Keyboard Shortcuts
On macOS, use Cmd wherever Ctrl is listed.
Shortcuts are context-aware
Editing shortcuts work in edit mode only and are suppressed while you are typing in a text box, editing a table cell, or using a Draw tab tool, so the keys go to the text instead. Slideshow shortcuts work only while presenting, except F5 / Shift+F5, which start one. Escape always works.
In-app reference
An abbreviated shortcut list is available inside the app: Help tab > Keyboard Shortcuts, or Keyboard Shortcuts in the "..." overflow menu.
Editing
Active in edit mode when you are not typing into an element.
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Undo | Ctrl+Z |
| Redo | Ctrl+Shift+Z or Ctrl+Y |
| Copy selected element | Ctrl+C |
| Cut selected element | Ctrl+X |
| Paste element | Ctrl+V |
| Duplicate selected element | Ctrl+D |
| Delete selected element | Delete or Backspace |
| Select all elements on the slide | Ctrl+A |
| Nudge selected element | Arrow keys |
| Nudge selected element (larger step) | Shift+Arrow keys |
| Group selected elements | Ctrl+G |
| Ungroup selected elements | Ctrl+Shift+G |
| Open or close Find & Replace | Ctrl+F |
| Open or close this shortcut panel | ? or Ctrl+/ |
| Deselect / close menus / stop editing | Escape |
Ctrl+F is the one shortcut that still works while you are typing inside an element, matching PowerPoint: it is the shortcut people reach for with the cursor already in a text box.
Text editing
While typing inside an element.
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Commit the text edit | Ctrl+Enter |
| Cancel the text edit | Escape |
Navigation and view
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Previous slide (nothing selected) | Left Arrow |
| Next slide (nothing selected) | Right Arrow |
| Zoom the canvas in / out | Ctrl+Mouse wheel |
Zoom in, zoom out, and zoom-to-fit are also buttons in the status bar.
TIP
The arrow keys do double duty in edit mode: with an element selected they nudge it; with nothing selected they change slides.
Slide sorter
Active while the slide sorter overlay is open.
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Copy selected slides | Ctrl+C |
| Paste slides | Ctrl+V |
| Duplicate selected slides | Ctrl+D |
| Select all slides | Ctrl+A |
| Delete selected slides | Delete or Backspace |
| Zoom thumbnails in / out | Ctrl + / Ctrl - |
| Collapse selection, then close the sorter | Escape |
Not every sorter has every command
All five viewers answer Escape, Delete and Ctrl+D in the sorter. The slide clipboard (Ctrl+C / Ctrl+V), Ctrl+A and the thumbnail zoom keys need a multi-selecting, zoomable sorter, which only the React viewer currently ships; elsewhere those chords fall through to the browser rather than doing nothing quietly.
Slideshow
Starting a show works from anywhere in the viewer, including while you are typing, and in a read-only viewer too; the rest are active only while presenting.
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Start the show from the beginning | F5 |
| Start the show from this slide | Shift+F5 |
F5 no longer reloads the page while the viewer has focus
These are PowerPoint's keys, and the browser's reload key. The viewer claims a plain F5 only when keyboard focus is inside it and no show is running; Ctrl+F5 and the browser's reload button are untouched.
These match PowerPoint's own slideshow keys. Note the deliberate split: the annotation tools are Ctrl chords, because PowerPoint gives the bare letters N, P, B, W and E to navigation and screen commands.
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Next slide / next animation step | Right Arrow, Down Arrow, Page Down, Spacebar, Enter, or N |
| Previous slide | Left Arrow, Up Arrow, Page Up, Backspace, or P |
| First slide | Home |
| Last slide | End |
| Jump to a slide | Type its number, then Enter |
| Black screen on / off | B or . |
| White screen on / off | W or , |
| Arrow (normal) pointer | Ctrl+A |
| Laser pointer | Ctrl+L |
| Pen | Ctrl+P |
| Eraser | Ctrl+E |
| Erase all annotations on a slide | E |
| Show / hide ink markup | Ctrl+M |
| Show / hide the slideshow toolbar | Ctrl+H |
| Show all slides | Ctrl+S |
| Live captions / subtitles on / off | J |
| Slideshow context menu | Shift+F10 or the Menu key |
| End the slideshow | Escape or - |
Coverage of the two chrome chords
Ctrl+H (hide the slideshow toolbar) and Ctrl+S (Show All Slides) are recognised by the shared slideshow keymap and handled by every viewer.
The highlighter has no keyboard shortcut; use the slideshow toolbar. Presenter view is a toolbar toggle too, not a key. See Presenting for how the annotation tools and presenter view work.