Keyboard shortcuts for PowerPoint

One of the best ways to increase your productivity and speed up your workflow is by using keyboard shortcuts. Key combinations can be especially helpful when creating and editing lengthy presentations in PowerPoint.

Here are some of the most useful PowerPoint shortcuts for actions like saving presentations, moving from one slide to the next, formatting text, zooming in or out, and more.

Working with presentation files

To get started in PowerPoint, you can use the following keyboard shortcuts to create or open a presentation. Then, use the others to save and close a slideshow.

                                                                                   

Action	Shortcut
Create a new presentation	Ctrl + N
Open a presentation	Ctrl + O
Save a presentation	Ctrl + S
Save a presentation with a new name, location, or format	Ctrl + Shift + S
Close a presentation	Ctrl + D
Close PowerPoint	Ctrl + Q

Moving to and rearranging slides

For maneuvering around your slides or rearranging their order, keep these handy shortcuts in mind.

                                                                                                           

Action	Shortcut
Insert a new slide	Ctrl + M
Go to the next slide	Page down
Go to the previous slide	Page up
Copy the selected slide	Ctrl + Shift + D
Move the slide up	Ctrl + Up arrow
Move the slide down	Ctrl + Down arrow
Move the slide to the beginning	Ctrl + Shift + Up arrow
Move the slide to the end	Ctrl + Shift + Down arrow

 Tip: Want to switch to a different size? Check out how to change the slide size in PowerPoint.

Selecting text

If you want to quickly select text in PowerPoint, you can use this next list of keyboard shortcuts. To select additional text, hold the primary key and continue to press the secondary key.

For example, when you use Shift + Right arrow to select one character to the right, you can hold Shift and continue pressing the Right arrow to select additional characters.

                                                                                                           

Action	Shortcut
Select one character to the right	Shift + Right arrow
Select one character to the left	Shift + Left arrow
Select to the end of a word	Ctrl + Shift + Right arrow
Select to the start of a word	Ctrl + Shift + Left arrow
Select from the cursor one line up	Shift + Up arrow
Select from the cursor one line down	Shift + Down arrow
Select from the cursor to the end of a paragraph	Ctrl + Shift + Down arrow
Select from the cursor to the start of a paragraph	Ctrl + Shift + Up arrow

Working with text and objects

For the basics of copying, pasting, and deleting text or objects, check out these convenient shortcuts.

                                                                                                                                               

Action	Shortcut
Copy	Ctrl + C
Duplicate	Ctrl + D
Cut	Ctrl + X
Paste	Ctrl + V
Paste Special	Ctrl + Alt + V
Copy the formatting	Ctrl + Shift + C
Paste the copied formatting	Ctrl + Shift + V
Delete one character to the left	Backspace
Delete one character to the right	Delete
Delete one word to the left	Ctrl + Backspace
Delete one word to the right	Ctrl + Delete

 Tip: Need to create an object to show progress or status? Look at how to add Harvey Balls in PowerPoint.

Moving around text

You don’t have to lift your fingers from the keyboard to move around text on a slide. Just use these keyboard shortcuts.

                                                                                                                                   

Action	Shortcut
Move one character to the left	Left arrow
Move one character to the right	Right arrow
Move one word to the left	Ctrl + Left arrow
Move one word to the right	Ctrl + Right arrow
Move one line up	Up arrow
Move one line down	Down arrow
Move one paragraph up	Ctrl + Up arrow
Move one paragraph down	Ctrl + Down arrow
Move to the end of a line	End
Move to the start of a line	Home

Formatting text

To apply formatting like bold or italics, insert a hyperlink, or align a paragraph, these shortcuts make it easy.

                                                                                                                                                                                   

Action	Shortcut
Open the Font dialog box	Ctrl + T or Ctrl + Shift + F
Apply bold	Ctrl + B
Apply italic	Ctrl + I
Apply underline	Ctrl + U
Apply superscript	Ctrl + Shift + Plus sign
Apply subscript	Ctrl + Equal sign
Increase the font size	Ctrl + Shift + Right angle bracket
Decrease the font size	Ctrl + Shift + Left angle bracket
Insert a hyperlink	Ctrl + K
Insert an equation	Alt + Equal sign
Left align a paragraph	Ctrl + L
Right align a paragraph	Ctrl + R
Center a paragraph	Ctrl + E
Justify a paragraph	Ctrl + J

​​Tip: Learn how to curve text in PowerPoint for a unique appearance.

Miscellaneous keyboard shortcuts

For additional keyboard shortcuts, these are some you’ll want to remember. Undo an action, find a word, or zoom in to fit the window.

                                                                                                           

Action	Shortcut
Undo the last action	Ctrl + Z
Redo the last action	Ctrl + Y
Cancel the current action	Esc
Open the Find dialog box	Ctrl + F
Open the Replace dialog box	Ctrl + H
Zoom in	Ctrl + Plus sign
Zoom out	Ctrl + Minus sign
Zoom to fit	Ctrl + Alt + O

Ribbon shortcuts

Along with the above keyboard shortcuts, you can use ribbon shortcuts to select the actions to perform. Once you use the first key combination to open the tab, you’ll see letters on the ribbon for the available actions.

For example, if you use Alt + N to open the Insert tab, you can then press X to insert a Text Box.

                                                                                                                                               

Tab	Shortcut
File	Alt + F
Home	Alt + H
Insert	Alt + N
Draw	Alt + J
Design	Alt + G
Transitions	Alt + K
Animations	Alt + A
Slide Show	Alt + S
Review	Alt + R
View	Alt + W
Help	Alt + Y

 Pro-tip: If you want to be a true PowerPoint power user, try using a macro toolbar which exposes additional functionality as macros. You can also save macros (or other functions to your quick access toolbar and access them using Alt + number key)

Save time with Plus AI for PowerPoint

Keyboard shortcuts aren’t the only tools for saving time when you work in PowerPoint. Using Plus AI, you can create and edit slideshows with artificial intelligence.

You can ask Plus AI to do the research for you, craft the text, and arrange it in an attractive and effective slide layout.

You can also tell Plus AI to insert a summary slide, add a reference or works cited slide, or include a slide with metrics.

Check out the Plus AI website for complete information, a peek at the template gallery, and to start your trial.