By Design Bundles
Illustrator Tutorials20 min
Adobe Illustrator Short Cut / Hot Keys
Here we display a list of Illustrator hot keys and short cuts to make your designing a little quicker and easier! Follow the guide below.
| TOOL SHORTCUTS | WINDOWS | MAC |
| Selection | V | V |
| Direct Selection | A | A |
| Group Selection | Shift | Shift |
| Magic Wand | Y | Y |
| Lasso | Q | Q |
| Pen | P | P |
| Add Anchor Point | + | + |
| Delete Anchor Point | - | - |
| Convert anchor point | Shift+C | Shift+C |
| Type | T | T |
| Touch type | Shift+T | Shift+T |
| Line segment | \ | \ |
| Rectangle | M | M |
| Ellipse | L | L |
| Paintbrush | B | B |
| Pencil | N | N |
| Blob brush | Shift+B | Shift+B |
| Artboard | Shift+O | Shift+O |
| Eraser | Shift+E | Shift+E |
| Scissors | C | C |
| Rotate | R | R |
| Reflect | O | O |
| Scale | S | S |
| Width | Shift+W | Shift+W |
| Warp | Shift+R | Shift+R |
| Free transform | E | E |
| Shape builder | Shift+M | Shift+M |
| Live paint bucket | K | K |
| Live paint selection | Shift+L | Shift+L |
| Perspective grid | Shift+P | Shift+P |
| Perspective selection | Shift+V | Shift+V |
| Mesh | U | U |
| Gradient | G | G |
| Eyedropper | I | I |
| Blend | W | W |
| Symbol sprayer | Shift+S | Shift+S |
| Column graph | J | J |
| Slice | Shift+K | Shift+K |
| Hand | H | H |
| Zoom | Z | Z |
| Toggle fill and stroke | X | X |
| Default fill and stroke | D | D |
| Swap fill and stroke | Shift+X | Shift+X |
| Gradient | . | . |
| Colour | , | , |
| None | / | / |
| Toggle 3 screen modes | F | F |
| Show/hide all panels | Tab | Tab |
| Show/hide all but toolbox | Shift+Tab | Shift+Tab |
| Increase diameter | ] | ] |
| Decrease diameter | [ | [ |
| Symbolism tools: increase | Shift+} | Shift+} |
| Symbolism tools: decrease | Shift+{ | Shift+{ |
| Toggle drawing mode | Shift+D | Shift+D |
| FILE COMMAND SHORTCUTS | WINDOWS | MAC |
| New | Ctrl+N | Cmd+N |
| New from template | Shift+Ctrl+N | Shift+Cmd+N |
| Open | Ctrl+O | Cmd+O |
| Browse in bridge | Alt+ctrl+O | Opt+ Cmd+O |
| Close | Ctrl+W | Cmd+W |
| Save or save as | Ctrl+S or shift+ctrl+S | Cmd+S or Shift+ Cmd+S |
| Save for web | Alt+shift+ctrl+S | Opt+shift+ Cmd+S |
| Revert | Alt+ctrl+Z | Opt+ Cmd+Z |
| Scripts> other script | Ctrl+F12 | Cmd+F12 |
| Package | Alt+shift+ctrl+P | Opt+shift+ Cmd+P |
| Document setup | Alt+ctrl+P | Opt+ Cmd+P |
| File info | Alt+shift+ctrl+I | Opt+shift+Cmd+I |
| Ctrl+P | Cmd+P | |
| Exit | Ctrl+Q | Cmd+Q |
| EDIT COMMANDS SHORTCUTS | WINDOWS | MAC |
| Undo | Ctrl+Z | Cmd+Z |
| Redo | Shift+ctrl+Z | Shift+cmd+Z |
| Cut | Ctrl+X copy | Cmd+X |
| Copy | Ctrl+C | Cmd+C |
| Paste | Ctrl+V | Cmd+V |
| Paste in front | Ctrl+F | Cmd+F |
| Paste in back | Ctrl+B | Cmd+B |
| Paste in place | Shift+ctrl+V | Shift+cmd+V |
| Paste on all artboards | Alt+shift+ctrl+V | Opt+shift+cmd+V |
| Check spelling | Ctrl+I | Cmd+I |
| Color settings | Shift+ctrl+K | Shift+cmd+K |
| Keyboard shortcuts | Alt+shift+ctrl+K | Opt+shift+cmd+K |
| Preferences > general | Ctrl+K | Cmd+K |
| VIEWING ARTWORK SHORTCUTS | WINDOWS | MAC |
| Toggle between screen modes: normal screen mode, full screen mode with menu bar, full screen mode | F | F |
| Fit imageable area in window | Double click hand tool | Double click hand tool |
| Magnify 100% | Double click zoom tool | Double click zoom tool |
| Switch to hand tool (when not in text-edit mode) | spacebar | spacebar |
| Switch to zoom in magnify mode | Ctrl+ spacebar | Spacebar + Cmd |
| Switch to zoom in reduce mode | Ctrl+alt+spacebar | Spacebar + Cmd+ option |
| Move zoom marquee while dragging with the zoom tool | Spacebar | Spacebar |
| Hide unselected artwork | Ctrl+alt+shift+3 | Cmd+option+shift+3 |
| Convert between horizontal and vertical guide | Alt- drag guide | Option- drag guide |
| Release guide | Ctrl+ shift – double click guide | Cmd+shift – double click guide |
| Show/hide artboards | Ctrl+shift+H | Cmd+shift+H |
| Show/hide artboard rulers | Ctrl+alt+R | Cmd+option+R |
| View all artboards in window | Ctrl+alt+0 (zero) | Cmd+option + 0 (zero) |
| Paste in place on the active artboard | Ctrl+shift+V | Cmd+shift+V |
| Exit artboard tool mode | Esc | Esc |
| Create artboard inside another artboard | Shift-drag | Shift+drag |
| Select multiple artboards in the artboard panel | Ctrl+click | Cmd+ click |
| Navigate to next document | Ctrl+F6 | Cmd+F6 |
| Navigate to previous document | Ctrl+shift+F6 | Cmd+shift+F6 |
| Navigate to next document group | Ctrl+Alt+F6 | Cmd+ option+ F6 |
| Navigate to previous document group | Ctrl+alt+shift+F6 | Cmd+option+shift+F6 |
| Exit full screen mode | Esc | Esc |
| Save multiple artboards to Ai CS3 or earlier format | Alt+v |
| BRUSHES PANEL SHORTCUTS | WINDOWS | MAC |
| Opne brush options dialog box | Double click brush | Double click brush |
| Duplicate brush | Drag brush to new brush button | Drag brush to new brush button |
| SWATCHES PANEL SHORTCUTS | WINDOWS | MAC |
| Create new spot colour | Ctrl- click new swatch button | Cmd- click new swatch button |
| Create new global process colour | Ctrl+ shift- click new swatch button | Cmd+ shift- click new swatch button |
| Replace swatch with another | Alt- drag a swatch over another | Option- drag a swatch over another |
| FUNCTION COMMANDS SHORTCUTS | WINDOWS | MAC |
| Invoke help | F1 | F1 |
| Cut | F2 | F2 |
| Copy | F3 | F3 |
| Paste | F4 | F4 |
| show/hide brushes panel | F5 | F5 |
| Show/hide colour panel | F6 | F6 |
| Show/hide layers panel | F7 | F7 |
| Create new symbol | F8 | F8 |
| Show/hide info panel | Ctrl+F8 | Cmd + F8 |
| Show/hide gradient panel | Ctrl+F9 | Cmd+F9 |
| Show/hide stroke panel | Ctrl+F10 | Cmd+F10 |
| Show/hide attributes panel | Ctrl+F11 | Cmd+F11 |
| Revert | F12 | F12 |
| Show/hide graphics style panel | Shift+F5 | Shift+ F5 |
| Show/hide appearance panel | Shift+F6 | Shift+F6 |
| Show hide align panel | Shift+F7 | Shift+F7 |
| Show/hide transform panel | Shift+F8 | Shift+F8 |
| Show/hide pathfinder panel | Shift+ctrl+F9 | Shift+Cmd+F9 |
| Show/hide transparency panel | Shift+ctrl+F10 | Shift+cmd+F10 |
| Show/hide symbols panel | Shift+ctrl+F11 | Shift+cmd+F11 |
| Show/hide perspective grid | Ctlr+shift+I | Cmd+shift+I |
| MOVING SELECTIONS SHORTCUTS | WINDOWS | MAC |
| Move selection in user-defined increments | Right arrow, left arrow, up arrow, or down arrow Shift+ right arrow, left | Right arrow, left arrow, up arrow, or down arrow Shift+ right arrow, left |
| Move selection in 10x user defined increments | Arrow, up arrow, or down arrow | Arrow, up arrow, or down arrow |
| Lock all deselected artwork | Ctrl+alt+shift+2 | Cmd+opt+shift+2 |
| Constrain movement to 45o angle (except when using Reflect tool) | Hold down shift | Hold down shift |
| EDITING SHAPES SHORTCUTS | WINDOWS | MAC |
| Switch pen tool to convert anchor point tool | Alt | Option |
| Switch between add anchor point tool and delete anchor point tool | Alt | Option |
| Switch scissors tool to add anchor point tool | Alt | Option |
| Switch pencil tool to smooth tool | Alt | Option |
| Move current anchor point while drawing with pen tool | Spacebar- drag | Spacebar – drag |
| Cut a straight line with knife tool | Alt – drag | Option – drag |
| Cut 45o or 90o with knife tool | Shift+ alt - drag | Shift + option – drag |
| Use shape mode buttons in pathfinder panel to create compound paths | Alt+ shape mode | Option + shape mode |
| Erase unwanted closed regions created using shape builder tool | Alt+ click the closed region | Option + click the closed region |
| Select shape builder tool | Shift + M | Shift+M |
| Display rectangular marquee to easily merge multiple paths(when using shape builder tool) | Shift + click + drag | Shift+click+drag |
| SELECTION COMMANDS SHORTCUTS | WINDOWS | MAC |
| Switch to last-used selection tool (selection tool, direct tool or group selection tool) | Ctrl | Cmd |
| Switch between direct selection tool and group selection tool | Alt | Option |
| Add to selection with selection tool, direct selection tool, group selection tool, live paint section tool or magic wand tool | Shift – click | Shift – click |
| Subtract a selection with selection tool, direct | Shift – click | Shift – click |
| Subtract from selection with magic wand tool | Alt - click | Option – click |
| Add to selection with lasso tool | Shift – drag | Shift – drag |
| Subtract from selection with lasso tool | Alt – drag | Option – drag |
| Change pointer to cross hair for lasso tool | Caps lock | Caps lock |
| Select artwork in active artboard | Ctrl + alt+A | Cmd+ opt+A |
| Create crop marks around selected object | Alt + c + o | |
| Select behind an object | Ctrl + click x2(click twice) | Cmd + click x2(click twice) |
| Select behind in isolation mode | Ctrl + click x2(click twice) | Cmd + click x2(click twice) |
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