Remembering all the keyboard shortcuts there are in InDesign is almost impossible: the latest InDesign version (CC 2017) contains 407 shortcuts in total!
In order to help myself remember the most common ones, I decided to make a list of those that I use daily and make a single A4 printable cheat sheet, so I can always have them ready on my desk when I don’t remember them. This will help me memorize a few more shortcuts and be even more productive.
Besides this list, I've already created a printable cheat sheet with Illustrator shortcuts. Make sure you have a look at it if you are using Illustrator.
Remember: You can also create your own InDesign shortcuts or personalise the ones that already exist. See here how to do so.
How Users Can Configure Font Settings. Some users have great eyesight and others literally nearly blind. The Android operating system recognizes this fact and provides accessibility features to allow the device text font size to be scaled based on the user's preference. In InDesign CC, choose File New Document Choose Digital Publishing for the “Intent”, and enter your page size for the width and height Design your pages (screens).
You can also find a ready-to-be-printed list of all the InDesign shortcuts there are on Pariah Burke’s blog.
A full list of InDesign keyboard shortcuts
InDesign has so many shortcuts that they didn’t fit into a single A4, so the printable cheat sheet above includes only the ones that I use the most and that I believe are the most important for day to day work. Those are keyboard shortcuts that everybody should remember to speed up their work in InDesign.
However, here is also a more exhaustive list, in case I missed your favorites.
Application Menu
| Command | Mac OS | Windows |
| Preferences: General... | ⌘ + K | Ctrl + K |
File Menu
| Command | Mac OS | Windows |
| Browse in Bridge... | ⌥ + ⌘ + O | Alt + Ctrl + O |
| Close | ⌘ + W | Ctrl + W |
| Document Setup... | ⌥ + ⌘ + P | Alt + Ctrl + P |
| Export... | ⌘ + E | Ctrl + E |
| File Info... | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + I | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + I |
| New: Document... | ⌘ + N | Ctrl + N |
| Open... | ⌘ + O | Ctrl + O |
| Package... | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + P | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + P |
| Place... | ⌘ + D | Ctrl + D |
| Print... | ⌘ + P | Ctrl + P |
| Save | ⌘ + S | Ctrl + S |
| Save As... | ⇧ + ⌘ + S | ⇧ + Ctrl + S |
| Save a Copy... | ⌥ + ⌘ + S | Alt + Ctrl + S |
Edit Menu
| Command | Mac OS | Windows |
| Check In | ⇧ + ⌘ + F9 | ⇧ + Ctrl + F9 |
| Check In All | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + F9 | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + F9 |
| Check Out | ⌘ + F9 | Ctrl + F9 |
| Clear | ⌫ or ⌘ + ⌫ | ⌫ or Ctrl + ⌫ |
| Copy | ⌘ + C | Ctrl + C |
| Cut | ⌘ + X | Ctrl + X |
| Deselect All | ⇧ + ⌘ + A | ⇧ + Ctrl + A |
| Duplicate | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + D | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + D |
| Edit in Story Editor | ⌘ + Y | Ctrl + Y |
| Find Next | ⌥ + ⌘ + F | Alt + Ctrl + F |
| Find/Change... | ⌘ + F | Ctrl + F |
| Paste | ⌘ + V | Ctrl + V |
| Paste Into | ⌥ + ⌘ + V | Alt + Ctrl + V |
| Paste in Place | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + V | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + V |
| Paste without Formatting | ⇧ + ⌘ + V | ⇧ + Ctrl + V |
| Quick Apply... | ⌘ + ⏎ | Ctrl + ⏎ |
| Redo | ⇧ + ⌘ + Z | ⇧ + Ctrl + Z |
| Select All | ⌘ + A | Ctrl + A |
| Spelling: Check Spelling... | ⌘ + I | Ctrl + I |
| Step and Repeat... | ⌥ + ⌘ + U | Alt + Ctrl + U |
| Toggle search direction | ⌥ + ⌘ + ⏎ | Alt + Ctrl + ⏎ |
| Undo | ⌘ + Z | Ctrl + Z |
| Update Content | Ctrl + ⌘ + F5 | Ctrl + F5 |
Layout Menu
| Command | Mac OS | Windows |
| First Page | ⇧ + ⌘ + Page Up | ⇧ + Ctrl + Page Up |
| Go Back | ⌘ + Page Up | Ctrl + Page Up |
| Go Forward | ⌘ + Page Down | Ctrl + Page Down |
| Go to Page... | ⌘ + J | Ctrl + J |
| Last Page | ⇧ + ⌘ + Page Down | ⇧ + Ctrl + Page Down |
| Left Spread | Presentation Mode: ← | Presentation Mode: ← |
| Next Page | ⇧ + Page Down Text: ⇧ + Page Down | ⇧ + Page Down Text: ⇧ + Page Down |
| Next Spread | ⌥ + Page Down Presentation Mode: Space Presentation Mode: ↓ Presentation Mode: ⏎ Presentation Mode: Page Down | Alt + Page Down Presentation Mode: Space Presentation Mode: ↓ Presentation Mode: ⏎ Presentation Mode: Page Down |
| Pages: Add Page | ⇧ + ⌘ + P | ⇧ + Ctrl + P |
| Previous Page | ⇧ + Page Up Text: ⇧ + Page Up | ⇧ + Page Up Text: ⇧ + Page Up |
| Previous Spread | ⌥ + Page Up Presentation Mode: ⇧ + Space Presentation Mode: ⌫ Presentation Mode: ↑ Presentation Mode: Page Up | Alt + Page Up Presentation Mode: ⇧ + Space Presentation Mode: ⌫ Presentation Mode: ↑ Presentation Mode: Page Up |
| Right Spread | Presentation Mode: → | Presentation Mode: → |
Type Menu
| Command | Mac OS | Windows |
| Create Outlines | ⇧ + ⌘ + O | ⇧ + Ctrl + O |
| Create outlines without ⌫eting text | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + O | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + O |
| Insert Break Character: Column Break | Text: ⏎ | Text: ⏎ |
| Insert Break Character: Forced Line Break | Text: ⇧ + ⏎ | Text: ⇧ + ⏎ |
| Insert Break Character: Frame Break | Text: ⇧ + ⏎ | Text: ⇧ + ⏎ |
| Insert Break Character: Page Break | Text: ⌘ + ⏎ | Text: Ctrl + ⏎ |
| Insert Special Character: Hyphens and Dashes: Discretionary Hyphen | Text: ⇧ + ⌘ + - | Text: ⇧ + Ctrl + - |
| Insert Special Character: Hyphens and Dashes: Nonbreaking Hyphen | Text: ⌥ + ⌘ + - | Text: Alt + Ctrl + - |
| Insert Special Character: Markers: Current Page Number | Text: ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + N | Text: Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + N |
| Insert Special Character: Other: Indent to Here | Text: ⌘ + | Text: Ctrl + |
| Insert Special Character: Other: Right Indent Tab | Text: ⇧ + Tab | Text: ⇧ + Tab |
| Insert Special Character: Quotation Marks: Straight Double Quotation Marks | Text: Ctrl + ⇧ + ' | Text: Ctrl + ⇧ + ' |
| Insert Special Character: Quotation Marks: Straight Single Quotation Mark (Apostrophe) | Text: Ctrl + ' | Text: Ctrl + ' |
| Insert White Space: Em Space | Text: ⇧ + ⌘ + M | Text: ⇧ + Ctrl + M |
| Insert White Space: En Space | Text: ⇧ + ⌘ + N | Text: ⇧ + Ctrl + N |
| Insert White Space: Nonbreaking Space | Text: ⌥ + ⌘ + X | Text: Alt + Ctrl + X |
| Insert White Space: Thin Space | Text: ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + M | Text: Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + M |
| Notes: Notes Mode | Text: ⌘ + F8 | Text: Ctrl + F8 |
| Show Hidden Characters | ⌥ + ⌘ + I | Alt + Ctrl + I |
| Tabs | ⇧ + ⌘ + T | ⇧ + Ctrl + T |
| Track Changes: Next Change | Text: ⌘ + Page Down | Text: Ctrl + Page Down |
| Track Changes: Previous Change | Text: ⌘ + Page Up | Text: Ctrl + Page Up |
Object Menu
| Command | Mac OS | Windows |
| Arrange: Bring Forward | ⌘ + ] | Ctrl + ] |
| Arrange: Bring to Front | ⇧ + ⌘ + ] | ⇧ + Ctrl + ] |
| Arrange: Send Backward | ⌘ + [ | Ctrl + [ |
| Arrange: Send to Back | ⇧ + ⌘ + [ | ⇧ + Ctrl + [ |
| Clipping Path: Options... | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + K | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + K |
| Effects: Drop Shadow... | ⌥ + ⌘ + M | Alt + Ctrl + M |
| Fitting: Centre Content | ⇧ + ⌘ + E | ⇧ + Ctrl + E |
| Fitting: Fill Frame Proportionally | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + C | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + C |
| Fitting: Fit Content Proportionally | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + E | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + E |
| Fitting: Fit Content to Frame | ⌥ + ⌘ + E | Alt + Ctrl + E |
| Fitting: Fit Frame to Content | ⌥ + ⌘ + C | Alt + Ctrl + C |
| Group | ⌘ + G | Ctrl + G |
| Hide | ⌘ + 3 | Ctrl + 3 |
| Lock | ⌘ + L | Ctrl + L |
| Paths: Make Compound Path | ⌘ + 8 | Ctrl + 8 |
| Paths: Release Compound Path | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + 8 | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + 8 |
| Select: Container | Esc | Esc |
| Select: Content | ⇧ + Esc | ⇧ + Esc |
| Select: First Object Above | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + ] | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + ] |
| Select: Last Object Below | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + [ | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + [ |
| Select: Next Object Above | ⌥ + ⌘ + ] | Alt + Ctrl + ] |
| Select: Next Object Below | ⌥ + ⌘ + [ | Alt + Ctrl + [ |
| Show All on Spread | ⌥ + ⌘ + 3 | Alt + Ctrl + 3 |
| Text Frame Options... | ⌘ + B | Ctrl + B |
| Transform Again: Transform Sequence Again | ⌥ + ⌘ + 4 | Alt + Ctrl + 4 |
| Transform: Move... | ⇧ + ⌘ + M | ⇧ + Ctrl + M |
| Ungroup | ⇧ + ⌘ + G | ⇧ + Ctrl + G |
| Unlock All on Spread | ⌥ + ⌘ + L | Alt + Ctrl + L |
Table Menu
| Command | Mac OS | Windows |
| Cell Options: Text... | Tables: ⌥ + ⌘ + B | Tables: Alt + Ctrl + B |
| Create Table... | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + T Text: ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + T | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + T Text: Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + T |
| ⌫: Column | Tables: ⇧ + ⌫ | Tables: ⇧ + ⌫ |
| ⌫: Row | Tables: ⌘ + ⌫ | Tables: Ctrl + ⌫ |
| Insert: Column... | Tables: ⌥ + ⌘ + 9 | Tables: Alt + Ctrl + 9 |
| Insert: Row... | Tables: ⌘ + 9 | Tables: Ctrl + 9 |
| Select: Cell | Tables: ⌘ + / | Tables: Ctrl + / |
| Select: Column | Tables: ⌥ + ⌘ + 3 | Tables: Alt + Ctrl + 3 |
| Select: Row | Tables: ⌘ + 3 | Tables: Ctrl + 3 |
| Select: Table | Tables: ⌥ + ⌘ + A | Tables: Alt + Ctrl + A |
| Table Options: Table Setup... | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + B | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + B |
View Menu
| Command | Mac OS | Windows |
| Actual Size | ⌘ + 1 | Ctrl + 1 |
| Display Performance: Clear Object-Level Display Settings | ⇧ + ⌘ + F2 | ⇧ + Ctrl + F2 |
| Display Performance: Fast Display | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + Z | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + Z |
| Display Performance: High Quality Display | Ctrl + ⌥ + ⌘ + H | Ctrl + Alt + Ctrl + H |
| Display Performance: Typical Display | ⌥ + ⌘ + Z | Alt + Ctrl + Z |
| Entire Pasteboard | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + 0 | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + 0 |
| Extras: Hide Conveyor | ⌥ + B | Alt + B |
| Extras: Hide Frame Edges | Ctrl + ⌘ + H | Ctrl + Ctrl + H |
| Extras: Show Text Threads | ⌥ + ⌘ + Y | Alt + Ctrl + Y |
| Fit Page in Window | ⌘ + 0 | Ctrl + 0 |
| Fit Spread in Window | ⌥ + ⌘ + 0 | Alt + Ctrl + 0 |
| Grids & Guides: Hide Guides | ⌘ + ; | Ctrl + ; |
| Grids & Guides: Lock Guides | ⌥ + ⌘ + ; | Alt + Ctrl + ; |
| Grids & Guides: Show Baseline Grid | ⌥ + ⌘ + ' | Alt + Ctrl + ' |
| Grids & Guides: Show Document Grid | ⌘ + ' | Ctrl + ' |
| Grids & Guides: Smart Guides | ⌘ + U | Ctrl + U |
| Grids & Guides: Snap to Document Grid | ⇧ + ⌘ + ' | ⇧ + Ctrl + ' |
| Grids & Guides: Snap to Guides | ⇧ + ⌘ + ; | ⇧ + Ctrl + ; |
| Hide Rulers | ⌘ + R | Ctrl + R |
| Overprint Preview | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + Y | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + Y |
| Preview on CPU | ⇧ + E | ⇧ + E |
| Screen Mode: Presentation | Presentation Mode: Esc or ⇧ + W Presentation Mode: ⇧ + W | Presentation Mode: Esc or ⇧ + W Presentation Mode: ⇧ + W |
| Screen Mode: Set Presentation Background to Black | Presentation Mode: B | Presentation Mode: B |
| Screen Mode: Set Presentation Background to Grey | Presentation Mode: G | Presentation Mode: G |
| Screen Mode: Set Presentation Background to White | Presentation Mode: W | Presentation Mode: W |
| Structure: Show Structure | ⌥ + ⌘ + 1 | Alt + Ctrl + 1 |
| Zoom In | ⌘ + = or ⌘ + Num + | Ctrl + = or Ctrl + Num + |
| Zoom Out | ⌘ + - or ⌘ + Num - | Ctrl + - or Ctrl + Num - |
Window Menu
| Command | Mac OS | Windows |
| Arrange: Minimize | ⌘ + M or Ctrl + ⌘ + M | Ctrl + M or Ctrl + Ctrl + M |
| Color: Colour | F6 | F6 |
| Color: Swatches | F5 | F5 |
| Control | ⌥ + ⌘ + 6 | Alt + Ctrl + 6 |
| Effects | ⇧ + ⌘ + F10 | ⇧ + Ctrl + F10 |
| Info | F8 | F8 |
| Interactive: EPUB Interactivity Preview | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⏎ | Alt + ⇧ + ⏎ |
| Interactive: SWF Preview | ⇧ + ⌘ + ⏎ | ⇧ + Ctrl + ⏎ |
| Layers | F7 | F7 |
| Links | ⇧ + ⌘ + D | ⇧ + Ctrl + D |
| Object & Layout: Align | ⇧ + F7 | ⇧ + F7 |
| Output: Preflight | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + F | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + F |
| Output: Separations Preview | ⇧ + F6 | ⇧ + F6 |
| Pages | ⌘ + F12 or F12 | Ctrl + F12 or F12 |
| Stroke | ⌘ + F10 or F10 | Ctrl + F10 or F10 |
| Styles: Character Styles | ⇧ + ⌘ + F11 or ⇧ + F11 | ⇧ + Ctrl + F11 or ⇧ + F11 |
| Styles: Object Styles | ⌘ + F7 | Ctrl + F7 |
| Styles: Paragraph Styles | ⌘ + F11 or F11 | Ctrl + F11 or F11 |
| Text Wrap | ⌥ + ⌘ + W | Alt + Ctrl + W |
| Type & Tables: Character | ⌘ + T | Ctrl + T |
| Type & Tables: Glyphs | ⌥ + ⇧ + F11 | Alt + ⇧ + F11 |
| Type & Tables: Index | ⇧ + F8 | ⇧ + F8 |
| Type & Tables: Paragraph | ⌥ + ⌘ + T | Alt + Ctrl + T |
| Type & Tables: Table | ⇧ + F9 | ⇧ + F9 |
| Utilities: Scripts | ⌥ + ⌘ + F11 | Alt + Ctrl + F11 |
Help Menu
| Command | Mac OS | Windows |
| InDesign Help... | Help | Help |
Object Editing
| Command | Mac OS | Windows |
| Decrease scale by 1% | ⌘ + , | Ctrl + , |
| Decrease scale by 5% | ⌥ + ⌘ + , | Alt + Ctrl + , |
| End Path Drawing | ⏎ | ⏎ |
| Increase scale by 1% | ⌘ + . | Ctrl + . |
| Increase scale by 5% | ⌥ + ⌘ + . | Alt + Ctrl + . |
| Nudge down | ↓ | ↓ |
| Nudge down 1/10 | ⇧ + ⌘ + ↓ | ⇧ + Ctrl + ↓ |
| Nudge down 1/10 duplicate | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + ↓ | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + ↓ |
| Nudge down duplicate | ⌥ + ↓ | Alt + ↓ |
| Nudge down x10 | ⇧ + ↓ | ⇧ + ↓ |
| Nudge down x10 duplicate | ⌥ + ⇧ + ↓ | Alt + ⇧ + ↓ |
| Nudge left | ← | ← |
| Nudge left 1/10 | ⇧ + ⌘ + ← | ⇧ + Ctrl + ← |
| Nudge left 1/10 duplicate | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + ← | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + ← |
| Nudge left duplicate | ⌥ + ← | Alt + ← |
| Nudge left x10 | ⇧ + ← | ⇧ + ← |
| Nudge left x10 duplicate | ⌥ + ⇧ + ← | Alt + ⇧ + ← |
| Nudge right | → | → |
| Nudge right 1/10 | ⇧ + ⌘ + → | ⇧ + Ctrl + → |
| Nudge right 1/10 duplicate | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + → | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + → |
| Nudge right duplicate | ⌥ + → | Alt + → |
| Nudge right x10 | ⇧ + → | ⇧ + → |
| Nudge right x10 duplicate | ⌥ + ⇧ + → | Alt + ⇧ + → |
| Nudge up | ↑ | ↑ |
| Nudge up 1/10 | ⇧ + ⌘ + ↑ | ⇧ + Ctrl + ↑ |
| Nudge up 1/10 duplicate | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + ↑ | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + ↑ |
| Nudge up duplicate | ⌥ + ↑ | Alt + ↑ |
| Nudge up x10 | ⇧ + ↑ | ⇧ + ↑ |
| Nudge up x10 duplicate | ⌥ + ⇧ + ↑ | Alt + ⇧ + ↑ |
| Pin Bottom Edge | ⌥ + ⌘ + ↓ | Alt + Ctrl + ↓ |
| Pin Left Edge | ⌥ + ⌘ + ← | Alt + Ctrl + ← |
| Pin Right Edge | ⌥ + ⌘ + → | Alt + Ctrl + → |
| Pin Top Edge | ⌥ + ⌘ + ↑ | Alt + Ctrl + ↑ |
| Resize Horizontally | ⌥ + ⇧ + H | Alt + ⇧ + H |
| Resize Vertically | ⌥ + ⇧ + V | Alt + ⇧ + V |
| Select all Guides | ⌥ + ⌘ + G | Alt + Ctrl + G |
| Toggle Live Edit Mode | 4 | 4 |
Panel Menus
| Command | Mac OS | Windows |
| Character Styles: Redefine Style | Text: ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + C | Text: Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + C |
| Character: All Caps | ⇧ + ⌘ + K | ⇧ + Ctrl + K |
| Character: Small Caps | ⇧ + ⌘ + H | ⇧ + Ctrl + H |
| Character: Strikethrough | Ctrl + ⇧ + ⌘ + / or ⇧ + ⌘ + / | ⇧ + Ctrl + / |
| Character: Subscript | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + = | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + = |
| Character: Superscript | ⇧ + ⌘ + = | ⇧ + Ctrl + = |
| Character: Underline | ⇧ + ⌘ + U | ⇧ + Ctrl + U |
| EPUB Interactivity Preview: Preview Document | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + ⏎ | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + ⏎ |
| Index: Add new index entry | Text: ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + [ | Text: Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + [ |
| Index: Add new index entry (reversed) | Text: ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + ] | Text: Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + ] |
| Index: New Page Reference... | ⌘ + 7 | Ctrl + 7 |
| Pages: Override All Master Page Items | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + L | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + L |
| Paragraph Styles: Redefine Style | Text: ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + R | Text: Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + R |
| Paragraph: Drop Caps and Nested Styles... | ⌥ + ⌘ + R | Alt + Ctrl + R |
| Paragraph: Justification... | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + J | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + J |
| Paragraph: Keep Options... | ⌥ + ⌘ + K | Alt + Ctrl + K |
| Paragraph: Paragraph Rules... | ⌥ + ⌘ + J | Alt + Ctrl + J |
| Tags: Autotag | Text: ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + F7 | Text: Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + F7 |
Structure Navigation
All commands in this section work only in XML Selection.


| Command | Mac OS | Windows |
| Collapse element | ← | ← |
| Collapse element and child elements | ⌥ + ← | Alt + ← |
| Expand element | → | → |
| Expand element and child elements | ⌥ + → | Alt + → |
| Extend XML selection down | ⇧ + ↓ | ⇧ + ↓ |
| Extend XML selection up | ⇧ + ↑ | ⇧ + ↑ |
| Move XML selection down | ↓ | ↓ |
| Move XML selection up | ↑ | ↑ |
| Scroll structure pane down one screen | Page Down | Page Down |
| Scroll structure pane up one screen | Page Up | Page Up |
| Select first XML node | Home | Home |
| Select last XML node | End | End |
| Select through first XML node | ⇧ + Home | ⇧ + Home |
| Select through last XML node | ⇧ + End | ⇧ + End |
| View next validation error | ⌘ + → | Ctrl + → |
| View previous validation error | ⌘ + ← | Ctrl + ← |
Text and Tables
| Command | Mac OS | Windows |
| Align centre | ⇧ + ⌘ + C | ⇧ + Ctrl + C |
| Align force justify | ⇧ + ⌘ + F | ⇧ + Ctrl + F |
| Align justify | ⇧ + ⌘ + J | ⇧ + Ctrl + J |
| Align left | ⇧ + ⌘ + L | ⇧ + Ctrl + L |
| Align right | ⇧ + ⌘ + R | ⇧ + Ctrl + R |
| Align to baseline grid | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + G | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + G |
| Apply bold | ⇧ + ⌘ + B | ⇧ + Ctrl + B |
| Apply italic | ⇧ + ⌘ + I | ⇧ + Ctrl + I |
| Apply normal | ⇧ + ⌘ + Y | ⇧ + Ctrl + Y |
| Auto leading | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + A | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + A |
| Auto-hyphenate on/off | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + H | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + H |
| Clear | Tables: ⌫ | Tables: ⌫ |
| Decrease baseline ⇧ | Text: ⌥ + ⇧ + ↓ | Text: Alt + ⇧ + ↓ |
| Decrease baseline ⇧ x 5 | Text: ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + ↓ | Text: Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + ↓ |
| Decrease kerning/tracking | Text: ⌥ + ⇧ + ← Text: ⌥ + ← | Text: Alt + ⇧ + ← Text: Alt + ← |
| Decrease kerning/tracking x 5 | Text: ⌥ + ⌘ + ← | Text: Alt + Ctrl + ← |
| Decrease leading | Text: ⌥ + ↑ | Text: Alt + ↑ |
| Decrease leading x 5 | Text: ⌥ + ⌘ + ↑ | Text: Alt + Ctrl + ↑ |
| Decrease point size | ⇧ + ⌘ + , | ⇧ + Ctrl + , |
| Decrease point size x 5 | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + , | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + , |
| Decrease word space | ⌥ + ⌘ + ⌫ | Alt + Ctrl + ⌫ |
| Decrease word space x 5 | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + ⌫ | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + ⌫ |
| Delete | Tables: ⌫ | Tables: ⌫ |
| Delete one character to the left | Text: ⌫ Text: ⇧ + ⌫ | Text: ⌫ Text: ⇧ + ⌫ |
| Delete one character to the right | Text: ⌫ Text: ⇧ + ⌫ | Text: ⌫ Text: ⇧ + ⌫ |
| Delete one word to the left | Text: ⌘ + ⌫ | Text: Ctrl + ⌫ |
| Delete one word to the right | Text: ⌘ + ⌫ | Text: Ctrl + ⌫ |
| Find Next | Text: ⇧ + F2 | Text: ⇧ + F2 |
| Increase baseline shift | Text: ⌥ + ⇧ + ↑ | Text: Alt + ⇧ + ↑ |
| Increase baseline shift x 5 | Text: ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + ↑ | Text: Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + ↑ |
| Increase kerning/tracking | Text: ⌥ + ⇧ + → Text: ⌥ + → | Text: Alt + ⇧ + → Text: Alt + → |
| Increase kerning/tracking x 5 | Text: ⌥ + ⌘ + → | Text: Alt + Ctrl + → |
| Increase leading | Text: ⌥ + ↓ | Text: Alt + ↓ |
| Increase leading x 5 | Text: ⌥ + ⌘ + ↓ | Text: Alt + Ctrl + ↓ |
| Increase point size | ⇧ + ⌘ + . | ⇧ + Ctrl + . |
| Increase point size x 5 | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + . | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + . |
| Increase word space | ⌥ + ⌘ + or Ctrl + ⌥ + ⌘ + | Alt + Ctrl + |
| Increase word space x 5 | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + |
| Load Find and Find Next instance | Text: ⇧ + F1 | Text: ⇧ + F1 |
| Load Find with selected text | Text: ⌘ + F1 | Text: Ctrl + F1 |
| Load Replace with selected text | Text: ⌘ + F2 | Text: Ctrl + F2 |
| Move Down | Tables: ↓ | Tables: ↓ |
| Move Left | Tables: ← | Tables: ← |
| Move Right | Tables: → | Tables: → |
| Move Up | Tables: ↑ | Tables: ↑ |
| Move down one line | Text: ↓ | Text: ↓ |
| Move to First Cell in Column | Tables: ⌥ + Page Up | Tables: Alt + Page Up |
| Move to First Cell in Row | Tables: ⌥ + Home | Tables: Alt + Home |
| Move to First Row in Frame | Tables: Page Up | Tables: Page Up |
| Move to Last Cell in Column | Tables: ⌥ + Page Down | Tables: Alt + Page Down |
| Move to Last Cell in Row | Tables: ⌥ + End | Tables: Alt + End |
| Move to Last Row in Frame | Tables: Page Down | Tables: Page Down |
| Move to Next Cell | Tables: Tab | Tables: Tab |
| Move to Previous Cell | Tables: ⇧ + Tab | Tables: ⇧ + Tab |
| Move to beginning of story | Text: ⌘ + Home | Text: Ctrl + Home |
| Move to end of story | Text: ⌘ + End | Text: Ctrl + End |
| Move to the end of the line | Text: End | Text: End |
| Move to the left one character | Text: ← | Text: ← |
| Move to the left one word | Text: ⌘ + ← | Text: Ctrl + ← |
| Move to the next paragraph | Text: ⌘ + ↓ | Text: Ctrl + ↓ |
| Move to the previous paragraph | Text: ⌘ + ↑ | Text: Ctrl + ↑ |
| Move to the right one character | Text: → | Text: → |
| Move to the right one word | Text: ⌘ + → | Text: Ctrl + → |
| Move to the start of the line | Text: Home | Text: Home |
| Move up one line | Text: ↑ | Text: ↑ |
| Normal horizontal text scale | ⇧ + ⌘ + X | ⇧ + Ctrl + X |
| Normal vertical text scale | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + X | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + X |
| Object Down | Table Object Context: ↓ | Table Object Context: ↓ |
| Object Esc | Table Object Context: Esc | Table Object Context: Esc |
| Object Left | Table Object Context: ← | Table Object Context: ← |
| Object Move to Next Cell | Table Object Context: Tab | Table Object Context: Tab |
| Object Move to Prev Cell | Table Object Context: ⇧ + Tab | Table Object Context: ⇧ + Tab |
| Object Right | Table Object Context: → | Table Object Context: → |
| Object Up | Table Object Context: ↑ | Table Object Context: ↑ |
| Recompose all stories | ⌥ + ⌘ + / | Alt + Ctrl + / |
| Replace with Change To text | Text: ⌘ + F3 | Text: Ctrl + F3 |
| Replace with Change To text and Find Next | Text: ⇧ + F3 | Text: ⇧ + F3 |
| Reset kerning and tracking | Text: ⌥ + ⌘ + Q | Text: Alt + Ctrl + Q |
| Select Cells Above | Tables: ⇧ + ↑ | Tables: ⇧ + ↑ |
| Select Cells Below | Tables: ⇧ + ↓ | Tables: ⇧ + ↓ |
| Select Cells to the Left | Tables: ⇧ + ← | Tables: ⇧ + ← |
| Select Cells to the Right | Tables: ⇧ + → | Tables: ⇧ + → |
| Select line | Text: ⇧ + ⌘ + | Text: ⇧ + Ctrl + |
| Select one character to the left | Text: ⇧ + ← | Text: ⇧ + ← |
| Select one character to the right | Text: ⇧ + → | Text: ⇧ + → |
| Select one line above | Text: ⇧ + ↑ | Text: ⇧ + ↑ |
| Select one line below | Text: ⇧ + ↓ | Text: ⇧ + ↓ |
| Select one paragraph before | Text: ⇧ + ⌘ + ↑ | Text: ⇧ + Ctrl + ↑ |
| Select one paragraph forward | Text: ⇧ + ⌘ + ↓ | Text: ⇧ + Ctrl + ↓ |
| Select one word to the left | Text: ⇧ + ⌘ + ← | Text: ⇧ + Ctrl + ← |
| Select one word to the right | Text: ⇧ + ⌘ + → | Text: ⇧ + Ctrl + → |
| Select to beginning of story | Text: ⇧ + ⌘ + Home | Text: ⇧ + Ctrl + Home |
| Select to end of story | Text: ⇧ + ⌘ + End | Text: ⇧ + Ctrl + End |
| Select to the end of the line | Text: ⇧ + End | Text: ⇧ + End |
| Select to the start of the line | Text: ⇧ + Home | Text: ⇧ + Home |
| Start Row on Next Column | Tables: ⏎ | Tables: ⏎ |
| Start Row on Next Frame | Tables: ⇧ + ⏎ | Tables: ⇧ + ⏎ |
| Toggle Cell/Text Selection | Tables: Esc | Tables: Esc |
| Toggle Typographer's Quotes Preference | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + ' | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + ' |
| Update missing font list | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + / | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + / |
Tools
| Command | Mac OS | Windows |
| Add Anchor Point Tool | = | = |
| Apply Colour | , | , |
| Apply Gradient | . | . |
| Apply None | / or Num / | / or Num / |
| Apply default fill and stroke colours | D | D |
| Colour Theme Tool | ⇧ + I | ⇧ + I |
| Convert Direction Point Tool | ⇧ + C | ⇧ + C |
| ⌫ Anchor Point Tool | - | - |
| Direct Selection Tool | A | A |
| Ellipse Tool | L | L |
| Eyedropper Tool | I | I |
| Free Transform Tool | E | E |
| Gap Tool | U | U |
| Gradient Feather Tool | ⇧ + G | ⇧ + G |
| Gradient Swatch Tool | G | G |
| Hand Tool | H | H |
| Line Tool | ||
| Measure Tool | K | K |
| Page Tool | ⇧ + P | ⇧ + P |
| Pen Tool | P | P |
| Pencil Tool | N | N |
| Rectangle Frame Tool | F | F |
| Rectangle Tool | M | M |
| Rotate Tool | R | R |
| Scale Tool | S | S |
| Scissors Tool | C | C |
| Selection Tool | V Text: Esc | V Text: Esc |
| Shear Tool | O | O |
| Swap fill and stroke activation | X | X |
| Swap fill and stroke colours | ⇧ + X | ⇧ + X |
| Toggle Content Collector and Content Placer | B | B |
| Toggle Text and Object Control | J | J |
| Toggle view setting between default and preview | W | W |
| Type Tool | T | T |
| Type on a Path Tool | ⇧ + T | ⇧ + T |
| Zoom Tool | Z | Z |
Views, Navigation
| Command | Mac OS | Windows |
| 200% size | ⌘ + 2 | Ctrl + 2 |
| 400% size | ⌘ + 4 | Ctrl + 4 |
| 50% size | ⌘ + 5 | Ctrl + 5 |
| Access zoom percentage box | ⌥ + ⌘ + 5 | Alt + Ctrl + 5 |
| Activate last-used field in panel | ⌥ + ⌘ + ` | Alt + Ctrl + ` |
| Close all | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + W | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + W |
| Close document | ⇧ + ⌘ + W | ⇧ + Ctrl + W |
| First Spread | Home or ⌥ + ⇧ + Page Up Presentation Mode: Home | Home or Alt + ⇧ + Page Up Presentation Mode: Home |
| Fit Selection in Window | ⌥ + ⌘ + = | Alt + Ctrl + = |
| Force redraw | ⇧ + F5 | ⇧ + F5 |
| Go to first frame in thread | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + Page Up | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + Page Up |
| Go to last frame in thread | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + Page Down | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + Page Down |
| Go to next frame in thread | ⌥ + ⌘ + Page Down | Alt + Ctrl + Page Down |
| Go to previous frame in thread | ⌥ + ⌘ + Page Up | Alt + Ctrl + Page Up |
| Last Spread | End or ⌥ + ⇧ + Page Down Presentation Mode: End | End or Alt + ⇧ + Page Down Presentation Mode: End |
| New default document | ⌥ + ⌘ + N | Alt + Ctrl + N |
| Next window | Presentation Mode: ⌘ + Tab Presentation Mode: ⌘ + ` | Presentation Mode: Ctrl + Tab Presentation Mode: Ctrl + ` |
| Open/Close all panels in side tabs | ⌥ + ⌘ + Tab | Alt + Ctrl + Tab |
| Previous window | Presentation Mode: ⇧ + ⌘ + Tab Presentation Mode: ⇧ + ⌘ + ` | Presentation Mode: ⇧ + Ctrl + Tab Presentation Mode: ⇧ + Ctrl + ` |
| Save all | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + S | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + S |
| Scroll down one screen | Page Down Text: Page Down | Page Down Text: Page Down |
| Scroll up one screen | Page Up Text: Page Up | Page Up Text: Page Up |
| Show 1st spot plate | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + 5 | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + 5 |
| Show 2nd spot plate | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + 6 | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + 6 |
| Show 3rd spot plate | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + 7 | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + 7 |
| Show Black plate | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + 4 | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + 4 |
| Show Cyan plate | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + 1 | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + 1 |
| Show Magenta plate | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + 2 | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + 2 |
| Show Yellow plate | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + 3 | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + 3 |
| Show all plates | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + ` | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + ` |
| Show/Hide all panels | Tab | Tab |
| Show/Hide all panels except toolbox | ⇧ + Tab | ⇧ + Tab |
| Toggle Character and Paragraph Modes in Control Panel | ⌥ + ⌘ + 7 | Alt + Ctrl + 7 |
| Toggle Keyboard Focus in Control Panel | ⌘ + 6 | Ctrl + 6 |
| Toggle Measurement System | ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + U | Alt + ⇧ + Ctrl + U |
| Toggle between current and previous views | ⌥ + ⌘ + 2 | Alt + Ctrl + 2 |
Create your own InDesign shortcuts
You can edit or add new InDesign keyboard shortcuts to make the use of some commands quicker.
Close all the documents, if any is open.
Click on Edit and then Keyboard Shortcuts....
This action opens a Window panel. To create your new shortcut you need to:
Select or create a new shortcut set
The Default and QuarkXPress shortcut sets can’t be edited. So if you select one of the two sets you’ll create a new set based on it.
Select the product area containing the command you want to create the shortcut for.
Select the command that you want to define (or redefine).
Click on the New Shortcut box, and press the keys for your new keyboard shortcut.
Do not assign single-key shortcuts to menu commands, because they interfere with the typing of text.
If the key sequence is currently being used for another command, InDesign displays that command under Current Shortcut.
Select when you want the keyboard shortcut to function by changing Context.
You can assign multiple commands to each shortcut, the context ensures that the shortcut works as you intended. For example, you can use Cmd+G to group objects when you select more objects (Object Context) or Cmd+G to merge cells in a table when you select more cells (Table Context). If you select Default Context, the shortcut will work regardless of the state of the document.
Click OK to save and close the dialog box, or click Save to keep the dialog box open while you enter more shortcuts.
Get even more productive
Using keyboard shortcuts is not the only recommended productivity trick. Here are a few more:
- Automate some processes with the help of InDesign scripts and GREP expressions
- Be more productive on multilingual project in InDesign
- Make sure you avoid these 20 Most common InDesign mistakes
- Learn InDesign or improve your skills with an InDesign tutorial and InDesign course
- Use TOC (Table of content) effectively
- Import Word files into InDesign with ease
- Read our blog for more
P.S: Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter to get more tips about InDesign every week.
Stefano has worked on numerous mid to large–sized InDesign projects for Alstom, DeLonghi, Philips, and many others before starting Redokun in 2015.
As Redokun’s Co-Founder, Stefano spends most of his time helping customers to optimize their InDesign work-flow. He also holds in-house InDesign courses for companies in the Venice, Italy area.
2020-12-21 15:24:32 • Filed to: Indesign Features • Proven solutions
It is not uncommon to begin creating a document in one size only to find that it is not ideal for printing. This is why most document creation programs including InDesign make it easy for you to change the page size of the document any time you choose. But does that mean that this process is easy? Well, in this article we are going to examine how you can change page size in InDesign.
How to Change InDesign Page Size

InDesign is a great program to help you create documents, but it can also be difficult to use and because of its high price tag, can be out of reach for most people. If you don't have InDesign or don't know how to use it to edit documents, you may be happy to know that there is a far easier and more accessible than InDesign. This program is PDFelement, a document management program that can be used to create and manage PDF files, but is also very useful in the editing of other types of files.
We will take a look at how it can help you change page size in InDesign files. But before we do that, let's take a look at some of the features that make it the ideal InDesign alternative:
To do this effectively, PDFelement has to have a few features that are ideal for all aspects of document management. These features include the following:
- It can be used to create PDF files very easily. In fact, all you have to do is open any file in PDFelement and the file is converted to PDF.
- At the same time, you can use PDFelement to convert PDF documents to other formats including Word, Excel, HTML and more.
- It can also come in handy when you need to edit documents. You can use it to edit both text and images in any document.
- It has an OCR feature that will help you edit scanned or image-rich PDFs.
- It can also be used to annotate a document in various ways including adding stamps, comments and other annotations like highlighting and underlining text.
That said, the following is how to change the InDesign page size:
Step 1: Open InDesign File
Begin by exporting InDesign file as PDF format and open it into PDFelement. There are several ways to open a file: you can choose to simply drag and drop the file into the program's main window, you can click on 'Open File' to browse for the file you need or you can click on 'File > Open File' to open the InDesign file.
Step 2: Change PDF Page Size Using the 'Page Box' Feature
To change the page size, begin by clicking on the 'Page' menu and then select the 'Page Boxes' button. In the dialog box that opens, you can specify the new page margins you want and then click 'OK' to complete the process.
Step 3: Change PDF Page Size Using the 'Optimize' feature

Alternatively, you can also use PDFelement's 'Optimize' feature to change the page size. To do that click on 'File > Optimize' and then choose the level of optimization before clicking on the 'Optimize' button.

Tips: How to Change Page Size in InDesign
InDesign can also make it easy for you to change the page size of an InDesign document. Here's how you can do that:
Change the Size without Modifying the Content
If changing the page size will not affect the content in the document, follow these simple steps:
- Step 1: Open the InDesign document you want to edit.
- Step 2: Choose 'File > Document Setup'.
- Step 3: In the dialog box that opens, simply change the values of Width and Height. This will change the dimensions of all the pages in the document without affecting the size of the text frames and images.
Change Page Size and Adapt Content to Fit
If you want to change the page size and adapt the content to fit in the page, follow these simple steps:
- Step 1: Choose File > Document Setup.
- Step 2: Click on the 'Adjust Layout' button.
- Step 3: Now change the values of width and height. This will change the dimensions of the document and at the same time the text frames and images will scale and move to fit in with the new dimensions.
Mix Different Page Sizes in the Same File
Sometimes you may need to have different sized pages within the same document. Here's how to do it:
- Step 1: Select one or more page thumbnails in the Pages panel.
- Step 2: At the bottom of the panel, click on 'Edit Page Size'.
- Step 3: Choose 'Custom' and then enter the new width and height. Click 'OK' to finish.
Free Download or Buy PDFelement right now!
Free Download or Buy PDFelement right now!
Adobe Indesign Change Page Size
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Different Page Sizes Indesign
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