InDesign CS2 Shortcuts: PC

Keyboard Shortcuts

Here are many keyboard shortcuts for InDesign CS2, including lesser known and hidden keystrokes!

Adjust Font Size
Increase by Increment Ctrl-Shift->
Decrease by Increment Ctrl-Shift-<
(add Alt to the above keystrokes to make them Increment x 5)
Adjust Leading
Increase by Increment 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 Alt-right arrow
Decrease by Increment Alt-left arrow
Increase by Increment x 5 Ctrl-Alt-right arrow
Decrease by Increment x 5 Ctrl-Alt-left arrow
Increase between words Ctrl-Alt-Shift-\
Decrease between words Ctrl-Alt-Shift-Backspace
Clear all manual kerning and reset tracking to 0 Ctrl-Alt-Q
Adjust Baseline Shift
Move Up by Increment 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 Picture & Text Frames
(picture content is scaled with the frame, but text content is not scaled with the frame)
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
Fit Content to Frame Ctrl-Alt-E
Center Content Ctrl-Shift-E
Fit Frame to Content Ctrl-Alt-C
Nudging Objects
Move by Increment 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
Semi-autoflow (keeps text in cursor so you can continue flowing) Alt-click
Multi-Page Autoflow (creates additional pages) Shift-click
Single-Page Autoflow (does not create additional pages) Shift-Alt-click
Styling Text
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
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
Select a master page object (that is on a document page) Ctrl-Shift-click
Insert Special Characters
Indent to Here Ctrl-\
Right Indent Tab Shift-Tab
Discretionary Hyphen Ctrl-Shift-hyphen (-)
Nonbreaking Hyphen Ctrl-Alt-hyphen (-)
Insert Automatic Page Number
Auto Page Number Of the Current page 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 Text
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
Go to the First Page Ctrl-Shift-Page Up
Go to the Last Page Ctrl-Shift-Page Down
Access page number box (so you can enter a page to go to) Ctrl-J
Switch between open Documents Ctrl-F6
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 Palettes
Highlight the first option in the Control palette Ctrl-6
Toggle Control palette between Character & Paragraph options Ctr-Alt-7
Apply a value but keep it highlighted in palette Shift-Enter
Show/Hide all Panels including Toolbar Tab (while not in a text frame)
Show/Hide all Panels except the Toolbar Shift-Tab (while not in a text frame)
Create new (style, swatches, etc) & display options dialog Alt-click New button
Close/Open all docked palettes on 1 side on the screen Alt-click palette tab
Dock/Undock a group of palettes Hold Alt while dragging a palette’s tab
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.
Cancel Esc
Choose Yes or No Y or N
Miscellaneous Good Stuff
Increase/decrease a value in a field Click in field, press up/down arrow
Toggle Typographer’s Quotes preference Ctrl-Alt-Shift-’
Select frame hidden behind another Hold Ctrl and keep clicking frame stack
Tabs palette: Move Left Indent (triangle) without moving First Line Indent Hold Shift while dragging the (bottom) triangle
Select all Guides Ctrl-Alt-G
Sort Menus Alphabetically Hold Ctrl-Alt-Shift and click on Menu
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