| Adjust Font Size |
| Increase by Increment (set in Preferences) |
Ctrl-Shift-> |
| Decrease by Increment |
Ctrl-Shift-< |
| (add Alt to the above keystrokes to make them Increment x 5) |
| Adjust Leading |
| Increase by Increment (set in Preferences) |
Alt-down arrow |
| Decrease by Increment |
Alt-up arrow |
| (add Control to the above keystrokes to make them Increment x 5) |
| Revert to Auto Leading |
Ctrl-Alt-Shift-A |
| Adjust Kerning / Tracking & Word Spacing |
| Increase by Increment (set in Preferences) |
Alt-right arrow |
| Decrease by Increment |
Alt-left arrow |
| (add Control to the above keystrokes to make them Increment x 5) |
| Increase between words |
Ctrl-Alt-Shift-\ |
| Decrease between words |
Ctrl-Alt-Shift-Backspace |
| Clear all manual kerning, tracking, and word spacing |
Ctrl-Alt-Q |
| Adjust Baseline Shift |
| Move Up by Increment (set in Preferences) |
Alt-Shift-up arrow |
| Move Down by Increment |
Alt-Shift-down arrow |
| (add Control to the above keystrokes to make them Increment x 5) |
| Scaling Pictures |
| Make sure the picture content is selected (not the frame that it's inside) |
| Scale 5% Bigger |
Ctrl-Alt-> |
| Scale 5% Smaller |
Ctrl-Alt-< |
| Scale 1% Bigger |
Ctrl-> |
| Scale 1% Smaller |
Ctrl-< |
| Fitting Content & Pictures |
| Fit Content Proportionally |
Ctrl-Alt-Shift-E |
| Fill Frame Proportionally |
Ctrl-Alt-Shift-C |
| Center Content |
Ctrl-Shift-E |
| Fit Frame to Content |
Ctrl-Alt-C |
| Nudging Objects |
| Move by Increment (set in Preferences) |
Any arrow key |
| Move by Increment x 10 |
Shift-any arrow key |
| Move by Increment x 1/10 |
Ctrl-Shift-any arrow key |
| Flowing Text |
| Multi-Page Autoflow (creates additional pages) |
Shift-click |
| Semi-autoflow (keeps text in cursor so you can continue flowing) |
Alt-click |
| Fixed-Page Autoflow (does not create additional pages) |
Shift-Alt-click |
| Styling Text & Working with Styles |
| Bold |
Ctrl-Shift-B |
| Italic |
Ctrl-Shift-I |
| Normal |
Ctrl-Shift-Y |
| All Caps |
Ctrl-Shift-K |
| Edit Style Sheet without Applying it |
Ctrl-Alt-Shift-Double click style |
| Redefine a Paragraph Style |
Ctrl-Alt–Shift-R |
| Redefine a Character Style |
Ctrl-Alt–Shift-C |
| Working with Paragraph Styles |
| To remove local formatting (non Style changes) |
Alt-click Style Name |
| To remove local formatting and Character Styles |
Alt-Shift-click Style Name |
| Working with Master Pages |
| Override a single master page item on a document page |
Ctrl-Shift-click it |
| Override several master page items |
Ctrl-Shift-drag a marquee over them |
| Override all master page items on pages selected in Pages panel |
Ctrl-Alt-Shift-L |
| Insert Special Characters |
| Indent to Here |
Ctrl-\ |
| Right Indent Tab |
Shift-Tab |
| Discretionary Hyphen |
Ctrl-Shift-hyphen (-) |
| Nonbreaking Hyphen |
Ctrl-Alt-hyphen (-) |
| Type in Single Straight Quote (Foot Mark) |
Alt-' |
| Type in Double Straight Quote (Inch Mark) |
Alt-Shift-' |
| Current Page Number (Auto Page Numbering) |
Ctrl-Alt-Shift-N |
| Insert White Space |
| Em space |
Ctrl-Shift-M |
| En space |
Ctrl-Shift-N |
| Nonbreaking space |
Ctrl-Alt-X |
| Thin space |
Ctrl-Alt-Shift-M |
| Insert Break Characters |
| Column Break |
Enter (on keypad) |
| Frame Break |
Shift-Enter (on keypad) |
| Page Break |
Ctrl-Enter (on keypad) |
| Forced Line Break (or “soft return”) |
Shift-Enter |
| Moving Text Cursor |
| Move cursor to beginning or end of line |
Home or End |
| Move cursor one word to the left/right |
Ctrl-Left/right arrow |
| Move cursor to Previous paragraph |
Ctrl-Up Arrow |
| Move cursor to Next paragraph |
Ctrl-Down Arrow |
| Selecting & Working with Text |
| Leave Text Frame and switch to Selection tool |
Esc |
| Select from cursor to beginning or end of line |
Shift-Home or Shift-End |
| Select from cursor to end of story |
Ctrl-Shift-End |
| Select from cursor to beginning of story |
Ctrl-Shift-Home |
| Select whole word |
Double-click |
| Select line |
Ctrl-Shift-\ (or Triple-click) |
| Select one word to the left/right |
Ctrl-Shift-Left/Right arrow |
| Navigating & Scrolling Through Documents |
| Scroll using Hand tool |
Alt-Spacebar-Drag |
| Go to the First Page |
Ctrl-Shift-Page Up |
| Go to the Last Page |
Ctrl-Shift-Page Down |
| Go to Page (then type in page number) |
Ctrl-J |
| Switch between open Documents |
Ctrl-tilde(~) |
| Zooming |
| Get the Zoom in tool without selecting it |
Hold Ctrl then Space |
| Get the Zoom out tool without selecting it |
Hold Ctrl then Space and Alt |
| Zoom In or Out |
Ctrl-plus(+) or Ctrl-minus(–) |
| Fit Page in Window |
Ctrl-0 (zero) |
| Fit Spread in Window |
Ctrl-Alt-0 (zero) |
| Toggle between current and previous zoom levels |
Ctrl-Alt-2 |
| Find / Change |
| Insert selected text into Find What box |
Ctrl-F1 |
| Insert selected text into Find What box and then Find Next instance |
Shift-F1 |
| Find the next occurrence of Find What text |
Shift-F2 or Ctrl-Alt-F |
| Insert selected text into Change To box |
Ctrl-F2 |
| Replace selected text with Change To text |
Ctrl-F3 |
| Replace selected text with Change To text and Find Next |
Shift-F3 |
| Working with Panels |
| Highlight the first option in the Control panel |
Ctrl-6 |
| Toggle Control panel between Character & Paragraph options |
Ctr-Alt-7 |
| Apply a value but keep it highlighted in panel |
Shift-Enter |
| Show/Hide all Panels including Toolbox |
Tab (while not in a text frame) |
| Show/Hide all Panels except the Toolbox |
Shift-Tab (while not in a text frame) |
| Expand/Collapse Panel Stacks |
Ctrl-Alt-Shift-Tab (while not in a text frame) |
| Create new (style, swatches, etc) & display options dialog |
Alt-click New button |
| Working with Dialog Boxes |
| Rotate down through section of options displayed on the left |
Page Down |
| Rotate up through section of options displayed on the left |
Page Up |
| Jump to section of options displayed on the left |
Ctrl-1 for 1st, Ctrl-2 for 2nd, etc. |
| Choose Yes or No |
Y or N |
| Miscellaneous Good Stuff |
| Select frame hidden behind another |
Hold Ctrl and keep clicking frame stack |
| Increase/decrease a value in a field |
Click in field, press up/down arrow |
| Highlight the Last Used Field (in a panel) |
Ctrl-Alt-tilde(~) |
| Tabs panel: Move Left Indent (triangle) without moving First Line Indent |
Hold Shift while dragging the (bottom) triangle |
| Select all Guides |
Ctrl-Alt-G |
| Select an Individual Table Cell |
With Type tool, click in cell and hit Esc |
| Quick Apply |
Press Ctrl-Enter. Then start typing a style name,menu item, text variable, etc. Then press Enter to apply. |
| Sort Menus Alphabetically |
Hold Ctrl-Alt-Shift and click on Menu |
| Toggle Typographer's Quotes preference |
Ctrl-Alt-Shift-' |
Here are many of InDesign CS6’s keyboard shortcuts. Some of them are the little known, hidden keystrokes!
Download them as a (nicely formatted single page that’s easily printed), or scroll down to the shortcut you need.
Feel free to link to this page to share it with others! Enjoy…
