

Draw shape starting from its center

Shift (when drawing or rotating)

Shift (when drawing or rotating)

Snap line or object to vertical, horizontal, or diagonal position

Ctrl + 7

Cmd + 7

Create clipping mask

Alt + Ctrl + 7

Option + Cmd + 7

Remove clipping mask

X

X

Switch between stroke and fill

D

D

Revert stroke and fill to default settings

/

/

Set no stroke or fill

Ctrl + /

Cmd + /

Add new fill

Alt + Ctrl + /

Option + Cmd + /

Add new stroke

Shift + Eyedropper tool

Shift + Eyedropper tool

Sample color from an image

Ctrl + I

Cmd + I

Check spelling

Panels Shortcuts

Tab

Tab

Show or hide all panels

Shift + F7

Shift + F7

Align panel

Shift + F6

Shift + F6

Appearance panel

Ctrl + F11

Cmd + F11

Attributes panel

F5

F5

Brushes panel

F6

F6

Color panel

Shift + F3

Shift + F3

Color Guide panel

Ctrl + F9

Cmd + F9

Gradient panel

Shift + F5

Shift + F5

Graphic Styles panel

Ctrl + F8

Cmd + F8

Info panel

F7

F7

Layers panel

Shift + Ctrl + F9

Shift + Cmd + F9

Pathfinder panel

Ctrl + F10

Cmd + F10

Stroke panel

Shift + Ctrl + F11

Shift + Cmd + F11

Symbols panel

Shift + F8

Shift + F8

Transform panel

Shift + Ctrl + F10

Shift + Cmd + F10

Transparency panel

Useful Illustrator Tips and Templates

Learning the shortcuts above will help to make graphic design with Adobe Illustrator a whole lot easier. But that's only the beginning. Check out our guide to the best free Illustrator templates, as well as these essential Illustrator tips to help you design faster.

Image Credit: NordWood Themes on Unsplash