Adobe InDesign is a premier publication design software that is widely used to create a variety of print and digital publications. Publishers, graphic designers, and marketing professionals typically use InDesign to create books, brochures, flyers, newsletters, reports, interactive PDFs, posters, and magazines. Key features included enhanced tools for typography, layout, styles, interactivity, and integration with other Adobe services and products.
The list of paths, frames, tables, and text keyboard shortcuts shown below will assist you to be even more efficient with Adobe InDesign on your computer.
Editing Paths and Frames Keyboard Shortcuts
This list is not a complete list of keyboard shortcuts. It lists only those shortcuts that aren’t displayed in menu commands or tool tips.
- Temporarily select Convert Direction Point tool Direct Selection tool+Alt+Ctrl, or Pen tool+Alt
- Temporarily switch between Add Anchor Point and Delete Anchor Point tool Alt
- Temporarily select Add Anchor Point tool Scissors tool+Alt
- Keep Pen tool selected when pointer is over path or anchor point Pen tool+Shift
- Move anchor point and handles while drawing Pen tool+spacebar
- Display the Stroke panel F10
Tables Keyboard Shortcuts
This list is not a complete list of keyboard shortcuts. It lists only those shortcuts that aren’t displayed in menu commands or tool tips.
- Insert or delete rows or columns while dragging Begin dragging row or column border, and then hold down Alt as you drag
- Resize rows or columns without changing the size of the table Shift–drag interior row or column border
- Resize rows or columns proportionally Shift–drag right or bottom table border
- Move to next/previous cell Tab/Shift+Tab
- Move to first/last cell in column Alt+Page Up/ Alt+Page Down
- Move to first/last cell in row Alt+Home/ Alt+End
- Move to first/last row in frame Page Up/Page Down
- Move up/down one cell Up Arrow/Down Arrow
- Move left/right one cell Left Arrow/Right Arrow
- Select cell above/below the current cell Shift+Up Arrow/ Shift+Down Arrow
- Select cell to the right/left of the current cell Shift+Right Arrow/ Shift+Left Arrow
- Start row on next column Enter (numeric keypad)
- Start row on next frame Shift+Enter (numeric keypad)
- Toggle between text selection and cell selection Esc
Finding and Changing Text Keyboard Shortcuts
This list is not a complete list of keyboard shortcuts. It lists only those shortcuts that aren’t displayed in menu commands or tool tips.
- Insert selected text into Find What box Ctrl+F1
- Insert selected text into Find What box and finds next Shift+F1
- Find next occurrence of Find What text Shift+F2 or Alt+Ctrl+F
- Insert selected text into Change To box Ctrl+F2
- Replace selection with Change To text Ctrl+F3
Working with Text Keyboard Shortcuts
This list is not a complete list of keyboard shortcuts. It lists only those shortcuts that aren’t displayed in menu commands or tool tips.
- Bold (only for fonts with bold face) Shift+Ctrl+B
- Italic (only for fonts with italic face) Shift+Ctrl+I
- Normal Shift+Ctrl+Y
- Underline Shift+Ctrl+U
- Strikethrough Shift+Ctrl+/
- All caps (on/off) Shift+Ctrl+K
- Asian language hyphenation Shift+Ctrl+K
- Small caps (on/off) Shift+Ctrl+H
- Tate-chu-yoko setting Shift+Ctrl+H
- Superscript Shift+Ctrl+(+) (plus sign)
- Subscript Shift+Alt+Ctrl+(+) (plus sign)
- Reset horizontal or vertical scale to 100% Shift+Ctrl+X or Shift+Alt+Ctrl+X
- Basic letter group setting or detail setting Shift+Ctrl+X or Shift+Alt+Ctrl+X
- Align left, right, or center Shift+Ctrl+L, R, or C
- Justify all lines Shift+Ctrl+F (all lines) or J (all but last line)
- Align both ends or equal spacing Shift+Ctrl+F (align both end) or J (equal spacing)
- Increase or decrease point size* Shift+Ctrl+> or <
- Increase or decrease point size by five times* Shift+Ctrl+Alt+> or <
- Increase or decrease leading (horizontal text)* Alt+Up Arrow/ Alt+Down Arrow
- Increase or decrease leading (vertical text)* Alt+Right Arrow/ Alt+Left Arrow
- Increase or decrease leading by five times (horizontal text)* Alt+Ctrl+Up Arrow/ Alt+Ctrl+Down Arrow
- Increase or decrease leading by five times (vertical text)* Alt+Ctrl+Right Arrow/ Alt+Ctrl+Left Arrow
- Auto leading Shift+Alt+Ctrl+A
- Align to grid (on/off) Shift+Alt+Ctrl+G
- Auto-hyphenate (on/off) Shift+Alt+Ctrl+H
- Increase or decrease kerning and tracking (horizontal text) Alt+Left Arrow/Alt+Right Arrow
- Increase or decrease kerning and tracking (vertical text) Alt+Up Arrow/ Alt+Down Arrow
- Increase or decrease kerning and tracking by five times (horizontal text) Alt+Ctrl+Left Arrow/ Alt+Ctrl+Right Arrow
- Increase or decrease kerning and tracking by five times (vertical text) Alt+Ctrl+Up Arrow/ Alt+Ctrl+Down Arrow
- Increase kerning between words* Alt+Ctrl+\
- Decrease kerning between words* Alt+Ctrl+Backspace
- Clear all manual kerning and reset tracking to 0 Alt+Ctrl+Q
- Increase or decrease baseline shift** (horizontal text) Shift+Alt+Up Arrow/ Shift+Alt+Down Arrow
- Increase or decrease baseline shift** (vertical text) Shift+Alt+Right Arrow/ Shift+Alt+Left Arrow
- Increase or decrease baseline shift by five times (horizontal text) Shift+Alt+Ctrl+Up Arrow/ Shift+Alt+Ctrl+Down Arrow
- Increase or decrease baseline shift by five times (vertical text) Shift+Alt+Ctrl+Right Arrow/ Shift+Alt+Ctrl+Left Arrow
- Automatically flow story Shift–click loaded text icon
- Semi-automatically flow story Alt–click loaded text icon
- Recompose all stories Alt+Ctrl+/
- Insert current page number Shift+Alt+Ctrl+N
Navigating Through and Selecting Text
This list is not a complete list of keyboard shortcuts. It lists only those shortcuts that aren’t displayed in menu commands or tool tips.
- Move to right or left one character Right Arrow/ Left Arrow
- Move up or down one line Up Arrow/ Down Arrow
- Move to right or left one word Ctrl+Right Arrow/ Ctrl+Left Arrow
- Move to start or end of line Home/End
- Move to previous or next paragraph Ctrl+Up Arrow/ Ctrl+Down Arrow
- Move to start or end of story Ctrl+Home/ Ctrl+End
- Select one word Double-click word
- Select one character right or left Shift+Right Arrow/ Shift+Left Arrow
- Select one line above or below Shift+Up Arrow/ Shift+Down Arrow
- Select start or end of line Shift+Home/ Shift+End
- Select one paragraph Triple-click or quadruple-click paragraph, depending on Text Preferences setting
- Select one paragraph before or after Shift+Ctrl+Up Arrow/ Shift+Ctrl+Down Arrow
- Select current line Shift+Ctrl+\
- Select characters from insertion point Shift–click
- Select start or end of story Shift+Ctrl+Home/ Shift+Ctrl+End
- Select all in story Ctrl+A
- Select first/last frame Shift+Alt+Ctrl+Page Up/ Shift+Alt+Ctrl+Page Down
- Select previous/next frame Alt+Ctrl+Page Up/ Alt+Ctrl+Page Down
- Delete word in front of insertion point (Story Editor) Ctrl+Backspace or Delete
- Update missing font list Ctrl+Alt+Shift+/
