Keyboard Shortcuts for Pages, Numbers, and Keynote on Mac

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MacBook displaying Pages document

iWork, the office suite that ships with every Mac, has three easy-to-use apps—Pages (for documents), Numbers (for spreadsheets), and Keynote (for presentations.) They make a strong case for choosing iWork over Microsoft Office.

If you use any or all of the iWork apps, we have a quick tip to help you transform your workflow: adopt keyboard shortcuts.

You can discover many useful shortcuts for Pages, Numbers, and Keynote with the comprehensive cheat sheet below. (The three apps have quite a few shortcuts in common, which means fewer shortcuts to learn!)

The cheat sheet contains keyboard shortcuts for navigation, tool selection, file management, text editing, object manipulation, and more.

FREE DOWNLOAD: This cheat sheet is available as a downloadable PDF from our distribution partner, TradePub. You will have to complete a short form to access it for the first time only. Download Keyboard Shortcuts for Pages, Numbers, and Keynote on macOS.

Keyboard Shortcuts for Pages, Numbers, and Keynote on macOS

Shortcut Action
File and Window Management
Cmd + N Open template/theme chooser
Esc Close template/theme chooser
Cmd + O Open file
Cmd + S Save current file
Shift + Cmd + S Duplicate current file
Option + Shift + Cmd + S Save current file as
Cmd + P Print
Shift + Cmd + P Open Page Setup dialog box
Fn + Up Arrow Scroll up one page
Fn + Down Arrow Scroll down one page
Cmd + W Close current window
Option + Cmd + W Close all windows
Cmd + M Minimize current window
Option + Cmd + M Minimize all windows
Control + Cmd + F Switch to Full Screen mode
Control + Tab Switch to next tab
Shift + Control + Tab Switch to previous tab
Control + Cmd + = Zoom current window
Option + Control + Cmd + = Zoom all windows
Cmd + H Hide current app
Option + Cmd + H Hide other apps
Cmd + , Open app settings
Cmd + ? Open Help window
Cmd + Q Quit app
Option + Cmd + Q Quit app and keep windows open
Tool and Panel Display
Shift + Cmd + ; Show Spelling and Grammar window
Control + Cmd + Space Show Character Viewer (Emoji & Symbols window)
Option + Cmd + E Show Edit Equation dialog box
Cmd + T Show Fonts window
Option + Cmd + I Toggle Inspector sidebar
Control + ` (Grave) Switch to next tab in Inspector
Shift + Control + ` (Grave) Switch to previous tab in Inspector
Cmd + R Toggle ruler(s)
Shift + Cmd + C Show Colors window
Option + Cmd + T Toggle primary toolbar
Cmd + drag toolbar item Move item around in toolbar
Cmd + drag item away from toolbar Remove item from toolbar
Edit and Find
Cmd + Z Undo last action
Shift + Cmd + Z Redo last action
Cmd + A Select all content
Shift + Cmd + A Deselect all content
Cmd + X Cut selection
Cmd + C Copy selection
Cmd + V Paste cut/copied content
Option + Shift + Cmd + V Paste and match style of destination
Option + Cmd + C Copy style of selection
Option + Cmd + V Paste copied style to selection
Delete Delete selection OR
Clear contents of selected cell(s) in table
Cmd + D Duplicate selection
Cmd + F Open Find & Replace dialog
Cmd + G Find next match (when Find & Replace dialog is active)
Shift + Cmd + G Find previous match (when Find & Replace dialog is active)
Cmd + E Find using selected text
Cmd + J Show selected text or object in window
Shift + Cmd + . (Period) Zoom in on file content
Shift + Cmd + , (Comma) Zoom out of file content
Cmd + 0 Return file content to actual size
Objects, Groups, and Layers
Arrow Key Move selected object one point or one screen pixel in specified direction
Shift + Arrow Key Move selected object ten points or ten screen pixels in specified direction
Shift + Cmd + B Send selected object to back
Option + Shift + Cmd + B Send selected object one layer back
Shift + Cmd + F Bring selected object to front
Option + Shift + Cmd + F Bring selected object one layer forward
Option + Cmd + G Group selected objects
Option + Shift + Cmd + G Ungroup selected objects
Cmd + L Lock selected objects
Option + Cmd + L Unlock selected objects
Shift + Cmd + M Edit image mask
Cmd + Return Exit text editing and select its object
Shift + Cmd + V Show Choose dialog box for inserting object
Control + Option + Cmd + T Define selected text as placeholder text
Control + Option + Cmd + I Define selected image or movie as placeholder media
Option + Shift + Cmd + P Draw custom shape with Pen tool
Text Manipulation
¹Fn (twice) Start dictation
Shift + Right Arrow Extend selection one character to right
Shift + Left Arrow Extend selection one character to left
²Option + Shift + Right Arrow Extend selection to end of current word
²Option + Shift + Left Arrow Extend selection to beginning of current word
Shift + Cmd + Right Arrow Extend selection to end of current line
Shift + Cmd + Left Arrow Extend selection to beginning of current line
Shift + Up Arrow Extend selection to line above
Shift + Down Arrow Extend selection to line below
Option + Shift + Up Arrow Extend selection to beginning of current paragraph
Option + Shift + Down Arrow Extend selection to end of current paragraph
Shift + Cmd + Up Arrow Extend selection to beginning of text
Shift + Cmd + Down Arrow Extend selection to end of text
Cmd + B Emphasize or embolden selected text
Cmd + I Italicize selected text
Cmd + U Underline selected text
Option + Delete Delete word before cursor
Option + Fn + Delete Delete word after cursor
Cmd + + Increase size of selected text
Cmd + – Decrease size of selected text
Option + Cmd + [ Decrease space between selected characters
Option + Cmd + ] Increase space between selected characters
Control + Shift + Cmd + + Make selected text (or word at cursor) superscript
Control + Cmd + – Make selected text (or word at cursor) subscript
Cmd + Shift + [ Align selected text flush left
Cmd + Shift + Center selected text
Cmd + Shift + ] Align selected text flush right
Option + Cmd + Shift + Justify selected text
Cmd + [ Decrease indent level of block of text or list item where cursor is placed
Cmd + ] Increase indent level of block of text or list item where cursor is placed
Cmd + K Turn selected text into hyperlink
Option + Space Insert non-breaking space
Shift + Return Insert line break (soft return)
Return Insert paragraph break
Control + O Insert new line after cursor, without moving cursor
Fn + Cmd + Return Insert page break
Control + T Swap characters on either side of cursor
Control + Cmd + D Look up selected word
Option + Esc Display list of words to complete selected word
Cmd + ; Check spelling and grammar
Comments
Shift + Cmd + K Insert new comment box for selected text, object, or cell
Cmd + Return Save current comment
³Option + Cmd + K Show next comment
³Option + Shift + Cmd + K Show previous comment
Charts and Tables
Shift + Cmd + D Toggle Chart Data editor
Return Complete cell entry and select cell below
Shift + Return Complete cell entry and select cell above
Tab Complete cell entry and select cell on right
Shift + Tab Complete cell entry and select cell on left
Arrow Key (when chart legend is selected) Move chart legend one point
Shift + Arrow Key (when chart legend is selected) Move chart legend ten points
Option + Up Arrow Add row above selected cells
Option + Down Arrow Add row below selected cells
Option + Right Arrow Add column to right of selected cells
Option + Left Arrow Add column to left of selected cells
Option + Cmd + Return Select all rows that intersect current selection
Control + Cmd + Return Select all columns that intersect current selection
Shift + Up Arrow Select row/cell above selected row/cell
Shift + Down Arrow Select row/cell below selected row/cell
Shift + Right Arrow Select column/cell to right of selected column/cell
Shift + Left Arrow Select column/cell to left of selected column/cell
Return (when cell is selected) Begin editing cell
Option + Cmd + U Auto-align cell content
Cmd + Return Stop editing cell and select it
Cmd + Return (twice) Stop editing cell and select its table
Arrow Key (when table is selected) Move selected table one point or one screen pixel in specified direction
Shift + Arrow Key (when table is selected) Move selected table ten points or ten screen pixels in specified direction
Arrow Key (when cell is selected) Select next cell in specified direction
Shift + Arrow Key (when cell is selected) Extend cell selection by one cell in specified direction
Control + Return Insert line break (soft return) when editing text in cell
Return Insert paragraph break (hard return) when editing text in cell
= Open formula editor for selected non-formula cell
Control + = Edit cell formula
Option + Cmd + Left Arrow Select first populated cell in current row
Option + Cmd + Right Arrow Select last populated cell in current row
Option + Cmd + Up Arrow Select first populated cell in current column
Option + Cmd + Down Arrow Select last populated cell in current column
Option + Cmd + Delete Delete selected rows
Control + Cmd + Delete Delete selected columns
Control + Cmd + M Merge selected cells
Control + Shift + Cmd + M Unmerge selected cells
Option + Shift + Cmd + Left Arrow Expand current selection to include first populated cell in current row
Option + Shift + Cmd + Right Arrow Expand current selection to include last populated cell in current row
Option + Shift + Cmd + Up Arrow Expand current selection to include first populated cell in current column
Option + Shift + Cmd + Down Arrow Expand current selection to include last populated cell in current column
Control + Option + Cmd + Up Arrow Toggle top border of selected cell(s)
Control + Option + Cmd + Down Arrow Toggle bottom border of selected cell(s)
Control + Option + Cmd + Right Arrow Toggle right border of selected cell(s)
Control + Option + Cmd + Left Arrow Toggle left border of selected cell(s)
Cmd + Enable Autofill mode
Option + Cmd + Autofill from row above
Control + Cmd + Autofill from column before
Pages-Specific Shortcuts
⁴Shift + Cmd + H Highlight selected text
⁴Tab Increase indent level of list item
⁴Shift + Tab Decrease indent level of list item
Option + Shift + Cmd + E Add an EndNote bibliography
Option + Cmd + A Accept change (when change tracking is on)
Option + Cmd + R Reject change (when change tracking is on)
⁵Option + Cmd + B Add bookmark
Shift + Cmd + L Toggle layout
Shift + Cmd + I Toggle invisibles
Shift + Cmd + T Toggle comments pane
Shift + Cmd + W Toggle word count
Control + Cmd + G Open dialog box for switching to specific page
Numbers-Specific Shortcuts
Cmd + Return Select table from cell selection
Shift + Cmd + Show Tab Overview
Shift + Cmd + [ Switch to previous sheet
Shift + Cmd + ] Switch to next sheet
Option + Shift + Cmd + [ Switch to first sheet
Option + Shift + Cmd + ] Switch to last sheet
Control + Shift + Cmd + D Insert current date in selected cell
Control + Shift + Cmd + T Insert current time in selected cell
Shift + Cmd + R Apply sorting rules
Option + Cmd + F Enable filters
Cmd + 8 Collapse selected groups
Option + Cmd + 8 Collapse peer groups
Option + Shift + Cmd + 8 Collapse all groups
Cmd + 9 Expand selected groups
Option + Cmd + 9 Expand peer groups
Option + Shift + Cmd + 9 Expand all groups
Keynote-Specific Shortcuts
Cmd + A Select all object types in object list
Shift + Cmd + A Deselect all object types in object list
Cmd + Return Select table from cell selection
Shift + Cmd + N Insert new slide OR
Add new master slide from Master Slides view
Shift + Cmd + H Skip selected slide
Shift + Cmd + E Toggle Master Slides view
Shift + Cmd + P Toggle presenter nodes
Shift + Cmd + L Toggle object list
Shift + Cmd + 0 Zoom to selection
Option + Cmd + 0 Zoom to fit slide
Option + Shift + Cmd + 0 Zoom to fit content (including objects on extended canvas)
Option + Cmd + P Play slideshow
Space Play video during presentation
K Pause or resume video
J Rewind video one frame at a time when paused
L Fast-forward video one frame at a time when paused
I Jump to beginning of video
O Jump to end of video
¹Shortcut is available only when the dictation feature is enabled under System Preferences > Keyboard > Dictation.

²Use shortcut multiple times to select more words.

³Shortcut also works with changes in Pages when change tracking is enabled.

⁴Shortcut does not work in table cells.

⁵Shortcut is not available for Page Layout documents.

Going Beyond the Basics in iWork Apps

Want more ways to improve your iWork experience? Explore these advanced tips for Pages, Numbers, and Keynote.

Image Credit: Bram Naus on Unsplash

Read the full article: Keyboard Shortcuts for Pages, Numbers, and Keynote on Mac

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