The Ultimate Guide to
PowerPoint Keyboard
Shortcuts (2025)

This guide covers the essential shortcuts in PowerPoint, relevant for both beginners and intermediate users. You'll learn shortcuts for basic slide navigation, switching between PowerPoint views, accessing key features, and tips for effectively using these shortcuts. Each section includes a detailed explanation and a table of the most useful shortcuts. Whether you're creating presentations or preparing to deliver them, these shortcuts will significantly speed up your workflow.

Why you should use PowerPoint keyboard shortcuts

Think about how much time you spend moving your mouse around PowerPoint's interface. Each time you bold text, add a slide, or align objects, you're likely clicking through multiple menus. Keyboard shortcuts let you perform these actions instantly. If you spend a lot of time in PowerPoint, these saved seconds and minutes add up to hours that are better spent on improving content and practicing delivery.

Execute commands instantly
Work more efficiently
Look like a PowerPoint wizard in front of colleagues

Content

The shortcuts available in PowerPoint naturally fall within in four groups:

General Windows and Office Shortcuts for PowerPoint: The foundation of efficient PowerPoint use comes from Windows' universal keyboard shortcuts. Also, Office maintains consistency across its suite with shared formatting and editing commands. These shortcuts, like Ctrl+B for bold and F7 for spell check, work identically whether you're in PowerPoint, Word, or Excel.
PowerPoint-Specific Keyboard Shortcuts: These are PowerPoint's unique commands designed specifically for presentation work that provides quick access to the most common tasks . They handle everything from creating new slides (Ctrl+M) to starting your presentation (F5).
PowerPoint Combined Mouse+Keyboard Shortcuts: Sometimes the most efficient way to work combines both keyboard and mouse inputs, like holding Shift while dragging to constrain movement, or Shift+Click to select multiple objects.
PowerPoint Ribbon Navigation Shortcuts (Advanced): The most comprehensive but advanced category is PowerPoint's Alt-key system. This system provides keyboard access to every single PowerPoint feature. Press Alt, and PowerPoint reveals keyboard shortcuts for each ribbon tab; press the shown letter to dive deeper into any menu.

Now, let’s dive into more details!

Important - We use the following notation: "+" indicates that the keys before and after it should be pressed simultaneously, while "," means the keys should be pressed in sequence (but not held down together).

General Windows and Office Shortcuts for PowerPoint

There are many shortcuts that are shared across most Windows applications. Here is a list of some of the most useful ones specific to PowerPoint.

Working with documents

  
    Shortcut
    Action
    Best Use Case
  
    Ctrl + C
    Copy
    Copy any selected content
  
    Ctrl + V
    Paste
    Paste with original formatting
  
    Ctrl + X
    Cut
    Move content between locations
  
    Ctrl + Z
    Undo
    Reverse last action
  
    Ctrl + Y
    Redo
    Restore undone actions
  
    Ctrl + S
    Save
    Save presentation changes
  
    Ctrl + A
    Select All
    Select all elements
  
    Ctrl + P
    Print
    Print or create handouts
  
    Ctrl + Home
    Start of Document
    Jump to first slide
  
    Ctrl + End
    End of Document
    Jump to last slide
    
    F7
    Spell Check
    Review spelling before presentation
  
    Ctrl + F
    Find
    Search for specific text across slides
  
    Ctrl + H
    Replace
    Replace text throughout presentation

Other Handy Windows Shortcuts

  
    Shortcut
    Action
    Best Use Case
  

    Windows + V
    Clipboard History
    Access previously copied items
  

    Windows + Shift + S
    Snipping tool
    Capture screen content
  

    Windows + D
    Show Desktop
    Quick access to other files
  

    Windows + Arrow Keys
    Window Position
    Arrange PowerPoint window
  

PowerPoint-Specific Keyboard Shortcuts

These keyboard shortcuts are unique to PowerPoint, designed specifically for presentation creation and delivery.

Font

  
    Shortcut
    Action
    Best Use Case
  

    Ctrl + T
    Font Dialog Box
    Detailed text formatting
  

    Ctrl + Shift + >
    Increase Font Size
    Text scaling
  

    Ctrl + Shift + <
    Decrease Font Size
    Text scaling
  

    Ctrl + Shift + +
    Superscript
    Super- and subscript access
  

    Ctrl + +
    Subscript
    Super- and subscript access
  

    Ctrl + Shift + C
    Copy Formatting
    Consistent styling
  

    Ctrl + Shift + V
    Paste Formatting
    Consistent styling
  

Paragraph

  
    Shortcut
    Action
    Best Use Case
  

    Ctrl + L
    Left Align
    Align text to the left
  

    Ctrl + R
    Right Align
    Align text to the right
  

    Ctrl + E
    Center Align
    Align text to the center
  

    Ctrl + J
    Justify Align
    Fill text between margins
  

    * + (text for first bullet) + Enter
    Bullets
    Create bulleted list
  

    1 + . + (text for first number) + Enter
    Numbering
    Create a numbered list
  

Object Arrangement

  
    Shortcut
    Action
    Best Use Case
  

    Ctrl + G
    Group Objects
    Combine related elements
  

    Ctrl + Shift + G
    Ungroup Objects
    Separate grouped elements
  

    Ctrl + D
    Duplicate
    Create identical objects
  

    Ctrl + [
    Send Backward
    Send object one layer back
  

    Ctrl + ]
    Bring Forward
    Send object one layer forward
  

    Ctrl + Shift + [
    Send to Back
    Send object to backmost layer
  

    Ctrl + Shift + ]
    Bring to Front
    Send object to frontmost layer
  

Object Alignment

  
    Shortcut
    Action
    Best Use Case
  

    Alt , H , G , A , L
    Align Left
    Left edge alignment of multiple objects
  

    Alt , H , G , A , R
    Align Right
    Right edge alignment of multiple objects
  

    Alt , H , G , A , T
    Align Top
    Top edge alignment of multiple objects
  

    Alt , H , G , A , B
    Align Bottom
    Bottom edge alignment of multiple objects
  

    Alt , H , G , A , C
    Align Center
    Horizontal center alignment
  

    Alt , H , G , A , M
    Align Middle
    Vertical center alignment
  

    Alt , H , G , A , H
    Distribute Horizontally
    Equal horizontal spacing between objects
  

    Alt , H , G , A , V
    Distribute Vertically
    Equal vertical spacing between objects
  

Object Shape and Size

  
    Shortcut
    Action
    Best Use Case
  

    Shift + ←
    Decrease Width
    Decrease width of object in large steps
  

    Shift + →
    Increase Width
    Increase width of object in large steps
  

    Shift + ↓
    Decrease Height
    Decrease height of object in large steps
  

    Shift + ↑
    Increase Height
    Increase height of object in large steps
  

    Ctrl + Shift + ←
    Fine Decrease Width
    Fine-tune width decrease with precise control
  

    Ctrl + Shift + →
    Fine Increase Width
    Fine-tune width increase with precise control
  

    Ctrl + Shift + ↓
    Fine Decrease Height
    Fine-tune height decrease with precise control
  

    Ctrl + Shift + ↑
    Fine Increase Height
    Fine-tune height increase with precise control
  

Presentation Mode

    
            Shortcut
            Action
            Best Use Case
        
            F5
            Start presentation from beginning
            When you're ready to start your presentation from the first slide
        
            Shift + F5
            Start from current slide
            When testing or practicing a specific section
        
            B or W
            Black or white screen
            To temporarily hide content and focus audience attention
        
            N or Space
            Next animation or slide
            Smooth progression through your presentation
        
            P or ←
            Previous animation or slide
            When you need to go back to review a point
        
            Ctrl + H
            Hide pointer and annotations
            When you want a clean view without distractions
        
            Ctrl + P
            Change pointer to pen
            When you need to draw attention to specific content
        
            . (period)
            Hide screen
            Quick audience focus during Q&A sessions
        
            Esc
            Exit presentation mode
            When you need to quickly return to edit mode
        
            [number] + Enter
            Jump to specific slide
            When you need to skip to a specific slide during Q&A

PowerPoint Combined Mouse+Keyboard Shortcuts

These shortcuts combine keyboard and mouse inputs.

    Shortcut
    Action
    Best Use Case

    Shift + Drag
    Constrain movement to straight lines
    Creating perfectly aligned object arrangements

    Ctrl + Drag
    Create a copy while dragging
    Quickly duplicating and positioning elements

    Alt + Drag
    Free movement
    Precise positioning independent of other elements

    Shift + Ctrl + Drag
    Copy and constrain movement
    Creating perfectly spaced duplicate elements

    Ctrl + Scroll wheel
    Zoom in/out
    Precise adjustments to view level

PowerPoint Ribbon Navigation Shortcuts (Advanced)

The PowerPoint Ribbon Navigation system is a hierarchical access model that begins with the Alt key. When you press Alt, PowerPoint displays small letters or numbers that correspond to each command on the ribbon. This initial press transforms the entire interface into a keyboard-navigable system, where every function becomes accessible through a sequence of keystrokes rather than mouse clicks.

The first Alt-press provides access to the main ribbon tabs (like Home, Insert, Design) and Quick Access Toolbar items. Once you press the letter for a tab (for example, H for Home), you enter the second level, where each command within that tab gets its own letter or number. This creates a predictable pattern where commands can be executed through a simple sequence of two or three keystrokes.

What makes this system particularly powerful is its consistency and memory-friendly design. Common operations follow logical patterns - for example, Alt + H + F + S for font size, where each letter represents a logical progression through the interface (Home → Font → Size).

The Ultimate Guide to PowerPoint Keyboard Shortcuts (2025)