InDesign CS3 Shortcuts: PC

Keyboard Shortcuts

Here are many keyboard shortcuts for InDesign CS3, including lesser known and hidden keystrokes!

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 Styles
Quick Apply a Style Ctrl-Return (start typing the style name, hit Return to apply)
Redefine a Paragraph Style Ctrl-Alt-Shift-R
Redefine a Character Style Ctrl-Alt-Shift-C
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)
Access zoom percentage box (so you can enter a zoom level) Ctrl-Alt-5
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
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-'
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