Best PowerPoint Keyboard Shortcuts

Running out of time while working on a presentation? Let’s learn some PowerPoint keyboard shortcuts to save you time.

When you know shortcuts for PPT commands, you won’t break your flow digging through menus. That helps you stay on task and keep moving quickly. There’s truly a shortcut for PPT to accomplish any task.

In this tutorial, we’re going to share 20 of our favorite PowerPoint shortcuts. Each of these saves you clicks. Your time savings will quickly add up. It’s always faster to work with your keyboard than your mouse, and soon you’ll know how.

Build Presentations in a Flash With These PowerPoint Keyboard Shortcuts

PowerPoint shortcuts speed up your workflow as you design slides. They help you accomplish tasks without wasting time opening menus and changing windows. By using these PowerPoint keyboard shortcuts, you’ll work faster and more efficiently.

In many of the shortcuts, you’ll see a plus sign (+) included. This means that you’ll need to press each of the listed keys simultaneously. Using a comma (,) means that the keys should be pressed in the order listed.

Now, let’s dive in and explore twenty favorite shortcuts for PPT ideas. To illustrate, we’ll work in the beautiful Enjoy PowerPoint Template.

The tips in this section were written using Office 365. We’ll feature the keyboard commands for both Windows and macOS.

1. Add a New Slide

Adding a new slide is one of the most common activities you’ll do in PowerPoint. Fortunately, using a shortcut for PPT saves you the work of clicking on the New Slide menu every time.

To Do This: Press in Windows: Press in macOS: Add a new slide to your presentation Ctrl + M Command + Shift + N

2. Save Your Presentation

PowerPoint shortcuts help you save time. The last thing you want to do is lose your hard work because you don’t save your slides, and the app crashes.

By using the Ctrl / Command + S shortcut for PPT, you can save your work anytime. Use it early and often to protect your precious presentation!

To Do This: Press in Windows: Press in macOS: Save your presentation Ctrl + S Command + S

3. Create a Brand-New Presentation

Need a new slide deck in a flash? By default, PowerPoint leads you through several menu steps to build one. But by using the shortcut below, you can begin working with a new set of slides in only a second.

To Do This: Press in Windows: Press in macOS: Create a new presentation Ctrl + N Command + N

4. Undo the Previous Action

We all make mistakes, and that goes for working in PowerPoint too. Using the Ctrl / Command + Z shortcuts, you can reverse the previous action that you’ve just made. It’s a great way to undo errors and set things right.

To Do This: Press in Windows: Press in macOS: Undo the previous action Ctrl + Z Command + Z

5. Duplicate the Current Slide

The duplicate slide PowerPoint shortcut is a winner if you’re in a rush. Often, you may want to share several slides that are very similar.

Instead of starting each from scratch, you can duplicate one and make only minor changes to it. Keep this duplicate slide PowerPoint shortcut close by to save time in two ways:

To Do This: Press in Windows: Press in macOS: Duplicate the current slide Ctrl + D Command + D

6. Zoom In and Out

The (+) and (-) keys are your friends when you’re changing the view of your slides. These PowerPoint shortcuts help enlarge or shrink the viewing area, helping you focus on the slide area you’re working with.

To Do This: Press in Windows: Press in macOS: Zoom in or out Control + Plus (+) or Control + Minus (-), while in Slide Show mode Command + Plus (+) or Command + Minus (-)

7. Enter Slide Sorter View

Slide Sorter View is a great way to view your entire slide deck at a glance. From it, you can rearrange and delete slides. Instead of finding it via the View tab, you can use PowerPoint shortcuts to reach it quickly.

To Do This: Press in Windows: Press in macOS: Launch the Slide Sorter View Alt + V, D Command + 2

Leverage the power of Slide Sorter View with the help of this quick screencast:

• {.roundup-block__content-link} How to Use the Slide Sorter View in PowerPoint in 60 Seconds

  Andrew Childress 03 Apr 2017

8. Enter Normal View

Finished with Slide Sorter? Working in another of PowerPoint’s views? When you’re ready to return to Normal View, you can do so instantly using this shortcut for PPT.

To Do This: Press in Windows: Press in macOS: Launch the Normal View Alt + V, N Command + 1

9. Center Text

Your PowerPoint slides should always look neat and tidy. An easy way to make sure they do is to center your text. With the center text shortcut for PPT, you can center existing text by applying the command below.

To Do This: Press in Windows: Press in macOS: Center text in a paragraph Ctrl + E Command + E

10. Print the Presentation

Sometimes, there’s no substitute for printed slides. You can use them to review your own work, or to offer handouts to your audience. With the Ctrl / Command + P command, it’s easy to print PPT slides from anywhere in your presentation.

To Do This: Press in Windows: Press in macOS: Print your presentation Ctrl + P Command + P

11. Add a Comment

Comments are remarks added to slides that don’t show on the slides. You and your team can use them for reference, or to add more context to share. Comments are a great tool to use while working with teams, for example.

Using this handy keyboard shortcut, you can add comments to any slide without working in a menu.

To Do This: Press in Windows: Press in macOS: Add a comment on a slide Alt + N, L Command + Shift + M

Learn more about leveraging PowerPoint comments below:

• {.roundup-block__content-link}

  How to Add Comments to a PowerPoint Presentation in 60 Seconds

  Andrew Childress 23 Jan 2017

12. Find Text

Let’s face it: we all lose things in our slides. The Find Text shortcut for PPT helps you search for keywords fast. It’s the best and easiest way to find any piece of written content in your slide deck.

To Do This: Press in Windows: Press in macOS: Find specific text Ctrl + F Command + F

13. Select All Objects

Need to copy and paste everything on one slide to another? Trying to delete all slide contents? The ability to select all objects is essential, and you can do it by pressing Ctrl / Command + A. It’s one of the best PowerPoint shortcuts to use for selecting content.

To Do This: Press in Windows: Press in macOS: Select all objects on a slide Ctrl + A Command + A

14. Rotate Objects

Rotating objects lets you control the look and feel of your slides. By using the rotate PowerPoint shortcuts, you can turn a selected object in increments.

As you rotate objects, you can continue to rotate them by repeating the keyboard command. Use this multiple time for partial clockwise rotations.

To Do This: Press in Windows: Press in macOS: Rotate objects clockwise Alt + Right Arrow key Option + Right Arrow key

15. Use Drawing Mode

Drawing Mode is a handy way to add annotations to your slides. With it, your cursor transfers into a marker tool that you can use to draw with. Instead of navigating a menu, activate it using the Drawing Mode shortcut for PPT.

To Do This: Press in Windows: Press in macOS: Enter Drawing Mode Alt + J, I Command + Control + Z

16. Group Objects Together

Grouping objects lets you move them around together and keep them aligned. After you group the selected objects, they’ll move in equal amounts as you drag and drop.

Start by selecting multiple objects by holding Ctrl on Windows or Cmd on macOS. With multiple objects selected, you can group them using keyboard PowerPoint shortcuts.

To Do This: Press in Windows: Press in macOS: Group selected objects together Ctrl + G Command + Option + G

17. Start a Slideshow

PowerPoint slides are meant to be shared. This is usually done in the popular Slide Show mode. You can enter it with the touch of two buttons by pressing F5 on Windows or Command + Shift + Return on Mac.

To Do This: Press in Windows: Press in macOS: Start playing the slideshow F5 Command + Shift + Return

18. Enter Presenter View

Presenter View is a common way to share slides. With Presenter View, you can show fullscreen slides to your audience. But you’ll also see speaker notes and have other tools visible only to you. It’s easy to access using its own PowerPoint keyboard shortcuts.

To Do This: Press in Windows: Press in macOS: Launch Presenter View Alt + F5 Option + Return

Learn more about the magic of Presenter View with our helpful tutorial:

• {.roundup-block__content-link}

  How to Present a PowerPoint Slideshow With Presenter View (+ Video)

  Andrew Childress 14 Feb 2022

19. Add a Hyperlink

It’s often useful to add hyperlinks to your PowerPoint slides. These let you link to content found online. It’s a good way to add extra content without taking up a lot of room on a slide.

To Do This: Press in Windows: Press in macOS: Add a hyperlink Ctrl + K Command + K

20. Open Another Slide Deck

Often, you may want to refer to an existing slide deck while you work on a presentation design. By pressing Ctrl / Command + O, you can do exactly that. This shortcut for PowerPoint opens the file browser to navigate to PPT decks that you have saved.

To Do This: Press in Windows: Press in macOS: Open another slide deck Ctrl + O Command + O

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As you can see, Envato Elements is your best option to succeed in PowerPoint. Join today and pair your favorite templates with our top PowerPoint shortcuts!

Now You Know the Best PowerPoint Keyboard Shortcuts

Think of learning shortcuts for PPT as an investment. You spend time committing a few to memory, then save time for as long as you remember them. You might be surprised by how many of these shortcuts will naturally stick to your mind in no time flat.

Now you know top PowerPoint keyboard shortcuts. The trick is to put them into practice, starting today. Choose three or four PowerPoint shortcuts we’ve shared and start practicing them today. You might be surprised by how quickly they become natural.